THE WOLF

I was once standing quite alone on the frozen banks of the Yampa River high up in the Rocky Mountains not far from where I lived in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It was January and it was cold -- about minus 20 degrees. A fresh powder snow had fallen during the night on the Western Slope and everything was white. The Aspen trees blended with the snow and there was no wind. It was absolutely still without any signs of life around the frozen river. As I watched the woods on the opposite bank I looked from one side to the other, and then stopped. I was looking dead on at a very large silver gray wolf.

Uh, Oh, I thought to myself. I was over a mile from my car and had traveled in on foot. My only thought was, I wondered how thick that ice really was?

When you think about marketing, think of the wolf.

Good marketing, like the wolf, is always there, half hidden, watching, and sniffing the wind for danger – like competitors invading your territory. Just like marketing, when necessary the wolf is prepared for fierce battle - defensive to protect their territory, or offensive to gain territory.

In marketing terms - to increase market share. Wolves travel in packs to work together to achieve a certain objective -- such as food so they can survive. They also defend themselves as a pack. So the next time you think about the wolf, think about your marketing program.

 Is your company prepared for battle? Whether it’s a design business or a construction business, you have competition. Competitors are constantly evading your territory. They want your business and are spending money to get it.

 Your competition is just like you, they provide a service that they feel is better than their competition (that's you); they have a network of relationships out there that they are constantly expanding in an effort to get into your market, and they have growth plans. They work in packs with several people taking on the responsibilities of getting more business. Their goal is to take away your business. Like the wolf, you must be prepared for battle. And it isn't getting any easier.

With the Internet, a small upcoming construction company or design firm can take on larger firms head-on. Internet sites can sometimes be misleading, but one thing is for sure, they have one goal, and that is, to engage a prospect, maybe your prospect, in a conversation. Once their foot is in the door, astute business developers start a relationship process that may be very difficult to stop.

Even tougher if the business developer is able to surround their services with VALUE that they provide from day one. Is your company constantly surveying the market to find out what is out there and what is happening that might affect you? When was the last time you did a survey of your clients? When was the last time you developed market research material that can help you focus on developing trends, such as changes in population or shifting economic climates.

This research can help you better assist you in making key strategic decisions. Is your company constantly sniffing the wind for danger, like the wolf? Is your company expanding its territory? Expansion is serious strategic move. It’s expensive as it requires setting up an entire new office that requires manpower. To be done correctly it must be planned far in advance. But expansion also provides the opportunity for the competition to step in the back door of your existing territory as you are focused on the new territory. So, like the wolf, you must constantly be alert.

Does your company work together like a wolf pack? For example, I was talking with a general contractor in California and I asked how he managed his company. His response to my question was that he sets people up to fail, and that gives him the edge to hammer the employees. This is astounding. I asked wouldn't it be better to set a course where there is a chance for everyone on your team to win. In other words, instead of setting the stage for a disaster, wouldn't it be better to have company goals and objectives that everyone has a chance to meet.

This is an example of companies that have a hidden goal where they set the plan several bars above what they really want, and that way, they can keep the pressure on the staff. The actual effect is a disastrous hit on morale as well as employee turnover. Ever have someone out of the blue just leave? These are serious indications that a business is suffering from mismanagement. Of course, with so many companies not having a clear set of company goals and objectives, this is not a problem.

 But when you use a business plan to set the company goals, they must be ones that can be met. Three scenarios will happen:

One, you will meet the goals,

Two, you miss the goal, or
Three, you exceed the goal.

If you meet the goal, you can set the bar higher given the right conditions. If you miss the goal, you can discover the reasons why in a financial, operations and marketing debriefing. If you exceed the goal, then it is an indication you’re hitting your mark with the programs that you have in place, and it supports a reason to be more aggressive with your future planning. So now, the following year, you can look at the last several years' financial statements, and say, "this is the plan." It’s based upon:

• The current economic conditions and environment

• The prior year’s performance

• The amount of money to be invested in marketing

• Specific marketing programs

A plan must be based on all of the above. It must reflect the capital investment, the status of current marketing programs, current economic conditions and past performances. If the economy is going south, then a company must reflect that in their proforma financial projections. The important point is to make sure that a company follows the economic trend. Of course, it would be nice for a company to set record earnings in a down economic time, but the fact is, in order to do this, there must be three conditions:

• The firm must be strategically well positioned, like the territory of a wolf

• The firm must work at a team, like a wolf pack

• The firm must have back-up plans after back-up plans, like a defensive wolf.

BUSINESS PLANNING is a tool whereby realistic goals and objectives are set that can be met and where success can be shared by all. Business Planning is not a hammer.

For information on BACKUP PLANS, see “The Law of the Billiard Table”

http://www.compassconsultantscorp.com/Billiards.html

FOR MORE INFORMATION, go to www.compassconsultantscorp.com