How To Develop A Dynamic Business Plan

Brian Everett, CEO Transportation Marketing & Sales Association

Biggest Mistakes in Developing A Business Plan

• Most are too long and complicated

• Most planning processes take too long

• Too few people part of the process

• Plans sometimes end up sitting on the shelf

• As a consequence, many plans have little impact on company performance

2016 SALES & MARKETING METRICS STUDY

5 Helpful Hints To Develop A Dynamic Plan

1. Develop a short, concise plan

2. Invest hours (rather than days or weeks) in the planning process

3. Engage key stakeholders in the process

4. Regularly use your plan to stay on track

5. Set, achieve, celebrate progress

Primary Components of Your Business Plan

Vision: The ideal picture of your company in the future. Mission: Statement that articulates the purpose of an organization and its Unique Value Proposition. Values: What’s truly important to an organization’s existence and to its stakeholders. Goals & Objectives: Desired outcomes the company wants to achieve. Strategies: High-level plans to achieve one or more goals. Priorities: Identify most important and impactful initiatives.

Developing Your Vision Statement

• Articulates your dreams, hopes for your business

• “Where do you want the company to go?”

• Use active verbs

Vision Statement for a Motor Carrier

We intend to provide the retail market with the most reliable over-the-road service in the tri-state area. This will involve opening three more branch offices to expand operations and sales reach. As a result, by 2020 XYZ Trucking will generate $X million in annual revenue through an unparalleled reputation for customer satisfaction.

Developing Your Mission Statement

• Statement that articulates your purpose

• Clearly defines your Unique Value Proposition

• This oftentimes becomes the foundation of key messaging in all your sales and marketing

Value Proposition for a Transportation Broker

Our brokerage will change the way you think about transportation. Reliability, resourcefulness, price sensitivity, responsive customer service, and 24-hour availability to troubleshoot problems all give you traits in a partner that allow you to focus more on your core business.

Developing a Values Statement

• Values represent core priorities in your culture

• What drives priorities and how employees act

• Often drive the intent and direction for executives

• Can be used for compensation strategy

• Consider values of customers, shareholders, employees, the community

Values Statement for a 3PL

When you choose XXX, you can be assured that:

• Integrity and personal relationships are cornerstones of our business

• We deliver on our commitments, service level expectations

• Our integrated logistics services give you convenient, effective single-source solutions

• We’ll bring you innovative ideas for managing costs and increasing efficiency.

Common Practice: Roll Components into One Mission Statement

• Understanding, developing, communicating your fundamental business objectives • Short and to-the-point • Who is your company? • What do you do? • What markets are you serving? • What benefits do you offer? • What kind of internal work environment do you want? • Discuss, digest, cut, polish, review, revise!

Setting SMART Goals & Objectives

• Specific

• Measurable

• Achievable

• Relevant

• Time-Based

Develop Strategies

• In the context of sales and marketing

• Project Abstract. A clear, concise summary.

• Goals/Objectives. Target market, program details.

• Project Summary/Solution. Development and execution details of the project.

• Metrics/Results. Indicators to measure success.