Tag Archives: Grid

How Do You Communicate Benefits Changes After Being Acquired? Seven Suggestions

Situation: A company was recently acquired. The acquirer wants to merge benefit structures between the two entities. While company contributions are similar, distribution of benefits between retirement plans, health plans, and other benefits between the entities varies considerably. How do you approach the staff about the changes in a positive manner? How do you communicate benefits changes after being acquired?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Ideally, you want to survey employees on what is and is not important to them about their benefits before the package is finalized. This will help you negotiate on your employees’ behalf.
  • Ask the acquirer whether a “cafeteria” benefit program is feasible. This would allow your employees to make choices among benefit options, and to fund these choices either at a company-paid base level or to supplement their choices through payroll deductions.
  • Inform the acquiring company of your state’s regulatory policies on state-specific benefits.
  • Once the new benefit package is finalized, ask for assistance communicating the new package to your staff. Create a simple and concise grid for the program: amount of company contribution: benefits under old program, benefits under new program, use the grid to demonstrate that while the allocation may be different, the company contribution remains the same and the total value of benefits offered is unchanged.
  • If you find that a highly valued benefit is being reduced, consider a short-term subsidy to ease the shift.
  • Be clear about decisions that your employees must make in the new program.
  • If you have access to industry or regional comparisons for like-sized companies, you may wish to share these.

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What are the Basics of a One-Page Sales Plan? Four Points

Situation: A CEO wants a simple, one-page plan for her sales organization to help coordinate the company’s sales and marketing efforts. The objective is to boost revenue growth and market penetration with consistent sales messaging. What are the basics of a One-Page Sales Plan?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • The key elements of construction are: research, identification of revenue sources, and construction of a Road Map.
  • Three Examples of a One-Page Sales Plan are:
    • The Customer Survey-based Sales Plan – Ask the top 15 customers what the company’s current share of wallet (SOW) looks like and what they need to do to gain additional SOW. Use the responses to identify additional revenue sources and construct the Road Map.
    • The Service Extension Sales Plan – Construct a grid representing the company’s products and services currently offered to potential customers – particularly the company’s top customers. Create a separate grid showing services that the company does not currently offer and ask customers what the company needs to do to make those services appealing to them. Use the information gained to construct the Road Map.
    • The Current and Potential Revenue Sales Plan – Construct a grid representing the customers and markets currently served and by what product or service. Look at additional customer markets not currently served. Estimate the size, new business closure rates, and the total potential market opportunity. Use the information gained to construct the Road Map.
  • The advantages of a One-Page Sales plan include:
    • One page simplifies the process.
    • Summary of current and new targets.
    • Easy to track and measure.
    • Increases the chance of success.
    • Key people get on the same page.
    • Filters out undesirable customers.
    • A plan that can be completed and implemented quickly, cost effectively with a high ROI.
  • Additional Observations:
    • The company’s principal challenge is prioritizing business opportunities. Creating an “Ideal Customer Profile” helps to produce the desired result.
    • The company has limited resources to invest in new projects. Using an effective, low-cost tool helps to maximize the impact of investment.
    • The ideal customer profile will change over time based on the business environment and the company’s long term goals.

How Do You Manage Multiple Products and Segments? Five Ideas

Situation: A company was launched on a single product with variations. Their R&D team has now developed several additional products which they are planning to launch. This will involve new product names and new customer segments. Having not done this before, the CEO seeks advice on managing multiple products, brands and market segments. How do you manage multiple products and segments?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • The most important element is the plan – write it carefully and build from a solid base.
  • When working with multiple products or market segments, match your segment strategy for each segment to your product strategy for that segment.
    • Build a grid that shows all products and all segments where you wish to sell them. In each cell, determine both the decision maker(s) and their top purchasing priorities. This will help you to build your Product/Segment strategy and optimize resource allocation while increasing sales and marketing effectiveness.
    • It may also help you to fire problem customers who cost you money and attention and reallocate these resources to more promising opportunities.
  • Analyze the customer’s decision-making process for each product and segment. Make sure that your marketing and sales effort makes sense within their decision process and focus on what is workable.
  • When introducing a new product or idea, focus first on smaller segments and test the fit of your product or idea. This is low risk if you fail, and you can leverage what you have learned if you win.
  • Build a one-page strategic plan that covers your full company strategy. Each department compliments the company strategy with its own departmental strategy to support the company strategy.

Special thanks to John Maver of Maver Management Group for his contribution to this discussion.

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