| One of my manufacturing clients who was attending | | | | above criteria, the following is an example of one for |
| a trade show took a picture of a mission statement | | | | an imaginary financial advisory firm: |
| and sent it from her IPhone with the comment "I | | | | By 12/31/(insert year), our company will increase |
| think they need your help!" | | | | sales by 25% while maintaining current profitability; |
| The picture revealed these words: | | | | ensure all continuing education credits are achieved by |
| Our Mission - We pride ourselves with the capacity to | | | | our financial advisors and continue to work towards |
| assess situation or circumstances with expert insight | | | | ISO (Baldrige) certification. |
| and draw sound conclusions that are transparently | | | | - Does this statement provide greater clarity and |
| clear and easily understandable. | | | | direction? |
| - Directness | | | | - Would I know fairly quickly as a salesperson or |
| - Simplicity | | | | general employee what I needed to do to help |
| - Transparency | | | | achieve the mission? |
| - Decipherability | | | | - As a potential customer visiting this business, would |
| - Comprehensibility | | | | I have some idea as to where this firm is going and |
| - Accuracy | | | | would it help me decide if I wanted to engage |
| - CertaintyKnowing what this company does is not a | | | | them?Loosey goosey mission statements filled with a |
| real priority. However, imagine for a moment you are | | | | lot of gobbleygook such as the one mentioned earlier |
| a salesperson for this company. How will you even | | | | do not give loosey goosey results, but rather no |
| know you are achieving this mission statement? | | | | results. Sales Training Coaching Tip: People confuse |
| Convoluted and ineffective mission statements like | | | | Vision (Big Picture of Strategy - Where I want to |
| this one are far too common. And what is even | | | | be?) with Mission (Smaller Picture of Tactics - How |
| worse, thousands of dollars are spent on these four | | | | will I get there?) With execution continuing to be one |
| finger strategic planning exercises with the only result | | | | of the greatest challenges for any small business |
| is the fattening of the consultants' wallets. | | | | owner to C Suite executive, could poorly worded |
| What would happen if the company wrote a simple | | | | mission statements be contributing to this challenge? |
| one year mission statement that has up to 3 critical | | | | Simplicity is best when it comes to uniting goals with |
| goal or success categories: | | | | performance. Invest some time to rethink the how |
| | | | to of your strategic planning process along with the |
| 1. Revenue and profits? | | | | mission statement if you truly want to be the Red |
| 2. Continuing Education Credits? | | | | Jacket, stand out in the crowd and realize your goal |
| 3. Standards or Licensing Requirements?Using the | | | | to increase sales. |