The challenge to be addressed is that of (profitable) business growth measured by revenue & customer references but also with an eye on pipeline status and forecast accuracy.

The availablity of needed skills and experience is necessary to create the platform for business growth. The investment necessary to move a good idea forward will not be available if the request is not compelling. Equally execution may not be efficient or effective if not guided by appropriate skills and experience. The challenge may be to Enter New Markets. This may be to Begin Growth, to "Sow the Seed" i.e. launching from a new idea or the lab to first (early adopter) customers or to Establish Growth i.e. launching from first customers to the mainstream market. Or the challenge may be to Develop Markets. This may be to "Optimize Growth" i.e.diagnosing impediments to growth and creating and delivering a solution to optimize.

Diagnosis of challenges will consider the quality and availability of the following key items:

• Customer Profiles
• Value Proposition
• Go-To Market Team
• Customer Relationships
• Revenue Streams

Each organization and scenario demands a specific tailored solution for resolution.

Are the needed the skills available to plan create solutions and deliver growth> The skills required may include

• Sales Management
• Account Management,
• Business Development,
• Product Management
• Product Marketing
• Marketing Communications
• Project Management
• Leadership

It may be that interim skills are required as the skills required for new market entry may be different to those required when in the relative status quo of the mainstream market.

Early Market - Plant the Seed

New market entry presents significant a risk simply because it is a new venture for the company. But a successfully planned and executed market entry strategy offers significant business growth rewards. A key driver is the product adoption status.

Entering the Early Market involves launching innovative new products, taking them from the lab and sold to first customers who will act as key references.It involves creating and launching new products, creating new organisations, entering new territories and creating new sales and marketing strategies. The sale at this stage is very technical and product oriented.

Mainstream Market - Establish Growth

The next major product adoption segment is the more mature Mainstream market. This follows on from the Early market and is where the company traditionally makes its profits.

The mainstream market requires a different sales approach as the sale is solution focussed. This requires the creation of a new sales team and using partners to ensure that a full solution can be delivered.

A Value proposition describes the bundle of products and services that create value for a specific customer segment. It is why customers turn to one company over another.

It solves a customer problem or satisfies a customer need. A Value proposition is an aggregation or bundle, of benefits that a company offers customers

The Value Proposition is a key element of growth. The value it offers a customer may be quantitative (e.g. price, cost reduction, risk reduction) or qualitative (e.g. design, customer experience, convenience).

It may be developed totally in house or it may be a combination of in house and external products and services. It may require completely new development or may be need the confifuration and assembly of existing units.

A key element of a successful growth strategy is a high performance Go To Market team/ Channel. This will often include a direct field sales team, a product marketing and a marketing communications team team but may also include channel partners to address specific customers or specific parts of the sales process. It may also require a product management team and partners to create, package and deliver parts of the value proposition.

The sales team specifically is required to deliver:

• Financial Targets
• Accurate Forecasts
• Breakthrough Major Accounts & Create Positive References
• A Healthy Pipeline
• Low Operating Costs

What is the current motivation behind building customer relationships. Is it to Acquire, Retain or Upsell? and does this match what the customer needs or wants at this time? Acquiring New Accounts is an essential part of the ability of a high performance sales team as it creates revenue growth and positive references. These references will form a valuable beach-head in a new market segment and enable further growth.

An effective customer relationship requires a tailored sales process, based on the customer buying process to focus the company resources efficiently, to qualify effectively, to build relationships with all of the key players and to deliver appropriate messages throughout the sale.

An existing business may be under-performing and require a development solution to improve or to turnaround. Or it may be ready to move on to the next level of growth. It may require more experience, process and structure to deliver the required improved effectiveness an efficiency. A full diagnosis is advisable in all cases to determine all of the challenges and enable the creation of the appropriate solution. The symptoms may be varied and will be determined from a structured examination of:

• Target Customer Profiles compared to experience
• Value Proposition compared to customer perception
• Go To Market Team efficiency and effectiveness
• Customer Relationships and especially the availability of Positive Reference Customers
• Revenue Streams and the comparison to forecast and pipeline

The symptoms may include some or all of the following:

• Financial targets may be missed
• Value Proposition may not be perceived correctly by customer
• Sales people may be performing inconsistently
• It may be difficult to hire sales people with high potential
• Sales people may be discounting too much or giving too many concessions
• Forecasting may be inaccurate. The pipeline may be difficult to understand.
• There may be difficulty winning new accounts.