| Vision and Strategy |
| Management has a clear vision of where they want the company to be in 5 years? | |
The 5-year vision is defined in terms of:
| |
| Sales growth (e.g. We will reach revenue of … ) | |
| Market position (e.g. We will be serving the needs of … ) | |
| Competitive position (e.g. We will be known for our unique expertise in … ) | |
| My definition of success (e.g. Retire & leave the business to my management team) | |
The company's primary strategic differentiator is
Primary strategic differentiators include:
- Responding to the needs of a specific niche market
- Product or service superiority
- Efficiency/low cost
- Favorable location or famous person
- Market dominance
- Harvesting short-term profits
- Method of sale
- Distribution method – more products to existing clients
- Advantage in technology
| |
| Anyone on the management team can describe the business strategy in three sentences or less. | |
| There is a written, up-to-date business plan. | |
| The business plan includes: | |
| A marketing plan | |
| An organizational chart | |
| A staffing plan | |
| A financial forecast/budget | |
| Total Points(53 Possible): | |
| Total Percentage: | |
| Target Market and Competition |
| The core value proposition of the business is described as a solution to a problem. | |
| The company knows: | |
| Present size of the market | |
| The projected size of the market 5 years from now | |
| The company plans to be one of the top three competitors in the market as measured by market share | |
| The company can clearly define the target market for its product/service. | |
| The customers have been identified by demographics/firm characteristics. | |
| The buying behavior of customers is known. | |
| The driving factors behind customers ’ choice of brands/products/providers are known. | |
| The key sources of opinion & info for the target market (e.g. journals, industry experts) have been identified. | |
| Customers are regularly interviewed and their feedback has been recorded | |
| Competition consists of: | |
| + Well-established incumbent companies selling an alternative solution | |
| + Well-funded start-up(s) with a well-publicized product/service | |
| + In-house departments providing the service (e.g. in-house security experts vs. an outsourced service) | |
| + A very fragmented market with multiple companies providing a variety of solutions with no clear winner | |
| + Two or three major players and the company is one of them | |
| + Two or three major players but the company is NOT one of them | |
| Total Points(59 Possible): | |
| Total Percentage: | |
| Marketing Organization |
| The company has identified how many customers need to be reached by marketing and what methods. | |
| The company has developed a realistic marketing budget. | |
| The company has identified ratios to track effectiveness of marketing efforts. | |
| The company has developed a Web presence that can be used in a sales process. | |
| The company has developed an active public relations program. | |
| Marketing personnel attend sales meetings on a regular basis. | |
| Marketing personnel actively work trade shows and hold focus group events. | |
| The company ’ s marketing budget as percent of total sales is | |
| Greater Than 7% | |
| Between 5 & 7% | |
| Less than 5% | |
| Total Points(24 Possible): | |
| Total Percentage: | |
| Strategic Sales Management |
| Management knows what percentage of the pipeline in the current category is required to ensure the sales budget is exceeded? | |
| Management knows the pipeline value potential in the 30, 60, and 90 categories and correlation required to exceed future monthly quotas? | |
| Management knows what percentage of projected revenue is required in each category to ensure enough opportunity to exceed the quota? | |
| Management can visually see all your 60 major forecasted accounts, from my desk or my portfolio? | |
| Management has all key accounts targeted? Do they have a plan to attack them? | |
| Company has an ongoing sales recruiting plan in place that ensures they have qualified candidates available? | |
| Company has an interviewing process in place that ensures the best candidate is selected, not the best available candidate? | |
| Company has a salesperson personal business plan implemented, that is reviewed each month? | |
| Company has a 6-month sales-training program defined and implemented? | |
| Company has a CRM sales/client/prospect database system in place? | |
| Company has a sales compensation plan that is in alignment with management ’ s strategic objectives? | |
| Management has appropriate sales effectiveness or leading indicators measured and " dash boarded " ? | |
| Management has regular scheduled and unscheduled " coaching " sessions with each salesperson? | |
| Management has fun sales contests and business games planned to promote revenue and teamwork? | |
| Total Points(56 Possible): | |
| Total Percentage: | |
| Management Team |
| The following positions are filled permanently (zero is interim) | |
| CEO | |
| CFO | |
| COO/VP of Operations | |
| CTO/CIO | |
| VP of Marketing/VP Sales | |
| An organization chart has been developed identifying the decision making responsibilities and information flow | |
| All management team members are the best for their position to fulfill the company Vision | |
| All key decision-makers in the company meet regularly to coordinate plans and make decisions | |
| There is a clear hierarchy in the team or there is a clear mechanism for decision making (e.g. majority voting, consensus, etc.) | |
| The company holds monthly and quarterly management review meetings | |
| Total Points(54 Possible): | |
| Total Percentage: | |
| Human Resources |
The company has developed job descriptions for each and every position | | | The job descriptions include: | |
| + A clear description of responsibilities | |
| + A list of the required skills and experience | |
| + Understanding of whom the position reports to | |
| + A list of the criteria used for evaluating performance | |
| + The performance criteria are measurable | |
| The company has compared compensation for all positions to industry compensation studies | |
| The comparison to industry studies did not find any positions below the median for the industry | |
The company has an incentive compensation plan
Select all that apply | |
| Discretionary bonuses decided by owners | |
| A formula driven profit sharing plan | |
| Tied to individual performance measured by formal evaluation process | |
| Tied to company performance | |
| Tied to team performance | |
| The company has a formal employee evaluation process | |
| The employee evaluation plan includes: | |
| + Employees are evaluated by their supervisors | |
| + Employees are evaluated by their peers | |
| + Employees evaluate their supervisors | |
| + The evaluation includes goal setting | |
| + The evaluation is delivered during a coaching session | |
| There is a clear career path for every position in the company | |
| Total Points(135 Possible): | |
| Total Percentage: | |
| Finance |
The company as developed financial projections for the next 3 years | | | + Monthly statements for the first year | |
| + Includes all three: Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement | |
| + Significant assumptions have been identified and documented | |
| The company can easily prepare monthly operating reports and information requests | |
| The company prepares monthly departmental tracking and measurable performance ratios | |
| The planned exit strategy for the owner | |
| + IPO | |
| + Sale to a competitor | |
| + Sale to a consolidator | |
| + Sale to management team | |
| + Majority ownership has already transferred to a parent company | |
| + Undecided | |
| The company's operating profit margin before taxes is | |
| + Greater than 10% | |
| + Between 0 and 10% | |
| + Less than < 0% | |
| Total Points(44 Possible): | |
| Total Percentage: | |
| Strategic Partnerships |
The company has identified potential partners | | | The company can list the compelling reasons why they are a good partner in less than five minutes | |
| The company knows why the other company is partnering with them | |
| The company has a 6, 12 month " agreed to Partnering Plan " with each Partner | |
| Total Points(20 Possible): | |
| Total Percentage: | |
| Corporate Governance |
The company has a board of directors or outside Advisory Board | | | The advisory board provides a " go to " resource for functional managers | |
| The advisory board and/or directors provide vision about the future of the industry/technology/market | |
| Total Points(14 Possible): | |
| Total Percentage: | |
