It's the implementation, stupid !!!

Firstly an apology or two, the title was in no way directed at you the reader or indeed anyone else specifically, secondly I apologise for another blog that plagarises recent US presidential Campai

By Alan Gillies on Sep 16, 2009

Firstly an apology or two, the title was in no way directed at you the reader or indeed anyone else specifically, secondly I apologise for another blog that plagarises recent US presidential Campaign messages- See "Can We KAM".


The message behind this post is driven by a story told to me early in my pharmaceutical career by one of my mentors. Anyone who has heard me speak or attended any of my training workshops or programmes will have heard this story as I find it reasonates and is applicable to most areas. It goes like this :


If there are 3 frogs sitting on a log in a pond and 2 frogs decide to jump off the log how many are left  ?


When posing this question to delegates , most get it is not about arithmetic so I get answers across the whole spectrum of possibilities as well as questions from many of the more analytical who want to know about wind conditions and the buoyancy of the log etc etc.


The answer as I am sure most of you will have already guessed is 3 ...........the reason ? They only decided or planned to jump ......it is all about the implementation. Most people nod wisely at this point and we move on.However it is a question I mull over in my mind and pose it to you all today-(here is your chance to impart your own thoughts and I invite you to comment ) As a Consultant and Trainer I consistently notice there seems to be a major imbalance on the focus and investment on planning versus implementation. It is routine for Marketing Departments to spend weeks and countless hours on Annual Planning Processes and Launch Strategies. Budgets (time and money) for Marketing Training seem to be vastly higher than those for the sales side and we constantly hear about the issues of not impacting time in the field.


Having spent many years designing and delivering SFE Projects , I am well aware of the need to ensure that Customer Facing Time is at a premium,however we know that most plans fail at the Implementation stage.This should come as no real surprise as these elaborate plans that have taken many weeks to develop are more often than not passed on to the sales teams to implement with either little or no training in how to effectively implement them.


I cannot help wonder if the few calls that might be missed for the sake of a 2 or 3 day programme designed to help the sales side implement excellently would be more than made up for in improved effectiveness in delivering the strategy and generating increased sales.


 


So my question, "Is the balance all wrong and should more effort be put into ensuring implementation is given a higher level of attention and investment than the planning ?


I can't help wondering how many plans have failed because those that are required to implement them got a few hours at a cycle meeting or conference before lunch and the next Marketing Session to think about how they can best implement the plans in the field.


So what do you think have we got the balance right or or should more focus be put on ensuring excellent implementation?