What’s Your Growth Story?

In my experience, I’ve found that most plans fail due to poor implementation rather than poor development.

A major cause is a lack of understanding of the current state of play; this results in developing plans that are simply based on the previous results and producing the wrong plan at the wrong time and place.

Finding your growth story (position) and using this as the foundation for developing your growth plans is a better way to go. The Growth Position Review table below provides an easy way to analyze your growth story:

Growth Position Review Table

• Category 1: Vertical growth – Firms in this category are enjoying consistent organic growth and have strong sales capabilities.

• Category 2: Horizontal growth – Organic growth is up and down; sales capabilities are strong but not applied on a consistent basis, producing inconsistent organic growth. Firms in this category are capable of producing above-average results.

• Category 3: Flat growth – Firms in this category have a loyal and long-term client base, but due to their poor sales capabilities are unable to maximize value, resulting in a majority of part-time clients with little prospects for new business growth. If this were to continue, the business will quickly move into category 4.

• Category 4: Negative growth – Firms in this category have poor retention of existing clients and are losing existing business at a faster rate than it can be replaced. Weak sales capabilities mean these firms will struggle to survive.

Suggested next steps:

• Identify the quadrant that your business is operating at today.

• Rate your organic growth over the past one to two years on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being the lowest).

• Describe your firm’s current story and discuss it with your team.

Are you satisfied with the trajectory of your business?