Many leaders and professionals talk about the importance of transformational strategy and see this as a critical driver for ensuring long-term business growth. They hold that merely rebranding their products or services, or making incremental changes to their existing offering is not enough — companies need to be innovating at a fundamental level and take bold steps to change the way they do business.
The concept of transformation is not new to the corporate world, but since the economy took a nosedive in 2007-2008, it has become more critical than ever for organisations to think about how to use transformational strategies to drive business growth. As such, it is not surprising that many companies are looking at smarter ways to become more customer-centric and increase their competitive edge.
The concept of transformation may sound easy enough to do, but in practice, businesses need to be very strategic about how they approach their transformation initiatives. This expert guide takes a look at transformational strategies and how you can use them to drive business growth. Keep reading to learn more.
What is a Transformational Strategy?
A transformational business strategy refers to big changes that need to be made in order to ensure long-term success. These changes involve an organisation’s existing products, services and overall business model, as well as what processes, equipment and infrastructure are used. Companies need to think about how they do business, what they bring to market and the people they work with.
There is no single strategy that can be considered transformational – it varies company by company based on the type of industry the firm is in and its core competencies, among other factors. In essence, a transformational strategy requires companies to rethink what they do and how they do it. Organisations that adopt a transformational strategy look for ways to improve their capabilities, differentiate themselves from the competition and provide more value and benefits to their customers.
A transformational strategy should be built up from specific goals and objectives created to help you achieve a specific vision of what the organisation should look like and achieve. Transformational strategy involves open communication and agreed objectives between all the stakeholders, which includes employees, managers, board members and other vital third parties like vendors, suppliers and core consumers.
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How to Create a Transformational Strategy
1. Understand Your Company Vision & Business Objectives
Firstly, you should define a clear vision and objective for your company. What do you hope to accomplish with your transformation initiative, and what benefits do you hope to gain from it? These questions should guide everything that follows in the transformation process, so take care to answer them as fully and completely as possible.
2. Review Current & Alternative Strategies
Conduct an in-depth analysis of your current business model and define the key areas where you need change to occur. Look at every aspect of how your company does business, from your customers and their needs to what products or services are offered by you, who works with you on what tasks, and what your workflow is like.
3. Identify Key Changes Needed
Identify the key changes you hope to make and prioritise them in order of importance. Don’t assume that every change needs to be made at once. Think about how each proposed change will impact your business and the ways in which it will improve operations or generate more revenue.
4. Formulate Your Transformational Strategy
Create a roadmap for transformation and determine the exact steps required in order to achieve your vision and objectives. Your transformational strategy should be comprehensive, down to individual roles and how the company works together on a wider scale. It may be necessary to set up a dedicated working group in order to look at every aspect of your business, then work with that team to develop the exact action plan for implementing all identified changes.
5. Execute and Monitor Your Transformational Strategy
Now it’s time to implement and incorporate all identified changes and steps into your overall business planning process, making sure that you are prepared to continually monitor the progress of your transformation initiatives. This means you can measure the success and progress of your transformational strategy.
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Transformational Strategy Ideas
Review Employee & Management Performance
Managers can use the transformational approach to drive business growth by reviewing employee and management performance. Reviews should not be about finding problems or highlighting mistakes; they should focus on what employees are doing well, how they can improve, and what is standing in their way. Managers should also make sure to provide actionable feedback for improvement whenever possible. Key research shows that transformational leadership can have many advantages, so ensuring all management staff are on the same page about company processes is vital.
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Scrutinise Financial Data
Scrutinising business financial data can help a business to make better decisions going forward. Financial data about previous sales and expenses should be analysed in detail to get a complete understanding of where money has been spent. This can be helpful for budgeting purposes, as well as identifying areas that require more attention or resources.
Update Technology and Service Programmes
Up to date technology and service programmes are paramount to the success of any business. While technological advances are made on a daily basis, and while new technologies emerge that were unheard of in previous years, the process by which businesses upgrade their services and tools is often slow and uncoordinated. By taking an agile approach to this necessary transformation, the company can take advantage of new technologies. This allows marketers to implement relevant, powerful campaigns that take full advantage of improvements in order to bring about growth and success.
Optimise Project Management Plans
A well-optimised project management plan sets the tone and direction for your project, and helps you focus on achieving your business goals. It also keeps your team on track so they don’t flail around aimlessly trying to figure out how to get a task done. This might be an area that you think could be improved in your business.
Analyse and Amend Marketing Strategy
In order to drive business growth, a company must put a plan into place that is both effective and efficient. This plan will first involve analysing the current marketing strategy by pinpointing any weak points or points for improvement. Once this has been completed the marketing team can work on amending these points in order to make more room for brand new ideas and strategies. This way the company can ensure they are heading in the right direction, with an effective plan of action, taking them one step closer to growth.
Invest in Consumer & Competitor Research
Understanding what your current consumers want, need, expect, and desire is the foundation for developing a plan that leads them to purchase from you more often. By determining where your competitors are succeeding through an analysis of their strengths, weaknesses, strategies, and tactics, you can identify opportunities to find success in their absence.
More specifically, taking the time to understand your consumers with a focus on both qualitative and quantitative responses is vital. For example, within a survey you could ask your customers about what is most important to them when it comes to product quality or responsiveness. You might also ask them to rate you on specific variables such as friendliness or willingness to go the extra mile. Once you have collected and analysed this data, you can develop a marketing plan that meshes with your customers’ wants and needs.
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Shweta Jhajharia
Shweta Jhajharia is one of the leading authorities on Business Value Building and the creator of the unique 6M Model. Shweta is widely respected as an impactful, intelligent and results orientated professional who helps business leaders unleash their potential to reach meaningful, higher objectives. This realisation of potential and maximisation... Read more
