Hey!
Let’s take a quick look at some questions to ask yourself if you are thinking about your team’s strategy…
Share Dave Wakeman’s Business of Value
These are the kinds of questions we cover in ‘The Whiteboard Workshop’ and having been guiding my thinking about strategy going forward.
What does success look like?
This is the foundation of strategy.
If you don’t know what success look like, you will get drawn into the every action is a good action behavior that steers businesses very wrong.
Who is really buying this?
You need to know the person that is really going to sign off on the deal.
There might be buying committees, purchase agents, and more…but I’ve always found that there is one person that is the ultimate decision maker.
You need to know who the person that signs off is because their needs from your product or service is likely to alter how you position your offer.
Why us?
This is about value proposition.
But, more importantly, it is about differentiation and competitive advantage.
You don’t want to sell a me too offering.
You need to sell the benefit and the benefit that allows you to stand out and be unique in your market.
There are tons of alternatives for almost every offering. You have to fight for the level of differentiation.
Those are the foundations. Let’s take a look at a few more to dig deeper.
What is changing?
We focus on change, but we also need to dig deep into whether change is really happening or not.
What is really changing?
What is staying the same?
Even when everything is going in all directions at once, there are still going to be things that are consistent.
Are there relevant trends to pay attention to?
What do these trends show you?
What do these trends mean to your business?
What do my customers value?
These is different than want or need.
You need to understand what they value.
Then, you can create offers that will really hit home with them.
I could go on, but these are some good jumping off points.
Do these questions help?
Let me know.
Dave
PS. I’m doing a free webinar with AudienceView on June 1st at 1 PM Eastern on brand management for ticket sellers.
I also wrote a piece for retailers in Australia and New Zealand on relative differentiation in jewelry.