Achieving a successful turnaround is much easier said than done. For a small business without access to government bailouts, Wall Street lines of credit, or national media campaigns, the challenge may seem downright impossible.
In the next 10 steps, I want to share a simple sequence for managing a marketing-focused line of business.
1. Meet with key leaders (and board of directors or advisors, if applicable)
Before any change program can take place in a company, there must be absolute honesty about why things are where they are. A management team that is grounded in reality is an absolute must for the process to end well.
2. Meet with employees
Discussing the new situation with employees is often one of the most anxious aspects of executing a business change strategy. The dangers are definitely real. Vital talent can jump ship or productivity-sapping misunderstandings can arise about the recovery plan.
My most important recommendation is that you engage employees during the formative phases of the planned changes by developing clear metaphors and arguments that illustrate your company’s strategic challenges and the set of strategic choices you face.
3. Meet with key customers
Meet with key customers (or call them) and find out what their priorities are. Determine if your business model and marketing strategy are clearly differentiated and perceived as uniquely valuable. If you find that this is not the case, your first project is to develop a new branding strategy and unique selling proposition (USP).
4. Scan competitors
Never ignore your competitors when crafting a new strategy or identifying a new marketing message. Mine your customers for competitive intelligence. Benchmark your competitors to identify areas of strength from which you can learn or if your organization needs to create further divergence from your strategies.
5. Renegotiate provider terms and financing terms
Make a list of your key providers and approach each one to negotiate new terms. Don’t be afraid to put pressure on your suppliers. Look for new terms in areas like pricing, volume pricing, customization, value-added services, deeper integration with your systems, and more.
You can also try sharing the nature of your challenges with the provider. Before taking this approach with a provider, verify that your request does not result in a negative result such as a downgrade of your terms or credit status. Do not share confidential information if you believe that sharing that information could have adverse consequences.
6. Develop a strategic marketing plan
Developing a strategic marketing plan is one of the most effective ways to execute a business change. An effective strategic marketing plan is expressed as a comprehensive marketing system within a company. It gives you greater management control by making marketing results predictable and predictable.
7. Create a strategic operating plan from your marketing plan
Asking the right questions can help you create a new strategic plan from your refined marketing direction. Some of these questions include:
- What key strategic relationships can you turn into quick alliances for demand generation or cost reduction?
- What human, technical, productive and financial resources are needed to fulfill the promises of your USP or brand positioning strategy?
- Are the people you currently have up to the task in skills, attitude and motivation?
- What will be the key processes needed to deliver on your new strategy?
- How will you link the new strategy to your human resources strategy, processes and available technologies?
- Will the new strategic plan be enough to meet your profit or revenue goals?
- What specific programs and projects will ensure that the new strategic plan is executed?
- What milestones or deadlines are associated with the strategic programs and projects?
- Who is responsible for which program? Do you know and do you agree?
Use a rigorous process of questioning, debating, analyzing, and monitoring to ensure that your strategic plan is grounded in reality and truly actionable.
8. Implement your strategic marketing plan
Never try to execute a strategic marketing plan until you’ve verified that your people and operational capabilities are up to the challenges of your strategy and message.
9. Renegotiate financing conditions
Successful renegotiation of your financing is often the result of gaining the trust of your bank or financial partners. Armed with all the research that went into your strategic marketing and operational plans, you can go to your financial backers and ask for new terms or more money.
They will need to hear detailed and insightful explanations of why the restructuring effort was necessary and how the new direction will succeed.
10. Develop a strong organizational communication system
Business leaders increasingly recognize that the key discipline that differentiates successful companies from their struggling counterparts is a culture of execution. Strategic execution succeeds or fails on the quality of organizational communication.
Create reporting systems that provide more frequent KPIs. Develop a consistent schedule of strategy sessions that encourage debate, punish inactivity, encourage intelligent failure, and hold people publicly accountable.