I have just returned from another excellent Shipley’s Business Club breakfast and am writing this, literally, on the run between meetings because there were a few items of collective wisdom that resonated with me and which, I hope, will be helpful to you….
We were looking at ……
Indicators for Trusted Advisors and Critical Friends to a business
The topics, indicators and information, you would look to explore, beyond the usual financial information from accounts and balance sheets, if you were in a trusted Advisor or critical friend to a business owner.
As always, at Shipley’s business club, there was a wealth of insight and information. Here is the list I co-created and curated from other people’s insights:
- The accuracy of sales forecasts to actual results. The smaller the gap the better!
- The extent to which the Business Plan is used and built into the planning, execution and reporting processes within the business.
- The quality of the sales pipeline and margin
- The usage of KPIs to measure and benchmark selective business performance areas. By the way, a couple of bankers in the room suggested that most SME Bankers should be able to provide useful KPIs for your business sector if you ask them nicely!
Finally, 2 gems from Chris Ragg, our facilitator:
- Check that the Senior Team members are all working from the same assumptions when looking at the business and the future.
- Brands are only useful until they are replaced with a face you trust.
Quite a few people were interested in my usage of the Livescribe Echo Smartpen which I went public on this week in this post
Onwards and upwards,
Richard
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