Strategy Isn’t an Accident

Printing companies don’t become market leaders by accident. The ones that can consistently deliver on time, win the right kind of work and make it easy for customers to say “yes” aren’t just lucky. Although being lucky sometimes isn’t a bad thing. Overall, they are strategic — clear about where they’re headed and intentional about how they get there.

Strategy shouldn’t be treated like a quarterly offsite exercise, or that dusty binder sitting on the shelf. Face it, we live in the world where client budgets continually shift, technology is way ahead of our ability to make money with it, and the old print buyer role has all but disappeared. With that, strategy shouldn’t be an afterthought. It’s the engine that drives your direction, intent and most importantly, your ability to execute.

Set Your Trajectory

Think of strategy as your flight plan, or for some of us, your AAA trip tik! Without it you might get airborne, but most likely you’ll drift and burn calories chasing the wrong opportunities. Leading print companies define where they are going before the plates show up to the press.

That doesn’t mean that all of their moves are choreographed. What it does mean is having a sober view of your target markets, understanding which capabilities will differentiate you within those markets, and knowing what clients you want more of and what clients you need less of. In a sense, what’s your story and why should it matter to the prospect you’re speaking with. My experience tells me that the sharper you can make that ideal client profile and have the discipline to stick to it, the brighter your north star. Your trajectory will follow.

Direction and Velocity

Strategy and direction without velocity is a major impediment. The companies that move fastest aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets or the newest equipment. They’re the ones that have removed the internal friction, the speed bumps within their organization.

Your intent is a key first step in any strategy. Having clear strategic intent helps to eliminate the second-guessing that slows teams down. Your strategy is clear and has been articulated in a way that everyone understands. From the sales rep on that first prospect call to the second shift production manager juggling tight SLA’s: everybody knows the “why” behind the decisions that are being made. This alignment helps to accelerate decisions and increase the velocity of the transformation.

This isn’t all fun and games. When the market shifts, and they will, those same companies are able to pivot with confidence because their intent remains clear. They’ve already mapped out their choices. The flight plan is in place, and while it may need to be adjusted, it does not need to be reinvented.

There’s No Luck in Being Easy to do Business With

Customers love doing business with companies that make their lives easier and provide that reassurance that projects will be handled with care. The ability to be predictable, reliable and scalable is not luck. It’s the byproduct of your strategic choices.

For example, investing in the right MIS system isn’t just a technology upgrade, it’s a strategic move that helps companies create a single source of truth, remove bottlenecks and provide accurate information about what’s happening in the business. On the sales side, training sales representatives to be trusted advisors isn’t just a nice thing to do either, rather it’s how you make sure that your vision is delivered with each and every presentation.

Being easy to do business with is built one intentional decision at a time. And it starts with a strategy that prioritizes the client experience from their lenses, and not only the bottom line.

From the Boardroom to the Production Floor

When I conduct strategic planning sessions, I always emphasize the work we do in the boardroom is much easier than the work on the production floor. By that I mean, coming up with a strategy is great, but being able to execute is even better. A few good habits you may want to consider include:

• Consistent leadership meetings to track progress and reset priorities.
• Have clear accountability. Make sure everyone knows who owns what and how success will be measured. No fuzzy math allowed.
• Create discipline in your investment strategy. Make sure to align your capital investments directly to the strategic plan, not only to the newest shiny object.

Now What?

Your strategy should be a living document, not in a binder on the bookshelf. Another reminder I like to make is that if there are not any notes in the margins of the document after a couple weeks of use, we’ve probably missed the boat. Strategy is all about making decisions. Making decisions where to aim and how to get there. In printing organizations, where the only constant is change, having a living strategy isn't just a nice to have. It's the difference between drifting and intentionally creating your future. Don’t leave this to chance. Design it, own it and execute it.

Mike Philie helps owners and CEOs in the Graphic Communications Industry validate what’s working, identify what needs to change, and create a practical path forward.

PhilieGroup | mphilie@philiegroup.com | LinkedIn

The preceding content was provided by a contributor unaffiliated with Printing Impressions. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Printing Impressions. Artificial Intelligence may have been used in part to create or edit this content.