Getting from A to E
Reading time: 2 – 4 minutes
This is the first in a series of posts about creating a Strategic Marketing and Sales plan for your company.
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French Aviator and Writer
Fact is that people, businesses, athletes and teams that have a detailed plan about how they are going to achieve their goals are more successful than those that don’t. Professional carpenters say measure twice…cut once. This is planning. It takes less time to plan carefully than it does to saw from the hip and make a mistake that is costly and time consuming to repair. Some mistakes cannot be repaired.
Look at the choices of paths in the illustration above. Which path would you rather take assuming the true distance from A to E and F to J is the same. If you are driving a car, you know that it will take less time to follow the path of A to E and it will cost less in fuel. OK…now you are saying “Ted…you have made your point.” Then I ask you, “Do you have a formal written plan that articulates the strategies and tactics you will follow in 2011?” If your company is following the tortuous path of F to J, you are wasting a lot of time, money and human resources.
Would you believe that I know a company with $50 million in revenues without a plan? I do. How about a company with $20 million in revenues without a plan. The CEO as much as admitted it the other day. Then you say, “Ted, if they are at $20 million or $50 million in revenues they must be doing something right.” Well….one is not profitable and the other is missing its 2010 revenue goals. They had goals without a plan. So, as Saint-Exupery said, their goals were merely wishes.
The most difficult part of Strategic Planning is making the commitment and setting aside the time to do it. Strategic planning will pay for itself many times over. Make a commitment to plan strategically now. You can do it. The next several posts will guide you.
To do:
- If you are the company leader…founder, CEO, COO…make the decision. Write down the fact you will make a strategic plan for 2011 or the next 6 months…whatever.
- If you are a functional leader….head of sales, head of marketing, etc….tell your company leader that you would like to write a plan for your area. More than likely you will get enthusiastic support.
