The world in which we now live


"In today's new world economy a week is a long time and 3 months is a life time"

Today every Chief Executive and Managing Director needs to demonstrate that they are delivering 'best in class' performance. In order to do this they must demonstrate organic growth in a difficult environment and under increasing pressure. One of the fastest, simplest ways to do this is to sanction an external review of the sales and marketing process. New organisations have been set up, not only to make recommendations, but also to help deliver them in rapid time-scales.

Focus

It is no coincidence that most of the organisations that have continued to prosper through the last few difficult years have been those that

• Have a clear vision of what they are, where they are going and how they are going to get there
  
  
• Have ruthlessly evaluated the skills of the organisation to ensure they are fit for the intended purpose
  
  
• Have ensured that all elements of the organisation drive towards one common goal.

There is a well-known story that clearly demonstrates the point. Apparently, on a visit to the NASA space centre, JFK spoke to a man sweeping up in one of the buildings. "What's your job here?" asked Kennedy. "Well Mr President," said the sweeper, "I'm helping to put a man on the moon".

The Team

"I have a talented squad but their strength is that they play as one team"
Sir Alex Ferguson is renowned as a strict disciplinarian and a thoughtful tactician - a man skilled at getting the most out of his team.

In 1986 "Fergie" was struggling as a leader. He had acquired a new squad but as Manchester United was not climbing the table fast enough, he was under pressure. Like many of today's business leaders there was talk that if he didn't demonstrate success in rapid time-scales then he would have to go.
His tactics were to demonstrate "Quick Wins" and convince the board that he was executing a strategic plan. History shows that success builds upon success and in this "growth" environment, the talent of Sir Alex's team-building skills became increasingly evident. As the team started winning, he recruited better and better talent. From the basis of a good side he strove to build a great squad full of world-class players - "The best in the business". The rest is history. Ask yourself the questions, "Do I have a world class team?" "If I was starting from scratch, how many of my team would make the squad?"

"Success doesn't just happen. You have to make it happen"

In business your goal may not be to put a man on the moon or win a European cup but your business goals must be something you believe in and ruthlessly strive for. Do you have clarity and passion? Do your people understand and deliver their part of the strategy or do they just work to pay the bills? These are critical questions. After working with many IT companies I believe they are the key to defining what a company is all about, and to creating real competitive advantage.

"An outsider looking in will see things that have blinded you for years"

In order to drive success it is important to look at all elements of the business operation and ensure that they are all functioning as one coherent operation or "Team". As well as looking at the individual elements it is vitally important to look at the SYNCHRONISATION between the different aspects of the business. We call these synchronised elements G-FORCES but they have many names. There is a HUGE advantage in looking at these elements from an outside perspective. Examples of the G forces in operation are

• Marketing - Is our marketing strategy correct for our product direction? Are we spending too much? Are we spending enough?
  
  
• People - Do we have the best possible people available in the market?
  
  
• Sales Management - Are the right processes in place to ensure that our sales-force is delivering at optimum performance. Do they correctly articulate our value proposition?
  
  
• Commission plans - Is our plan the best we can design, is it simple? Does it drive the right kind of behaviour?
  
  
• Lead generation - Do we have enough leads? Are the leads right for our product set? Are we paying the right price per lead?
  
  
• Resources - Do we have the right delivery resources available to help us win more business? Are our current projects profitable?
  
  
• Cost profiles - Are we "best in class" in everything we do?

Timescales

The IT industry has long used the concept of time-boxed delivery for service offerings - breaking large projects into "bite sized chunks" and delivering each one independently but as part of an overall plan. In the last year it has been proved that this same technique is incredibly efficient for delivering rapid change in sales organisations. All business change is categorised in terms of business benefit and broken into individual time-boxes. Each time-box is delivered within 30 to 60 days. By using this technique you can alter the dynamics of a business and improve success rates within a quarter. Recent projects have confirmed that you can increase revenue and positively influence share price.

"We re-focussed our entire sales effort for a very reasonable cost"

"The new analyst presentation used the same content but the delivery was so much better. We saw an immediate increase in the share price"

Summary

By using the techniques described it is now possible to

·• Increase Sales
·• Increase the profitability of orders
·• Increase shareholder value

- In less than 90 days!

External reviews are now unquestionably a tool for the successful executive and used regularly by some of the industries top CEO's.

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