5 Steps to Making Your Strategic Initiatives a Reality

Step 1 – Set the Right Goal. The reason so many companies get stuck is because of the enormous amount of energy required by each employee each day to run the day-to-day operations of the business. Your employees only have so much time and energy to devote to strategic initiatives. Therefore, we find it best to focus on only one goal over a twelve-month basis. What is the one goal that, if achieved, would have the most impact on your business?

Step 2 – Set Objectives. After you have determined what one goal would be most impactful to getting your business to the next level, the next step is to set objectives. Objectives are milestones that pave the way to achieve your goal. For example, if your goal is to increase sales 20%, then your milestones could be to add sales professionals, provide your sales team training on how to get new clients, or outsource your lead-generation task to an effective marketing outsourcer.

Step 3 – Select the Right Strategy. We define strategy as determining the “how” on making your goal a reality. In other words, we believe strategy is the vehicle or the mechanism necessary to train your sales team, outsource your lead-generation business process, or increase your sales team’s productivity. For example, if you are looking to increase sales 20 percent, a strategy could be to first identify who your best clients are so you can duplicate them. Another strategy could be to create your unique selling proposition so your sales team can articulate your company’s products or services in a manner that attracts the right leads to your business.

Step 4 – Create Your Plan. A plan is a detailed list of what needs to be accomplished, by whom, and by what date. By having a list of tasks for everyone to see, this gives each of your employees absolute clarity on what they need to achieve and by when so you can track the progress of your goal. Without having a plan, we find that people are confused as to what their roles are and then strategic plans go awry.

Step 5 – Action. As important as steps 1 through 4 are, this last step is the catalyst that makes it all happen. After the plan is created and your team buys into your business goal, the next step is to hold your team accountable to make sure your employees are executing the plan. We find the best way to do this is to have your managers and directors record their weekly progress and develop an executive summary so you can track their progression. This gives you the peace of mind that it is being worked on and it also allows you to make adjustments along the way.