Strategic advisors fill the holes in an organization that exist in a particular discipline, experience level or accumulated knowledge base. They can help speed decision making, time to market or cost reductions with proven solutions and without the pain of trial and error.
Strategic advisory services are designed to help a company solve specific problems or take advantage of opportunities that are beyond the scope of an in-house team’s expertise. This outside perspective helps to identify blind spots, challenge conventional thinking and offer novel solutions that can be implemented with minimal disruption or expense. In addition, advisors have extensive networks that can open doors to new business opportunities and growth. Keep reading the article below to learn more about Strategic Advisory.
Unlike internal executives, who have their own day-to-day work to do, strategic advisers are focused on high-level, future-oriented strategic matters. This allows them to offer unbiased perspectives that aren’t skewed by personal or organizational agendas. Their objective viewpoint focuses on numbers, dollars and facts rather than politics and prejudice. This intellectual honesty can be hard to accept at first, but savvy leaders understand that this type of strategic advice is the best way to drive innovation and growth.
Strategic advisers have their fingers on the pulse of a company’s industry and its competitors. They regularly attend conferences, meet with key customers and suppliers and read relevant industry publications. This information gives them a big picture view that is difficult to achieve with an in-house staff. Additionally, they have a deep body of knowledge in their particular discipline and are dedicated to staying on top of the latest trends. In the end, this provides a multiplier effect that is impossible to duplicate without a significant increase in manpower and expense.
After identifying problems or opportunities, strategic advisers develop plans to solve them. This usually involves analyzing financial and production reports, interviewing employees and evaluating the competition. In some cases, they may even conduct a survey to gather external feedback from customers and suppliers. This information is used to formulate a plan of action for the short term and long term.
The strategic advisers report on their findings and make recommendations to the company. In some cases, a consultant may be hired to implement the tactical measures needed to support the strategy. In other instances, the adviser will train in-house personnel to carry out the suggested actions.
The value of strategic advisory services can be compelling for firms seeking to improve their client connections and remain competitive in an increasingly complex regulatory environment. However, implementing a solution that delivers a powerful blend of strategic guidance and tactical execution can be a daunting task for firms with limited resources. That’s why Clockwork is on a mission to make it easier for firms to deliver more advisory services to their clients.
Developing a Strategy
Strategic advisers help formulate and provide overall direction of private or public sector organizations. They work within guidelines set by a board of directors or similar governing body. They develop policies and coordinate operational activities at the highest level of management with subordinate executives and staff managers.
They gather detailed information on a company’s current performance, from financial and production reports to interviewing employees and evaluating competitors. This information is used to identify problems and opportunities. They then create plans to solve or take advantage of those issues. The plans may include specific steps or milestones, measurable metrics and budgets. They are based on objective data and best practices.
Creating and implementing strategy is a major undertaking, and it is often difficult for a business to know where to begin. Savvy business leaders realize that they can’t resolve every issue from within the company, and they rely on strategic advisers to know their internal businesses and the external marketplace and have domain expertise in developing strategies that will work now and for the long term.
A strategic adviser knows when to push the targets, whether it’s expense reduction or sales growth. They understand when to step on the gas, and they also know when to apply the brakes without driving off the road. Their outside experience puts the company in a much better position to be successful in the short and long run.
In addition to working on corporate strategic planning, strategists frequently get involved in mergers and acquisitions. They help with due diligence on potential targets, support M&A activities and assist in post-acquisition integrations. They also help companies set strategic direction, including setting vision and mission statements, building a strategic plan and supporting business planning processes.
Strategic advisors are always “up to speed.” They have a niche, are well-versed in it and spend time and resources keeping abreast of trends in their industry and the companies that drive those trends. This can be a tremendous benefit to businesses because it allows them to implement ideas more quickly and cost-effectively than would be possible internally, at least not without a large increase in manpower and expense.
Developing Tactics
As an advisor, you’ll work with clients to identify specific strategies for solving problems or pursuing opportunities. This involves a lot of research — reading financial and production reports, interviewing managers and evaluating the competition. Depending on the scope of the project, your advisory services could include strategic planning, forecasting, expense benchmarking and analysis, new revenue generation and other forms of business growth consulting. The key to offering advisory services is to make sure your rates and pricing model are aligned with the value you’re bringing to the client.
Once you’ve analyzed the data, you’ll work with your client to develop tactics that are consistent with their goals and most likely to succeed. For example, if you identified that sales are low because of poor marketing, one strategy might be to increase advertising. Another might be to change the product’s packaging or price point. In some cases, an adviser will actually help implement the suggested tactics, assigning tasks to staff, training them and monitoring their progress.
Depending on the nature of your client’s business, your advisory services may also encompass strategic guidance and risk mitigation. Strategic advisors’ varied experiences and knowledge of their industries and markets can enable them to offer insights that may be otherwise difficult or impossible to gain internally.
The effectiveness of an advisory board is largely dependent on its members. During the selection process, it’s important to consider a balance between experience and expertise. Having a clear purpose and scope will also contribute to a successful advisory board. The board’s structure and policies should be communicated clearly, including its role in the organization and how it interacts with the formal board of directors (if any) and the organizational leadership team. Ideally, the advisory board should be flexible enough to adjust as the company’s needs evolve and take advantage of unexpected opportunities. To do so, it’s crucial to encourage collaboration between the advisory board and internal team members. To further strengthen this collaboration, QuestionPro’s feedback and survey platform can be leveraged to gather meaningful input from a variety of stakeholders and help facilitate strategic decision-making.
Monitoring and Supporting a Strategy
Once a strategic adviser has developed a plan, it’s her job to monitor, track and support implementation. For example, if the adviser identifies that a clothing company needs to target younger, single female customers, she might help implement this new strategy by recommending advertising campaigns or suggesting designers and manufacturers with experience in this type of marketing. Similarly, she might provide her expertise to help the company meet its revenue goals by providing advice and guidance on how to improve sales or pricing strategies.
A strategic advisor may also offer a different point of view or approach to problems that might be overlooked by the company’s management team. She might present a plan that includes solutions based on facts and real-life experiences rather than politics or prejudice. This can foster creative thinking and growth in the company.
For many companies, strategic advisory services are a valuable addition to the internal management team’s tools for achieving company goals. Adding this resource to the mix can help avoid the costs and frustrations of inefficient methods, ineffective meetings and time-consuming processes that stall progress toward business objectives.
An effective advisory board is critical for guiding an organization’s long-term success. Ensure that your board is composed of individuals with diverse backgrounds, skills, and industry expertise. Then, set clear expectations and guidelines regarding how the board will communicate, collaborate, and evaluate. Finally, set term limits to encourage a steady flow of fresh perspectives and expertise.
The best strategic advisors are those who can see the big picture and are willing to offer honest, impartial, agenda-free guidance. They understand how the pieces of a strategic plan fit together, and they can recommend tactics that will be most effective without creating unnecessary risk or limiting the company’s flexibility in meeting its business goals. With a flexible, user-friendly platform like QuestionPro, your strategic advisory services can thrive. By making it easy for stakeholders to share their views, you can help your clients achieve their business objectives and make strategic decisions with confidence. The platform’s survey and feedback capabilities, advanced analytics and reporting, and powerful integrations position it as a dynamic strategic advisor service.
