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Competitors and partners are changing as well. New competitors emerge as older ones fade—or become stronger. Once powerful partners fall as new ones appear on our horizon. 

When we listen to our markets, evolving our plan becomes a natural endeavor.  Think about it.

• If your current market takes a nosedive,  you'd want to be ready to shift course, even if your plan said to stay the course. Wouldn't it be nice to do that ahead of the big nosedive?

• When you see a stronger tailwind in another market, you'd want to adjust your course to take advantage of that acceleration for market expansion. And it would be best to do it before another competitor grabs that opportunity, right?

• That emerging market you’ve been watching may be just what you need to grow. But your plan doesn't mention it.  Are you going to ignore it?

With that awareness, we can subtly evolve both our value and our market focus as we move forward.

How do we stay aware? Here are some ideas:

• Listen to customers.  If someone gives you negative feedback, don't dismiss it.  Pay attention.  That customer may be saving your business. Listen to them and change the plan if it needs to be changed. All the wishing in the world won't make customers love your new product if it's not lovable.

• Talk to  partners as well.  They can see issues and opportunities that you can't, thanks to their objectivity about your plan and your business. When a partner tries to tell you something needs work, listen objectively. Explore their perspective.  The more you understand your markets, the more likely your success.

• Bring in a few field reps who are working with customers and partners daily.  Gte them in on the early discussions of your plan. Listen and learn from their feedback.
  

• Pay attention to what's happening in your market.  That competitor just announced a product similar to yours?  Don't just go ahead and announce yours. You look like a 'me-too'.  Slow down and replan. Major customers are moving in a new and unexpected direction?  don't just assume the rest of your customers will follow your planned course! Take a hard look and realign your plan!

I was a typical goal-oriented, over-achiever for most of my younger life.  When I was first working as a sales rep for computing systems, I was over quota, always. Once I dug in, I wouldn't let go.  No matter what - I met the goals, delivered on my plan and far beyond. No matter what it took.

After a few years as a consultant, I realized that the plan is not always the plan.  At any point in time - we may find that plan is hugely  wrong. I learned that I have to be consistently open to, and aware of, that option. I had to be willing to step up and change my plan - and so did my clients.

Being too focused on the plan can cost us ultimate success.

Planning is a good thing.  Don't think I'm saying it's not.  We have to plan. The challenge is that human nature, and many of our reward systems, tend to reinforce the plan as the "be-all and end-all".  We forget that the plan is a means to an end.  The end is profitability, or however we define success.

The plan in and of itself is not success.  

Think back to the last time you were focused on a goal.  It can be personal or professional.

Now ask yourself.

• Were you focused on your success, or on successfully completing the plan?

• What if the goal changed, the market shifted, that product wasn't quite it was cracked up to be?  Did you change your plan or keep right on executing? 

Fruit of the Loom: Fruit of the Loom hit the wall prior to its acquisition by Berkshire Hathaway. Now, Fruit of the Loom is accomplishing a tough transition: they are evolving a company brand, changing the perception of a global marketplace and entering new markets - without dramatically changing their product fundamentals. That’s following your intuition!  They saw the signs of the underwear shift - create primarily by Victoria's Secret and designer brands. Yet there's a huge market of folks who don't want to pay designer prices for, well, underwear.  Fruit of the Loom followed those Signs.

• They expanded their offerings for men's underwear by simply adding colors and new styles.
• They broke into the women's market, specifically, the Victoria's Secret market - by adding comfie yet sexy and colorful designs for active women.
• They also brought comfortable and sexy underwear to full-figured gals who want to have fun too!   Talk about an under-served market.  And they grabbed at it.
• They expanded to include fun kids designs and colors.

SC Johnson:  SC Johnson understands the need to evolve with changing markets. Their Glade brand has evolved from sprays to Plugins to fancy Plugins and more. Recently SC Johnson saw a Sign. Those popular scented candles  we all love were expensive. That meant there was a segment of the market that might not want to pay the higher prices. So Glade offered their signature scents in candles, available at a much lower price point than boutique candles. We can buy them at the grocery store, the pharmacy, and even some 7-Elevens. SC Johnson mapped the value of Glade—great scents at affordable prices—to a newly emerging market for candles. Then they segmented a portion of the growing candle audience to serve, and they served it well.

SC Johnson makes a practice of following the Signs across their brands. Ziplocs were a lot less expensive and easier to use than the bulky Tupperware containers, and we didn’t have to wash
them! We just tossed them away. So easy! Ziploc enhanced that product through the years: the bags became stronger and freezer ready, the closure mechanism was supercharged. Then global warming became a big consideration in our lives. We all began to see the impact our plastic addiction
had on planet Earth. Suddenly those bags didn’t look so great anymore.  SC Johnson responded, taking their market full circle—back to the days of Tupperware, but with a new face;  light, flexible food-storage containers that we can use and reuse. Yet, they are so inexpensive we can send one home with our friends or to school with our kids. SC Johnson follows the changing Signs to evolve their products, and just look at their brand power!

These leaders prove it! Following the Signs isn't  difficult. 

It simply takes a commitment to pay attention - to our markets, our customers and most importantly - our own business intuition.  Are you ready to follow the Signs?

 -

 

I was on the KT lift at Squaw Valley when a friend said "Wow! Look at that!"  Directly above us, was a perfect 'X Marks the Spot' vision. My buddy joked, "Its a sign!  We're in the right place".

Funny thing is, I'd just been wondering if I was in the right place.  On this gorgeous spring morning, I was having a twinge of guilt. I was fretting that I should (there's that word) be back home working. I looked up, saw the 'sign' and got over that!  But then that got me thinking....

How many times do we see a 'sign' in business - and ignore it?

After all, signs are simply our imagination, right? The Force, and all that mumbo-jumbo stuff doesn't work in business. That's silly!   Or is it?

Signs are all around us. We choose not to pay attention to them. Sometimes the signs warn us of a threat to our business.  Sometimes they point the way to bigger opportunities. Sometimes they show us our own misdirected thinking.

Signs only show us the way when we listen.

Why do we ignore the signs? Why do we keep going along on our chosen path, looking straight ahead, neither left nor right? Even when signs are all around us -  frantically waving us to a new course - we'll keep on going.

What if we paid attention to the signs?

Yes, I've always received enough to have a good life, but never better than good. While I was helping clients and their investors make fortunes, I didn't allow myself to receive more than 'just enough'. everyone I know had a big hit. Everyone but me. Thanks to the Go-Givers, I learned that deep down, I didn't believe I was worthy to receive.  I gave and gave and gave - to clients, friends and family. But I felt I was only good enough to receive just a little back, thanks to some early childhood programming.   I'm correcting that belief as we speak, and so many blessings are flowing to me thanks to these great guys and their magical books!

So what does that have to do with business?

I wonder how many companies, executive teams and employees are blocking receiving in the same way I was?  Our business cultures have belief systems and habit patterns, just as we do individually. Companies develop beliefs based on leadership, market experiences and 'corporate legends'.

Often I'll walk into a turnaround and find a demoralized culture.  Executives are grousing about the board, managers are grousing about lack of resources and staff, employees are grousing about the free sodas that disappeared in the last belt-tightening. 

These businesses don't expect to be successful again anytime soon, mostly because they haven't experienced success recently. Part of any turnaround is changing that cultural belief pattern, starting with the leaders and working our way through the organization. I can tell you that the difference between a successful turnaround and a not-so-successful one can come down to leaders and their attitude about the future.  If leaders keep doing their imitation of Eyore, we're doomed to gloom.

Are we all stuck in a negative belief pattern?

Our most recent economic downturn shook the foundations of everyone's business. There's a negative pall cast over the marketplace. Has that negative past instilled a negative belief concerning our futures?

So let's ask ourselves. "What are we expecting in our business, right now? What are we talking about today?"

• Are we expecting to be in receipt of great success as the economy begins to rebound?

• Are we expecting to receive in our own business, even if the economy doesn't rebound for others?

• Do we expect the financial constraints of recent history to continue to control our future?

We must be open to receiving if we are to allow our success. 

Especially leaders.  I can't begin to reinforce that enough.  If leaders are grousing in executive meetings about the business - it sets a tone for the company's culture. It doesn't matter if you 'keep it behind closed doors'.  The tone is there and the culture will reflect it.  Your business culture will remain negative, and it will be difficult for you to receive - individually and as a business.

Are we focused on limiting our receiving thanks to yesterday's news?   Are our thoughts of future prosperity?  Only you can open the door to receive - personally, and as a business leader.