Business Succession

sequential... financials first, then customers, employees, vendors, and maybe regulators. The intended outcome is your search of truth... what is going on now with each of these groups.

Reach out to customers... try these 5 steps.

1. Begin with questions inside the organization. What do you know about your top 20% in terms of volume and return to the organization? Who are they, how long have they been with the organization?

2. How would they assess their relationship with your organization? What are their words which describe their relationship...for example respectful, easy, friendly, fair, rigid, bureaucratic, stodgy. Words of honest inquiry will explode visions in your mind.color meter supplierWhat are your customers top wants? The ego may disguise their need and the ego will clarify what the customer wants. Listen to the customers wants...Learn the top 3 or 4 by size, by location, by division. This is your research... learn it, you'll want to verify and find out if your staff sees the same. Don't worry about perfection at this point. As you remain engaged in this search, your creative and engaging mind will create a lot more strategies to learn what customers want.

4. Ask customers how your organization can help them restore or grow their own prosperity. You know this to be true, customers love who they do business with if the relationship helps with their own prosperity. While your organization is in crisis, success really isn't about you. Success depends on you helping your customers getting the results they want.colour tester supplierRinse and repeat. Listening to the top 20% makes sense in the beginning, only to be sure you've reduced the organizations vulnerability to shock if larger customers left. That is not to suggest, the other customers are not important. Rinse and repeat these same 4 steps with each of your customer groups.

6. Successful organizations continually evolve. They don't die. They evolve and adjust. They are living, dynamic and need to grow. As Gretzky stated... "skate to whcolor reader supplierere the puck is going" Perhaps the current customers are not the future customers. Or the smaller customers are more hopeful and optimistic and searching for business partners who help them.