If you are a CEO, one of your many responsibilities is likely to be leading the development and execution of your company’s long-term strategy in order to maximise shareholder value. And maximising shareholder value usually means growing the business – growing sales, revenues, margins and profits. As a result, considerable time needs to be devoted to overseeing product development, marketing, sales and people. This is the essence of a profitable company – designing and developing new products or services, engaging with your target markets and acquiring large volumes of new business. Yet these activities will fail to deliver anticipated profits unless the business also achieves operational excellence. At the heart of any successful business is an effective operation that delivers competitive advantage.
Operations – a facilitator of growth
Although operations may not be viewed as a direct driver of growth, it is most definitely a critically important facilitator of growth. Intelligently-engineered products or services, a bold and compelling marketing strategy and a confident and capable sales force are all key components to achieve success. But your effort in these areas may suffer if they are not supported by efficient and effective operations.
In my experience I’ve seen a business attempt to drive additional volume through an operations team that isn't geared up to manage the workflows. As a result, they inevitably erode the whole customer sales experience, resulting in high attrition rates in the sales pipeline.
This impacts on both new and existing customers, damaging service levels and weakening customer satisfaction. Having an ineffective operations team can unravel all of the excellent work carried out by your development, marketing and sales activities
To prevent the above happening, it's important to know if your existing operations in both the front and back office have the capability and capacity to take on new business.
Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.
Operations – an engine of growth
Traditionally, it is marketing and sales that take all the plaudits when a company hits new business targets and delivers record sales. But operations has an increasingly important role to play in driving growth. By delivering a truly excellent customer service, operations can build deeper customer relationships, increase referrals, enhance your brand and boost your net promoter score. With the right culture, the right frameworks and the right objectives, your operations can become not just a service function, but an engine of organic growth.
Achieving sustainable growth
If you’re driving growth, it’s important to ensure that such growth is achieved within budget. For that to happen, your operations must have the flexibility, capability and capacity to manage the increase in business. Three months into your new marketing plan, you don’t want to suddenly find that you need to increase your operations cost base beyond target to service new business volumes. So it’s essential that there is a deep understanding of the operational capabilities and ensure they are aligned with your growth forecasts and objectives.
Efficiency is doing things right, effectiveness is doing the right things
Have confidence in your operations’ capabilities
Do you need an independent, objective perspective of your operational capabilities? At dhp we are unbound by internal politics and we’re not afraid to ask tough and searching questions, which are the key to initiating real change.
A dhp diagnostic provides remarkable insights into the strengths and weakness of your operations. We enable you to align objectives with your capabilities, and to take rapid action to enhance your capacity in key areas.
