Over the last nine weeks, I introduced my Ebook 12 Steps to Business Transformation and I defined the first 9 of the 12 transformational steps. This week we are going to talk about steps 10, 11 and 12.
Steps 10 to 12 in my new Ebook “12 Steps to Business Transformation” deal with the outputs of your business which I call Outcomes. These are the resulting services or products that are created by your business.
- Step 10 is the actual Outcome. What has your business produced? Is it acceptable, not acceptable, substandard, above standard, on cost, over cost, on schedule, behind schedule, on spec, off spec, etc.
- Step 11 is the feedback that you are taking from the Outcome and sending back to the business for adjustments to improve the quality of the Outcome
- Step 12 is simply the ongoing, disciplined operation of your business . . . Basically, repeating Steps 9 to 11
12 Steps to Business Transformation
12 Steps to Business Transformation is founded on a simple business model and describes the 12 steps required to implement and execute on the model. The whole model is summarized in the Thinking Business Blueprint shown below. And, as mentioned above, this post deals with steps 10, 11 and 12.
I have written about different aspects of business Outcomes and feedback in several articles. I have listed a few examples below:
- What Does Ray Dalio Have to Do With Your Business?
- What is a SMAC Recipe?
- Six Steps to Business Dominance
- Are You Getting Beaten By The Tyranny of Small Decisions
Go ahead and spend some time and review these articles.
9 Warning Signs That Your Business is in Danger
The Outcomes of your business are what your customers pay for so it is in the best interests of your business to ensure that the Outcomes meet or exceed your customers’ expectations. Failure to adjust your business Outcomes to match the needs and demands of the marketplace marks the beginning of the end of your business!
The list of questions that you can ask to judge the effectiveness of your Outcomes is probably infinite! However, I have put together a list of nine questions to get you started thinking about your business outcomes:
- Does the product or service comply with the specification?
- Is the specification correct?
- Is the product or service under built?
- Is the product or service over built?
- Does the specification describe what the customer wants and needs?
- Is the customer happy with the product or service? Perhaps the business is producing something that the customer does not want!
- Is the business happy with the Outcome?
- Are costs in line with what was envisioned?
- Is the price that the customers are willing to pay generating the expected profits?
- Is the quality something that the business is proud of and will build their brand around?
- Are your customers recommending your products or services to other customers?
- Is your repeat customer percentage large (most great businesses see this well above 60%)?
- Are your staff and production facilities fully utilized and operating efficiently?
- Are the Outcomes fulfilling your Mission and driving you towards your Vision?
- Are your employees engaged and productive at work?
- Are your customers satisfied with their complete customer experience?
How Do You Use The Feedback To Improve Your Business?
If the answer to any of the above questions is not a resounding “yes”, you must adjust your business to improve the Outcomes. Again, the ways to do this are probably infinite, but here are some ideas to get you started:
- Adjust the Operations Engine to produce an enhanced or better product or service. The following list contains just a few ideas on what can be done to optimize the Operations Engine:
- What needs to be changed to remove inefficiencies?
- What needs to be changed to improve quality?
- Can you build a process map of your whole business and remove choke points?
- What new processes are required that are not currently in place?
- What manual processes can be automated?
- What templates can be built to improve business repeatability?
- What processes or rules need to be killed immediately?
- What business systems are inefficient and need to be overhauled or replaced?
- What physical tools need to be replaced or upgraded?
- Does your floor space and office or manufacturing layout need to be changed to optimize production?
- Adjust your strategy and goals. Perhaps your Operations Engine is not producing the desired Outcomes because you have the wrong strategy and goals.
- What strategic adjustments are required to improve the business Outcomes?
- What has changed in the marketplace and requires an adjustment to strategy?
- What has changed in your business itself that requires a strategy adjustment?
- What goals have to change to align with the new strategy?
- Do NOT adjust your Vision, Missions or Values in order to change your business Outcomes. Vision, Mission and Values are the bedrock of your organization and should not be changed unless:
- You are planning on making a fundamental change to the core of your business and who your business is
- The marketplace has changed so significantly that you must adjust the very foundations of your business to remain viable
Build Feedback Systems Into Your Culture
Don’t let your business enter the “danger zone!”
Spend some time over the next few months and set up feedback systems to test your business Outcomes. Are your business Outcomes meeting or exceeding your customers’ expectations? If they are not, feed that information back into your business model and make adjustments to improve your Outcomes.
And, finally, don’t stop with one iteration! This must be an ongoing process of measurement, feedback and adjustment. Always strive to improve your business and your Outcomes!
“The real selling begins after the sale. It is my belief that quality, customer service, client service and account management should seldom be a department but rather a fundamental mindset of the entire organization.” David Nour
Leave a comment below on your experience with business Outcomes.
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