An environmental assessment is a critical part of any strategic planning process. Its purpose is to identify changes around your business that pose risks or opportunities for the business in light of its market position. The assessment follows the identification of Strengths and Weaknesses, creating the well-known SWOT Table. Too often, leadership teams forget the critical next step to the SWOT assessment – identifying the core strategic issues and questions facing the business. Richard Rumelt, a renowned strategist, argues in Good Strategy/Bad Strategy that “A strategy is a way through a difficulty, an approach to overcoming an obstacle, a response to a challenge” and a fresh way to build new competitive strength. Without identifying the strategic issues and challenges/opportunities, you bypass the thinking that can lead to an overarching strategy – a coherence of interdependent moves that together build success. For Walmart, the…
50 ways to lose your customers
Singer-composer Paul Simon’s classic song “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” is about an emotionally torn man who “struggles to be free” of his wife. He learns, from his mistress, “The answer is easy if you take it logically.” Her advice? “You just slip out the back, Jack. Make a new plan, Stan. You don’t need to be coy, Roy. Just get yourself free.” Companies usually don’t want to slip out the back, leaving their customers feeling dumped. But companies can unconsciously induce their customers to say goodbye to the company’s brands – in ways as swift and sure as the song’s recommendations. I won’t bore you with fifty ways, but here are seven sure-fire mistakes leaders make that lead their customers to “slip out the back” or “make a new plan.” 1. Placing profits before people and customer experiences. Financial outcomes are…