Business strategies often fail because things don’t happen as planned.

A common cause of failure – drawing on my decades of expertise in performance coaching – is the absence of a plan that ensures the correct flow of goods, services, and whatever else is needed to deliver the strategic goals.  In an increasingly competitive market place having an effective business logistics plan is as important as the strategic plan itself.

What is business logistics and why is a plan important?

Business logistics comprises a plan that ensures the correct flow of goods, services, information and other resources through out the business to deliver the strategic goals.

Although the definition refers primarily to managing the flow of goods, business logistics is also important in service organisations. Remember that all companies produce both goods and services – some more of one than the other. Likewise all firms purchase supplies and they all must meet or exceed customer expectations. In service industries, the business logistics plan ensures the provision of all required inputs, including materials and information, at the point of service delivery.

The way that the parts of this system are configured will determine how, and when, the customer receives their order. The output of the business logistics plan is therefore customer service and the aim is to deliver a desired level of customer service at the lowest total cost. The starting point for a business logistics plan is to determine customer service levels that will give a strategic competitive advantage.

How do I develop and implement a business logistics plan?

You need to know what the customer values about doing business with you. So throw away those customer satisfaction surveys, forget about using a questionnaire – because a dozen face-to-face meetings will give you all the information you need.

Set up a process mapping and improvement team who will map out exactly what happens in the business (compared to what people think happens!) – and how long it takes for an order to flow through. Then implement a priority plan to review and improve each process.

As a business coach I was called into a domestic security company with declining sales to discover they were taking 48 hours to process an order and install the equipment when the customer wanted an alarm system installed and operating within a day. Eighty five per cent of orders came immediately after customers had been robbed. By changing the processes, the order and installation cycle time was cut to 4 hours and sales bounced back almost immediately.

Not everyone will welcome the changes so keep your people on side and inform and involve everyone at each stage. Bring in experts and specialists to help you get things underway; having taken that fat out of the businesses your managers are unlikely to have the time, knowledge or skills to fully take on the extra challenge. Make sure the people bring in properly train and coach your people so they can keep repeating the exercise.

Constantly check that the business logistics plan ties in with the goals and objectives of the strategic plan and, where there’s a misalignment, get agreement to take immediate action to correct the situation.  A strategic plan without a business logistics plan is doomed to failure.

To learn more about growing your business faster with a business logistics plan or becoming a member of the What If Business Coaching and Mentoring Programme you can email me at richard.bosworth@whatifspecialist.com.  You can also follow @richardwhatif on Twitter and find me on LinkedIn under Richard Bosworth.