Positioning Statement

• The impetus for change in a company comes from declining revenues, departing customers, regulatory change or new technology. In order to begin changing, you must first know what is in need of change. This is accomplished by conducting a positioning session with your entire management team and writing a positioning statement that summarizes your findings.
  
  Discuss what the company sells and to whom. Outline the value proposition of your product and how it relates to your customers' needs. Is your marketing doing a good job of educating and motivating your customers? How do you compare with your competition? What is the future of your industry?
  
  

Setting Goals

• Once you know how your company is positioned, you must then decide where you want it to go. Discuss the future of your industry, the likely strategies your competition will follow and how your customers will likely react. Then set goals for your company to strive for.
  
  

Road Map

• The next step for you and your management team is to decide in detail how you are going to achieve your goals. Create a detailed road map with benchmarks to help you keep track of your forward progress while implementing change. A basic flow chart works well as an enterprise road map because it is visual and can easily be annotated.
  
  

Motivating Employees

• Once you have your enterprise goals and road map, the next step is to sell your planned changes to your employees. You may need to lay off employees, hire new ones or retrain the current staff. The most successful way to enlist the support and cooperation of your employees is to take time to educate them about why you are making the changes. Share with them your enterprise goals and as much of your road map as you deem wise. Offer department or company bonuses if goals are met on time. The more your employees understand your plans and how they will benefit, the greater your likelihood of success.
  
  

Educating Customers

• Enthusiastic employees are the best way to create enthusiastic customers. Your customers are as much a part of your enterprise success as your employees and management team. In fact, enthusiastic customers are also your greatest sales force. Create marketing materials that explain your goals and how they will benefit your customers.
  
  

Regular Checks

• It is human nature to create a plan and road map and then neglect to follow them. For this reason, you must make sure to gather your management team on a weekly and later a monthly basis for progress reports and revisions to the road map.