The Labor Day Transition
The Labor Day Transition
Posted on 08/30/2008, by
DMC
I hope everyone is having a great Labor Day weekend. I myself am enjoying some extra time with my son and looking forward to a few steaks on the grill tomorrow. It got me thinking that Labor Day weekend is the official end of summer “vacation” for many businesses. It’s the time when vacations are over and many people start looking and planning ahead to the new year.
If you’re already thinking ahead to 2009, well done. Aside from kicking off our own strategic planning a couple of weeks ago, this is also the time we begin talking with our clients about their business plans for the coming year. Here are a couple of topics we generally cover and I thought might be of value to share:
- What were the stated goals for the current year. How has the business done so far and how do you expect to finish Q4?
- What have you learned over the course of the year? Changes in close rates, movement within customer segments, increase or decrease in Customer Lifetime Value? Lead sources and the value of each category? Overall expected return on the year’s marketing investment.
- How has the business changed this year and what impacts does that have for the year ahead?
- Does the current prevailing customer perception continue to be complimentary to the company brand identity?
I hope this helps you get a head start on planning for 2009. The last eight months provide a wonderful reservoir of data from which to draw.
Happy Planning!
