Identifying Strategic Growth Opportunities: A Discussion Guide for CEOs and Their Executive Teams

Transcription

1 Identifying Strategic Growth Opportunities: A Discussion Guide for CEOs and Their Executive Teams 1

2 Gaining clarity and rallying consistency around company vision, while driving the execution of business and marketing initiatives with precision and accountability are key opportunities for CEOs and their executive teams. The following thought starters are provided to serve as discussion topics for your staff meetings. Start by picking one thats most relevant to your business situation and spend 30 minutes in open dialogue in your next staff meeting. Market Alignment 1. Why do our customers choose to do business with us? (Have participants write down their top three reasons, then share) 2. Why do we lose business? (Capture and debate the most recent loses. Be sure to ask why enough times to get to the root cause) 3. Who are our most profitable customers? What do they have in common? Are we taking any business we shouldn t? Competitive Differentiation 1. What are we best in the world at doing? Are we recognized for it? 2. Are any of our value propositions interchangeable with our competitors? 3. How do we differ from (top three competitors) in delivering our products (or services)? Are we recognized for it? 4. Is there a Southwest Airlines in our industry (no seat selection, proprietary reservation system, no charge for bags, employees are voice of company, )? If not, what would it look like? 2

3 Product Line Assessment 1. Which of our current products (or services) are most aligned to market and customer requirements? How did this happen? Is it a repeatable process? 2. How do we know our products are meeting the market needs? 3. Are we disproportionately investing in marketing our most profitable products? 4. Should we be offering more, or less, choice in our product portfolio? Why? 5. At what stage are our products in their product life cycle? Distribution Strategy 1. How do we quantify our coverage of the market? 2. What sales channels are we deliberately not deploying? What conditions have to change before we reconsider? 3. How has the selling process changed for our sales teams and channels? Have we modified our sales support strategy to keep up? Is our pricing model optimized? Strategic Partnerships 1. What potential sales partnerships and industry alliances should we be planning for in our future? 2. How might a licensing or private label or OEM approach be implemented in our business? 3. What businesses (like ours or in adjacent industries) should we consider for acquisition? If a competitor were to make an acquisition, what scenario would be devastating? 4. Should we consider expanding our base of trusted advisors? 3

4 Marketing Investment & Execution 1. Is our promotional spending reviewed properly by our executive team? 2. How accountable (scale of 1-10) are our promotional investments? Do we know what works and what doesn t? Are we continually trying new methods? 3. What are the most strategic investments across our sales cycle for promotional investment? Awareness? Interest? Consideration? Trial? Post-sale such as Usage? Support? Referrals and Renewals? What percent of our budget is spent in each area? SWOT Activation Most every business is familiar with the SWOT analysis tool. It s a quick and simple way of revealing and clarifying your organization s strengths, weaknesses, and so on. What many teams fail to do, however, is take the next step. What do we do about our situation? Next time you find yourself completing a SWOT analysis, include the final step: LBCD activation planning: Leverage our Strengths by Strengths Weaknesses Build against our Weaknesses by Capitalize on our Opportunities by Opportunities Threats Defend against our Threats by 4

5 About Chief Outsiders Headquartered in Houston, TX, and silver winner of the American Business Awards Company of the Year, Chief Outsiders serves mid-sized companies from coast to coast with part-time CMO services. Chief Outsiders is unique among consulting firms, by working as part of the leadership team on a fractional or as-needed basis. Every engagement is supported by the entire team of partners through a unique peer review process. Unlike most marketing consulting firms, Chief Outsiders also believes that delivering a world-class marketing strategy on its own, creates very little value. The real value is created by helping the organization implement the growth vision. Chief Outsiders has been a premier source for marketing expertise, execution and leadership for companies such as i2c, AbsolutData, Bethyl Labs, Auto Load Logic and Riverside Company portfolio companies including OnCourseLearning, YourMembership.com and IDoc. If you are interested in learning more about how Chief Outsiders Tribe of experienced marketing executives can help you assess your situation and offer an informed perspective on how to approach your growth, request a complimentary consultation today. If you and your executive team have had this discussion and gone through the process, send us an with your feedback/comments. We always welcome inputs that can help us refine content. Contact: Pete Hayes at pete@chiefoutsiders.com

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