Inside Strategic Relations; October 1, 2005 Edition
From the Center for Strategic Relations, a twice-monthly supplement to Applying Strategic Relations, mailed at your request
Persuading Internal Customers
After the last two lessons (and your efforts) sales and marketing teams better understand each others concerns. If you want to create and keep profitable customers these groups must work together.
Do you want to accomplish more with fewer resources?
As an executive, every employee or resource in your company is your internal customers. There are certain relationship strategies you can use to get more accomplished in day-to-day activities. In this lesson, you'll learn how to sell and market business objectives to internal customers.
Relationships with internal customers govern relationships with external customers, so that is why your next lesson will share what to do when internal relationships ruin customer relations. Are you ready for greater productivity?
After weeks of strategic planning, your executive team develops new corporate objectives, but how do you get all employees involved in hitting these targets?
The biggest problem is selling these ideas and marketing each objective to internal customers. Which of these strategies will get employees excited about accomplishing more?
Develop employee buy-in upfront. Employees that feel they contributed to a decision are more likely to bring their actions in line with objectives.
Do you ask for advice on strategy from employees no matter their level in the company?
How do you capture new front-line ideas to improve customer relationship initiatives, sales, or profits?
How have you incorporated real employee desires into how you describe corporate objectives?
Do employees see themselves as benefactors (in a way that matters to them) from reaching these objectives?
Ask what motivates employees. Take the time to speak with individual employees, especially through local managers, to determine what specifically motivates them to action.
What is the culture of desire within your employee base?
How can employees get what they desire while producing specific results for the organization?
Clear focused objectives. It's always easier to hit a target you can see, clear focus removes all obstacles in understanding characteristics of desired business objectives.
Are you using simple language and relevant examples to convey corporate objectives?
Can employees easily convey these objectives as they pertain to their department or group?
Involve employees in setting targets. For realistic achievement, buy-in, and support of business objectives, employees must set their own performance targets.
Have you allowed employees to set performance targets for their particular department or group?
Are these targets meaningful and will they bring the organization significantly closer to objectives?
What will the company look like when it meets these objectives?
What does it mean to employees when they work together to produce the results you describe?
Cross functional goals ties divisions together for mutual results. Help employees work together by teaming logical business units together with measurable goals contributing to cooperation and reaching business objectives.
What measures of time, quantity, quality, or performance develop characteristics of cooperation?
How can these measures encourage groups to work together for common objectives?
What do employees already know about doing well, that if done will bring the business closer to its objectives?
What resources are necessary to create favorable results? What actions do employees suggest?
You can motivate employees to take appropriate actions that make business objectives easy to accomplish. Sure you could yell, demand, or even threaten employees till they provide the compliance you desire. However, if you want lasting results, then learn how to convey business objectives in a way that motivates employees is part of reaching those objectives effectively.
Employees have too many choices to stand for a dictatorial attitude, plus harsh methods never produce long term sustainable results. For strong employee relationships that help you reach business objectives quickly, which of these strategies can you implement today?
