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A precision diagnostic is a detailed 3-5 week assessment of your operations. It includes an evaluation and input for critical decisions that need to be made relative to strategy, planning, and budgeting for the immediate fiscal year and beyond.
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It’s “Budget Time” again and we have the same three questions that we always have:
- Where is new business is going to be found?
- What are the project priorities?
- What are the new expenses?
Every year we take an educated guess as to where we will be in the next 6 to 18 months. Some years our budgets are close to actual, and some years we sweat month after month, dreading the monthly budget reviews.
Unfortunately, knowing the future sales numbers, the project priorities, and the future expenses requires most budgeting managers to know information well beyond their normal purview. With everyone working in “silos”, Merchandising not talking to Transportation, IT not talking to Finance, no one talking to Store Operations, it’s a wonder that the budget forecasts or project priorities come as close as they do. 
What the departments need is a structured view of where the organization is heading, what are the organization’s goals and priorities, and what all of the departmental goals and priorities are. Once this is known, only then can the budget be complete with realistic chances of meeting the numbers. The whole organization will know the sales forecast, what projects will be begun or completed, and where expenses need to be cut or added.
To help with the budget or, even more importantly, to make your organization more Effective and Efficient, a precision diagnostic, a process to assess each area of your organization, will help your organization meet today’s needs and better prepare for next year’s goals.  A precision diagnostic should take about 3-5 weeks to accurately assess your operation which includes an evaluation and input for critical decisions that need to be made relative to strategy, planning, and budgeting for the immediate fiscal year and beyond.
There are distinct strategic and tactical opportunities that organizations should assess today in order to guide their companies through the challenging time of decision making. The following assessment initiatives are key:
- Category Management and Merchandise Planning
How efficient is the buying process? How many POs do you have to manage? How quick and how accurate is your Allocation process?
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Who is your customer (demographic) and why do they shop with you? What would lead them to purchase more? How do I get new customers?
- IT Strategic Systems Assessment
Do we get the right reports on a timely basis to make good decisions? What projects should be completed first and why? Why isn’t IT more responsive to the business needs?
- Operational and Supply Chain Assessment
Do you know the location of EVERY carton, from manufacturer to the stores? Why don’t we have higher vendor compliance? Why is our shrink so high?
Align IT projects with the rest of the organization, make sure your stores have the right product at the right time, get the product from the manufacturer to the sales floor both effectively and efficiently, and know your customer and how you can serve them better and you will drive success next year and beyond.
– Learn how Clear Thinking Group can help you in this process! |
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