Meet As A Management Team

Too many companies simply don’t take the time to conduct long term planning, midterm planning, or even short term planning. The process is not difficult but it does require a mix of thoughtful review, dedication to improvement, and action.

The single most important advice I share with my clients (small to medium sized companies) is to conduct weekly management meetings separate from the day-to-day, impromptu sessions that pop-up to solve immediate issues and problems.

It is critical for business owners to take this time on a weekly basis to focus on strategic planning and the necessary tactics and processes required to achieve their goals. It is the concept of working ON your business, instead of always working IN your business.

The first step is to designate a specific day and time each week for this important meeting, allowing for a couple of hours to complete the tasks.

Here is a sample agenda outlining the topics to be considered:

1. Short and Long Term Strategic Planning (Reviewing your business model, and identifying upcoming short and long term opportunities and any changes or updates to your business strategy).
2. Marketing & Promotion (Identifying your resonating value proposition and the tactics you will use to build awareness and communicate to your target audiences).
3. Product and/or Service Review/Update (Recommending improvements and changes to current product and service offerings).
4. Operations & Equipment (Updating current operating procedures and the necessary equipment and tools required).
5. Human Resource Issues (Reviewing requirements for staffing,      necessary training and any problems relating to the management of your employees).
6. Financial (Analyzing the current financial health of the company, and financial requirements to achieve selected goals and objectives).
7. Next Steps (Identifying the activities to be performed and the individuals responsible prior to the next meeting. This serves to hold everyone accountable for their specific actions).

The “Suspend File:”

It is recommended each member of the executive team create a folder to collect items (ideas for new products, equipment, etc.), the discussion of which can be “suspended” until the next management meeting. This will guarantee important issues that come up during the week will receive the necessary time required for thoughtful discussion and analysis during the weekly management meeting.

For information on becoming more strategic with your business through the use of effective management meetings call us at 760-845-1633.

Do you have weekly management meetings?

Using Market Research to Find Out What You Don't Know

To be truly effective at marketing, it is important to understand your market(s) and target audience(s) as best you can.  The more you know about the market(s) – size and growth opportunities, competitive factors, market trends, industry issues; and the more you know about your target audiences - their wants and needs, interests and desires, challenges and concerns - the greater the likelihood of your success in your marketing and sales campaigns.

To gather this information you will need to conduct market research.  Market research will help you to avoid costly mistakes as you prepare to launch new products and services or expand into current or new markets.

                                                                                       

There are two main types of research – secondary and primary.

Secondary Research:

This research is conducted using information that has already been captured and compiled.  Sources such as the US Government, Chambers of Commerce, Trade Associations, and Research institutes and organizations provide a wide variety of information and insight into industries, markets and audiences.  You can locate this information at your local library, online through the Internet, from trade publications and magazines and other materials.

Secondary research sources are usually the best place to start in your search for information.  Many of the Government materials are provided free of charge or at a low cost.  If you belong to a Chamber of Commerce or Trade Association you should be able to enjoy the reduced prices provided through your membership.

Secondary Research Sources:

• US Government 
• US Department of Labor
• US Census Bureau 
•  US Department of Commerce

• International Agencies 
•  Foreign Governments 
• The General Press 
•  Archives of Newspapers & Magazines

• Industry Journals 
•  The National Directory of Magazines

• Trade Associations (Speak to the research staff as well) 
•  Trade Publications

• Public Company SEC Filings
• Investment Brokerages & Information Services 
• Library Reference Desk 
• Newsgroups & UseNet (Online discussion groups)

Although secondary research is considered to be less expensive than primary research, there are other considerations at play.  Secondary research is often not as accurate or useful since the information is not customized to the specific research issue at hand.  For example, secondary research can provide you with the amount of money spent on women’s jeans in a given year, but it cannot tell you how much money women are willing to spend on your particular jean design.  That information will have to be derived from primary research.

Primary Research:

This research is geared to your specific issue at hand.  How will your customers respond to your proposed new packaging?  At what price should you set for your product or service?  How should you communicate the benefits of using your product to the target audience?  These are all questions that can be answered through the use of primary research.

The objective of primary research is to answer as many of your specific questions regarding the market, the audience and your products/services as possible before you launch your marketing and sales campaigns.  This can be accomplished through the use of the following primary research tools: focus groups, surveys, field tests, interviews or observation.

As you might guess, professional primary research can be expensive.  Focus groups can run anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 per group.  Surveys can cost from $5,000 to $25,000 or more.  However, it is possible to conduct your own “do-it-yourself” primary research.  The key is to understand the limitations of this form of research and to be careful not to read too much into the results.

Focus Groups:

When conducting a focus group, the first order of business is to determine your objectives for the research.  What, exactly, do you wish to discover through this process?  If you want to understand what would motivate your audience to purchase the product or service, it will be important to bring together a small group of people (8 to 10) that represent your target group.  Gather them around a table or in a comfortable setting and either record and/or videotape the session. 

Take time to prepare and formulate your questions so as not to bias the participant’s responses.  Realize the facilitator will greatly impact the success or failure of your focus group.  This person will be keeping the participants relaxed, yet focused on the task at hand, without jeopardizing the spontaneity of ideas and information flow that can come from these sessions.

You will be amazed with the information you uncover.  Keep in mind you may need to conduct more than one focus group in order to get a better handle on the issues in question.

Surveys:

Surveys are conducted all the time – via the Internet, over the phone, in person and through the mail.  The most effective surveys take place in a face-to-face situation.  The second most effective is the telephone survey.  Internet surveys can be helpful, but they are difficult to track and the nature of the medium makes it complicated to follow-up with a question on a particular response.  This is also the problem with surveys conducted through the US mail.  It is challenging to obtain sufficient response rates and even more problematical to follow-up on specific answers.

As with a focus group, it will be important for you to determine your research objectives before you develop your survey and select the method of delivery.  Many small companies will create a simple survey they can administer to another person (face to face) in 5 to 10 minutes.  This provides the researcher the important opportunity to ask follow-up questions that might lead to real understanding.

Primary & Secondary Research:

Smart companies will utilize both methods of research.  They often begin with secondary research and then use selected primary research tools to fill in the missing answers.  In this way, companies are able to obtain a wide variety of information that will help them to be successful in their chosen markets.