reading, listening, watching

Reading, Listening, and Watching—It’s That Time of Year Again

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2019 has been a YEAR. There as been so much good to celebrate. In March, we welcomed twin girls, Mila and Fiona. This is also (coincidentally?) about the time that we stopped sleeping, reading books, or being able to focus for long periods of time. Lol. So you might wonder what I could possibly offer in the way of recommendations for reading, listening, and watching. 

But as a result of my new normal, I’ve learned that audiobooks are amazing, rekindled my love of podcasts, and enjoyed long(er)-form articles that can be read on my phone, one-handed at previously unknown hours of the morning/night. Yep. This is my new normal and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

I love a good fresh start—new school year, birthdays, new calendar year. As we head into a new year and a new decade, it feels like the right time to consider the bigger picture. I’m thinking about setting boundaries, creating systems, and being present in my life. I’m asking how I can show up as my best self for myself, my family, my clients, and my community. 

Here are some recommendations from my reading, listening, and watching lists in 2019:

Reading

1. This article: You Don’t Need More Motivation—You Need a System is a great quick read with tips you can implement immediately. 

Staying productive is a challenge for all of us. Whether you consider yourself to be a “procrastinator” or not, the key to sticking to your priorities and getting the important tasks done each day is finding a routine that works for you.

Of course, before you can create the systems that will help you to accomplish your goals, you’ve got to take the time to set those goals. Here’s a set of worksheets I discovered. 

I’m going to work through these over the holidays. Also, vision and goal setting via Lululemon—who knew? 

2. This op-ed: The Inevitable Takedown of the Female CEO has me thinking about the importance of setting corporate culture, our expectations of leaders, and the insidious nature of bias. 

As Audacia Strategies enters its 5th year (Stay tuned for anniversary/birthday celebrations next year!), I’m focused on doing the hard work of building a company where people want to work. We are growing and I’m spending a lot of time thinking about scaling, company culture, and client success. 

I’m also thinking a lot about how to understand what clients need, Audacia’s values and the value our team provides from the client’s perspective. 

3. This manifesto of a company’s “Why” in memo form: We Don’t Sell Saddles Here was sent to the team at Tiny Speck, the makers of Slack, on July 31, 2013—two weeks before the launch of Slack’s ‘Preview Release’. 

Here’s a great quote from the article: “Sell the innovation, not the product. The best—maybe the only?—real, direct measure of “innovation” is change in human behaviour.”

4. This LinkedIn article: After 25 years studying innovation, here is what I have learned reminds us that innovation isn’t one-size-fits-all. 

In the article, the inimitable Clayton Christensen, author of The Innovator’s Dilemma, offers us 5 key findings from his time studying innovation, management, and people. I found #4 particularly compelling. How often do we forget that we are more than our careers and our businesses? Christensen reminds us, it’s easy for high-achievers to “underinvest in their families and overinvest in their careers.”

Listening

1. Click Here to Apply podcast. I’ve been listening to and loving Tony Sheng’s podcast. Each week, Tony interviews interesting people as he tries to figure out what he really wants to do with his own career. 

In one especially interesting episode, Erik Torenberg discusses how we should build career moats. I think this analogy is spot on. If we don’t defend the castle that is our growing business or our career, we risk losing ourselves every time we come under siege.

2. The Startup podcast. I’m that person who learned about the Startup from an episode of This American Life way back in 2014. I’ve been along for the ride with the Startup team ever since and love their (sometimes cringe-worthy) candor in sharing their experiences. So I’m passing on the recommendation.

The final season of the Startup podcast is available on whatever platform you prefer to get your podcasts. This last season charting their path to acquisition by Spotify was really fascinating. 

3. Dan Doran’s interview with yours truly. Speaking of fascinating recommendations (and with apologies for the shameless self-promotion), the episode of Dan Doran’s podcast where he interviews me was his most listened to episode of the year. If you missed it, you can find it here or listen on the Quantive website. 

Do you know of a great podcast looking for a guest like me? Let me know (katy@audaciastrategies.com)! 

Watching

1. The Irishman (Netflix film). I haven’t been as good about watching television lately. BUT we did watch The Irishman the other week. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it was compelling. I’d expect nothing less from an all-star cast of De Niro, Pesci, and Pacino. Special thanks to my husband, Chris, for making me put down my phone to watch it!

2. One Nation Under Stress (HBO documentary). I watched this one during a solo night at home. It’s thought-provoking and resonant for its personal appeal and also the implications for our community at large.

3. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (again). We just started Season 3 and I am literally giddy to queue up Amazon and reconnect with Midge and friends after we put the twins down. This show is a breath of fresh air and dialogue #goals. Someday, I’ll have comebacks as snappy as Midge! 

As we wind down another year (and the decade, what?), I hope you’ll take some time to reflect on your year. In the rush to think about our business goals for 2020 and the wonderful, but distracting holiday chaos, it’s easy to forget to really take stock of everything we’ve accomplished. But it’s so important to take the time to look back.

What were your biggest accomplishments in 2019? What are you considering as we head into 2020? What are your recommendations for reading, listening, and watching?

From our family to yours, we wish you a happy and relaxing holiday season and a healthy new year (new decade!).

Photo credit: Jetstream4wd (Getty Images Pro)

business communications

The 7 Deadly Sins of Business Communications: How to Stay Out of the Marketing Rat Race

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For brands—as with celebrities, politicians, and CEOs—scandals and PR nightmares, like the Airbnb scam that recently came to light, are nearly impossible to hide from today’s connected consumers. As a result, the best approach to business communications is operating with transparency and trust.

This poses a challenge for marketers: how to navigate the trends, meet customers where they are, and ensure the messages being communicated are genuine and in alignment with their brand’s core values. The challenge is all the more difficult when we consider marketing as an all-out arms race where brands compete to showcase their products and services. 

Yes, it’s easy to get caught up in the rat race (with apologies for the mixed metaphor). So, let’s talk about how to stay out of it. The rewards will be waiting for you. When firms make an effort to avoid the seven deadly sins of business communications below, they often find customers do the marketing for them.

1. Pride – Lack of consideration for or understanding of your audience

We all know people who make everything all about themselves. When pride reveals itself in an individual, we distance ourselves from the individual. When pride reveals itself in a business, we tune out completely. 

To avoid the sin of pride in business communications, show your audience that you are listening. Do your research. This is Communications 101. But I get it. When you’re under pressure to respond to a crisis or you need to get your marketing campaign up and running yesterday, it’s tempting to believe that you know best. 

PRO TIP: Remember, the failure to hear your audience could easily spell failure for your firm.

2. Envy – Trying to ‘copy and paste’ another organization’s communications strategy or message because, hey, it worked for them

Whenever we’re developing a communications strategy, it’s natural to draw inspiration from other organizations. But remember that your organization, your stakeholders, and your situation are unique. If you simply borrow from what you see competitors doing, you risk missing out on the authentic connection.

And with all the data available to anyone with a website and a little ingenuity, there’s really no excuse for firms not to attempt some form of targeting and personalization. Of course, you’ll want to use caution here. Personalization can go too far. Make sure you don’t cross the line trading authenticity for ultra-creepy.

PRO TIP: Instead of ‘copy and paste’, try ‘customization and personalization’. 

3. Gluttony – Sometimes too much is just…too much

Strong business communications are direct and to the point. When executives, whether speaking to the internal team or speaking to the public, use extra words, include too many buzzwords, or belabor a point, they take the focus away from the core message. 

PRO TIP: Trim the fat by offering communications coaching or training for those in core leadership positions.

4. Sloth – There are few shortcuts in life (despite the astounding number of promised life “hacks” all over social media)

It’s hard work to step into the shoes of your audience (customers, employees, investors, etc.), to think about what matters to them, and to honestly consider how your message will resonate. But there’s really no getting around doing the hard stuff. 

Also, just because you put a lot of time and effort into building out customer personas, doesn’t mean your ideal customer will stay the same for decades. You need to constantly re-evaluate your message and tweak it for each audience, circumstance, or business goal.

PRO TIP: Good communicators make business communications look easy. But there’s nothing easy about effectively communicating with a variety of audiences.

5. Lust – It’s easy to fall in love with the buzzword of the week, the fancy communications tools, or new social media channels

It’s easy to become enchanted with shiny new things because we’re always looking for ways to take our companies to the next level. Indeed, I’ve referred to some business communications buzzwords (e.g., authenticity, customization, personalization) in this very article. And they can all be useful in some form or fashion, but without the scaffolding of a bigger strategy, they are simply distractions or crutches.

The next time you feel yourself lusting after the latest and greatest, pause and ask yourself: what’s in it for my audience? And, will it help me better engage with my audience? If the answers are ‘nothing’ and ‘no’, you may be leaning on lust to keep from doing the hard work of communicating (see above: Sloth).

PRO TIP: Forget about lust. Fall in love with buzzwords, fancy communications tools, and new social media channels only if you can clearly see how they help you better engage with your audience.

6. Anger – We’ve got a lot of conflict in our communication channels these days

While there is something to be said for playing to the emotions of our audiences to invoke feelings of urgency, anger is not always the most effective way to motivate action or provoke conversation. Generally, anger is more of a monologue than a dialogue and when every communication is perceived as angry, it all sounds the same. Conversation, engagement, and attention work better for long term progress.

Non-profit organizations may especially want to take note here. You can establish a sense of urgency, while opening the door to a path where you can move forward together. It’s important to display your passion for issues and causes you care about, but passion without direction results in lost opportunities. 

PRO TIP: Beware of anger, the sugar high of business communications. It might give you a quick hit, but it will evaporate quickly.

7. Greed – It’s okay to make an ask! But ask yourself who will benefit

It’s perfectly okay and even encouraged for every communication to include a call to action—heck, we all need a good call to action, particularly in business. But when the ask is aligned to the benefit of a few (or perceived to be for the benefit of a few) the conversation falls flat.

Additionally, remember that not every CTA needs to be “buy my stuff.” When you think about generating leads, try thinking in terms of how you can help your customers, rather than how you can get more people to click on your link.

All the SEO and marketing tricks you can buy won’t replace the success that comes from following these three steps:

  • Do what you say you’re going to do
  • When you say you’re going to do it
  • Exactly how you said you would do it

PRO TIP: Business is the ultimate team sport. If the ask doesn’t also provide a “win” or a meaningful trade (of knowledge, services, etc.), then it’s hard to elicit champions for your cause.

As your company grows and you become more successful, business communications will become more complicated. Don’t let success cloud your vision of what’s truly important in your business: your customers and your employees.

If you notice any of these seven deadly sins creeping around your business practices, it might be time for a change. Audacia Strategies is ready to step in. We won’t give you absolution or assign you penance for your sins, but we can put your business communications back on the path to transparency and trust. Let’s Talk!

Photo credit: https://www.canva.com/robertkneschke/

crisis management strategy

Your Crisis Management Strategy When You Need to Walk Through the Fire…and Keep Walking

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Your company can’t seem to make money, your executives are constantly in the news for the wrong reasons, and your plane still isn’t flying. Yeah. It’s been a rough few weeks/months/years. 

Recently, I talked about what to do at the onset of a crisis, but what happens if you can’t immediately get a handle on the crisis? What is your crisis management strategy for living through the day-to-day of a crisis that seems to go on forever? The initial response with employees and customers requires getting to the ground truth quickly and relaying as many of the facts as you can, while taking action. 

Some of these same elements continue to be relevant in dealing with the fallout of a long term crisis. But what’s crucial for an effective crisis management strategy is being perceived as a company that is moving forward and not one hoping that maybe after enough time passes, everyone will forgive or at least FORGET. When facing damage from a crisis that just will not die, you need a plan for resolution and rebuilding.

Putting Out the Fire vs. Leading Through the Fire

One of the most challenging tests of a great leader is how they deal with a crisis. To pass this test, it takes two skills: knowing how to put out fires and knowing how to lead through fire. 

Every executive has to deal with surprises and being in business likely means you’ll have to put out some fires eventually. Especially as your company expands, those fires will seem bigger, or at least the potential for fires gets bigger. When it comes to putting out the fire of a PR crisis, the name of the game is regaining control. 

For example, you may remember that back in 2016, after the shooting in San Bernardino, the FBI demanded that Apple build a “backdoor” giving the authorities the ability to circumvent Apple’s data encryption and unlock any iPhone. In response, Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, effectively took control of the story writing this letter: ”A Message to Our Customers.” Tim Cook knows how to put out fires.

However, there are times when you cannot expect to turn things around so quickly or the fires you thought you put out actually continue to smolder. In these cases, leaders must develop a crisis management strategy for continuing to lead even through the crisis. 

Here are some tips for moving forward through the fire: 

1. Continue to focus on transparency and the truth.

While it can be tempting to say whatever you believe will finally put an end to this crisis, resist the urge to “whitewash” the truth. Keep in mind that following your gut and making quick, impulsive decisions is not a valid crisis management strategy and won’t likely get you through this crisis any faster. Impulsive decisions often result in a further loss of power.

Instead, you’ve got to slow down. It will be uncomfortable to tell the truth and only the truth. The media, your employees, your stakeholders, and your customers will likely push for more information. This is difficult to deal with, especially day in and day out. But if you haven’t worked out all the details, do not speculate. Remember that you are engaged in a game of chess here—not rock, paper, scissors. 

2. Work with your team to identify how the firm is preparing to resolve the crisis and (hopefully) prevent another in the future. 

One way to relieve the discomfort of having to stick to the facts, when you don’t have many facts to offer, is to take action so that you have more to talk about. Of course, I’m not suggesting you take any random action that comes to mind. Again, impulsive decisions are almost never the right move.

Instead, work closely with your team to come up with new policies and processes that help your company is ready to move forward. If new training would prevent a similar problem in the future, take steps to implement new training programs as part of your crisis management strategy, for instance. Also, consider what would improve both internal and external communications in the future.

For example, Stanford University recently changed their leave of absence policy for students facing a mental health crisis in the wake of a class action lawsuit alleging discrimination. In her message to students, Vice Provost for Student Affairs, Susie Brubaker-Cole, said, “my colleagues and I have learned from our conversations with you, and our campus community is stronger because of your advocacy.” She went on to say, “together, we are making significant progress, and this new policy is a critical component.”

3. Do NOT stop communicating, either internally or externally. 

No matter what crisis management strategy you ultimately choose, remember to continue communicating as much as possible. Hiding away and hoping you can weather the storm without facing questions from your employees or the public will only cause more problems. 

Instead, keep your leadership visible and ready to answer questions. Have top leaders communicate internally through regular town hall meetings, Zoom meetings, pre-recorded videos, manager talking points, or even just walking through the cafeteria. 

By the way, communicating does not mean you have to take every accusation “on the chin,” but certainly continue to address the issue(s) with employees via your identified channels. Also, be sure to proactively offer appropriate updates to customers, regulators, investors, etc.

Communicate, both internally and externally:

  • What’s the latest 
  • What has changed 
  • What remains the same

Remind your leadership team not to say anything to employees that they wouldn’t say outside the company. This can be controversial, but it’s a reality. Memos leak. Video and audio can be shared. Be transparent and be prepared for what that means inside and outside the company.

4. Focus on sharing your strategy—value proposition. 

This final point is perhaps the most important aspect of any crisis management strategy: go back to the heart and soul of your company wherever possible. It’s a good idea to look at this crisis from a 360-degree angle. Remind your customers why you do what you do and emphasize that you are looking at this issue as only a blip on the radar. 

The point is not to dazzle or distract from the crisis, but to provide context about what your firm does, why, and how you remain committed to that strategy/mission. Ideally, any new processes, policies, actions are in support of continuing to advance the vision of your organization. With surgical precision, you are removing an imperfection and you will be stronger following this recovery. 

Keep this message close at hand, no matter how bleak things look. And always know that every crisis comes to an end eventually. I know that cliches sound so empty when you’re standing in the middle of the chaos and I know you’ve heard them all, but maybe you can take comfort in the words of one great American entrepreneur, Henry Ford, “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” 

If you’re standing in the middle of a crisis right now, don’t go it alone. Find your tribe. Gather your advocates. And build your crisis management team. Fear might leave you feeling paralyzed at the moment, but you can trust the experts at Audacia Strategies. We’ll help you find the right crisis management strategy. Chaos is our brand, so you can bet we know how to walk through the fire. Contact us and let’s get to work!

photo by Authentic Images

crisis response strategy

The 5 G’s for Walking Through Fire Without Getting Burned–Your Internal Crisis Response Strategy

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We’ve all had those days. You know, the days where you are forced to pull your IPO and your CEO gets fired, or Congress launches an official investigation into your safety procedures, or your company is the target of whistleblower claims. 

No? You’ve never experienced a business crisis like this? Then, you’re one of the lucky ones. But keep reading because even if it’s not to the scale of the situations above, you may someday find yourself in a sticky business credibility situation. 

We’ve talked before about preparing a crisis response strategy from a PR perspective. Now I’d like to take a look at what to do inside a business. How do you handle your response with employees and customers?

How to Respond to a Business Crisis

When a challenge to your firm’s reputation arises, it’s important that you meet the challenge with a crisis response strategy not only for rebuilding your brand’s outward facing reputation, but also for addressing the crisis internally. You can’t expect your team or customers to read between the lines of your external messaging. Plus, you owe it to them to communicate beyond the “party line.”

As always, I recommend creating your crisis response strategy well before you find yourself walking into the chaos of a crisis. Consider the following 5 G’s as you build your framework:

1. Get to ground truth.

When a crisis happens, it’s important to keep two things in mind: you need to respond promptly and you need to respond truthfully. Surviving the crisis is all about how you balance these two factors. There can be a tendency to sacrifice truth for the sake of speed and vice versa. Ideally, you will avoid both pitfalls.

DO NOT SPECULATE. Your internal crisis response strategy should be informed by what you know, but you cannot wait to respond until you have absolutely all of the facts in front of you. So what can you do? Be transparent about what you know, where you are in the process and what you are doing. It’s important to acknowledge the credibility challenges (all of them), allow any legal processes to proceed, and identify and explain the steps you are taking.

2. Gather your team.

Even if you are the only person in your particular department, you will need a team. Whether you’re in finance, legal, communications, HR—as the saying goes, “look for the helpers.” Remember, it takes time to gather your team. So plan ahead and notify the relevant parties that you may call on them and what roles they will play in the crisis response strategy.

Once you’ve gathered your team, listen to them. It can be tempting to be reactive, but try to get a well rounded perspective before making any big decisions. Otherwise, you run the risk of overpromising in the hopes that you can make the whole thing go away. 

Instead, get a baseline. Get perspective. And give context.

  • Did your numbers tank this quarter? Focus on the data, not drama. Look at firm-wide numbers, the market, and get a line on how competitors are faring. You need a clear baseline before you can respond realistically.
  • Is there a government investigation? Get to ground truth (see above). Work closely with your legal department, but also encourage as much transparency as possible. The appearance of concealing or stonewalling is not a good look either inside or outside the firm.
  • Is someone accused of misconduct? Again, get to ground truth (see above). Also, consider re-emphasizing policies, values, and company culture within the firm (assuming they are not the cause of the misconduct).

3. Give employees the support they need.

Employees are most likely to end up on the frontlines during a crisis. They will be communicating with customers, other employees, regulators, etc. Do not leave them “swinging in the wind” as they try to clean up the mess they didn’t create.

Arm them with the facts and engage them in an ongoing and transparent conversation about what the firm is doing to repair or recover its reputation. Use the channels appropriate for your organization—email, text, newsletter, video, Slack, person-to-person meetings, etc. 

Meet employees where they are—during a crisis they should not have to search for answers. Part of your crisis response strategy should include resources for employees on the frontlines. Communicate with employees early and often.

  • Whenever possible keep the touch personal. For example, answer questions during a town hall, Zoom meeting, or video conference.
  • Create manager talking points ahead of time and distribute them as soon as you’re ready after a crisis hits.
  • Don’t say anything to employees that you wouldn’t say outside the company. This can be controversial, but it’s reality. Memos leak. Video and audio recordings can be shared. Screenshots can end up in the wrong hands. Be transparent and be prepared for what that means inside and outside the company.

4. Go on the offensive with customers. 

If the crisis impacts customers directly or has been/will be in the press, go on the offensive and own the issue. Rather than trying to totally control the crisis, though, let your mindset be one of getting your version of the facts out first. Again, make sure you explain to employees what your crisis response strategy looks like with regard to customers. 

Keep in mind, this doesn’t mean sugarcoating anything. Be transparent about next steps and honest about the potential impact (if any) on clients. Also, be sure that your customer communications are consistent with employee communications. As you consider these messages, your tone may differ, but the overall message should be consistent. The same goes for investors.

5. Grant trust. 

Follow the above 4 G’s and this last G should come naturally. When you create your crisis response strategy ahead of time, you’ll have the luxury of being able to fallback on your process. In the midst of a crisis situation, when it feels like everything is burning all around you, don’t underestimate the power of being able to trust in your people to execute on your process. 

How can you be so confident? Well, the confidence comes from having a strategy, knowing your audience, and believing in the human response to truth-telling. There’s a lot to be said for a company that owns up to mistakes and expertly pivots when crises arise. 

Whether you’re facing a small-scale crisis or a crisis of epic proportions like those recently faced by WeWork, Boeing, or GE, it’s helpful to remember other leaders have walked through the fire of chaos themselves. As Abraham Lincoln—no stranger to facing a crisis—once said, “I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.”

At Audacia Strategies, we’re no strangers to facing a crisis either. We’ve walked with our clients through the fire using the 5 G’s and we can help your firm develop the crisis response strategy that works for you as well. Schedule a consultation so we can talk about your needs.

Photo credit: Rawpixel

M&A best practices

M&A Best Practices (Part 2): Ensure a Successful Integration After an Acquisition

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This is part two of our series on M&A Best Practices. If you haven’t yet read part one, you will want to read it first: M&A Best Practices for before and during an acquisition. And, don’t forget to check out our handy M&A checklist at the end of this article!

In our previous article, we discussed M&A best practices for before and during an acquisition. The entire process can be very dynamic and exciting. For this reason, it’s important to prepare and plan well when things are relatively calm, before you find yourself in the thick of things.

Okay, so you’ve acquired an organization and the communications around the acquisition have gone according to plan. Awesome! Now what? If you’re hoping integration will simply run itself, it’s time to recalibrate your expectations. Just as planning is important before and during an acquisition, establishing timelines and procedures and opening lines for effective communications ensures that integration runs smoothly.

Now, let’s talk about M&A best practices for the weeks and months after an acquisition.

The Work Really Begins: Integrating Legacy Organizations

Effective communications surrounding an acquisition assures your workforce that business will proceed as usual and your clients that delivery is not impacted by this change. Managers are an essential link in the communications chain, both internally and externally.

When announcing an acquisition, the information will spread quickly. And, as we know, false information spreads more quickly than the truth. So you will want to have a strategy to manage your message. Carefully choreograph your communications so that internal audiences hear from you first. Ensure that your communications cascade is timely, coordinated, and that your supporting materials and spokespersons are on point.

Here’s a sample timeline:

  • Day -1, 8pm: A transaction is agreed to and the paperwork is executed.
  • Day 0, 7:30am: The CEO of the acquiring company emails her managers to make them aware of the transaction. The message includes a cover note with action items, timelines, and proofs of concept (POCs). Attachments include a courtesy copy of the all-employee announcement, manager talking points, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and a description of the acquired company.
  • Day 0, 7:30am: Similarly (and ideally simultaneously), the CEO of the acquired company emails his managers to make them aware of the transaction. Like the communication described above, the message includes a cover note with action items, timelines, and POCs. Attachments include a courtesy copy of the all-employee announcement, manager talking points, FAQs, and a description of the acquiring company.
  • Day 0, 8:00am: The transaction press release clears the wire service and then designated communications team members reach out individually to key members of the press.
  • Day 0, 8:00am: The acquiring company distributes a message to the employees of both organizations, announcing the transaction, welcoming the acquired organization to the team, and providing a vision for the future.
  • Day 0, 8:00am: Likewise, the acquired company distributes a message to employees of both organizations, explaining why this decision was made, thanking legacy employees for their service and dedication, and reinforcing the strategy for the combination.
  • Day 0, 8:00am: IT posts all employee communications related to the acquisition on a dedicated intranet page.
  • Day 0, 8:30am: The leadership team holds an all-employee call, reiterating the talking points and allowing for questions.
  • Day 0: 9:30am: Managers hold a huddle with their teams, using provided talking points, then report to corporate communications via email that the meeting took place. This email should also include any questions from employees, which can be rolled into an FAQ document as needed. Track the status of these meetings to identify teams that may require additional communications support.
  • Day 0+: Designated company personnel notify key clients that the acquisition has taken place highlighting the potential benefits to the customer and addressing customer concerns. This can include the heads of associations on whose boards company leadership serve.
  • Day 0+: Leadership calls and all-employee communications provide regular updates on the integration.

Throughout this process, the project team (see Part 1) meets to ensure deadlines are continuing to be met, issues are raised, and questions are answered. The project manager and assistant/deputy remain engaged with the collective plan, as well as with each department lead. As the combined organization achieves milestones, large or small, celebrate those!

Culture is a critical influencer in any acquisition. If employees within the acquired organization feel that things are changing radically early on, they may not buy into the change, and they may seek opportunities elsewhere. Rely on project leads to provide “temperature checks” and suggest ways to unify the group, if needed.

 Take time to take stock. There are always lessons to be learned following a significant transaction. As the dust settles, be sure to complete an after-action review to garner feedback on what went well, what could have gone better, and what should be taken into account in the future. This is also a good time to review templates and procedures that worked well and will be helpful to future activities. 

There you have it, your complete Audacia Strategies blueprint for M&A best practices before, during, and after. When you combine these tips for integrating a newly acquired organization with the tips for preparing and announcing the acquisition in the early stages, you have a recipe for M&A success. 

Here’s a handy checklist we use when working with our clients throughout the process. Are you ready to see us in action? Schedule your consultation and let’s get you on the books. We’re ready to help your organization transform and grow!

Image by rawpixel from Pixabay

M&A best practices

M&A Best Practices (Part 1): Are You Prepared for Your Next Acquisition? Our Checklist for Success

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This is part one of our series on M&A Best Practices. Tune in for the exciting conclusion: M&A Best Practices for after an acquisition.

Merger and acquisition (M&A) activities present exciting opportunities to grow companies, bolster brands, and capitalize on synergies between acquiring and acquired organizations. However, the process is complicated and there are important steps to take to protect this significant investment.

The stakes are high. One article by Harvard Business Review reports that more than 70 percent of all M&A activities fail. While preparation and planning makes a difference at any stage, following M&A best practices are especially helpful in easing the strain of the due diligence and announcement processes. 

In the following article, we recommend M&A best practices to apply before and during an M&A activity to ensure positive outcomes for all parties.

Calm before the Storm: Preparing for an Acquisition

Proper planning and forethought in the months and weeks prior to your company acquiring another organization will save you time during the announcement and integration periods and avoid role confusion. It will also assist your workforce in managing change. 

best practicesIn the weeks prior to an acquisition:

  • Come up with a project name. Once you select a company you plan to acquire, e-mail exchanges will increase dramatically and a significant number of meetings will appear on calendars. To ensure confidentiality surrounding the acquisition, select a project name and use it in all communications and scheduling requests. This small step will help a lot when it comes to organization.
  •  Form a project team. Prior to the acquisition, select:

 > A project manager who will have the internal relationships and executive respect to enforce plans and deadlines, press leadership for decisions, etc.

 > A project lead from each department. This is a great opportunity to elevate high-potential employees. Tap the talent within your organization to work on a project that will have a huge impact.

> An assistant or deputy whose sole responsibility is to manage the overall project plan and support the team through upcoming deadlines/outstanding actions. Do not leave this role vacant. While it may seem that everyone can keep track of their own deadlines, that is a recipe for disaster. For the sake of accountability, it’s best to have someone else managing the timeline. 

  • Establish project spaces (both virtual and physical). Establish a site within a secure shared space online (aka a virtual data room) where teams can house acquisition-related resources and easily communicate. Every department/lead should have a defined space to house documents and review, edit, comment. Additionally, if you have a cohort of team members in one place, consider the physical location(s) where meetings will take place. Is it possible to reserve a private war room for the team’s exclusive use?
  • Develop and share project plans. Create a project plan template with a tab for each department/project lead. This could look similar in format to a Transformation Management Office (TMO) plan. This is helpful for keeping track of all of the moving pieces and identifying interdependencies.
  • Inventory your non-monetary assets. As you consider the potential value of a merger or acquisition. Don’t forget about some of your less obvious assets. What BD, HR, IT, finance, legal, recruiting, training, and other systems do you own or lease? What subscriptions do you hold? What memberships are committed and paid? What marketing equipment do you own? During the very busy integration process, you’ll want to understand where there are potential synergies and potential conflicts. Ask the same of the acquired organization in order to realize savings and achieve synergies. Save time on your end by coming up with this list now.

In the Thick of Things: Conducting Due Diligence and Pre-Announcement Activities

Once you have a target acquisition, have your banking/equity partners in place, and read-in your project team, you can prepare in earnest for the announcement.

  • This begins with due diligence, during which time you will have an opportunity to review the target firm’s operations including financial and sales pipeline information and ask questions of the acquired organization’s leadership. Time is precious and planning should run concurrent to the due diligence process.
  • Once the project team is in place, determine the frequency with which the team will meet. Likely, this will be daily during the pre-announcement period, then weekly during the integration.
  • The planning document is a living one and will change often in this phase. During team meetings, assess where tasks stand in relation to deadlines, what hot spots might flare, and what decisions are needed.
  • Governance becomes a frequent topic during this period. What role will the leadership of the acquired company play following the transaction? How will their titles, physical location, and direct reporting relationships change? It’s important to think this through instead of making assumptions. If employees don’t see a clear hierarchy and know to whom they are expected to report, chaos will be the likely outcome.
  • Additionally, consider naming conventions for the combined organization, as well as its business units or lines. Does the company name change? Does the acquired organization become a business unit, a subsidiary, or a portion of an existing business line? The answers to these questions will impact everything from the website(s) and corporate signage to stationary and e-mail signatures. Consider how you can engage employees and even customers in the re-branding process. For the best results, engage a professional as well!

One note of caution: Often, the creation, review, and approval of announcements, manager talking points, FAQs, press releases, and online content will reveal decisions that haven’t yet been finalized or information that has not yet been disseminated to the entire project team. Be conscientious about version control as you may need to do a significant amount of coordination within your team and with your external advisors (legal, banking, etc.) during this phase.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work 

Most importantly, be patient during this process. Acquisitions can be highly emotional transactions for owners and employees. It’s necessary for the acquiring organization to be sensitive during this delicate dance, since 1) everyone wants to close the deal and 2) any rips in the culture or workforce could become red flags for your clients. This is especially true for professional services firms, in which the value of the sale lies in the company’s employees and their customer relationships. 

At Audacia Strategies, we help organizations prepare for and communicate during mergers and acquisitions. We never shy away from a challenge, in fact we thrive and hit our stride working with teams to communicate during times of transformation. If you need an M&A best practices communications strategy, let’s chat!

In our next blog article, we discuss M&A best practices in relation to running a smooth integration after an acquisition and we’ll summarize everything with a checklist you can put to use. Stay tuned!

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failure communications

How To Do Failure Communications Right—3 Communications Lessons Learned About What To Do When We Fall

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We naturally spend a lot of time thinking about what a successful communications strategy looks like. This a good thing. Communicating your company’s message and values is crucial for standing out amongst your closest competitors. But have you also thought about a failure communications strategy?

<INSERT> Awkward silence.

failureRight. Let’s get uncomfortable today. Let’s talk failure. If you’re rolling your eyes now because you think you know what’s coming, keep reading. This isn’t going to be the “Failure is an amazing teacher!” pablum that we’ve all grown so tired of hearing. No. This is real talk about what to do when the sh*t hits the fan, when we disappoint ourselves and others, or when we just fall flat on our faces.

Rothy’s and How to Do Failure Communications Right

I recently received an email from shoe startup, Rothy’s, that stopped me in my tracks (Yes, Rothy’s is a favorite brand of mine. But don’t worry, this is not an endorsement or a sales pitch. It’s just an example of an excellent communications strategy). 

For months, Rothy’s had been teasing its latest shoe, a summertime slide with a vegan leather sole. The day before the shoe was supposed to launch, Rothy’s told its customers that the shoe’s launch was off. Apparently, scaling from prototype to production resulted in quality issues that couldn’t be fixed in time for the summer season.

The email they sent wasn’t a sale announcement or a giveaway begging customers not to leave. The subject line was: “Ouch.” The first line included the words “truthful and transparent.” It was an apology. But not the kind of lackluster corporate apology you might expect from a CEO who is clearly following instructions provided by legal. It was the kind of apology that left me feeling a greater respect for Rothy’s and its leadership.

What Rothy’s apology got right:

  • They took responsibility both for the mistake and for the decision to cancel the launch of a new product
  • They explained why they made the decision to cancel the launch
  • The reason they gave was all about looking out for the customer
  • They referred to their company values (i.e., “we pride ourselves on making the right decision—even when it’s really hard”) and their quality standards (i.e., “we will only launch product when every piece is perfect”)
  • They acknowledged how disappointing this decision is, but reiterated their confidence in making this difficult decision

They sent this email the day before the launch. 

Think about that—consider the time and money invested in design, marketing, production. Consider the sales expectations already baked into the firm’s annual plans. Think about the discussions that were likely happening behind the scenes to make the decision to pull the launch just hours before it was scheduled. Yet, they went through with the apology because leadership believed it was right.

3 Lessons Learned From Rothy’s Apology

If you stay in business long enough, failure is inevitable. Every seasoned business leader has “war stories.” Failure hurts. It hurts to consider the financial impact. It hurts to consider the customer impact and the blow to your brand (or personal) credibility. And, let’s be honest. It’s an ego blow. 

What sets apart those who master the art of turning lemons into lemonade from those who just leave customers with a sour taste? Let’s look at 3 lessons we can learn from Rothy’s literal failure to launch.

1. Failure can humanize your brand.

Failure sucks—there’s no getting around that—and doing the right thing can be incredibly painful. But as you work through the failure, acknowledging the pain humanizes your brand and aligns your goals with your customers’ expectations. 

When you fail, make it right if you can. But when you can’t, acknowledge the human aspects of disappointment and talk openly about how you will do better going forward. Trust your customers enough to put it all out there.

2. Transparency works.

Whether you’re communicating with customers, investors, or media, prioritize simple honesty. We don’t have to martyr ourselves or get too far into the weeds of how and why we failed. But we should be honest about the situation and what we’re doing about it. At the end of the day, this is all anyone can expect after a crisis. You can’t turn back time as much as you might wish you could.

3. Live your values. 

Failure is the greatest test of your values as a company. This really is where the “rubber meets the road.” After Facebook admitted to selling our data, one of the biggest criticisms was really a question about the company’s values. The “apology” ad reminding us of how much we all love Facebook felt like a sham after everything that came out. 

Communicating about failure, when done right, gives us a chance to remind others about our values, why they are important, and how they provide a better experience. That’s what I liked the most about Rothy’s communication. They acknowledged the failure right up front and they explained their highly personal calculus behind pulling the launch: that the poor quality shoe would be a bigger hit to their brand credibility than not launching the shoe at all. 

It was a fantastic example of transparency, honesty about business decisions, and a real example of living your corporate values. I’m sure that behind the scenes at Rothy’s HQ there are some heavy discussions taking place to understand why they failed on this product launch. But, they lived to fight another day and made their customers feel prioritized. 

Rothy’s launch fail is an excellent example of making lemonade out of lemons. You can perfect your brand’s lemonade recipe with these other blog articles:

And you can always work with a pro like Audacia Strategies to establish your failure communications or crisis communications strategy. We can also help create a strategy for successful communications, of course! Contact us today to talk about your unique needs.

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inspiring

Reading, Listening, and Watching—What I’m Loving Right Now

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It’s beach season. If you’re lucky enough to get some R&R this summer, I bet you’re reaching for something inspiring like a good book, your favorite podcast, or a binge-worthy T.V. show to watch. Me too! So I thought it would be a great time for me to dust off this occasional blog feature.

reading listening watchingHere’s what I’m up to in between (and sometimes simultaneous with) feedings and snuggle time with my favorite twin babies:

Reading

Educated: A Memoir

Okay, I’m about a year behind in reading this 2018 bestseller, but WOW am I glad that I did. In case you’re behind, like me, Educated is the memoir of Tara Westover who was kept out of school by her survivalist family. Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom and went on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University. It is a story of family, loyalty, reinvention, grit, and so much more. If you need a great, inspiring, page-turner for your travels this summer, this is it!

Mary Meeker’s 2019 Internet Trends Report

333 slides. Yup. 333.

If you’re reading this blog article, then you know that I prefer short and sweet presentations. But this is an exception. Meeker has been providing in-depth analysis of the trends driving the Internet for over 20 years. Don’t think of this as a presentation—think of it as a masterclass on market analysis. Interested in internet usage? Use of data? How industries such as education and healthcare are transforming? It’s all here. So pour yourself a cold beverage and enjoy. I bet you come away with several inspiring “ahas!” I certainly have.

Listening

Business Wars

I’m not a fan of comparing business to military conflict. But if we set aside the title of this podcast, we get awesome behind the scenes stories of some of the biggest business competitions: Anheuser-Busch vs. Miller, Netflix vs. Blockbuster, McDonald’s vs. Burger King. You get the idea. Each season has seven episodes digging into the history of the competition. History is always the best teacher, right?

Broken Record with Malcolm Gladwell

Honestly, this podcast had me at Malcolm Gladwell, but Malcolm Gladwell PLUS interviews with some of the most fascinating personalities in music? That’s my jam. (See what I did there?) In this series, Gladwell interviews a diverse array of singers, songwriters, and producers. Still not convinced? Take a look at this short list of examples: a two-part interview with Questlove, a discussion with Pentatonix, a conversation with Vampire Weekend. Great listening for your commute or walk around the neighborhood.

Watching

The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley

As I mentioned a few months ago, I devoured another of 2018’s best sellers, Bad Blood, a real-life thriller that charts the rise and collapse of Theranos, the multibillion-dollar biotech startup that flamed out spectacularly with lawsuits, federal investigations, and possible prison time for key executives (the jury is still out, literally). The Inventor is based on the book and incorporates interviews with key players and actual footage from the company before its collapse. It’s an incredibly compelling HBO documentary that reminds us all that businesses are run by people…and all their flaws.

Game of Thrones: Season Eight

No spoilers here, but let’s just say that I’m still processing the final season of this iconic series. Anyone else? Whether you love or hate this last season, the energy and excitement around this series prove that there is still an appetite for good writing. Of course, with GOT wrapped up now, I need a new series. I’m ready for the next season of The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu) and Big Little Lies (HBO). What else should be on my list?

I hope you have some incredibly fun stuff planned for the next few months. If any of your travels, lounging poolside, or playing in the waves leads you to discover something inspiring, please share it with me on social media (Twitter, LinkedIn) or via email. I’m always on the hunt for business tips, tricks, and motivation to move the needle at Audacia Strategies.

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best communications practices

“Chaos is Our Brand”—Takeaways from an Interview with Katy Herr, CEO of Audacia Strategies

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Friend of Audacia Strategies and CEO of Quantive, Dan Doran, interviewed Katy about the advantages of running an “out-of-house” communications firm, best communications practices during times of transition, investor relations, M&A strategy, Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods, and much more.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways and highlights from their in-depth conversation.

1. Don’t Wait to Create a Communications Strategy

Organizations most often look for experts in investor relations and strategic communications during big transitions. For example, a government contractor might decide to take operations in a commercial direction or a firm may contemplate a game-changing merger or acquisition. Whether or not your organization ultimately decides to bring in a firm like Audacia Strategies to help during such a transition, the most important thing you can do is start strategizing early.

Many of our clients contact us when they’re facing one of two situations: times of crisis or times of transformation—hence our unofficial tagline: “chaos is our brand.” This makes a lot of sense, but too often what we find is that if an organization hesitates to develop best communications practices and a communications strategy early enough, things can go off the rails quickly.

Say your board is about to fire your CEO, when someone leaks the news on social media and all hell breaks loose. What do you do now? Dealing with this kind of challenge is never fun, but it is much easier if you have a strategy ready to implement. If you have a plan, you can stabilize the situation quickly and move past the crisis.

So, why look to an outside “hired gun” to help develop a best practice communications strategy?

Here are a few of the benefits of using an outside communications firm like Audacia:

  • An outside set of eyes gives you transaction experience, critical perspective, and unbiased advice when communicating your message to the outside world.
  • An outside firm is in a good position to place your organization in a broader context (i.e., the competitive set, the market, and your financial stakeholders), while you focus on running day-to-day internal operations.
  • An outside firm isn’t influenced by the “groupthink” or silo-ed communications that can be an obstacle to projecting the strongest public image.

2. Think About Who Your Stakeholders Are

Part and parcel of creating a winning communications strategy is thinking about who your stakeholders really are. Whatever you do, don’t skimp on the stakeholder analysis. Remember that at its core communications is about storytelling. And just as you wouldn’t tell the same story in the same way to your 4-year-old nephew as you would to your 85-year-old grandmother, you wouldn’t tell the story of your company in the same way to different types of stakeholders.

Depending on whether you are a publicly or privately held company, stakeholders could include any or all of the following sets:

  • Employees
  • Financial stakeholders:
    • Public debt holders and ratings agencies
    • Private equity companies and banks
  • Community partners
  • Business partners (non-financial)
  • Strategic partners
  • Customers

3. Understand the Difference Between Marketing and Communications

It’s also important to realize that even if you have an internal marketing department or marketing agency responsible for communicating your message to customers, you may still benefit from enlisting a corporate communications or investor relations firm to help communicate with other stakeholders. We see both marketing and communications as valuable tools for building relationships.

Whereas marketing primarily focuses on telling the story of how your product or service will help your target customers, strategic communications partners can knit together the entirety of the business story to give investors and other stakeholders a comprehensive picture. As experts, we provide you a strategy leveraging communications best practices honed over many transactions, crises, and change events.

We look at how individual aspects of the business including operations, business development, human relations plans, contracts, real estate holdings, etc. fit together to create a holistic picture of value and determine how to communicate that value to each stakeholder segment.

In addition, while many firms have annual strategic planning sessions, often leaders and employees are too busy putting out fires day-to-day to think much about the broader picture. By opening this conversation, we give firms the space to look at the competitive space and customer environment, for instance, and ask big questions about how their market might respond to their actions, how resources should be optimally redirected, and how to keep investors engaged through the transition.

4. Gain Fundamental Communications Building Blocks Regardless of Revenue

At Audacia Strategies, our team has worked to develop best communications practices for companies with billions in revenues and an established shareholder cohort and companies that are pre-revenue looking for their first round of funding. While the scale and scope are different, the communications needs of large and small firms are remarkably similar.

There are some “blocking and tackling” basics that hold when it comes to analysis, building customer relationships, and considering how to communicate your value to the marketplace. These are fundamental whether you’re pitching friends and family or venture capital firms.

Fundamental communications questions to ask:

  • How do we want to talk about this new capability?
  • How do we demonstrate knowledge, understanding, and awareness of the market we’re going into?
  • Are there legal, financial, or cultural requirements that we should keep in mind?

5. M&A Tips and Tricks

When it comes to M&A (mergers and acquisitions), Audacia Strategies can support teams in many different capacities. We work with corporate development teams, in-house financial teams, lawyers, and investment bankers helping them think through the market and storytelling from an M&A perspective. For publicly traded firms, given the disclosure requirements, if you can tell the right story from the beginning, the whole process will be easier.

For example, when murmurs of Amazon working on a deal to acquire Whole Foods first hit the news, a lot of experts were skeptical. Whole Foods was struggling against some PR snafus and people wondered what Amazon really knew about how to manage a grocery store.

But look at what happened? As soon as Amazon acquired Whole Foods for $13.5 billion, Amazon’s market cap went up $14.5 billion. Essentially, the market paid Amazon to acquire Whole Foods. (If you’re curious to read more about Amazon, check out The Everything Store.) So, it’s interesting to see how the market will view M&A. It’s about risk, the ability to manage the risk, and telling the story of how this acquisition fits into your broader business strategy and culture.

Finally, we’ll leave you with some pitfalls and opportunities to consider when it comes to communications during a merger or acquisition:

M&A Pitfalls:

  • Companies that overpay: We have another blog post dedicated to this topic. Suffice to say, if you overpay for an acquisition, it can create credibility issues with your investors, your Board of Directors, your employees…the list goes on. Negotiations can get emotional quickly but consider that the business strategy will have to support the valuation.
  • Cultural fit failure: We’ve seen it happen: a small start-up firm develops an amazing technology and gets bought by a huge firm looking to prove it’s innovative and “hip.” Then, within a year, all the original start up employees are gone. Avoid this kind of cultural disconnect by having an air-tight integration strategy from the beginning. Make sure you are walking your walk, so you can deliver on what you’re promising.

M&A Opportunities:

  • Integration is key: The best M&A success stories are those where the merging leadership teams think about integration all the way along. When companies have a successful communications strategy that includes communicating the big vision well for both internal and external audiences, the proof is in the stakeholders’ response.
  • Customers see opportunities: Ideally, when two companies merge, customers say “this is exactly what I needed.” Rather than seeking out two solutions, for example, the customer gets one-stop-shopping from the new hybrid. It’s your job to help communicate this feeling across your stakeholder groups.
  • Employees see opportunities: And if you can also pull off a merger where employees in both companies see the transformation as good for their own careers, you’ve developed a winning communications strategy. Often employees of the smaller firm may feel anxious about being acquired. But if you can honestly demonstrate opportunities for career mobility, earnings potential, and other benefits of working for a larger company, it will go a long way toward easing transition tensions.

The above is only a sampling of the insights and best communications practices gained from Dan and Katy’s conversation. To watch and listen to the 30-minute interview in its entirety, hop over to GoQuantive.com.

Catch the whole episode here:

For more information about how Audacia Strategies can help you own your message through big bold business changes, check out our one-page business overview. And if you’re new to the Audacia Strategies world, welcome! Please contact us to set up a discovery session so we can start strategizing about your best communications practices now.

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business growth

Does Size Matter? Planning a Successful Transition from a Small to Large Business

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Business growth is always a hot topic. And lately, we’ve been having a lot of conversations with clients and potential clients about how to grow. But what really stands out is that the challenges are not so much about growing per se. They’re more about how to grow smart.

You see, when a small business is absolutely killing it, it runs the risk of outgrowing the (super helpful) “small business” designation. Suddenly, the issues are all about translating what is working well at this level to the next level and the translation is almost never one-to-one. And for businesses that work with federal, state, or local government offices there is even more to think about. It’s not unlike learning to play 3-dimensional chess.  

Yes, there are better and worse ways to move from being a big fish in a small pond to being a small fish in a big pond. So, let’s talk about how to do it well.

Mini Case Study

For instance, consider the following typical business growth scenario:

I’m a federal 8(a) or certified small business in my key market areas and I’ve been so successful that I’m about to graduate from “small business” to “large business” in the eyes of my customers. This is awesome because I’ve figured out my market and I’m on an incredible growth trajectory. BUT—How do I preserve the “special sauce” of being a small business while I grow? How do I maintain my growth trajectory? How should I think about shifting my marketing and sales strategy?

These are tough questions. But the good news is that many successful businesses have survived this kind of transition with flying colors. You can do it too. All it takes is a strong transition strategy.

Oh, and…start early! The surest way to business growth success is giving your team the time and space they need to figure things out. This is just good leadership: giving your team the tools they need to plan for the many aspects of your business that will shift as you move to a bigger playing field.

Big Picture Questions

The following questions will serve you well as you make the transition from a small player to competing on bigger and bigger stages:

1. Where do you want to be?

You’re growing. That’s AWESOME! But what is your vision for success in 1 to 3 years? It might be tempting to plan further out, like 5 or 10 years, but I’m not a huge fan of going beyond 3 years. There’s just so much that can change in your business, the market, the competitive set, technology, etc.

That’s not to say you can’t or shouldn’t have a long term view. But when you sit down to think about your investment strategy and near terms actions, it’s best to keep 90% of it focused within a rolling 3-year timeframe.

So, where do you want to be? Start there and work backward.

2. Who are you? What do you want to be known for?

And as for your special sauce, this is a great time to get clear about it. Keep in mind sometimes what we think is our special sauce isn’t really that special to our customers and partners. This means talk to your clients, your business partners, your employees…ask almost anyone you can think of what makes your business really unique. Ask them to get specific.

Also, steer clear of boilerplate marketing speak and boring platitudes. For example, way too many businesses say, “our people are our differentiator.” But the fact that EVERYONE says this means it’s not true. No business worth their salt is going out there and hiring unqualified people. It should go without saying that you’re hiring the best and brightest that you can get your hands on!

So, what is it about what you do with your team that makes you unique? For your customers, it could be that you always return their calls quickly. Or that you have a process for onboarding that allows them to hit the ground running. For your investors, maybe you’re offering the chance to expand their portfolios in a particular direction.

3. What do we need to get there?

Are there gaps in talent, technology, or process that you will need to fill in the next few years? Have you thought about all the ways that business growth will require your team members to step up their games? Are you prepared to support leadership as they learn how their jobs and relationships will change?

One of the key aspects of a successful transition is being open to seeing shortcomings and accepting where creative solutions are needed. If you aren’t actively seeking constructive criticism along this journey, you are asking to be blindsided. So, start assembling that team of rivals and ask them to be brutally honest.

Think About What the Future Looks Like

One of the best pieces of business advice I’ve heard is “dress for the job you want.” This is another way to say put yourself in the mindset of where you want to be. When a business is transitioning to become a bigger and (hopefully) better version of itself, the same principle applies.

Here are some ways to put yourself and your team in the mindset of where you want to be:

Identify your audience: Now that you’re moving up, your customer set may change. You may be working with new clients who have larger budgets (and expectations that go along with those big numbers). Even your current customers’ perceptions will likely shift as you graduate from small business to large business. Identify their priorities and tailor your sales and marketing approach to their needs.

Shift your competitive set: As you grow, your competitors change too. This is particularly true when moving from a small business that benefits from set-aside budgets and contracts to a large business that is competing in a full and open market.

As you think about your new competitive set, take a good hard look at:

  • Your competitors’ current client lists, testimonials, reviews.
  • How they characterize and position their service and product offerings?
  • How they market themselves (e.g., website, public statements, corporate overview, social media, thought leadership pieces, etc.).

You aren’t doing any of this because you want to copy or steal their ideas. But to stand out from the crowd, you need to know what your crowd looks like. It’s also good to assess what your clients are used to seeing and hearing so that you can stand apart while communicating in the language they understand.

Also, consider the following:

  • Define success carefully. Consider the ideal goal, but also what, at a minimum, will count as a win. Be generous.
  • Do your market research. Don’t skimp on this step! Rushing into a big change without doing the right research sets everyone up for failure.
  • Understand your strengths and weaknesses. Transformation affects every level of your organization. Make sure you identify leaders early in the process and give them what they need to execute their specific missions. Also, look for any gaps in communication across departments. Strategize about how to create more cooperation.

Consider your proof points: Always keep in mind that business growth is an indication that what you’re doing is working. It can feel overwhelming in the process, but if you stick to what you know, that can really help you feel more grounded. Refer back to your track record of solid performance and great results whenever necessary. Also, work with your team to establish reasonable proof points to help you assess your growth roadmap going forward.

Be yourself: Finally, it can be easy to forget who you are in this process of reinventing yourself. So remember to continually reevaluate your messaging. Make sure all of your communications reflect your company’s credibility, self-worth, and core values.

If you are asking some of these questions about business growth or anticipate moving from a small to larger business in the future, my team and I would love to help with the transition. Contact us to schedule your consultation and find out more about how we enable your transformation.

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