11 KEYS TO STRATEGIC PLANNING SUCCESS

We all go into business with aspirations for success—but organizing and addressing the details to make success a reality can be daunting. How do we continuously improve our client family experience? Are there internal operating procedures that inhibit service delivery? Is employee morale positive? How do we clearly differentiate ourselves from our competition? Is our pricing consumer friendly? Are we as profitable as we could be? Are we moving the company forward?

Whether you’re looking to improve customer service, the workplace, the marketplace, or financial management, you want to start with a strategic plan to accomplish your goals.

Strategic planning, in its simplest terms, is determining where your business needs to go and how you are going to get there. The process involves owners and senior management assessing current performance, analyzing the market, setting goals, defining actions, identifying resources, and reviewing the level of accomplishment once the plan has been enacted. Simply put, to be successful with your plan, you must first define what is important, then create the measurements for success, then manage it to success!

Our consultants are seasoned professional experts who have led numerous clients through strategic planning sessions, all to an impactful resolution. Based on that store of experience, here are eleven key points that will ensure your company’s Interactive Strategic Planning Session is a success:

1. SET THE OBJECTIVE
Setting the Objective is the same as defining a North Star – the end to which all key company initiatives should lead. In other words, begin with the end in mind. Bring together the owners and key leaders of your company and motivate the group to envision the full potential of the funeral business! Together during this session, you will create compelling business objectives along with specific tactical actions and resources needed to achieve them.

2. TAKE IT OFFSITE!
Meet offsite somewhere where there are no distractions. Make it a day-long meeting with breakfast and lunch. Only in this environment will you be able to effectively address the most critical issues confronting the company.

3. WHERE TO BEGIN?
Begin the session with a review of the company’s current year successes and failures.

4. SWOT YOURSELF!
Assess the company’s internal strengths and weaknesses. After that, focus on recognizing both the external opportunities that exist as well as what external threats are looming. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats… SWOT)

5. DEFINING WHAT’S NEXT
Now it’s time for the leadership team to articulate the business objectives or goals needed to reach optimum performance based on the prior observations. These goals are to be crystal clear, indisputable and should be the core priorities of the leadership team.

6. ACTION!
With objectives and goals created, it’s time to put strategies and actions together that are needed to achieve the goals.

7. WHOSE JOB IS IT?
You’ve created the actions needed, now who’s going to do it!? Now is the time for the appropriate leadership team member to be responsible for the action.

8. WHEN DOES IT NEED TO BE COMPLETED?
It is said that a goal without a due date is just a dream. This is a VERY important phase of the process. It is time to decide upon a timeline for completion by each responsible team member. During this segment, additional resources – such as increased marketing, more training, or employee development – needed to successfully execute the strategies and actions are identified.

9. MEASURE IT!
If your goals of the company are to grow and be more profitable, you must be sure that every action you identify and every timetable you set is put in place to accomplish one or both of those goals. Better yet, you need to identify just what the expected return or outcome of achieving each goal is. Once that is accomplished, you can now quantify actions, and performance metrics can be established.

10. GET OUT OF MY WAY!
Before you are finished, it is wise to discuss any potential barriers to achieving the goals in the strategic plan. Discuss these potential roadblocks and discuss whether contingency plans should be made.
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11. THE RESULT?
You are now ready to draft and prepare your written Strategic Plan. The plan consists of the current business assessment, the new business objectives and goals, the Tactical Action Plan (the steps needed to complete a key company initiative, including timelines, selection of responsible parties, and the identification of any resources needed to complete the steps) and the Key Performance Metrics to be achieved (Key Performance Metrics are the same as Key Performance Initiatives. These are the ways businesses can define and measure the success of a key company initiative sometimes referred to as KPI – Key Performance Initiatives). By doing this, you will see an interesting outcome… The leadership team immediately begins implementation of the strategic plan!

The key points above will help put your strategic plan in place, but the role of regular accountability is just as important. You should now meet every 30 days (no more than 60) to measure the progress and timelines and adjust when necessary. During this time, progress is measured with the Key Performance Metrics report. If done effectively, leadership team members are held accountable for accomplishing tasks within the established timelines assigned to them in the Tactical Action Plan and any additional actions needed are taken to ensure targeted objectives are achieved and the Strategic Plan is successfully implemented.

To conclude, I can guarantee that successful Strategic Planning will change the direction, performance, and your funeral business value. Remember that those companies that plan, no matter how large or small the business is, will do better than those that do not! That being said, it is only logical that you should develop a strategic plan, yet so many businesses do not.
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My father calls this logic the Scarlett O’Hara Syndrome. That is, “I’ll worry about that tomorrow.” In case you needed to know, tomorrow is here as the service and financial landscapes of our profession continue to change. Get your strategic plan created, your future depends on it!

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Where has your company been, where is it now, where is it going, and how will you get there? Join Jake Johnson as he dives into how to effectively develop your ongoing strategic planning process at CANA’s 104th Cremation Innovation Convention this August in Atlanta. Building on these 11 Keys, Jake's session, sponsored by American Crematory Equipment, will demonstrate how your strategic plan can take your business to the next level and think about long term goals. See what else we have planned and register to attend: goCANA.org/CANA2

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As President & CEO at Johnson Consulting Group, Jake Johnson began his career at Keystone Group Holdings (now Dignity Memorial Network) as Associate Director, Corporate Development, where his financial analysis and forecasting expertise was foundational to the firm’s growth. Jake’s unique ability to problem solve complex business problems and communication leads his success in owning a funeral home and cremation center in Sun City, Arizona. Jake’s educational credentials include a BSBA degree in Management with an emphasis in Accounting and Financial Analysis from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. His strong foundation in accounting, financial analysis and EBITDA forecasting is complemented by technology savvy and broad general management qualifications in business development and operations.