| 5. What is our strategy for collecting information about competitors, target customers and market trends? |
- How can we get more good information rather than just more information? What’s your aim in collecting the information you value – why that information?
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- Whose input are we leaving out here? (Who in our company has different perspectives on our market and should be included in this conversation?)
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- Where does our intelligence come from? Are our best people gathering it?
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- Is our focus on – what has happened – on what’s happening currently – on what’s going to happen?
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| 6. How do we want our associates to relate to each other and to our customers? |
- What’s the message that we want them to communicate by how they treat each other?
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- How are we going to get everyone on the same page in this regard?
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- What are the barriers in how we do things now that get in the way of how we want people to act day-to-day?
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| 7. What is the thinking behind the locations, ambiance, cleanliness, and look of our points of sale? |
- Are the choices based upon history or strategy?
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- When were these choices last reconsidered? Could we gain advantage by questioning the assumptions that drove these decisions last time?
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- How can they be improved and better aligned with our value proposition?
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| 8. How do we communicate our brand to our customers and to the workers in our company? |
- Consider how different people in different positions need to communicate a message that is clear and consistent across the organization.
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- How effective is our organization at clearly and consistently communicating our message to the world outside of our walls?
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- How well do our people share necessary information with each other?
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- How well do they listen to outside voices? How do we know?
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| 9. How and what should we measure about the performance and preferences of our customers, competitors, and our employees to help us create competitive advantage? |
- Consider these issues fully. Think outside the box.
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- How do we measure customer satisfaction?
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- How do we measure customer loyalty? Do we gather information about former customers?
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- Do our sales folks blame the customers for leaving or for falling sales within a customer, or are there actionable issues that, if dealt with, can save/increase a customer’s business?
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- What other measures besides sales volume could give valuable feedback about our relationship with our customers?
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