Why Right Now May Be the Time To Adjust Your Growth Strategy

I’m not sure who first said this popular quote: “Hope is not a strategy.” (Who Said Hope Is Not a Strategy?)

In one of my favorite strategy books, Blue Ocean Strategy, the authors observe that companies are rarely open to changing their strategy because they are heavily invested in the status quo. 

What prompts a strategy change? A strong leader and/or a serious crisis.

Most companies are in a serious crisis. Some have seen a drop in revenue. Others have seen a dramatic increase of demand. In either case, this is time to reevaluate strategy. 

The fact is, most companies should have reevaluated their strategy long before the crisis. The inertia of a growing economy and relatively easy growth created an environment that leaders were reluctant to change.

Well, guess what? Things have changed. That means now is the time to evaluate our strategies.

How do you adjust your business strategy? (These are concepts I’m organizing as I prepare to lead a Revenue Growth Strategy Boot Camp this fall.)

Understand The Value You Currently Deliver To Your Ideal Clients

First, consider your current strategic position in the market. Where do you sit in the eyes of your ideal clients? What do they think about you? The goal is to clearly define the value that your clients get from using your product or service.

How do you do this? You go into your client’s office and observe. Watch how they interact with your product. Talk with them about the value they are receiving. Pay attention to the perspective of each decision maker and influencer.

Look For Addition Value You Could Offer

What business outcomes do your ideal clients and prospects want? What challenges are they facing? Just as your business has changed during the crisis, chances are their business has changed as well. The prize goes to the company that understands the shifts in what ideal clients value. 

Shift Your Outcomes Curve To Match

Every company has a list of benefits that they offer to clients. Some of these benefits are meaningful. Other benefits are not important to your clients and prospects. Rate each business outcome you deliver on a scale of 1-10. (Better yet, ask your ideal clients to do this!) Then, transfer that information to a line graph or bar chart. You now have your outcomes curve.

Once you discover the outcomes that your clients want, adjust your product and services offering to focus on the outcomes that your clients value. 

Look For New Sources of New Revenue

With an understanding of your new value curve you can look for new sources of revenue. As I discuss in Revenue Growth Engine, there are only two ways to grow revenue: get net-new clients and cross-sell more to your current clients. Your new value curve can be applied to both.

With net-new revenue growth, where can you find more clients that would value the outcomes you deliver? Could you grow geographically? Could you leverage the new acceptance of virtual selling and delivery? Could you take some of this online? Maybe you could sell your offering to different types of buyers.

With cross-sell growth, what else could you add to your product and services mix to help clients get the outcomes they want? 

Learn more about my book Revenue Growth Engine and get a copy HERE. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Darrell Amy is a growth architect, with a unique perspective on how to grow revenue. Most books are written from the perspective of either sales or marketing. Darrell brings both together to help companies develop and implement strategies to grow.

Darrell’s passion is to make the world a better place. Serving on the board of several non-profits, he has a front row seat to see the impact of financial gifts from successful businesses. Out of this, he helped launch the Grow4Good movement with the goal of helping 10,000 great businesses double revenue so they can grow employment while also giving back to their communities.

Over the past 25 years, Darrell has been deeply involved in both sales and marketing.  He has worked with hundreds of companies ranging from Fortune 100 organizations to local family-owned businesses. During that time, he’s trained thousands of sales people, most recently creating solutions sales training for a global technology company. He’s started several digital marketing agencies, helping companies implement inbound marketing strategies.

You may also contact Darrell at Leadership Speakers Bureau to schedule him for speaking or leadership engagements.