Six Steps for Preparation for Growth

If you have the desire to grow your print revenue as a principal, salesperson or customer service representative, have you ever thought about the importance to prepare for that growth?

Before launching a new product or new capability or capturing a new type of customer, it is important to be prepared prior to going for it.

The culture around us says, “just do it” and encourages us to just jump in and figure it out as we go. This may work in some situations, but being prepared for a growth opportunity increases the likelihood of the successful outcome we desire.

Here are several steps that define a process to follow to be certain you are prepared for growth:

Equip the Team

Before we can move forward, we need to be certain that our team is equipped to handle what comes next. What education and training do they need? What tools do they need to do the job of taking on, as an example, a new level of print customer? Oftentimes, we can obtain the needed training and resources from our suppliers who are ready and willing to lend a hand to help us succeed because it will mean greater success for them as well. Equip your team before launching into a new opportunity.

Count What is Needed

Prior to launching a new printing product or service or level of customer, figure out what is needed for success. Is it more people? Is it a new skill set? Is it more software capability? Is it a new supplier? Is it new knowledge or skills? By counting what is needed beforehand, we will be better prepared for the growth opportunity.

Take Stock

Once we count what is needed, we need to next take stock of all the resources that we have. Do we have the people, the money, the suppliers, the software and other resources to launch a new printing product, service, or customer? We can now look at the gap between what is needed and what we have and create a plan to fill in the gap to prepare us for the growth ahead.

Organize Your Resources

Once we have equipped our team and filled in the gap in our resources, it is time to organize those resources. Make sure you have people responsible to handle each resource and then delegate the responsibility and authority to get the job done in preparing for the next print opportunity.

Review the Teamwork

In order to execute on the new growth opportunity, we need to be sure that everyone is working together as a team. How will we know if they are not? There is evidence of only one agenda: the team’s goal and agenda. People need to work as a team or their effectiveness diminishes. Look for friction causing a lack of progress as evidence that teamwork is not being maximized. Get on top of this immediately to ensure great teamwork and a successful outcome of your new product, service, or customer.

Move Forward

Now you are ready to seize the moment and launch!

If we have a goal of growth in an area of our print business, it is important that we be prepared ahead of it if we want to succeed.

What other ideas and processes have worked for you in getting prepared for growth?

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