Strategy – Operations – Sales & Marketing

Incorporating a Strategic Business Alignment System will make your entire company a unified and superior functioning business.  You will optimize your whole organization and create one big effective VALUE CHAIN for your chosen target market(s).  If applied correctly, you will stand out from your competitors and establish your business as the logical & obvious "go to solution" for your clients!

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. 

Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”

Sun Tzu – The Art of War

The quote taken from The Art of War by Sun Tzu exemplifies how critical the element of strategy is to war and certainly to any business.  In essence, its the foundation of what your entire organization needs to do to fulfill its overriding purpose as a company.  Without this critical first element solidified, you would not be able to effectively outline the optimal steps or tactics that would give you the desired results.  As the second part of the quote grimly predicts...without strategy first, you will be facing ultimate defeat. 

Business strategy is an essential part of any successful business. It helps to define the direction of the company, set goals and objectives, and create a plan for achieving them. It also helps to identify potential risks and opportunities, as well as how to best avoid and/or capitalize on them. A good strategy should be communicated clearly throughout the organization so that everyone understands it and can work together towards its implementation. By having a clear strategy in place, businesses can ensure that they are making informed decisions that will help them achieve their overriding purpose and reach their goals in the most efficient way possible.

In the Strategic Business Alignment Value Chain, the role of strategy placed in a paramount position is obvious.  This is because there have been numerous examples through industry research that show how not focusing on this strategy factor first, significantly effected a negative business situation.

Henry Ford, Industrialist

Operations incorporate essential resources, systems and capabilities of the business. Several areas that would fall under this category are; core competencies, management systems, operational certifications, quality control, process systems, physical resources, human resources, raw material procurement, the flow of raw materials to finished goods, finished goods to destination and information technology.

Operations are an incredibly important component of any business, as it is responsible for the day-to-day running of the organization. It is essential for businesses to have efficient operations in order to ensure that they are able to meet customer demands and remain competitive in their respective markets. Operations also plays an important role in helping businesses achieve their goals and objectives, as well as providing them with the necessary resources and tools to do so. By having effective operations, businesses can maximize their profits and minimize costs while still providing quality products or services. Operations also help businesses stay organized and efficient, which can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. In short, operations is essential for any business that wants to succeed in today's competitive market. .

In the Strategic Business Alignment Value Chain, operations are vital as one of the three base elements.  Unfortunately the lack of proper operational business alignment has been the culprit of numerous examples through industry research and has significantly contributed to many negative business situations.

“Get closer than ever to your customers.  

So close, in fact, that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.”

Steve Jobs, Entrepreneur

Aligning sales and marketing is an important step to ensure that the company is maximizing its potential to grow and properly communicating its value based message to the correct targeted audience. The sales team is a crucial part of the company as they are responsible for generating sales and revenue. The marketing team, on the other hand, focuses on building awareness and brand equity.

Brand equity is vital as it’s the commercial value that derives from consumer & business perception of the brand name of a particular product or service, rather than from the product or service itself.  The two teams are different in their objectives but they can work together to achieve common goals such as; bringing new contacts and opportunities; establishing trust with prospective customers; closing contracts and deals; and ultimately generating revenue.

Misalignment between sales and marketing entities has been an issue in many businesses for some time.  Not having strong synchronization between these two extremely important mutual forces will definitely prevent optimal results for the company's brand position and new sales opportunities. In fact, it will cause many problems including; immense frustration, wasted time; customer trust & loyalty; money; pointless energy; and will derail the consistent reliable growth path of your organization.

In the Strategic Business Alignment Value Chain, sales & marketing is indispensable in the frontline and long-term company position for success.  Regrettably, the lack of alignment harmony in this last of the three elements concludes with additional astonishing industry research data points.

Strategic Business Alignment will help an organization REALLY WIN by a well-managed coordination of all aspects of its 3 business elements working in unison for its primary purpose, a one True Value Chain for its targeted market. 

However, the Value Chain is only as strong as its weakest link! There may be a tendency to only focus on one of the three areas to the exclusion of the other two.  The key for your optimized business success is the ALIGNMENT of how they ALL dovetail and work together!