WA Winds of Change – Are you ready for the new economic wave?

                         

Mining being central to Western Australia’s economy, it has been years of the state and its people riding a wave of prosperity. However, slow down of the mining boom since 2012 is bringing about some significant changes in the industrial landscape of the country.

Although mining will continue to be central to our economy for years to come, a shift in focus is essential for the country’s continued economic growth with Industry having to reposition itself for prosperity.  This calls for organisations taking a fresh and proactive look at their current operations in view of a desired future state. However, with statistics reporting high volumes of change processes failing to deliver the desired outcomes, the change journey is anything but an easy recipe one can follow to achieve the perfect result. Many change initiatives fail not because of a fault with the change model or techniques, but because of change managers not understanding the ‘why’ behind those models.

Following an adaptation of Prosci, over the next few weeks, we will investigate the key underlying principles of change and their potential impact as you prepare your business for the next economic wave. We will also discuss the pitfalls you have to be aware of during the journey and how to steer clear of them, as well as provide you with some practical tips for keeping on track during the repositioning period.


The challenge ahead                          
Charles Darwin made the fitting comment: “It isn’t the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones who are most responsive to change.”


In recent interviews, the international leadership guru, Dr John Kotter, made the disturbing remark that the marginal rate of change was increasing – and would continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The result is that many organisations simply cannot keep up with the speed of change. We are indeed experiencing what the futurist, Alvin Toffler, in 1970, referred to as a state of  ‘future shock.’


The challenge is to move with the times – continually. Meeting with industry leaders on a weekly basis, in contrast to 2012 and 2013, I am witnessing a reserved optimism emerging towards the future. However, we are not out of the woods yet;  there are challenges lying ahead. The continued growth and prosperity of your organisation in this climate requires a culture that keeps moving all the time and depends on the alignment of the feedback processes and behaviours to what is happening in your external environment. Even more important, it is not just about keeping up with what is changing around you – it is also about doing it faster than your competition.


An issue with most change management models is that they describe the change process in the format of a set of steps based on the result of extensive research and the experiences of change management experts from years of trial and error in the field. Having had the opportunity of being involved in a variety of incremental and stepwise change initiatives during the past 20+ years – both as an employee and a consultant, what I’ve come to learn is that there is no silver bullet for managing change. No two organisations are the same – duplicating change techniques from one organisation to the next is bound to deliver different results.  In today’s market we have the luxury of having a wide plethora of change recipes at our fingertips. However, failing to have some understanding of the basic guiding principles of effective change management, we don’t really know what we are dealing with let alone the reason for its importance.


Getting down to the basics
A considerable issue with most existing change management models in use today is that their underlying lessons and principles are not discussed. This leaves organisational leaders and change managers getting to know the ‘how’ of change management, but not the ‘why’ thereof.  Hence, we focus on the steps of the recipe trying to make them work in a specific situation without really understanding the underlying research and the psychological principles behind it.

No wonder CEOs report up to 75% of their organisational change efforts do not yield the promised results. In many instances, and despite the best of intentions, there are many examples where change initiatives resulted in exactly the opposite what organisational leadership had hoped to achieve – a state of employee disbelief, distrust and disengagement. Dr Peter M. Senge in his book, “The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organisation,” states that, “This failure to sustain significant change recurs again and again, despite substantial resources committed to the change effort; many of which are bankrolled by top management, talented and committed people driving the change, and high stakes. Executives feeling an urgent need for change are right; however, organisations that fail to sustain significant change end up facing crises. By then, their options are greatly reduced and even after heroic efforts they often decline.”

What is needed is for organisational leaders and change managers to understand the ‘why’ of change management. Once you have a better understanding of the underlying principles that drive change management processes (the ‘why’), it will make you better at “rolling with the punches” and doing the ‘how.’

Rolling with the punches

The difference between knowing the ‘how’ instead of the ‘why’ of change management can be likened to what distinguishes a cook from a cordon bleu chef: the difference lies in the fundamental understanding of why things are done. In most cases, and given the perfect circumstances, the cook following a step-by-step recipe should produce the same predictable result every time. However, differing circumstances (e.g. changes in temperature, humidity and elevation) can affect the outcome dramatically. Even small changes in the amount of certain ingredients can result in a great recipe becoming a complete disaster. Rarely knowing why the recipe has worked, the cook also fails to understand why it has failed. In contrast, the cordon bleu chef has a perfect understanding of what is occurring and knows the reason behind each element of the recipe. As a result, he has the ability to adjust with the changes to create the outcome he wants. Knowing the chemistry of what is occurring, he also knows which flavours complement each other and can tell what is missing by simply tasting the result and having the skills to adjust to still produce an excellent dish.

In similar fashion, following a step-by-step recipe for change management will prove insufficient for driving business results. Instead of being a “cook” blindly following the recipe, you should be a “cordon bleu chef” carefully crafting an appropriate change strategy and approach that meets the specific needs of the situation. You should continually assess the change environment and be able to make the necessary changes to match the evolving situations – one of the most unpredictable variables of which is the people element of change. Understanding the foundational elements (the ‘why’) that underlie the change management process will ultimately determine the success of a change initiative. To achieve the best outcome, understanding the psychology of change and key guiding principles is vital. This will enable you to use a variety of change management models and tools and to adjust your approach to match the size and nature of the required change.

The psychology of change – understanding the guiding principles of effective change management

The psychology of change management explains the way people think and why they act they way they do. Organisational leaders can make it easier on themselves and their organisations if, before embarking on complex organisational  improvement programs, they determine the extent of the change required to achieve desired business outcomes.  The change management gurus, McKinsey and Company identify three levels of change, the simplest, most straightforward where changes are made without changing the way people work, e.g. divesting noncore assets to focus on core assets. On the next more complex level  employees may have to adjust or adopt new practices in line with their existing mindsets to reach a new target. For example, an already “lean” organisation might encourage its employees to identify new ways for reducing waste or improving production. The third and deepest level of change involves the culture of an organisation. In this instance, the only way the organisation can become more competitive is by changing its culture fundamentally, e.g. from being reactive to proactive, hierarchical to collegial, or introspective to eternally focused. In effect, cultural change entails changing the mindsets of large numbers of people, which necessitates an understanding of change psychology.


People will alter their mindsets only if they see the point of the change and agree with it. Additionally, the surrounding structures (e.g.  reward and recognition systems) must align with the new behaviour.  It is equally important that people must have the skills and abilities to do what is required and also must see people they respect modelling the new behaviour actively. Each of these conditions is achieved independently, yet together they add up to a way of changing people’s behaviour in organisations by changing their attitudes about what can and should happen at work.

Believing in the purpose

In essence, people will strive for a mental state of harmony, i.e. where their beliefs are consistent with their actions. However, a state of cognitive dissonance arises when our beliefs are inconsistent with our actions, which will cause us to rectify the matter by changing either our actions or our beliefs.

In organisational terms this means that people will be content to change their behaviour to serve the purpose of a change initiative – if they believe in it. If they don’t alter their behaviour, it will indeed result in them suffering a mental state of cognitive dissonance. To feel comfortable and enthusiastic about a change initiative, people have to understand the role of their actions in achieving the desired change outcomes and have the conviction that it is worthwhile for them to play a part. Only informing them that they will have to behave differently will not cut it. It is therefore important for organisational leadership and change managers to take time to think through the “change story” – what makes it worth undertaking – and to explain the story to everyone involved in making the change happen, so that their contribution makes sense to them as individuals.

Reinforcement systems

BF Skinner’s research on operant conditioning and positive reinforcement during the late 1920s and 1930s has led organisational designers to broadly agree that reporting structures, management and operational processes and measurement procedures – setting targets, measuring performance, and granting financial and non-financial rewards – must be consistent with the behaviour people are expected to embrace. When an organisation’s goals for new behaviour are not reinforced, employees are less likely to adopt it consistently. For example, if employees are expected to perform a certain task, but performance against that task does not feature in their performance score cards, they are less likely to be bothered.

We also need to keep in mind that having the structures and processes in place that initially reinforced new behaviour patters, these are not a guarantee that it will endure. To enable sustained higher performance, it is essential for these behaviour patterns to be supported by changes that complement the other three conditions for changing people’s mindsets.

Skills and abilities required for change

Many change programs fail as a result of management exhorting them to behave differently, without teaching them what that means in their individual situation. For example, employees may be urged to become more customer-focused. However, if little attention was given to customer focus in the past, employees will experience difficulty in the interpretation of this value and not know what a successful outcome would look like.

Equipping adults with the skills and abilities they need in order to make the required behaviour changes can pose a challenge. The adult learning specialist, David Kolb, proved that adults have difficulty to learn by merely listening to instructions; it is essential that they are given time to absorb the new information, use it experimentally, and integrate it with their existing knowledge systems. In practice, this means that trying to disseminate everything there is to know on a new subject in one session is bound to be a futile exercise.  It is much better to break down the teaching into bite-sized chunks and provide time inbetween for employees to reflect, experiment and apply the new principles. Large-scale change happens only in steps.

It has also been proven that adult learners assimilate material more thoroughly if they have to describe to others how they will apply what they have learnt to their own circumstances. Part of the reason is that we use different areas of the brain for learning and teaching. Be sure to build in this component of the learning experience into your program.

Consistent role models

Clinical studies confirm that consistent role models are as important in changing the behaviour of adults as the three preceding conditions combined. This is because people in organisations tend to model their behaviour on “significant others”: those they see in positions of influence.  Within a single organisation, people on different functional levels choose different role models. To change behaviour consistently throughout an organisation, it isn’t enoug to ensure that senior executives are in line with the new ways of working; role models at every level must “walk the talk.” It is essential that role models’ underlying values informing their behaviour have to be consistent. For example, a company that encourages entrepreneurial thinking across the organisation, one middle manager might try to coach junior employees how to identify new ventures, while another might leave this up to them. Both, however, would be acting in line with the entrepreneurial principal. In contrast, the manager who demands a comprehensive business case to justify each $50 expenditure would not be. Where entrepreneurial thinking has not been an organisational value previously and is newly developed, this will require of both managers to act roughly in the same manner to encourage their subordinates to put on their thinking cap.

Apart from individual role models, behaviour in organisations is also deeply impacted by the groups people identify with. Role modelling by individuals must therefore be confirmed by the significant groups that surround them if it is to have a sustained influence. Hence, it is equally important that change must be meaningful to key groups at each level of the organisation.

In summary

In preparation for the next economic wave, it is essential for organisations to reposition themselves by taking a fresh and proactive look at their current operations in view of a desired future state. Readying themselves for continued economic growth, it is important for organisational leadership and change managers to get down to basics and obtain a better understanding of the ‘why’ of change management – understanding the ‘why’ makes you better at the ‘how’ and enables the careful crafting and implementation of an appropriate strategy and approach that meets the specific needs of the situation.

Attaining sustainable change also requires  an understanding of the psychology of change, which in essence, involves people and their mindsets, attitudes, and skill sets.

 

Our next discussion will be on ensuring effective communications during organisational change to achieve the impact we desire.

 

Until next time!

HEIN ROTH   
Director
ROTH ASSOCIATES


info@rothassociates.com.au
www.rothassociates.com.au

Why good plans and strategies get derailed

In a R&D environment, many initiatives produce technologies and solutions to existing challenges with the designers’ underpinning belief that they will be good for and acceptable to potential users. However, irrespective of how ‘good’ they appear to the designers, getting traction as to their successful uptake and implementation often provides a major challenge,  and in some instances, they don’t get used at all.

This exact situation also presents itself quite often in the commercial world, where senior executives and their advisors devise seemingly excellent business strategies and embark on great new projects all of which are viewed to be greatly beneficial to the business and its employees. Yet, getting everyone excited and passionate about it and for its implementation to build momentum, is a different story, and can come at a significant cost – both in time and money. For instance, it has been estimated that the cost to US business of failing or abandoned projects runs into hundreds of billions of dollars annually. It is not that much different among companies across the rest of the world, Australia and New Zealand included.

The question remains: What is it that causes people to decide for or against a new strategy or initiative?

The human element

Wanting to affect change or introducing a new strategy or project, some argue that providing information to the recipients charged to implement it, should be sufficient for getting them to embrace it. Unfortunately, human nature is not that simple. Apart from raising people’s awareness of an issue or a new undertaking, providing more information is unlikely to have a significant and lasting impact on their behaviour.

Over the past decade, I have had the privilege of working extensively in this domain and have witnessed many instances where people seemed to have taken on board a new venture put across to them by senior management, yet it did not cause them to change their underlying beliefs and attitudes towards it. Not surprisingly, this severly impacts the seamless implementation of that initiative and the likelihood of people returning to their previous behaviour over time.

Backed by extensive research and years’ review of adoption literature, people’s internal adoption decision drivers are the proverbial ‘make or break’ of any new initiative. What many still fail to realise is that the design of a new strategy or project, despite its perceived greatness, is potentially only as effective as the people charged with implementing it. For some of us this may come as old hat, however, having assessed various situations where the uptake and implementation of a seemingly ‘great’ strategy or initiative proved excessively cumbersome, disregard for the human behaviour element very often can be found at the heart of the issue.

Identifying how people make real-life decisions, and what factors influence those decisions have far-reaching implications for business executives and policy makers alike. Having an understanding of the human behaviour element when confronted with a new experience or undertaking and the variables that influence decision-making is critical for ensuring the seamless introduction and effective implementation thereof. It enables the identification of the potential strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and allows for their inclusion during the project planning stage. Being cognizant of the factors that drive people’s decision-making, prior to implementing a new undertaking and planning accordingly, can bring about significant savings.  Failing to do so, often comes as a costly exercise, both in terms of time lost and money wasted.

What drives people’s decision to embrace or reject a new initiative?

It has been argued that  decision-making has two stages: eliminating options containing aspects that the person does not want, followed by a second stage where potential alternatives are passed through a set of criteria.

Going through this ‘filtering’ process, people’s decision to embrace or reject a new initiative has been found to be guided by a set of internal adoption decision drivers and their perception of the external environment in which an initiative is to be implemented.

From an internal perspective, people who are able to embrace the new and make the most of it tend to be:

• resourceful in finding their ways around obstacles; 
• optimistic, yet realistic;
• adventurous, walking the path less taken;
• energetic;
• flexible;
• resilient;
• confident in their ability to handle the situation; and
• tolerant for ambiguity.

Any change to life as we know it, comes as a disruption to the routine. Everyone needs some time to  assimiliate the experience and evaluate it in terms of what it is they want and they do not want. Internally, people typically progress through a series of stages very similar to the Kubler-Ross grief model: the initial reaction is one of denial of what is happening, followed by becoming upset with the situation and trying to negotiate a compromise, before eventually coming to accept the situation. The pace by which people progress through these stages is essentially driven by who they are as a person and their predisposition for dealing with the new and the uncertain. Thus the higher a person performs on the above qualities (within reason of course), the better the chance of moving through the adoption decision process more quickly and effectively.

In addition, research suggests a significant correlation to exist between people’s perception of a new undertaking in terms of their immediate external environment, and their decision to take the proverbial plunge.  For instance, people’s unawareness or denial of an issue and a general unpreparedness to take responsibility for addressing it, are often central to the poor uptake of new policies and procedures. Equally, questioning the relative advantage of a new initiative in terms of its observable impact, its perceived complexity and compatibility in the workplace, and the degree to which it enables initial experimentation on a limited basis prior to its complete implementation, all play a significant role in the adoption decision.

Practical application

Much can indeed be done to successfully account for the human behavioural element during the beginning stage of the implementation of a new initiative. Awareness of the potential strengths and pitfalls prior to embarking on a new strategy, project or undertaking,  is critical for ensuring its seamless introduction and cost-effective implementation. This requires organisations and their project teams to have clear answers to the following questions:

• What are the internal adoption decision drivers of people who will be potentially impacted by this initiative?
• What are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats we have to be aware of from a human behaviour perspective, and how can we use these to be effective in driving this initiative?
• What is the likelihood of conflict between people’s current knowledge and new knowledge required by this initiative?
• How would people perceive this initiative in terms of its relative advantage for them and the business?
• How compatible is this initiative with the current way people are working?
• How complex is this initiative for people to get a grasp of what is expected?
• How do we capture people’s hearts and their minds to make this work?

The Adoption Readiness Matrix

In answering these questions, we have developed a simple, yet comprehensive, easily customised measuring tool to fit commercially and non-commercially driven organisations. Dubbed the Adoption Readiness Matrix (ARM), this tool has been developed over a period of 10+ years of extensive research on organisations and their people’s uptake of new strategies, projects and initiatives from a human behavioural perspective.

Drawing on the Diffusion of Innovation, Stages of Grief, Ethnographic Decision Tree Modelling, and Adult Learning Theory, ARM provides valuable information on the potential strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of any new undertaking from a human behavioural viewpoint.

Focusing on the essential stages and attributes of the adoption decision process, ARM enables organisations and their project teams to (1) pinpoint the internal drivers of people’s decision-making processes, (2) get an understanding of their views on their immediate working environment and its compatibility to accommodate a proposed initiative or project, and (3) assess the time required for the uptake of a new undertaking.

Results stemming from the tool are especially powerful during the planning stages of a new strategy, project or initiative, and continues to provide useful information to ensure its sustained implementation.

Readers wanting further information on ARM and our approach to ensure the seamless and cost-effective implementation of a new initiative, can contact us at: info@rothassociates.com.au   Alternatively, you can contact me on: +61 (0)410 043 877

Until next time!

HEIN ROTH   
Director
ROTH ASSOCIATES

www.rothassociates.com.au

What kind of legacy will you leave?

As a leader, you have been born for greatness! And yes, much has been written on the topic over the years, however, when have you last thought about the legacy you will be leaving behind? What is it that people in your workplace and those outside of it – your family, friends and acquaintances will remember you for? 

In this short heart-to-heart talk, we will be looking in the mirror and consider the footsteps we are leaving in the sand as leaders...


You can’t do it on your own
“If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulder of giants” – Isaac Newton
“You alone can do it, but you can’t do it alone” – Alice Cooper

Bring forth greatness!
“The test of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there” – John Buchan
“When the best leader’s work is done the people say, ‘We did it ourselves!’” – Lao-Tsu

Create the vision!
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea” – Antoine de Saint Exupery
“A leader’s role is to raise people’s aspirations for what they can become and to release their energies so they will try to get there” – David Gergen

Be humble!
“Leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well” – Dwight D Eisenhower
“Leadership is an opportunity to serve. It is not a trumpet call to self-importance” – James Humes

Listen to others!
 “The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them” – Ralph Nichols
“The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention” – Richard Moss

Develop others!
“Leave everyone a little better than you found them” – John L Mason
“Leaders instill in their people a hope for success and a belief in themselves. Positive leaders empower people to accomplish their goals” – Unknown

Acknowledge mistakes as a learning opportunity!
“Mistakes are just part of our growth. The only people who never fail are those who never, never try” – Og Mandino
“Mistakes are lessons of wisdom. The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power “ – Hugh White

Care for others!
“People do not care about how much you know until they know how much you care” – John Maxwell
“Great leaders genuinely care for and love the people they lead more than they love leading itself. Leadership without love degenerates into self-serving manipulation” – Rick Warren

Each one of us is called to make a difference. We work in organisations where the focus rightfully is the vision and its realisation in measurable outcomes to ensure continued profitability and sustained business growth. As leaders it is about the difference we bring that lies between the vision and the outcome; it is echoed in the words of Shannon L Alder: “Carve our name on hearts, not tombstones.”  It is about being part of a legacy … of sharing dreams and changing humanity for the better.

“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago” – Warren Buffet 

Until next time!
Hein

www.rothassociates.com.au

Business Effectiveness and Sustained Profitability – The Crucial Link

For the majority of us, we are in business having one objective: profitability. That’s the bottomline. That’s the very reason for a business’ existence. But as times get tougher, how do we ensure the sustained profitability of the business we’re in? The answer lies in ‘Organisational Effectiveness’, a much debated topic having approximately 1.3 million Google citings and probably just as many definitions!

But seriously now, much has been written on the topic, yet, research still suggests that many business leaders are struggling with exactly what it entails, let alone how to achieve it. And it’s mainly because it’s easier said than done. It’s not a smoothly paved road with clear markers.  Instead, one can liken it to a 4x4 bush track, which is bumpy, have many twists and turns, and sometimes is barely distinguishable from its immediate surrounds.

Some define the term as the alignment of a business’ strategy, its people, and its operations management to achieve success. But in short, business effectiveness is having the ability and the necessary means to do what you have undertaken, and being good at it. It’s about the tangibles and the intangibles that make up a business and work in unity to steer it towards realising its strategic goals. It’s about having all the gears in place and having them oiled thoroughly that eventually lead to the machine purring away smoothly at full torque.

Business effectiveness is the fundamental element enabling businesses – irrespective of industry and size – to meet their strategic objectives and ensure sustained business growth.

At the foundation thereof lays a clearly articulated business strategic plan, the seemless execution of which is made possible by the structural components of the business to ensure effective work and information flow. However, that is less than half the story. Of much more importance are the intangible and often vague ‘rules of the game’, which are the mortar holding together the bricks. Or as Marian Bradshaw-Knapton (President, Avocet Organisational Performance Inc.) puts it:

“The main driver for an effective organisation is what’s happening in those ‘white spaces’ between the boxes on your organisation chart.”

Business leaders who realise this and make an effort to engage these elements from a holistic perspective, are more effective and their business is more successful than those who neglect it.

Research identified a number of critical universal organisational elements needed to drive business effectiveness, which can be illustrated as follows:

Click on image to enlarge

Key drivers of business effectiveness

Although no set parameters exist for business effectiveness and it follows no definitive mathematical formula, it is driven by a holistic, coordinated effort to align the key drivers of a clearly articulated business strategy as illustrated in the figure above.

1. Business strategy:
• The clarity that exists across the business as to its strategic direction and objectives, and the degree people are allowed to take ownership thereof.
2.  Business structure and capability:
•  Alignment of the business structure, work processes and role accountabilities across the business with the strategic direction and objectives.
3. Leadership capacity:
•  Leadership capacity in the business (top management to supervisory) to drive sustainable business success.
4.  Business systems and procedures:
•  Existence of clear and appropriate systems and procedures and their alignment with, and driving of the business strategy and objectives to ensure continued competitive advantage.
5.  Business development strategy:
•  Strategies for attracting and managing customers from a variety of sources.
6. Business values and culture:
• Existence of a business culture aligned with clearly written and communicated values depicting its “heartbeat” and what it stands for.
7. People engagement:
• Existence of clear and effective strategies to ensure the engagement of all people in the business involving their hearts and their minds.
8.  Customer service and satisfaction:
•  The business and its people’s regard of the needs of internal and external customers.

 Where do we start?

The first question to be answered is: “How does our business measure up with regards to its effectiveness in meeting our strategic objectives?”

You might already have some business performance metrics in place, which suggest that the business is achieving its objectives. If so, great! However, your mission is to continue with what you are doing right. Thus it’s not only about the victory of the moment, but you need to gear up, because it’s a continuous process of improvement. Continue to evaluate the business’ effectiveness focusing on the key drivers above. Identify what you are doing that irritates your people and your customers – and fix them. Consider what you are doing that delights your people and your customers and embed them in the business.

On the other hand, you might be aware that things are not completely right and that the business is not performing as well as it could. Maybe it’s time to regroup and consider the road ahead. Start with your business strategy and describe what it means for the business to be effective, i.e. What are the objectives?; What would success look like? What would it take for the business to achieve this? Reflect on each of the key elements above. It would be wise to consider the use of a business effectiveness survey and have all people in the business (including yourself) complete it. There are a number of diagnostic tools available on the Web that you can use.

Our Organisational Effectiveness Matrix has been developed to give you a sense of where your business is on the journey with regards to each of the key elements above. Being a flexible instrument, it can be customised to fit any specific business and their requirements.

However, to get you on the road, there are a number of questions you can consider:

1.  Are you and your people clear on the strategic direction and business objectives of the business?
2.  Is the work flow and information flow throughout the business conducive to its success?
3.  How does the leadership across the business stack up with what is required to engage your people and drive the business strategic direction?
4. What does your business development strategy look like? Do you engage the best inbound and outbound strategies to ensure potential customers to easily find the business and its products/services?
5.  Does the business have a set of clearly written and communicated values that depicts its “heartbeat” and what it stands for? Is your business culture aligned with it?
6.  How well is the business doing at engaging its people and retaining them?
7.  Are you “wow-ing” your customers (internal and external) with a blow-away service?

A final word

Effective strategy execution is paramount to business success. It takes a combination of the business operations and the effective engagement of its people and their alignment with a clear business strategy to achieve success. There are challenges, but knowledge, focus, and an integrated approach will ensure your business survives and thrives under all economic conditions.

Embarking on this road, always keep the words of Dee Hock (founder and previous CEO of the Visa credit card association) in mind:

“An organisation [or business for that matter ], no matter how well designed, is only as good as the people who live and work in it.”

Until next time!

HEIN ROTH    Principal Consultant
ROTH ASSOCIATES
heinr@rothassociates.com.au

Five strategies for improving your business development

You’ve got a great product or service that you know would greatly benefit people ‘out there’ if they just try it out. However, instead of people swamping you for your business, it’s a mere trickle, if any. Don’t despair; you are not alone! Fact is, many businesses are established having a fantastic product or mind-blowing service with the owner then waiting for business to come rolling through the front door, but it doesn’t happen. In the earlier years, it was fairly easy, but as you know, competition in the marketplace is fierce, and customers have a myriad of choices where to take their business. And if you do not ‘go with the flow’, your business is dead in the water! So what do you do?

Let’s just sit down and have a little discussion. The future of your business is in your hands, and I am going to show you six strategies for turning it around and get the right kind of customers to start approaching you, instead of you running all over the place to solicit more business.

Traditional business strategy is a thing of the past

Before we proceed, you have to realise that traditional strategies for getting more business are yielding less and less. There was a time that you could pick up the phone and just cold call on prospective customers. And there was a time that you could put out a large billboard or put an ad in a newspaper or the radio and television shouting out what you have on offer. But the market has changed; cold calling would-be customers is increasingly becoming a waste of precious time, and advertising costs have gone through the roof, with the return not always being that great.

In today’s business world we need a mindset shift to make us relevant to today’s consumers!

Strategy 1: Your business Unique Selling Point, Value Proposition and Slogan

The starting point of developing an effective business development strategy is your business’s Unique Selling Point(s) (USP) and its Value Proposition (VP). You need to start by thinking creatively: What is it that makes your business unique to any other of your competition?  If you are a dentist, you might be the only one making house calls. Or if you are in construction, you might be the only company giving a five-year guarantee on its craftsmanship. Or your service might be more personalised, building long-lasting friendships with your customers instead of the next-door business where people are just a number.  Don’t wing it, but do some homework on what your competition does and improve on that, putting these into a number of unique selling points. 

Once you have those in place, ponder over them, and start developing a Value Proposition for the business, which states the value you add to your customers or the benefit they will derive from doing business with you.  Once you have a sensible Value Proposition in place, you could go one step further by developing a slogan for your business, which in seven or less words, state what your business is about and the value it adds to your customers.

I need to warn, however, not for you to do this exercise by yourself. Involve people you can trust and get their input. It’s amazing how you might think you have the perfect Value Proposition and slogan, only to have someone telling you they don’t understand it.

Strategy 2: Having a great website

A number of years ago, having a website was considered a luxury. However, living in the Information Age, a state-of-the-art website is an absolute necessity. It has become the custom for prospective buyers of whatever product or service to shop around. This they do on the Internet researching the product or service they are contemplating in buying. You need to realise: Before a would-be customer picks up the phone to give you a call, they have already done their homework by comparing those businesses that specialise in what it is they need. And guess what? They look at your website and those of your competition and compare apples with apples.

So the question is: What is the appearance of your website and how user-friendly is it? Take a long look at your website. If you were a customer, would its appearance ‘wow’ you, or is it old-fashioned and tired-looking? Is the content you have on it recent? I stand amazed at how many websites I see where the most current article is well over a year old. Guess what that tells you about that business! Does your website really convey the message on the value you add to your clients, or the uniqueness of your business and that which makes it different to your competition? 

And another very point of consideration: You might have the most up-to-date website with all the bells and the whistles, and still have it not working to the advantage of driving more business through the front door. Having a great-looking website drifting around in the eons of the worldwide web is not enough. When people do a Google search on the product or service you provide, your aim should be for your business to appear on the first or second page of that search. People are not interested in scrolling through one Google page after another. 

This is where Search Engine Optimisation comes into the picture, which in a nutshell involves fitting the keywords describing your business to fit your potential customers’ keyword searching habits.

Strategy 3: Your inbound business development strategy

Inbound business development strategy has as its purpose getting your customers to contact you first, and not you having to cold call them or spend a massive amount on advertising. Over the past decade, the shopping habits of your customers have changed dramatically. The advent of the Internet, especially for business purposes has led to a major move towards self-education. It is disturbing but true that even before a customer contacts you, they already have done all the research they could on the product or service you sell, and they have a good idea of the costs involved, because they have already spoken to colleagues, friends and your competition.

A winning inbound business development strategy is focused on having the necessary Internet presence, not only by having a website, but also promoting your products or service through publishing great content and making it easy for your prospective customers to find you on the Web. You need to have a presence on number of Social Business Media websites, e.g. LinkedIn, Facebook Business Page, Twitter, Blogger, etc. And you need to be active on those in publishing information your customers would be interested in. 

Strategy 4: Your outbound business development strategy

Outbound business development strategy is focused on actively marketing what it is you do. This can take the form of online campaigns (e.g. virtual events, webinars and emails), offline campaigns (e.g. direct mail, printed advertising, the local newspaper, television and radio advertising), field marketing (e.g. cold calling, buying customer lists, telemarketing or targeted events like addressing your local Rotary Club),  and corporate marketing (e.g. bill boards and poster campaigns).

With the exception of online campaigns, most outbound strategies come at a considerable cost, and with many, the returns are not that great. However, if you have a heap of money to spend, be my guest. As for myself, I have found the use of webinars and emails quite effective. Should you want to use advertising strategies as those mentioned above, ensure that you are targeting your ideal customers, i.e. advertise where your prospective customers are. It is of little use to run an advertisement in a general magazine if you want to target other businesses. If you want to advertise, better to do so in a magazine targeted for your ideal customers, e.g. a business magazine.

Strategy 5: Behaviour-driven Sales Mastery

You might have a great product or service, have a super website and inbound and outbound business development strategy. And you even might have people contacting you as a result thereof. However, how do you turn an enquiry into actual business, and ultimately, a long-term business relationship? This is where a significant amount of business gets lost, due to a number of factors: (1) a lack in confidence; (2) a lack in facilitation skills to steer the meeting towards a desirable outcome for the customer; (3) an inability to effectively qualify the customer and their requirements and wants; (4) an inability to make a winning presentation that ‘wows’ the customer; and (5) having the immediate sale as the sole focus of the sales meeting,  instead of viewing it as a way for building a long-term business relationship and even a long-lasting friendship.

Let’s summarise

Having a solid and effective business development strategy requires you to be at all places at all times twenty-four-seven. You have to be in the mind of your potential and existing customers all the time. You have to be where your customers spend a considerable amount of their time, making it easy for them to find you. Take a serious look at your website and its contents. Does your business appear within the first two Google Search pages if you key in the product or service you provide? More than 90% of adults visit a social media website at least once a month. As much as 78% of all adults gather information on the Internet prior to making a decision to buy. Does your business have a presence on the most prominent social business media websites? 

Do you tend to “lose many fish on the hook close to the shore”? Maybe it is time for you to consider honing your sales presentation skills? Just maybe …

Until next time!

Hein

Please Visit my website for further information on how to improve your business development

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