Gary Ryan Blair, author of “Everything Counts,” says, “A well-defined plan, properly executed, is your ticket to success. You significantly increase your odds of winning in any endeavor if you know who you are, what you want, where you are going, how you will get there, and what you will do when you arrive.”
Called one of the world”™s most influential thinkers on excellence and productivity, Blair continues, “Though it may seem like common sense, this fact is often overlooked: Your life will not go according to plan if you do not have a plan. As tedious as it may seem, effective planning ensures a greater sense of security in yourself and the actions necessary for success.”
Many Hudson Valley organizations don”™t have a business plan and are unfocused, undisciplined and unprepared. They repeat yesterday’s mediocre performance today, tomorrow, and the next day because they despise planning. Create an exciting future rather than repeating the past. Develop a plan that allows you to experience exceptional growth!
Planning is the continuing process of strengthening what works and abanÂdoning what does not. It is the ongoing process of making risky decisions, of setting objectives after having considered their possible effects. With systematic feedback and appraisal of performance results, adjustments are made as conditions change.
Customers can be both rewarding and ruthless. Customers will bountifully reward those businesses that serve them well. On the other hand, a customer will tell everyone, except the business itself, if it failed to meet their expectations.
In his bestselling book, “The Five Most Important Questions,” the late Peter F Drucker, widely considered to be the world’s foremost pioneer of management theory, reminds us, “To formulate a successful plan, you will need to understand each of your constituencies’ conÂcerns, especially what they consider results in the long term. To integrate what your customers value into your plan, you must listen to them, accept what they value as objective fact, and make sure the customer’s voice is always part of your discussions and decisions.”
In structuring a business or management plan critical questions must be answered. Why should a customer purchase your product or service rather than any other? What benefits will they enjoy from dealing with you that they won”™t get anywhere else? What is your unique selling proposition? What differentiates you and your business from all of your competitors? How much demand is there for your product or service, and how do you know if the demand is increasing, stable, or shrinking?
Simply stated, every customer is just like you and me, the only difference being what they define as quality. A.T. Cross, the pen company, is an excellent example of serving customers with different quality definitions. All its customers want a quality writing instrument with a lifetime guarantee. For some, wood or chrome, at a moderate price, is appropriate. Others want 18 carat gold.
Use of the three P”™s is critical.
- Proper
- Prior
- Planning
The primary advantages of using the three P”™s are that it costs very little and greatly enhances your opportunity for success. A properly completed business plan will put you on the path to joining the top tier of all businesses or professionals in your industry.
Questions for discussion:
Do we have a plan that is a concise summation of our organization’s purpose and future direction and explains why our customer will choose us over all others?
What will it take to write a plan that encompasses our mission, vision, goals, objectives, action steps, budget, and appraisal process?
Joe Murtagh is The DreamSpeaker, an international keynote speaker, meeting facilitator and business trainer. For questions or comments, Joe@TheDreamSpeaker.com, www.TheDreamSpeaker.com or call (800) 239-0058.
