Everything today is centered around strategy, planning, technology, and speed.
Marketing plans are critical. Business plans are imperative. Sales strategies are a must and technology resides at the center of everything. Why don’t our plans always work?
We spend a lot of time putting our marketing plan together. We research, we review data and market trends, we form opinions and conclusions that make sense, and then craft our strategy accordingly.
Before starting a business, we test the market. We often run pilot tests to measure results. We share our idea with lots of people and companies, seeking feedback to help us with our decision process. We evaluate competition and determine where and how our product or service can outperform and compete. We formulate forecasts and revenue models to validate our vision and business plan.
Our sales strategies are well thought out. Our approach is based off past results of what has and has not worked. We make appropriate and necessary changes to our strategy and approach to combat identified shortcomings of the past. We craft impressive PowerPoint presentations, redo our website, update old sales tools, create new effective ones, and adjust our pricing model accordingly. We develop sales forecasts that we confidently believe we can achieve.
We want to get to market faster than our competition. We strive to look more professional and more qualified today than we did yesterday. We present images of our company that say, “we are the best choice, we are the best fit, we are the most qualified”.
We put lots of work into these areas. We do not move forward unless we are comfortable and confident that our research, data, hypothesis, and forecasts are accurate. When we do pull the trigger, we move forward with confidence.
With all this planning, effort, data analysis, forecasting, and strategy, why don’t our plans always result in meeting our forecast or expectations? Something seems to be missing.
What is it?
Strategy, planning, technology, and speed are all ingredients to drive success. Strategy today is critical. Every move today is important. We do not have the luxury of misfires. Planning is a must as we cannot afford mistakes, omissions, or simply outright mismanagement. Technology, well without we simply cannot compete. Efficiency, speed, and doing more with less cry out from all corners of our businesses.
I think we all agree, strategy, planning, technology, and speed are all necessary ingredients for success. The question however is, are they enough? Is there a missing ingredient or other ingredients that must be in the recipe? I think we can easily identify other necessary ingredients like management, reporting, data analysis, and the right personnel are a just a few. And yes, there are more. However, there is one ingredient I want to focus on.
The ingredient I am referring to is one ingredient. However, this ingredient encompasses so many other ingredients. What I am describing is kind of like a multivitamin. It is one pill, one supplement, but it includes many other benefits. The ingredient I am referring to is the same. This one ingredient is a game changer. The ingredient I am referring to is Discipline.
I think we often lack discipline inside our companies. We spend lots of time putting plans, strategy, and technology in place. Often, that is the easy part. However, just because you put something in place does not mean it will automatically perform. One of the best examples of this is CRM software. CRM is a great tool. It is filled with features and benefits designed to make us better.
Companies implement CRM to improve sales. They implement CRM to improve efficiencies and processes, more effectively manage data, and provide better reporting and better forecasting. However, most companies struggle with user adoption. Consequently, CRM often does not improve anything. In fact, in some cases it may have made things worse because some people use it religiously, some use it occasionally, and some do not use it at all. Data is still a mess and we cannot rely on our reporting because not everyone is disciplined to use it like it is designed.
The ingredient we are missing is discipline. We are not disciplined to hold people accountable to do their job. To effectively execute a process, a system, a plan, or a strategy, requires discipline. Discipline requires making tough decisions. Discipline requires addressing things when they are not meeting expectations. Discipline requires time, energy, and effort.
When sales and marketing are not meeting expectations, we must be disciplined to address it. We cannot wait until end of year and then address it. We must be disciplined to address it each month, each quarter and make appropriate decisions along the way. When we are not getting the data or reporting out of CRM the way we planned or wanted, we must be disciplined to identify why and make changes where necessary.
Discipline requires holding people accountable. If an employee is not doing what needs to be done, if a sales rep is not meeting goals and expectations, we must be disciplined to address the reasons why. Discipline requires being on top of the critical areas of your company. Discipline requires stepping out of our comfort zone and stepping into the fire.
Your marketing plan may be the best plan available. Your sales strategy may be dead on. Your technology may be exactly what you need. However, if you do not have discipline to manage each of them, it does not matter.
Marketing, sales, and technology are not plug and play. CRM does not work by itself. We must be disciplined to use it the way it was intended. Marketing plans do not execute themselves. We must be disciplined to carryout the plan and make necessary adjustments along the way. Sales don’t just happen. We must be very disciplined to do the small things today and every day to achieve the results we want tomorrow.
Discipline is what separates success from mediocrity. Discipline does not just happen. It is tough. It requires a lot of work, energy, and effort. Then again, when sales and marketing plans do not work and technology falls short, that too takes a lot of work, energy, and effort. Personally, I would rather spend my work, energy, and effort on being proactive vs. reactive.
Discipline is critical. Disciplined forces us to hire the right candidate for the job. Disciplined compels us to address inefficiencies promptly. Discipline enforces accountability. Discipline demands making tough decisions, even in difficult situations. Discipline is an ingredient that is sprinkled into your casserole of business every day.
Discipline drives success.
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