ArmatureEBS Roadmap
A practical sequence of steps, methods and tools for solving revenue growth problems and executing revenue growth strategy with precision – – effectively, efficiently and predictably.
A Blizzard Of Revenue Growth Steps, Methods and Tools Are Available.
Expediting revenue growth requires selecting the right sequence of steps, methods and tools to gain control of your strategic management infrastructure. Why? Because the sequence enables you to:
- Treat revenue growth as a daily process, not a one-time project.
- Ensure that prerequisites are completed in the proper order.
- Focus limited resources (time, money and morale) on the highest priorities.
- Deploy methods and tools at the right time.
So, how effective, efficient and predictable is your management team at sequencing the steps, methods and tools being used to control your strategic management infrastructure?
What Roadmap, Methods and Tools Are Being Used To Control Your Revenue Growth?
The ArmatureEBS Roadmap is used to take control of your revenue growth infrastructure. It shows you the steps to take to build sustainable revenue growth. The methods and tools help you assess, install, update and maintain your strategic management framework. This enables entrepreneurs and executives to turn struggling companies into thriving businesses that continuously grow and innovate with precision – – effectively, efficiently and predictably.
Strategy Formulation Steps
Step 1
Clarify Your Strategic Intent
Strategic Intent is your company’s reason for being, competitive advantage, behavior guide, and compass for strategic decision-making. It consists of your:
- Core Ideology – – purpose of the business and values i.e. mission.
- Audacious Goal – – definition of what success looks like in 5 to 10-years i.e. vision.
- Competitive Advantage – – the unique market position the company will hold.
- Strategic Initiatives – – that will drive achievement of your audacious goal.
We provide the following methods and tools to help you:
- Field strategy questionnaires to gather internal insight from employees, managers and executives.
- Conduct one-on-one interviews and focus groups to uncover hidden insights.
- Facilitate executive workshops to gain alignment, prioritize and document your strategic intent.
Step 2
Align Forecasts To Your Capabilities
Forecasts are the foundation for accountability. They provide middle managers and employees with specific guidance for planning, goal setting, and performance evaluation, It consists of detailed requirements for:
- Revenue – – new customer acquisition, customer contract renewals and repeat sales, past-customer win-backs.
- Work Activity – – units and cycle time to meet your revenue requirements.
- Productivity – – work hours requirements to meet your work activity requirements.
- Staffing – – numbers and timing requirements of full-time (FTE) and part-time (PTE) employees required to execute your productivity requirements.
- Expenses – – dollars and timing requirements needed to fund your staffing, productivity and work activity requirements.
We provide the following methods and tools to help you:
- Document your revenue, work activity, productivity, staffing, and expense requirements and assumptions.
- Integrate all five forecasts into a cause-and-effect scenario planning model.
- Facilitate scenario planning conversations and documentation to provide a foundation for product/service, market, sales, marketing, and operations planning.
- Conduct gap analysis, process improvement targeting, and action planning to close gaps.
- Align all five forecasts into your performance goal setting, evaluation, compensation, training processes.
- Update and Communicate your forecasts to investors, executives, managers, and employees.
Step 3
Validate That Your Plans Are Viable
Plans are your company’s road map for strategy execution, a filter for decision-making, and a communications guide for middle managers and employees. It consists of detailed plans for your:
- Product/Service – – hierarchy, features, benefits of your offerings.
- Use Cases– – how buyers use your offerings.
- Pricing – – item, bundles, discounts, terms and conditions.
- Industry – – prioritization of sub-industries that buy your offerings.
- Geographic – – prioritization of where your offerings will be sold.
- Customer – – insights, wants and needs by company hierarchy.
- Competitors – – insights, alerts, positioning, and differentiation
We provide the following methods and tools to help you:
- Document your product/service hierarchy, features and benefits in relationship to competitors.
- Scope and Size your external market.
- Analyze the viability of your revenue goals in relationship to the external market.
- Facilitate planning workshops with product, industry, and geographic market managers to gain alignment, prioritize, and document.
- Communicate plans to investors, executives, managers, and employees.
- Train sales and customer service people on product, service, industry and geographic plans.
Step 4
Structure Business Units, Departments, and Job Descriptions For Accountability
Organization Structure defines how activities are structured to achieve your goals. It is the foundation for establishing job responsibilities, accountability, and delegation of decision-making authority. It consists of your:
- Legal Structure for holding and operating companies.
- Channel Structure for products/services, geography, industry, customer size, etc.
- Department Structure for sales and marketing, delivery of offerings, shared services approach.
- Decision-making delegation – – centralized or decentralized.
- Span of Control approach – – the number of employees reporting to one manager.
- Work Specialization – – generalists or specialist job descriptions.
We provide the following methods and tools to help you:
- Assess your current organization structure and it’s viability to execute your strategy.
- Design your holding company and/or operating company structure.
- Restructure your organization to execute your strategy.
- Integrate multiple organization structures when restructuring or post merger.
Strategy Execution Steps
Step 1
Transparently Map and Document Procedures
Procedures Maps provide managers and employees with context and understanding of the workflow across the entire customer life cycle. They consist of your workflow for:
- Acquisition of new customers
- Onboarding new customers
- Fulfillment of customer orders and contracts
- Inquiry and problem handling
- Renewal of contracts
- Cross-selling of additional products and services
- Win-backs of past customers
- Getting partners to sell
We provide the following methods and tools to help you:
- Assess your existing process maps, procedure documents, step-by-steps instructions, policies, and guidelines.
- Create process maps, procedure documents, step-by-steps instructions, policies, and guidelines.
- Facilitate Process Improvement updates to your procedure documents, step-by-steps instructions, policies, and guidelines.
- Train and Coach on how to map processes, procedure documents, step-by-steps instructions, policies, and guidelines.
Step 2
Ensure Technology Is Enabling Employees and Managers
Deploy Technology Enablers to automate repetitive tasks, streamline manual work activities, continuously improve quality, and produce more output. It consists of:
- Sales and marketing – – lead management, sales activity dispositions, proposals, order management
- Operations – – warehousing, inventory, scheduling, MES, quality, safety and
- Accounting – – quoting, billing, collections, time tracking, expenses
- Customer Service – – inquiry ticketing, management, knowledge library, help desk
- Communications – – phone, email, messaging, chat, fax, mail
- Collaboration – – screen sharing, project management, shared files
- Productivity – – calendar, note taking, Office 365, Google Suite,
- Human Resources
We provide the following methods and tools to help you:
- Assess technology availability, data structure, integrations, automation, up time, training and adoption by managers and employees.
- Document your complete data field hierarchies across departments and processes.
- Facilitate identification, evaluation and selection of technology vendors.
- Facilitate implementation of technology installation, upgrades and replacements.
- Train and Coach on how to use technology.
Step 3
Integrate Management Practices To Your Strategic Intent
Management Practices translate your procedures into manager and employee skill requirements, personal responsibilities, and the foundation for self-accountability. They consist of:
- Hiring – – hierarchy, features, benefits of your offerings.
- Employee Onboarding– – how buyers use your offerings.
- Performance Goals and Evaluation – – item, bundles, discounts, terms and conditions.
- Compensation, Rewards and Recognition – – prioritization of sub-industries that buy your offerings.
- Training – – prioritization of where your offerings will be sold.
- Coaching – – insights, wants and needs by company hierarchy.
- Career and Leadership Development – – insights, alerts, positioning, and differentiation
We provide the following methods and tools to help you:
- Assess your existing management process maps, procedure documents, step-by-steps instructions, policies, and guidelines.
- Create management process maps, procedure documents, step-by-steps instructions, policies, and guidelines.
- Facilitate Process Improvement updates to your management procedure documents, step-by-steps instructions, policies, and guidelines.
- Train and Coach managers how to map processes, procedure documents, step-by-steps instructions, policies, and guidelines.
Step 4
Provide Instant Technical and Non-Technical Knowledge Transfer
Instant Knowledge Transfer enables managers and employees to access, find, understand, remember, and share information with each other, customers, and vendors. It consists of:
- Product and Service information.
- Applications of Products and Services information.
- Pricing Models and Discounts information.
- Competitor insights and comparisons.
- Customer Industry insights and comparisons.
We provide the following methods and tools to help you:
- Document your product/service hierarchy, features and benefits, pricing and discount model, and competitor comparisons.
- Create process navigation guides to provide employees with instant access to information – – without memorizing and recalling information.
- Maintain updates to information in the process navigation guide.
- Communicate plans to investors, executives, managers, and employees.
- Train and Coach employees and managers how to use the process navigation guide.
Strategy Evaluation Steps
Step 1
Ensure Data Fields Are Hierarchical, Complete and Consistent
Data Tracking provides executives, managers and employees with the details needed to inform their decision-making.
It consists of your:
- Data category hierarchies and fields
- Data field naming conventions
- Compliance with data field completion
- Data storage and interconnections
Common data hierarchies include products/services, industries, geographies, companies/customers, employees, departments/processes, and revenue streams.
We provide the following methods and tools to help you:
- Audit your data hierarchies, fields, naming conventions, storage and interconnections.
- Map your data category hierarchies and field structure
- Define your data field naming conventions
- Monitor data entry compliance for accuracy and completeness
- Facilitate executive workshops to gain alignment, understanding of your data structure for decision-making..
Step 2
Integrate Data Tables For Consistency and Integrated Analysis
Data Analysis converts internal and external raw data into actionable insights to improve alignment and decision making including:
- Predicting future outcomes.
- Diagnosing problems.
- Finding the best course of action.
- Identifying trends and relationships.
Common data analytics include predictive, prescriptive, diagnostic and descriptive analytics.
We provide the following methods and tools to help you:
- Document your data tables and sources.
- Integrate your data tables into one storage location.
- Conducting data analysis.
- Explaining findings.
- Preparing options and recommendations.
- Briefing executives, board members, managers and employees.
Step 3
Organize and Display Data and Analysis To Align Managers and Employees
Data Reporting presents data, analysis and recommendations to board members, investors, executives, managers and employees for the purpose of:
- Building awareness.
- Gaining alignment.
- Creating urgency.
- Prioritizing improvements.
- Making timely decisions.
Common data reports include financial, customers, process, employee, industry, stakeholder, and external economic.
We provide the following methods and tools to help you:
- Facilitate dashboard design.
- Cascade of dashboards to create clear line of sight.
- Train board members, executives, managers and employees how to use data reports.
- Facilitate dashboard review meetings (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually).
Step 4
Clarify Process Improvement Action Plans
Process Improvements enable managers and employees to take corrective actions and/or implement new processes and technology. It consists of:
- Defining opportunities for improvement.
- Reviewing internal and external data and analysis.
- Prioritizing improvements.
- Crafting action plans that identify goals, steps, accountability, milestones and completion dates, and key performance indicators.
- Monitoring completion of action plans.
- Tracking results of process improvement outcomes after implementation.
We provide the following methods and tools to help you:
- Recommend process improvements
- Facilitate process improvement targeting, and action planning to close gaps.
- Facilitate process improvement planning meetings (weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual).
- Facilitate accounting meetings to keep process improvements on track.
- Train executives and managers on process improvement.