Posts

Marketing and Sales – Some Sales Are Simply Not Worth Making

Saying no to a saleSome business leaders aggressively pursue every sale believing them to be the ultimate key to corporate success. Sales, however, represent far more than just dollars and cents. In fact, the revenue generated through a sale is just the beginning of the overall financial impact on the business.

Sales say a lot about a company and profoundly impact its culture, reputation, and goals achievement. And while every business must sell a critical mass of products and services to survive and flourish, to whom, what, and how it sells greatly affects long-term success.


Hi there! This article is available for free. Simply register as a StrategyDriven Personal Business Advisor Self-Guided client by clicking here.

Already a client? Login to access this article.
 

Annual Alignment Review

Alignment of the key performance indicator systemJust as a well-developed organizational performance measurement system helps align an organization to the efficient achievement of its goals, a misaligned performance measurement system diverts focus and resources toward non-value-adding activities. Over time, existing projects finish and new initiatives begin; requiring performance measures within the system be changed. While these alterations are intended to support continued, effective business operation, they are often performed without a holistic view of the system and may have unintended adverse impacts. Therefore, it is prudent to conduct a holistic performance measurement system evaluation with frequency that is regular enough to minimize the damage misalignment can cause without being so frequent as to become overly burdensome.


Hi there! Gain access to this article with a StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription or buy access to the article itself.

Subscribe to the StrategyDriven Insights Library

Sign-up now for your StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription for as low as $15 / month (paid annually).

Not sure? Click here to learn more.

Buy the Article

Don’t need a subscription? Buy access to Organizational Performance Measures Best Practice 17 – Annual Alignment Review for just $2!

Recommended Resource – Built to Sell

Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You
by John Warrillow

About the Reference

Built to Sell by John Warrillow highlights the many factors preventing business owners from successfully transitioning away from their companies and how to resolve this situation. All too often, business founders embed themselves within the operational fabric of the company they create; setting it up for failure upon they departure. In his business novel, John defines the business characteristics and operating environment owners must establish in order to later remove themselves from the organization without its subsequent collapse. These include:

  • offering products and services employees or technologies can deliver in the owner’s absence
  • specializing in doing one thing better than anyone else
  • creating a stream of recurring revenue because customers need to repurchase often

Benefits of Using this Reference

StrategyDriven Contributors like Built to Sell because of its actionable insights presented in a easy-to-consume business novel format. Furthermore, we believe John’s principles of creating a successful business apply to enterprises of all sizes, whether public or private.

StrategyDriven Contributors have long warned against the practice of employing ‘working managers.’ (See StrategyDriven Warning Flag – Working Managers.) We feel management is the work of managers and that to focus on other tasks, particularly those that should be performed by subordinates, dilutes the manager’s ability to effectively manage; diminishing overall organizational performance and doing a disservice to both the manager and his/her staff. John’s book, Built to Sell, presents in principle the actions necessary for every manager to remove him/herself from the day-to-day work of the business so to allow him/her to manage. Subsequently, the manager can be replaced. In John’s book, the owner-manager can sell and transition away from the company without its failing. In a corporate setting, the manager can transition via promotion/transfer and the remaining organization continue to operate successfully.

We believe the principles presented in Built to Sell are broadly applicable and the book to be an invaluable read for managers at every organizational level. For its quality and actionable insights, Built to Sell is a StrategyDriven recommended read.

Resource Management – Value of Effective Resource Management

Value of Resource ManagementAll organizations are resource limited and it is this limitation that forces executives and managers to become effective at prioritizing the deployment of company assets or risk marketplace failure. This reality places effective resource management at the heart of what it means to be a StrategyDriven organization – the deployment of organizational resources for the optimal achievement of mission goals.


Hi there! Gain access to this article with a StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription or buy access to the article itself.

Subscribe to the StrategyDriven Insights Library

Sign-up now for your StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription for as low as $15 / month (paid annually).

Not sure? Click here to learn more.

Buy the Article

Don’t need a subscription? Buy access to Resource Management – Value of Effective Resource Management for just $2!

Risk Management Best Practice 3 – Procedure Annotation and Commitment Tracking

Cataloging Commitments and Managing Risk with ProceduresMaintaining compliance with regulatory requirements, industry guidelines, and organizational commitments is the responsibility of every employee. Compliance typically occurs on a day-to-day basis through the performance of common policies, processes, and procedures. Subsequently, most organizations embed the actions necessary to achieve compliance within their instructional manuals. Ensuring these actions are both followed and remain in place over time is key to a successful compliance program.


Hi there! Gain access to this article with a StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription or buy access to the article itself.

Subscribe to the StrategyDriven Insights Library

Sign-up now for your StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription for as low as $15 / month (paid annually).

Not sure? Click here to learn more.

Buy the Article

Don’t need a subscription? Buy access to Risk Management Best Practice 3 – Procedure Annotation and Commitment Tracking for just $2!