The problem with boiling down a purchase decision to price is the underlying assumption that all other things are equal. When purchasing is responsible for vendor decisions, they are focused on the bottom line. That’s their job. They aren’t necessarily concerned with why your product or service is different.

So, if you don’t want to compete on price alone, you need to sell beyond purchasing, by targeting two or three additional influencers in the company who will recognize your value and advocate on your behalf. The more allies you have, the better chance you have to close the sale. Here are four steps to help your sales organization influence more stakeholders:

1. Identify who else has influence

Procurement will always be part of the selection committee – that’s a given. But there are usually other individuals who have a say. You just have to figure out who they are. If you sell raw materials, it could be engineers or materials specialists. If you sell food ingredients, it’s probably R&D, a culinary consultant and marketing. For IT support, it could be the IT manager or operations manager. Do your research.

2. Determine the pain of each different audience and craft value messaging that addresses their needs

Let’s say you’re an ingredient company and you’re targeting food manufacturers. Purchasing, R&D, culinary and marketing will each have very different pain points. Purchasing wants to manage costs. R&D is concerned with how the ingredient will perform on the production line and how it will behave in the finished product on the shelf. The culinary folks are focused on getting the flavor right. And the marketing department is interested in making label claims and offering products that are on-trend. One general message won’t speak to any of these challenges. Target your messaging and tell each audience how your offering addresses their individual pains.

3. Build relationships with these influencers and showcase your competitive difference

Don’t just target these stakeholders with emails and brochures – get in front of them and demonstrate your knowledge. But don’t make it about you. Tell them how your competitive difference can help them do their jobs better. This is what separates vendors from partners. Vendors sell a commodity, and they’re paid accordingly. Partners, on the other hand, understand the issues of the people to whom they are selling, and translate that knowledge into value. It often only takes one key influencer to champion your offering to purchasing. Find an influencer who is receptive to a partnership and you’re on your way.

4. Support purchasing by quantifying how your value will benefit their bottom line

The objective here isn’t to go around purchasing if they are your main contact already. Instead, support your purchasing contact by reiterating how your offering meets the needs of others in the organization and quantify your value wherever possible. Demonstrate how your higher price can actually save them money in the long run, in terms of time, money or labor costs, so they’ll see why you’re worth the price you’re asking. Or, point out the risks that come with choosing the lowest-price vendor. Putting a dollar value on the liabilities can be very compelling.

How do you move your sales pitches or help your sales organization get beyond purchasing? Share your tips below!

Osborn, frustrated by his employees’ lackluster ability to develop ad campaigns individually, started hosting group-think sessions, and was amazed by the improvement in both quality and quantity of ideas generated. Convinced that true creativity could only shine when unobstructed by judgment and criticism, he systematized and published his creative problem solving techniques and the term “brainstorming” was born.

Does group think really breed bigger, better ideas?

In advertising, brainstorming sessions (sometimes called concepting or ideation sessions) are a critical part of the process. It’s the starting point for every project that comes through the door. It’s how ideas and themes are brought to life. Or, is it?

As this Fast Company article suggests, brainstorming actually hinders creativity. Studies increasingly show that we’re better off working alone – that group dynamics and an “every idea is a good idea” attitude stifles each person’s potential. In groups, people tend to sit back and let others do the work. They instinctively mirror others’ ideas and often bend to the whims of the majority. That’s a frightening prospect in light of the growing number of workplaces transitioning to “open floor plans” and schools that keep pushing students to be “part of the team” and “work together.”

Making brainstorming better

Brainstorming is arguably a necessary part of the creative process. The adage “two heads are better than one” became an adage for a reason. So, how can we leverage the process to make sure we’re getting the most bang for our creative buck?

Don’t just focus on finding solutions – find problems, too

Most brainstorming sessions begin with a “there are no bad ideas” speech in the hopes that people won’t self-censor a potentially good idea before it ever escapes their mouth. It makes sense in theory, but most groundbreaking inventions didn’t materialize from a free-floating idea – they were a solution to a problem. Allowing criticism helps the group to refine and redefine ideas and problems, giving the mind more to work with. It facilitates better answers.

Create a physical space that allows for open encounters and quiet reflection

It’s a scientific fact that being in close physical proximity to fellow problem-solvers begets better solutions. But there’s a fine line. Too much togetherness breeds “me too” group-think. Too little, and people won’t feel comfortable challenging each other. Studies show that offices with open floor plans make workers hostile, insecure and distracted. People whose work is constantly interrupted make 50% more mistakes and take twice as long to get it done. So, how do you find balance? The key is offering spaces for group gatherings and for individual privacy – which highly creative types surprisingly prefer.

What’s your opinion on the brainstorming process? Valuable or bogus?

The concept of “story,” especially in the business-to-business realm, is often met with skepticism. The very word calls to mind fairy tales and works of fiction – hardly the stuff successful big-bucks marketing campaigns are built upon.

Story, as it relates to brands, however, should come from an intrinsically factual place. A brand story is akin to a company or brand’s DNA – communicating why it’s unique, what it stands for and the value it provides to customers. It’s like a mission statement, only bigger. It can’t be manufactured in a board room. It has to come from the essence of the company itself.

Which kind of stories does your brand tell?

This story should provide the foundation for each and every interaction with customers and stakeholders. Everyone – salespeople, marketing folks, the C-suite and beyond – should understand and internalize that story, so every message is consistent with “who” the brand is.

So, how does this ethereal notion of “brand story” connect with executable tactics? Very simply: don’t write checks (read: stories) your company can’t cash.

For example, let’s say your CEO wants to do an entire campaign based on great service, when in reality, it’s sorely lacking. When the marketplace sees print ads touting your exceptional customer support, yet customers sit on hold for 30 minutes, your credibility is quickly lost.

In a better example, let’s examine McDonalds’ recent #MeetTheFarmers Twitter campaign, designed to promote the corporation’s commitment to using fresh produce from real farmers. It might have been marginally successful, until McDonalds introduced another hashtag into the campaign: #McDStories, asking customers to share their heartfelt McDonald’s memories. And share them they did.

A Twitter storm erupted in a matter of hours, with people sharing horror stories of everything from fingernails in their cheeseburgers to hospital stays resulting from food poisoning. Not exactly the touching family stories McDonald’s was hoping for.

There are certainly many lessons to be had here – but the most important is authenticity. Owning what it is about your brand that keeps people coming back, not trying to force a manufactured message down their throats. McDonald’s knows exactly what people think of their food. That’s why they created this campaign in the first place. But instead of honoring the real value they offer, they tried to invent it. The truth is, people come to McDonald’s because it’s convenient. Because it’s consistent. Because it’s fast and kids can eat it in the car. What they don’t come for is farm fresh produce and warm, fuzzy family memories.

Before you can tell your story, you have to listen to your customers’ stories. Be aware of what they’re saying, and participate in the conversation instead of simply diving in and trying to dominate it. Social media is the world’s biggest focus group, and the customer feedback is there for the taking. Listen. Take it to heart. Use it to make positive changes. Then, join the conversation and share honest, factual information that demonstrates how you’re addressing the issue(s).

Before you tell a story or send a message – in print, online or in person – consider this: can you look your customers in the eye when you say what you’re about to say? If not, think twice before you “speak.” If you can’t say something authentic, don’t say anything at all.

According to HubSpot, businesses that blog 20+ times a month generate five times more traffic than businesses that blog less than four times a month. That’s lead generation gold, right there. Especially when your blog helps funnel traffic through the buying cycle, by linking to audience-specific landing pages, email capture pages or additional resources. But if you’re not also measuring the performance of your content, you’re missing out on opportunities to make it even better.

Here are five of the 10 metrics HubSpot says bloggers should be tracking, and what you can learn from each:

1. Page Views/Traffic

Compare your blog posts side by side and see which ones have the most page views. Which ones have the fewest? Page views are a good (albeit unscientific) way to gauge which topics are most important to your audience. They can also help you identify patterns in your content. Which headline structure seems to work best? Do your readers prefer “top tips” posts or the ones in which you offer a personal opinion? Adjust your content accordingly and you’ll likely see better results.

2. Referral Sites

Referral sources will tell you how people are getting to your blog. If you’re getting a high percentage of visitors from organic search, it probably means you’re successfully optimizing for keywords your audience is searching. If traffic from social media is low, for example, you might want to consider allocating resources to better promote your blog socially. Tracking referral sites as you launch promotions will also help you determine ROI for one channel over another.

3. Calls to Action

Every post should have a call to action, whether it’s an offer, a link to additional information or something similar. What do you want the reader to do with the information you just shared? Evaluate which calls to action are the most successful, and consider featuring them prominently on your blog’s home page so they get even more mileage.

4. Bounce Rate

The bounce rate tells you how often visitors leave your blog without visiting other pages. While the bounce rate can sometimes be a good indicator of how appealing your content is, it’s not foolproof. For example, some people come to our blog expecting to find plaid kilts for sale (a future business venture, perhaps?) and leave once they figure out we’re a marketing agency. But working to decrease bounce rate is always a good goal. Consider adding a sidebar widget with your blog’s top posts or showing short previews of the posts on your home page (instead of the entire post) so visitors are more likely to find a topic that’s appealing.

5. Inbound Links

Inbound links are links from other websites and blogs that point to your content, meaning someone found your information useful enough to mention in their own content. Examining your blog’s inbound links can help you discover new audiences or potential partnerships, and can help you identify what content people find relevant.

Are there any other analytics you measure? What adjustments have you made to your blog as a result?

Ms. Steinem said it well. Writing is hard work, even for writers. But as more companies adopt content marketing strategies to engage prospects and retain customers, successful marketers must learn to be content-generating machines.

Content marketing involves creating and sharing relevant information to achieve a number of business goals, such as lead generation, brand awareness and improving customer loyalty. Using a variety of vehicles, good content marketing effectively educates and adds value beyond the sales transaction.

The term “content marketing” is new. The idea is not.

While “content marketing” seems novel, according to the Content Marketing Institute, brands have been doing it for decades. In 1895, John Deere started publishing a customer magazine called “The Furrow,” which is still in circulation today. In 1904, Jell-O gave away free Jell-O recipe books, which drove sales over the $1 million mark by 1906. In 2008, P&G debuted a community website for teens called beinggirl.com, and reported it was four times more effective than traditional advertising.

The idea of adding value beyond your product or service isn’t new, especially in the B2C realm. In the B2B category, however, companies have been hesitant to use content strategies, worrying they would be putting their ideas out there for the taking.

Approach content marketing like a tradeshow

Here’s our answer to that. Think of content marketing like a tradeshow. You want your top people working the booth, engaging and sharing insight with prospects in a conversational, personal way. Asking what their current issues are and demonstrating how your product/service can help. Offering tips on how to get more mileage out of your offering.

Point being: you don’t have to share top-secret information, but you do need to provide knowledge your audience finds valuable. Did Jell-O tell housewives how to make their own Jell-O? Of course not. They provided creative recipe ideas that in turn led to the purchase of even more Jell-O. That’s an effective strategy.

There is no magic formula

Content marketing can take many forms: custom magazines, newsletters, ebooks, white papers, webinars, podcasts and more. While the “who/how many/how often” questions will be determined by your particular audience’s needs, the one constant across all platforms is content. And lots of it. Which means someone has to put in the time to write it. Michael Gass, a business development consultant (and content marketer himself) offers these tips to make the task not so daunting.

1. Know your audience

Do your homework and learn what they find interesting. There are countless social tools at your disposal, and you can review your website’s analytics to see which pages and topics receive the most traffic. Start there.

2. Keep an eye on the objective

What are you trying to do? Generate new business? Position your organization as a thought leader? Write and weave your content into your overall marketing plan accordingly.

3. Be original

Curating is fine (meaning you use someone else’s topic or point of view as a springboard for your own), but the real demand is for original content. Ask your salespeople what frequently asked questions they receive on sales calls. Ask customer service for the top five issues they hear about. Speak to those topics when you write, and consult with the appropriate experts within the company for help. And don’t forget to look through your old material for information you can update or repurpose.

4. Develop a process

Create a workflow process for delivering content consistently and delegate one person to be in charge. This person should also set up and manage the editorial calendar and supervise content production. Treat content development as you would a customer project – don’t fall into the “cobbler without shoes” trap.

Does your company have a content strategy in place? Do you have any tips of your own to add?

While a new logo technically qualifies as a refresh, we’re talking about a brand refresh in terms of a total brand overhaul – a name change, new positioning strategy, new aesthetic, or all three. Companies rebrand for a variety of reasons. Some are more obvious than others (i.e. following a PR disaster of epic proportions) and some seem to follow the whims of overzealous marketing folks.

So, how do you know when it’s the right time for a brand refresh? If your organization is facing the five scenarios listed below, it’s definitely worth considering.

1. Business has changed to the point that your old brand doesn’t reflect who and what you are anymore

If you’re an established company, you probably had to grow and evolve over time to stay relevant. A good example is 3M, formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company. In 1902, the company was founded to supply the mineral corundum to manufacturing companies on the East Coast. 3M today is known for producing a wide variety of innovative, functional products that have little to do with its Iron Range mining roots. Its leaders wisely recognized decades ago the need for a brand identity that created a wider “sandbox” for the company to grow – hence the new name and a more high-level “innovation” position.

2. You’re merging with another company and blending cultures and capabilities

This scenario gets tricky. Companies rarely merge and retain an equal amount of autonomy. More often than not, one company buys or absorbs another, and then must determine how to best leverage that company’s existing brand equity. When FedEx bought Kinkos, renaming the brick-and-mortar stores FedEx Kinkos during a transition phase made sense because consumers already associated specific services with both FedEx and Kinkos. It also helped clearly communicate the merger to the marketplace. The stores have since been renamed FedEx Office, but thanks to the interim brand identity, customers still know to expect shipping and fast copy and printing services under the same roof.

3. Your current brand limits future growth opportunities

Starbucks was founded in 1971 as a local coffee bean roaster and retailer, and their logo up until 2011 prominently featured the word “coffee.” But, part of their growth strategy involved moving into “new channels of distribution,” such as ice cream and liqueurs, where having “coffee” as an integral part of their brand mark was no longer necessary. Early in 2011, the company unveiled a new iteration of their brand mark without the words “Starbucks” or “coffee,” so they could more easily add other capabilities to the mix.

4. A bad reputation has tarnished your brand beyond repair

There’s no shortage of examples to discuss here, but a name change to shed a negative image doesn’t always have to happen on the heels of a huge PR crisis. Philip Morris USA became Altria in 2003 because company execs feared the negative connotations with tobacco products would affect the profitability of other Philip Morris brands, such as Kraft Foods. If you’re rebranding in response to a particular event or series of events, however, remember that a new identity can mean a fresh start, but only if you’re willing to address and correct the issues that gave you a bad name in the first place.

5. You need to revitalize or jump start your organization

Sometimes, it’s not your company name that’s the issue – it’s the fact that your identity hasn’t changed in decades. We aren’t advocating rebranding just for the sake of rebranding, but if your identity doesn’t represent you in a fresh, contemporary way, it might be worth updating. A great example is the brand refresh we did for client Baker Boy – we not only updated the brand aesthetic but the value proposition and messaging as well, so they could leverage their rich and successful history and look toward the future at the same time.

Regardless of why you rebrand, be sure to communicate the change in a positive way. You’ll probably encounter some push-back at first, especially from your internal stakeholders, but that’s normal. As long as you share a genuine reason for the change and explain your vision for the company’s future, the naysayers will likely come around.

Your company name and brand identity matter. They are usually the first things people know about you. Do yours say what you intend them to say?

Watch this video to learn just how important brand is, even in the B2B space.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Image courtesy adage.com

According to Bob Garfield and Doug Levy, who wrote a fantastic article on the Relationship Era for adage.com, marketers survived using mass advertising tactics for hundreds of years. During the Consumer Era, which lasted from 1965 until about now, marketing transitioned from focusing on product attributes (Lucky Strike cigarettes: “It’s toasted!”) to engaging the customer’s heart and mind (MasterCard: “Priceless.”).

And it’s worked. Reaching your audience on an emotional level like MasterCard, Nike and Apple is what all brands aspire to do. But an emotional appeal isn’t enough anymore. The digital age has ushered in a new, highly fragmented communication model. It’s no longer “few” to “many,” – it’s “many” to “many,” and companies are no longer in total control of their brands and reputations. In the Relationship Era, marketers (this means B2B marketers, too) must attract the customer who not only adores and buys their product, but evangelizes it as well.

According to Garfield and Levy, the new currency of commerce is trust. The 2006 Edelman Trust Barometer reported “quality products and services” was the top response in identifying the standard of trust. In 2012, “quality” dropped to number three and “transparent and honest practices” was number one – cited by 83% of survey respondents.

While quality still matters, it isn’t something you can afford to hang your hat on. Companies today are being evaluated 24/7 in countless conversations, and by and large the brands with the most zealous evangelists are those who are true to their core values. According to the adage.com article, a Google search for “I love Apple” garners 3.27 million hits. “I love Zappos”: 1.19 million. “I love Exxon”: 4,730. And “I love Dow Chemical”: a whopping three. Not million or thousand – just three.

Like it or not, your brand is tied to emotions such as love, hate or indifference. Typing in “I hate Exxon” will get you 2.16 million Google hits, compared to the 4,730 hits proclaiming love. The conversations happening around your brand and company have little to do with your catchy slogan and everything to do with what Garfield and Levy call your brand’s “essential self” – or the core values upon which your company operates.

Your brand’s “essential self” is not to be confused with a unique selling proposition, however. It’s not a reason why your widgets are better than the other guy’s or how you deliver value to your customers. It’s an authentic sense of purpose that drives every facet of your business, from the employees you hire to the vendors with whom you partner.

If this “essential self” does not align with your actions or marketing messages, you’re going to be in very real trouble. These words were etched in stone in the lobby of a corporate headquarters: “Integrity. Communication. Respect. Excellence.” The company? Enron.

Core values and mission statements can’t be faked by a PR department. To be believable, they must be internalized by every single person in your company from top to bottom, and they must inform the individuals and companies you do business with on the outside.

Let’s revisit Dow Chemical and their three positive sentiments. Their slogan is “The Human Element.” It’s aspirational and personal. And it looks good on paper, if you overlook the fact that they are a chemical company that bought the chemical company responsible for one of the world’s largest industrial catastrophes in history: the Bhopal gas disaster. Makes their message about humanity seem disingenuous, doesn’t it?

It is possible to operate with values and turn a profit. Just look at the example cited in the article: outdoors outfitter Patagonia. They’ve been doing business the same way for over 40 years and still enjoy profits in the 9% range. They donate at least 1% of gross sales to environmental causes and their employee turnover is less than 5%. And this is after making “costly” decisions such as using only organic cotton.

As B2B marketers, we concede that business customers aren’t likely to affix “I love my inverted thermodynamic coupling widget!” stickers to the bumpers of their cars. But they will share a positive experience with their online user community or industry trade organization. If they’re an organization committed to living and acting on their core values too, they’ll choose to do business with like-minded companies.

Firms driven by purpose rather than the bottom line regularly outperform the rest of their corporate counterparts. In the past 15 years, companies like Honda, Trader Joe’s, Southwest Airlines and eBay saw growth (on average) of 1,646% while the rest of the S&P grew just 157%.

These days, operating truthfully and transparently isn’t a choice – it’s a must if you want to grow and succeed. Because your customers are talking about you whether you like it or not. If your actions don’t align with the messages you’re disseminating, they’re going to notice. We all want more than three vocal fans in our fan club, right? And we certainly don’t want 2.16 million against us.

How does your organization live its core values? Do you think it’s possible for profitability and corporate responsibility to go hand in hand?

We did a little digging (read: conducted a quick Wikipedia search), and the term white elephant actually did originate with a real white elephant. In Southeast Asian tradition, white elephants were and still to this day are regarded as sacred. They’re seen as a symbol of purity and wisdom, and laws exist protecting them from labor.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Receiving one as a gift meant the current monarch reigned with justice and power, and that the kingdom was blessed with peace and prosperity. A white elephant, however, was both a blessing and a curse. Getting one from the monarch meant you were in the king’s good favor, but because you weren’t able to put it to any practical use, the cost to keep it far outweighed the benefit of having it.

Today, a white elephant refers to something that’s odd and decorative, but probably not very useful, and white elephant gift exchanges are becoming an essential part of gatherings, like family Christmases and bridal showers.

At our white elephant exchange yesterday, “odd and decorative” doesn’t begin to cover the array of treasures traded among the Tartan Clan. There was an old, grease-covered kitchen television set, a book on the art of Japanese lunch-making and a canister of powdered dietary fiber – among other prized possessions we don’t feel comfortable mentioning (we’re professionals here, okay?).

What’s the strangest/most amazing white elephant gift you’ve ever received?

While we can’t address all of these questions here, what we can do is share Business2Community’s 5 social predictions for 2012. Now, if your company is still in the “We don’t need social media” camp, it could be due to one of these five reasons we discuss here. We’ll speak to those another time. If you’re currently trying to get buy-in for your social media plan from your company’s higher-ups, read up on how to win their support. If you just want to read about what’s coming in 2012, we promise we’ll stay focused.  Here we go.

1. Connected consumers

Before you roll your eyes and say, “No. Really?,” hear us out. Of course consumers are connected. But next year, they’ll be even more connected, especially as the tablet market becomes more saturated. Smartphones, iPads and laptops are front and center these days as people work and play while they’re on the go. Does your marketing mix account for these increasingly mobile, wired-in customers? B2B audiences are still consumers at the end of the day, and their information gathering and buying habits will continue to mirror their B2C peers.

2. Increasing competition

As more and more people and companies join in, the social realm is becoming more and more crowded. From a business/brand perspective, that means you’ll have to fight even harder for eyeballs. In the early days, all it took was a PR stunt to get 100,000 new Facebook fans in a day. Now, not only are audiences growing weary of social publicity promotions, but companies are realizing that 100,000 “fans” are meaningless unless they are 100,000 truly engaged brand advocates. So, instead of focusing on just growing your fan base, concentrate on your core brand evangelists and think about how you can optimize their customer experience.

3. More analytics

Long gone are the days when the only metric attached to a Facebook page was number of fans. Social sites have been scrambling over the past year to improve their reporting capabilities, and while some have succeeded, many have added measurements for the sake of measurements, leaving marketers with a huge pile of data to sort through. Understanding the technology of social platforms isn’t enough anymore. Companies must have people on staff who can make sense of the statistics and use them to create tools that better serve their audiences.

4. Integration is key

And slapping some share buttons on your e-mail blast doesn’t count. Are you promoting your latest blog post on Facebook and Twitter? Are you making archives of your e-mails available on your website? And furthermore, is your customer service team working with your social team? It would be a shame if your Facebook page touts your exceptional service when your customers are shuffled through 5 different departments trying to find a resolution to their problem.

Customer service should not just be a department, it should be the job of every customer-facing person in your organization. Integration doesn’t just apply to marketing tactics – it applies to your entire business.

5. Customers as ambassadors

Some brands have customers so passionate about their products that they willingly promote them without any incentive from the company whatsoever. Think Harley Davidson or Apple. Consumer brands, yes, but there’s a B2B lesson to be learned here. Who are your best customers? Who’s out there endorsing your products or services to their networks on your behalf? Are you doing anything to attract more of these people or motivate them to keep talking?

What do you foresee happening in 2012? Any big trends we missed?

If you’re tasked with a goal such as “increasing revenue 10%,” the easy solution would be to revisit last year’s budget and shift some numbers around among your tactics (i.e. twice as many print ads or attending an additional trade show).

Though easy, this solution is not strategic. Purposeful strategic planning involves examining your current strengths, weaknesses and opportunities, so you can make sure your organization is well-positioned to actually achieve your goals. Here are three ways to get the most from the planning process.

1. Make strategic planning a group effort.

Five or ten heads are better than one. Especially if those heads represent different groups of stakeholders within your organization. Planning shouldn’t be an isolated function of the marketing department – it should involve leaders from the sales team, the C-suite and the customer service team. Different viewpoints add necessary perspectives when you’re thinking about who your target audiences are and how best to reach them.

2. Use strategic questions.

There’s a saying that “smarter questions elicit smarter answers.” If that isn’t a saying, we just made one up. Trying to wrap your head around big-picture questions such as “What are our strengths and weaknesses?” is difficult because they are so broad. Use more specific questions designed to bring out discussion-worthy answers – answers that will help you identify opportunities.

The three buckets we use for strategic planning projects are Company, Customers and Competition. For a list of sample questions that can help guide your next strategic planning initiative, visit our Download Center.

3. Bring in a neutral third party.

An experienced outside facilitator can add value to your planning process in a number of ways. First, because they are impartial, they can offer objective questions that dig deeper into how well-positioned your company actually is. Second, people often feel more comfortable talking with someone who isn’t responsible for their hiring and firing. You’ll get more honest responses when group members aren’t sharing their thoughts with the company CEO. Finally, a third party can take the results of the planning process and distill them down into a more manageable amount of information. Because they have fresh eyes on your organization, the risk of your team simply reinforcing what they already believe is eliminated.

As you prepare for the coming year (or if it’s just time to re-evaluate how you plan to reach your goals), don’t forget to put the “strategic” in “strategic planning.” If you’re not sure where to start, give us a shout. We can help.