Professional Documents
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Communication Strategy the development of a communication strategy is essential for the effective development and implementation of a strategic plan. In the communications strategy, you should determine who will be involved in the planning process, how they will be involved and what is being communicated to whom on the staff. 2. Strategic Planning Task Force the development of a core team of organizational leaders is mandatory in the effective creation of a strategic plan. Each task force member should represent a key business area or department of the organization to ensure the plan has organization wide input and buy-in. The task force meets regularly with clearly defined deliverables to be presented at each meeting. 3. Vision Statement an organizations vision statement is simply their roadmap for the future. The direction of the organization should be broad to include all areas of impact but narrow enough to clearly define a path. 4. Mission Statement an organizations mission is a definition of whom and what they are. Often mission statements include core goals and values of the organization. 5. Values values are the organizations fundamental beliefs in how they operate. Values can provide a guideline for management and staff for acceptable organizational behavior. Often values relate to the organizations organizational culture. 6. Goals goals are broad based strategies needed to achieve your organizations mission. 7. Objectives objectives are specific, measurable, action oriented, realistic and time bound strategies that achieve the organizations goals and vision. 8. Tasks tasks are specific actionable events that are assigned to individuals/departments to achieve. They, too, should be specific, measurable and time bound. 9. Implementation Strategy once the plan has been outlined, a tactical strategy is built that prioritizes initiatives and aligns resources. The implementation strategy pulls all the plan pieces together to ensure collectively there are no missing pieces and that the plan is feasible. As a part of the implementation strategy, accountability measures are put in place to ensure implementation takes place. 10. Monitoring of Strategic Plan during implementation of a strategic plan, it is critical to monitor the success and challenges of planning assumptions and initiatives. When evaluating the successes of a plan, you must look objectively at the measurement criteria defined in our goals and objectives. It may be necessary to retool the plan and its assumptions if elements of the plan are off track. 7 Fundamental Elements of an Effective Service Channel Strategy
By Tom Sweeny, ServiceXRG
Technology vendors have long looked to channels to broaden their access to markets expand their geographic reach and enhance their skills and resources. While many vendors form channel relationships to sell products, more than two-thirds (69.7%) of technology vendors surveyed by ServiceXRG use channels to sell, deliver and renew support and maintenance services. Vendors that have active channel programs rely heavily on their partners for critical service sales and delivery functions. The vast majority (84.4%) of partners that sell service contracts are involved with the delivery of these services and nearly three quarters (73.4%) are responsible for renewing contracts. The success or failure of channel partners to sell and deliver services can have a profound effect on a vendors ability to achieve strategic service objectives and meet financial performance goals. Therefore, technology vendors that look to partners to perform critical service functions must have a well-defined and executed channel strategy. A successful channel strategy for services requires several elements: a clear vision for the role that partners will play, an established program and criteria for attracting and retaining the right partners, the commitment and capabilities to support partner success, and the means to monitor the effectiveness of the channel program and the performance of individual partners. ServiceXRG has identified seven fundamental characteristics for developing and sustaining successful service channel partner relationships: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Develop a Formal Service Certification Program Establish Clear Sales and Account Ownership Guidelines Offer Equitable Channel Compensation Insure Effective Skills and Knowledge Transfer Enable Partners with Tools and Resources Maintain Open Communications Channel Partners Establish Success Criteria and Performance Monitoring Capabilities
probation period, implications and actions if/when certification is revoked, defined process for re-certification).
Providing partners with access to the support knowledgebase and self-guided learning resources.
Process to review the report card with the partner and identify appropriate corrective actions to address performance issues. Formal process to evaluate root cause of partner underperformance.