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Several myths need to be displayed about KPI’s and the easiest thing to do is to list what they are not:
1. A tool to assign blame
2. Wall paper
3. A work measurement
4. Simply something that we able to measure
5. A Statistic
What they are:?
1. KPI´s are related to results
2. KPI´s shows something measurable, (From what to what)
3. Represents both management and workforce
4. Can be calculated to meet the budget or a specific level of improvement
5. Communicate status
6. Used to connect the customer to the process
7. Essential, Useful, Immediate

But the real question is how do you create them. The most simple way to do them is utilizing the planning guide of PDCA that I have described numerous times as part of my planning cycle. It may seem rather elaborate but using a quick hub and spoke wheel, it really is quite simple. And you must remember this is the key to your system.

Several other critical factors in making the KPI’s effective:
1. Make measures visible
2. Easy to understand, use, collect and acted upon
3. Act quickly to manage variances
4. Communicate barriers to implementation
I typical tell people is that it will take time to develop good KPI’s and your continuous improvement structure is a direct result of fine tuning KPI’s over and over again.

Technorati : Duct Tape Marketing , Lean Six Sigma , Marketing Plan Pro , key performance indicators , kpi

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Equipment Manufacturer Marketing Plan

Mplans.com: Excerpt from Marketing Plan Pro Sample Plan

Marketing Vision:  The Road Construction industry is poised to take advantage of the Economic Stimulus package but it will be determined by the bids that the road contractors win. Private-sector spending has come to a halt. Our marketing efforts must be spent on providing existing customers with the reassurance they need so that we are his first call when searching for equipment. We also must ensure that we can provide an adequate parts supply for our present customers. These are operational issues, more so than marketing ones, but it is an important part of our sales and marketing effort to be the easy choice for their needs and to provide local support during the prime paving system.

Our marketing plan takes a conservative approach in trying out some new communications methods. We have found that many of the customers we are reaching at the present time are seeking more direct contact. Since the audience is relatively well-known and in a geographic area, we are testing how best to use the new technologies before advancing.

Click on the Mplan link above to see the entire marketing plan.

Other Related Business901 Blogs and Pages:

Marketing Plan Pro Coach Offer

News Releases and Ebooks

Marketing Plan Pro – What is in the Box

Hiring a Consultant – Can I see your Marketing Plan?

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Introducing the 30 day JumpStart Plan. In this version you get the software as well as 2 meetings with a Duct Tape Marketing Coach to help you get started right, keep you on track and give you some feedback on the state of your plan. This just might be the perfect low-cost option for someone who just needs a little help. My thoughts on the software:

Now, you have 2 programs to choose from, the one offered by Marketing Plan Pro or the way I have constructed my offer.

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This approach is different than most companies employ. Most companies are sold the "bill of goods" in this area and purchase products such as web development, and advertising without knowing the structure it must support.

The floor can built with minimum support but it is something that is walked on every day, so that your organization is touching and using these components every day, This way your marketing becomes part of the culture of the company.

Information is practically becoming free. Few subjects cannot be found at a relative low cost on the web. The real power is in the implementation of this information in a productive and cost-effective manner. For an example, when you look at the lean foundation, you will see much of this that can be easily duplicated for individual marketing channels but also in different parts of the process. Where in one channel it may be used during the know and like stages, in another channel it may be used in the repeat or referred stages. It is important to recognize where and how it is being used so that it is not duplicated to the customer in the same manner. You may even use the foundation blocks so that they feed on each other. E-books can be built from articles which can be built from blog post, etc.

Many organizations focus on these foundation blocks as the core of their marketing process. The focus of Lean Marketing House is on building the foundation to support the structure above. This will cause you to focus on using the tools, foundation blocks, provided with the understanding that the results will drive some customer reaction to move to the next step in the pillar. It is important to be aligned with the pillars to carry out your marketing plan, insuring the mission and visions of the organization are met.

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What are you building? – The One Page Business Plan ^® uses this simple question to define your vision. I have yet to see a more effective question to get you started. They go on and ask you to describe what your product/services will look like in 1, 3 or 5 years. When I add the terminology of Marketing Plan Pro and Duct Tape Marketing you include target market and the ideal client description into the mix. If you you can simply feel in these blanks taken from The One PAge Business Plan, I think you can go a long way in describing your vision:

Within the next ___years grow (company name) ___________ into a $ ______(est. annual sales)

(local, regional, int’l)______________ ( type of company) ________________________

providing (describe products/services)_____________________________________

to (describe target customer and ideal client)_________________________ with annual sales of $_______.

I would encourage you to start building your marketing plan with this statement in mind and come back to it often. Add, but do not subtract from it till you have a complete marketing plan intact. Since this is the roof of the Lean Marketing House it will provide the perspective that all other material will be based on. As you add your ideal clients and target markets, you may segment part of this message but for now you must have an overall theme tying your entire vision together.

This will be  a great way for you to stay on course during the process.

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I’m dead serious about this requirement, it is really not an option. If you read any of the material most marketing coaches or consultants publish it will talk about the strategies that you need, target marketing and ideal client. But are they really just talking the talk, or are they walking the walk?

Take a look at what message are they sending.  Are they practicing the same things, that they are telling you to do?  Case in point, I am amazed at how many web developers that are out in the marketplace with poor websites. What I typically do is use HubSpot Grader as a guideline even as I’m talking to them on the phone. It is pretty common to see grades of less than 20. I know that HubSpot Grader is not a perfect tool to judge a website, but when the developer is missing keywords, meta tags and other obvious things that should have been incorporated, well just say, I find it quite useful for discussion purposes.

A lot of people will tell you that you need to blog. But are they doing it? Are they posting 3 to 4 times a week to make their blog effective? Ask them what keywords they would like to be found by?  Are they being found? What about the subjects they are writing about, are they the subjects that interest you?

That was kind of off track for a moment, but my point of view, those things are just obvious qualifiers. But I am dead serious, ask them to look at their plan or at least a section that describes their ideal client and target market. Can they produce one?  If they are not willing to update their own persona and plan…they are not serious enough about making all of the changes and investment required to move a customer up the ladder. So what do you think? Can you shake them up a little bit?

P.S. I have a special going on Marketing Plans this week, take a look!

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This is the start of a blog post that was just recently published on the Palo Alto Software site, go over and take a look. There are a lot of other things to read there.

Technorati Tags: Finanacial Markets ,Palo Alto Software ,Marketing Plan Pro ,Economic Stimulus

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A project needs to be planned, controlled, and monitored from its inception to its completion. In fact, all projects use a methodology of processes, procedures and templates. If you don’t think you have one, it really means that you have a poor and informal one. Do not confuse scheduling software with project planning!

If you need a project plan, there are three basic sources:

1. Build one yourself. You can build a custom campaign that perfectly reflects the philosophy and best practices of your organization. Many companies try this.

2. Buy one. You might be surprised to learn that your plan when finished ultimately looks similar to most others that people use. That is why many consultants can help without having the intimate knowledge of your industry. However, you may think that you spend as much time with the consultant as you would have doing it yourself. I know I have, I been on both sides!

3. The hybrid option of purchasing a methodology and then customizing it to meet the specific needs of your organization. This gives you some of the benefits of option 1, while also taking less time, which is the major benefit of option 2. Many companies are choosing this option as a “Best of Both.” These pre-built methodologies can have many of your organization needs to be successful.

An existing methodology allows you to deliver an effective option practically immediately. I recommends the use of the hybrid option, which enables you to spend your time on the application versus building the plan to achieve the result.  The simplicity of a single flexible model will create clarity for your staff and as a result better execution.

Great saying I head once and always remembered: How many good ideas have been wasted because of a poor plan!

I use these plans over and over again:

1. Marketing Plan Pro
2. One Page Project Manager
3. One Page Business Plan
4. Get Clients NOW!

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Free Webinar – Simple Marketing Tactics presented by John Jantsch on February 11, 2009 at 12:00pm CST

Let’s get back to basics and start utilizing simple, effective and affordable marketing tactics to create momentum that carries your business through the tough times and allows it soar in the good times.

Register Here

By the way, I have another blog that I use to re-purpose material for contractors, take a look sometime, Your Marketing Machine.com

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The American Express Open Forum published two articles of mine Lean Your Marketing and Avoid Trying to Time your Marketing .  And today, I really enjoyed this. I was looking at the Palo Alto Software site, makers of Marketing Plan Pro and they had just published an article of mine titled Be Reactive in your marketing before being proactive by Joe Dager. And right above me was Guy Kawasaki .

Now, I know that may seem like anything of consequence to you noted authors that are reading my blog. But being an aspiring writer, it was kind of COOL! Go make a comment on mine and if you want take a look at Guy’s too!

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