Creating a “symbiotic one voice” approach across functions in the organization, ensures a “Customer Centric” approach to both internal and external customers, it reduces hand offs and gaps in accountability by integrating Finance, Operations, Marketing and Sales. This speeds up decision making, reduces errors and increases alignment to common objectives.
Corporate planning can not be viewed as events in time but must be approached as a cyclical discipline.
It includes such disciplines as:
A close cousin of integrated business planning, this represents the execution and application of the strategies developed to ensure consistent and measurable actions and results. Grounded in Category Management, Path to Purchase and Consumer Decision Tree principles. It truly is the intersection of the Customer and Consumer plans. It is where the consumer becomes the shopper and conversion happens at shelf.
Tools available are:
Creating a plan without contingencies is a wish. By incorporating an “outside looking in approach” it will help you uncover blind spots, think like your customer or competition and break out innovative solutions that could go unnoticed.
These can include approaches such as:
The glue to hold everything together. Proper training and facilitation of skills and disciplines ensures understanding and buy in across the organization. Focusing on your organizations skill sets and personal development will increase engagement, retention and results.
Examples of Skill Set focus: