Truck Parts and Service | Heavy Duty Trucking, Aftermarket, Service Info
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23 Sales & Marketing approaches when moving forward. In order to make the most of it, a company should give careful thought to the strategic objectives it outlines, and then back up those goals with realistic benchmarks for evaluating results. Many aftermarket distributors have found such a plan to be useful. "You have to have everyone on the same page, working towards the same thing," says Tommy Hill, general manager of Truck Supply Co. of South Carolina. "Everyone needs to know their responsibilities and what the ultimate result is that we want." Inland Truck Parts President Greg Klein likens the planning to that of the military. "Getting an organization to perform in harmony towards a desired strategic objective is in many ways similar to how a military operates," Klein says. "The organization chart of a business mirrors the various layers of military hierarchy. Just as a military needs a battle plan, a company needs a strategic business plan, which should spell out the vision and mission of a company and the key stra- tegic objectives to pursue that will make the company successful." Strategic or corporate alignment means that all elements of a business are arranged in such a way that all employ- ees are working towards the company's set goal. Strategic planning starts with defi n- ing a company mission. Having a set mission is important because it clearly defi nes the ideas linking all aspects of the business. "Once you have a good strategic business plan you then need to com- municate it effectively throughout your organization so everyone knows what the plan is and then develop effective ways to measure your performance against your strategic objectives," Klein says. "If only the senior corporate leaders or even the store managers understand the strategic business plan it will fail." Defi ning strategic missions in a way that is broad enough to guide both management and employees, and narrow enough to focus their efforts is key. "It goes from top down," Hill says. "It's not something that just works in one department or another. We all have to be heading in the same direction." For example, "To take care of our cus- tomers" is too broad of a mission and leaves too much wiggle room in its meaning. But, "To take care of our customers by providing the best parts available within 24-36 hours" or some other well-defi ned mission state- ment clearly sets the objective of the company. Midwest Truck Parts President How- ard Siegel says by stating clear goals and objectives, a company can lay out what expectations are for associates. "When everyone knows exactly what is expected of them it's easy to determine who's doing what they need to do and who is not," Siegel says. "It's pretty clear then where the successes and shortcomings are." Think of a company in its entirety, or select a strategically important element of it, and consider how well does the business strategy support the fulfi ll- ment of the company's purpose and how well does the company support the achievement of that strategy, says business analyst Laura Ritter, who serves as an adjunct faculty member at Union University. She describes purpose as being what the business is trying to achieve, while strategy is how the business will achieve it. The purpose should not change. It is something that should be the ultimate end result that everyone is striving to achieve. The strategy, however, involves choices about what products and services to offer, which markets to serve, and how the company should set itself apart from rivals for competitive advantage. "Sometimes you might fi gure out there's a different way of doing something that's a little better than the way you've done it," Siegel says. Klein says the best plans sometimes need changes. "Adjustments may need to be made if the conditions in that market are changing. Plans should not be static, but rather fl exible," he says. "If you create an annual plan and stick it in a fi le, never to be seen again, that effort was a waste of time and a mere check the box. "To be meaningful, a plan must be continually reviewed against actual per- formance. For Inland, we call our an- nual store plans a Planning Tool, which is prepared by our stores after complet- ing a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, W W W . T R U C K P A R T S A N D S E R V I C E . C O M S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 7 | T R U C K P A R T S & S E R V I C E You have to have everyone on the same page, working towards the same thing. Everyone needs to know their responsibilities and what the ultimate result is that we want. – Tommy Hill, general manager of Truck Supply Co. of South Carolina If only the senior corporate leaders or even the store managers understand the strategic business plan it will fail.bib – Greg Klein, president of Inland Truck Parts