Commercial Integrator April 2021 - 41

Making Strategy Happen
Strategic planning is one of those tried
and true business tactics that fails almost
three out of every four times it's attempted-but that doesn't mean corporate
leaders shouldn't keep trying, said
Michael Canic, author and president of
Making Strategy Happen.
In his general session presentation at
the BLC, Canic said " the execution is the
hard part " when it comes to strategic
planning. In fact, he said, about $3 trillion
are invested in IT-related initiatives around
the world that end up failing.
To ensure a better chance of success in
your strategic planning, said Canic, business leaders must have enough training,
resources and authority to implement the
changes they hope to make after hearing
about them at a conference such as BLC.
" Everything has to be aligned with the
change you want to make, " he said. " What
matters more than anything you do is everything you do. The relentless alignment of
intentions, decisions and actions is what we
need for our strategic plans to be successful. "
There are five keys to sustaining focus
when it comes to executing on a strategic
plan, said Canic. Start by creating a case for
change and then make sure you do less with
more. That means trimming the priorities
that aren't most important from your list and
focusing only on the top handful, he said.

The next key is dreaming big but also
being aware of the risks, rewards and requirements of making the desired strategic
change. From there, connect the dots and
keep shining the spotlight on the strategic
change you're proposing.
Business leaders must create what Canic
calls " want-in " rather than simple " buyin. " That comes through aligning your
hearts and heads, equipping employees
to succeed and coaching them through
feedback and guidance on how to do their
jobs better.
To improve the chances of strategic
success, you need employees who have the
right skills, experience and traits, said Canic.
" You should compete for talent as
fiercely as you compete for customers, " he
said. " You want to try to create a positive
emotional connection. " That comes, said
Canic, from having the right focus, building the right environment and hiring the
right team.
" Look for good, incremental improvements, " he said. " If you struggle with complacency, set an inspiring next goal. "

Four Questions to Influence
Customers
There are two sides to the human brain
- the rational and the emotional. For 100
years, economists have told us that people
make rational decisions. For 120 years,

Gerry O'Brion closed out Virtual BLC 2021 with a keynote on the importance of understanding what differentiates your organization. Make sure that customers are fully aware
of what makes you different and what you can do for them that competitors can't.
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CM2104 pp38-41 BLC.indd 41

marketers have tried to convince us that we
make emotional decisions.
" The 2002 Nobel Prize winner in
economics was not an economist. He was
a psychologist, " said Gerry O'Brion, CSP,
marketing keynote speaker and author,
in his BLC closing keynote. " What he
discovered is that your brain, your gut,
your subconscious, all want to come up
with a rational reason you are making this
emotional decision.
" Your brain needs a rational reason to
make an emotional decision, and if you
don't give me one what you say next
sounds like marketing fluff, " he said.
There are four questions that make up
the framework of influence to create a compelling pitch to customers:
1. Who are your ideal customers? - The
more we focus our efforts and specialize, the more people trust that we can
solve their problems and offer unique
solutions.
2. What are you insights? - Understand
what you clients are hoping for by
hiring you, and what they fear might
happen if they hire you. Understand
the problem that you are solving for
your clients and show you have the
insight to solve their specific problem.
3. What is your outcome? - Your customer don't care about why you're in
AV, but rather what you do for them.
Customer aren't paying for what you
do, they're paying for the outcome
of what you. They want to know the
system is going to work for them when
all is said and done.
4. What's your because? - Your because will be the reason customers
choose you over a competitor. It may
be your better process, better technology, better tools, better training,
better customer service, or any other
differentiator. You need to communication the reason customers should
hire you.
Integrators need to be able to express to
customers what they do that is better than
the competition. They need to communicate to customers that what the customer
need is what the firm can provide. Be specific, get granular in what you do and what
it will do for customers. CI
APRIL 2021 Commercial Integrator

3/15/21 2:53 PM

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Commercial Integrator April 2021

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