In the face of economic uncertainty, financial decisions are likely to be more closely scrutinized than when times are good.  From middle-class families to corporate America, when the availability of funds shrinks, spending is more closely watched. 

In the current reality of the marketplace, companies are then left with an age-old dilemma:  how to better meet the needs of customers without escalating cost to the company?

Planning While Threatened

Planning while threatened has a tougher edge than planning during times of prosperity.  It is important to be prepared to plan for natural growth, while grounding your response to current reality, even when reality is stagnation or a diminishing customer base. 

Being prepared to respond to the current needs of those you have targeted as your customers is likely to mean a significant difference in numbers for you.

What Should our Message Be?

All too many business development teams will start by asking, "what do we have to sell?" followed by "now what should our message be?"

While on the surface this sounds quite reasonable, the better set of questions might be: "What does the market need and want?" followed by, "what must we develop / construct / adjust / offer to meet those needs?"

To make these two questions work well, it is important to start even further back down the line by asking, "who and what currently comprises the market?" followed by, "how might their need look at the end of a designated period of time?"

Ultimately, armed with a solid sense of the Marketplace we can then ask "what must we have ready to meet those needs?" which in turn should be followed by "how can we both offer and deliver the resulting goods and services?"

Risky Assumptions

The universal impulse to cut the corner (or "cut to the chase" if you are inclined to be charitable) is a bad one. Too many risky assumptions are involved.

Keep in mind these underlying principles as you begin to plan

1. Know exactly who, what and where you are,
2. Be clear about where you want to go and how you wish to look once you get there,
3. Work out the most effective means to take    you from here to there,
4. Be certain that the team you assemble is      prepared to go the distance and not simply take the shortest means to a thinned-down result.

Plan well and good luck.

Next Month: "Building on the Best of the Worst"

Slow Roll

Definition:

A far more effective way of stone-walling; appearing to cooperate, but oh so slowly

Related Terms: 

Dance,

Sleep Walk

How it Sounds:

"That Project Manager is going to SLOW ROLL US TO DEATH. 

Each time we ask for projections he gives us partial numbers, and then asks six more questions."

Watch for more BizSpeak definitions in future editions of The Agenda 

For More BizSpeak, check out the Book.

Click here.

Guest Predictions is a regular Agenda feature in which we interview leaders in a number of professions for their opinion on questions that effect us all.

Sharon Smith is the President and CEO of Health Care Excel, Inc., a nonprofit corporation in Indianapolis. For over thirty years, it has evaluated health care processes and quality, clinical appropriateness, patient perspectives of care, and outcomes. It is primarily a government contractor to the federal Medicare and state Medicaid health care programs.  It also provides services to health plans and other clients in the private sector.  Please visit www.hce.org  for more information.

Q:     What changes in your professional environment in the past 3-5 years have you found to be the most beneficial?

A:    Government health care programs have expanded coverage to include more people and more diverse populations, have become more focused on preventive and chronic care, and have embraced value-driven purchasing concepts.  These program changes have a strong influence on our quality improvement and cost containment work.

Q:     What changes have been the most troubling to you?

A;    We continue to grapple with what to do about the under-insured and the uninsured.  Access to care and the cost of care are major issues that remain unresolved for many Americans.

Q:     How will globalization (e.g. the emergence of new global powers, such as China and India) affect your professional area in the near term?

A:    Many significant innovations in health care have occurred in the United States because of what first happened or was known elsewhere.  The shift of jobs overseas has lead to more Americans being under-insured or not insured.

Q:     What significant challenges might be anticipated in your professional area in the next few years?

A:    The movement toward purchasing value for the health care dollar--pay for reporting, pay for performance, pay for improvement--these are just a few of the concepts whereby purchasers (public and private) are demanding evidence of value. 

Next Month's Guest Columnist: Michael Schwebler, COO of Midwest Ultrasound, Inc. 

Marc Chinoy Works with International Non-Profit to Focus on the Future

INMED Partnership for Children, based out of Ashburn, VA has engaged The Regis Group to assess the organization's current circumstance and to facilitate the development of a 3 year strategic plan. 
The non-profit, with bases in California, Texas, South Africa, and Brazil works with communities  in support of the development of healthy, educated children. 

Lifelong Learning

Since 1986, INMED has worked in more than 100 countries to give children the healthiest possible start in life, to build a strong foundation for children's lifelong learning, to inspire communities to invest in their children's futures, and to create new opportunities for children to maximize their potential and achieve lifelong success.