Every business is different, and before solutions must come understanding. I’ve used simple checklists through hundreds of discovery sessions to gain understanding of the key issues fast. These checklists then act as a launch point for generating profitable ideas.
The goal is to gain understanding of your business at three levels – Strategic, Tactical, and Operational.
Strategic – Point A to Point B
Where are you on the map in relation to the market and your competition?
Where do you want to be on the map?
Understanding this is the foundation to making progress. I use a simple (but not easy) two sentence positioning exercise that will help you see better where you are, and where you need to be.
Tactical – Tools and technique
How credible does your business and its identity look from the outside? Do you really know?
Key messages – what are they, and do they map well to your positioning? How will you communicate them?
All the expensive advertising in the world cannot overcome a poor business identity, or weak messages. Getting this right means positive first impressions, and ones that will last.
Operational
What, who, and when?
Ground support – If you can’t do it all yourself, what minimum resources and expertise do you need to succeed? And where do you find them?
A plan
This checklist approach identifies the key issues, and provides the necessary information to start generating solutions and creating a plan together, which could include:
- A fresh business positioning & brand strategy
- Improved communication, social media, sales and marketing strategies
- Awareness building blogs, websites, content publishing automation
- WordPress, Google Apps, Linkedin, Mailchimp, Facebook, Twitter set ups & technical assistance
- Professional presentations, slide shows, press kits, proposal templates, documents
Results
You’ll improve your chances of success, and have a little less stress.
I guarantee it.