SWOT - Stop Wasting Our Time

Quick quiz:

1. Did you conduct a comprehensive SWOT analysis last year?
2. If you did, was "worldwide pandemic" written down under Threats?

Of course, I am not telling anyone that they should have foreseen the impact that COVID-19 has had on our businesses but I will tell you that the threats and weaknesses that this pandemic unearthed existed for several years prior to 2020 and the businesses that were humble enough to truly examine their shortcomings were much better prepared and in some cases thrived in 2020. A few of the things that a proper SWOT analysis could have foreseen:

• Our internal systems were not prepared to support a remote workforce
• Our managers were woefully untrained and unable to manage a virtual team
• Bloated "traditional" advertising budgets had little to no ROI
• Network security was woefully lacking
• We were spending thousands of dollars on unnecessary travel expenses
• We had no effective customer feedback mechanisms meaning that staying in touch with our customers remotely was almost impossible
• We were missing several key opportunities to educate our clients on all of our capabilities. Services that our clients needed and should have bought from us but were forced to look elsewhere when the pandemic hit their business and they didn't even know we could help.

So, even though we could not have prepared for the pandemic per se, everything above was right in front of us had we conducted a proper SWOT analysis. So what makes a SWOT worthwhile and not a "check the box" exercise?

For decades, SWOT has been a tried and true part of "working on the business". However, without asking the right questions, evaluating the proper processes and getting fresh eyes on your business, the SWOT exercise will become a Significant Waste Of Time.

In the office technology field, whether it is telephony, print/copy equipment, managed services or software solutions, to analyze the business properly you must think differently about all four phases of the SWOT exercise. As we move into our planning for 2021, I want you to put special focus on the T's or Threats facing your business. Let's look at one together...

Start with a simple question - Who is your competition? Most of us can rattle off 8-10 dealers and manufacturers that deliver products and services just like we do, same business model, same rules and for the most part, the same customer experience. If you believe that these people are your competition, you are most likely no longer in control of your business. In fact, you may not even see it coming when your customer opts for a better experience with a "competitor" that you didn't even know existed. You must take the blinders off and look at what is happening in the market and in particular to the customer experience.

Manufacturers have figured out that it is far too expensive to deliver products using the current model and they are bailing out on the SMB market. Dealers are focused solely on defeating the competition directly in front of them (other dealers) and sacrificing margins to win at all costs. The threat is the void this is creating in the customer experience. The threat is that we have drifted so far away from solving real business problems that the only thing left to negotiate is price. This further alienates the customer as they are now conditioned to dread any interaction with our team.

Sounds dire but with every Threat comes a potential Opportunity for those that will have the courage to do something different, to actually disrupt the status quo and not just talk about it. Walk through the processes you expect your customers to participate in and do it as if it is your very first time. Learn what the actual pain points are that you can solve for today's customers, don't assume the pains of the past still hold up today. Challenge the way you deliver products and services and see if they still measure up. Companies like Amazon & Uber have changed customer expectations, think about your own experiences. Things that were acceptable and even thought of as outstanding service in the old model are now unacceptable and even detrimental to our business. If I order something today on Amazon and it doesn't show up tomorrow on my doorstep, I lose confidence in that vendor. If I have to pick up the phone or email them about the order, I most likely never buy from them again. Big difference from what we tolerated just a few years ago when most of us built our customer delivery models and standards. Think about the difference in customer experience between waiting for your Uber driver and waiting for your cable repairman. Which experience do you provide for your customers?

"Don't go it alone. Invite others into your SWOT conversation - get fresh eyes on the business! A loyal customer, a service technician, a contract administrator, a sales engineer all can provide invaluable input to help you see your business through your customers' eyes. "

This sounds easy to do but trust me when I tell you that for those of us who have lived in the industry our entire lives, this is extremely hard. Don't go it alone. Invite others into your SWOT conversations - get fresh eyes on the business! A loyal customer, a service technician, a contract administrator, a sales engineer all can provide invaluable input to help you see your business through your customers' eyes. Once we can do that, we can start developing real solutions that the customer values and in turn increase margins as the need to negotiate price on every transaction takes a back seat to the real problems we solve.

If you are looking to add or refine your SWOT process for your 2021 planning, I am happy to discuss or provide free tools to help you improve your process. There are several free resources, some are listed below .... just email me at [email protected] or message me here on LinkedIn and let me know what resources you want and I will send them right over.

1. Request the free, Control 365 Business Assessment that will allow you to self-assess the organization and highlight the areas to focus your efforts as you build your plan for the greatest impact on your business value.
2. Request the new free Control 365 Training Video that outlines the process for taking back control of the business, driving personal stress levels down and valuations up.
3. Schedule a quick call with me, just pick a time that is convenient at https://calendly.com/je86 and I would be glad to talk and learn more about your business.