Strategic Planning Templates D) Outline

For a PDF of this document, click HERE.

What is Strategic Planning?
A Management Tool
A Way to Focus our Energy
Working towards same Vision
Who we are
What we do
Why we do it
A Way to Focus on the Future


Long Range Planning vs. Strategic Planning
Long Range
A plan for accomplishing a set of goals with the assumption that current knowledge of the future is reliable.

Strategic
Responsive to a dynamic, changing environment. May not always flow smoothly. A Creative Process. Will move forward and back many times before arriving at the final set of decisions.


STEP ONE: MISSION
Mission Analysis
Clarify why the organization exists, who we serve, what is required by those we serve and how those needs are met.

STEP TWO: VALUES
Value Analysis
Take a serious look at the real values that drive our ambitions and desires for the organization. How are these values communicated both internally and externally?

SAMPLE MISSION and VALUES STATEMENT:

Mission Statement
FriendshipIndustries, Inc.
develops and maintains employment and training opportunities for persons with disabilities in integrated work environments.

Values Statement
FriendshipIndustries, Inc.
believes in and values…
Accountability–
to our clients, to our customers, to our community and the global market, to ourselves and to our organization. Everyone takes responsibility for their position and their personal growth at Friendship and beyond. Everyone takes responsibility for the quality products and support services we provide.
Empowerment–
from within each individual and for the organization as a whole. We value self-sufficiency and educating ourselves as well as educating the community on contributions we make.
Innovation–
in our support services and allocation of resources, in our problem-solving capabilities, in our products and services and in future-thinking for our success.
Respect–
for everyone, especially recognizing and understanding individual abilities and challenges.
Shared Corporate Culture–
in all we do, we work cooperatively as a team to achieve excellence for our organizational purpose.

STEP THREE: VISION
Vision Analysis
In a perfect world, what does the organization look like five years from today? How would we best serve our stakeholders and customers?
What…..Not How!


STEP FOUR:
Key Customer Analysis
Major Customers or Customer Groups who are Direct Recipients of the organization’s Products and Services, and whose requirements must be satisfied to successfully accomplish The Mission.

Key Stakeholder Analysis
MajorIndividuals or Entities which have a significant, specific interest in the performance of the organization, and have the capacity to impact the direction of the organization. Stakeholders are usually NOT Direct Recipients of the Organization’s Products or Services.

STEP FIVE: SWOT Analysis or Environmental Scan
We step back and honestly take a look at ourselves, our internal environment and our organizational structure. What are our true Strengths and Weaknesses? How will these effect and influence Key Customers, Stakeholders and ultimately Key Result Areas.
Additionally, examine the external influences on our organization –Locally Regionally –Nationally –Globally. What are the Threats and Opportunities that present themselves and how do we address these as they relate to Key Customers, Stakeholders and Key Result Areas?

Helpful Hint:
When performing SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat) or Environmental Scan it helps to look at:
General, Economic, Political and Technological aspects of our environment.

STEP SIX: Key Result Areas (KRAs)
A Major Category of Key Customers/Stakeholders Requirements
These categories must prove to be CRITICAL for us to address to be successful in our Mission. When reviewing KRA’s, review how they align with Mission, Vision and Values. How do our SWOT results influence the KRA’s?
After analyzing the Key Result Areas and finding clarity on each, move on to choose:

STEP SEVEN: CRITICAL STRATEGIC ISSUES
What are the CRITICAL few issues that ABSOLUTELYMUST HAPPEN to move us forward to our Vision?

STEP EIGHT: Strategic Initiatives
The initiatives that will move us from our “Current State” to our “Future State”

STEP NINE: Goals and Objectives
Measurable activities to achieve the Strategic Initiatives that address our Critical Strategic Issues.

What is Strategic Management?
Attention paid to the “Big Picture”.
Willingness to adapt.
Formulation of Future Vision.
Development of a competitive strategy.
Creation of an organizational structure that will deploy resources as needed.

Special Thanks to Tom Hook, Friendship VP-Commercial Operations and Strategic Facilitator Extraordinaire

For Better Emarketing Results, Write Better Email

If you want better response, concentrate on the three most important things about writing better email copy:

First, write effective subject lines.
Second, never forget WIIFM (what's in it for me?)—the value proposition.
Think from the prospect or customers’ perspective.
Third, remember that less is more.
Convey your sales message quickly and succinctly.

For Better Emarketing Results, Write Better Email

On the subject of Subject Lines:
First, with email you need to capture readers’ attention even faster and with fewer words. That’s because business professionals average 75 to 100 emails per day—and they’re looking for reasons to delete emails, not to open and read them.

Second, you have to realize that hard-copy letters look more “official” than messages on a screen and, therefore, they can still get more attention and seem more authoritative if you’re not careful with your email.
Third, you do have to make the most of the subject line, which is challenging.

Also: maintain a professional tone, just as you do on paper; don't treat email as instant messaging, always proofread, be brief and get to the point quickly. And don’t forget to include a call to action, just as in direct mail. What do you want the customer to do next? Your email must tell them.

A strong subject line is your best opportunity to capture the reader’s interest; be specific and use words that act as directional tag lines—words like action, update, request, and attached. These make your messages much more likely to be opened and responded to.

Beware of words that discourage opening your email.
Examples: high priority, FREE and FYI.
It can be easier to write an effective subject line after you write the body of your email. By the time you’re done writing, you know better what’s best to emphasize. Just don’t forget to add the subject line.

Your email should immediately emphasize your product’s problem-solving ability. Another mistake is TMI, or Too Much Information.

Don't think that a single email will grab a prospect’s attention enough to sell something. What you need are multiple “touches,” as personal as possible, that will make prospects think you’re professionally persistent but not pesky. These other touches can be handled through email, direct mail, a phone call, a white paper, a small gift in the mail, postcards, a newsletter, a relevant article, and so on.

This is a short synopsis of an article by Judy Kidd Griffin from AMA's Marketing Fast Facts (yes, AMA membership has it's perks!).

Read the full story and more about Judy—principal of the Write Angles coaching firm in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina and associate of Jim Kidd Sales Coach at http://www.writeangles.org/aboutjudy.html .