Business Transitions for Growing Companies - Taking the “Y” in the Road

Bill Warner Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Yogi Berra is often attributed to this saying about life. “If you come to a Y in the road, take it.” In business, there are lots of Y’s in the road, and you indeed have to move beyond them. These Y’s are business transition points. But, how do you know you are at a Y in road, if it is important or not, and how to choose which way to go?

Business transitions

Every company goes through transitions as they grow. It goes with the territory of being a successful company. No matter how good you are, these transitions will have to be dealt with. Successfully navigating these transitions is critical to the success of all small businesses. But how do you know you are at one. There are road signs; for example:

  • Your people are complaining about their jobs
  • Sales are not growing
  • Customers are complaining

People tell all

One of the most obvious, but most denied, road signs is how your employees are responding to their job and work environment. It takes a pretty insightful leader and manager to be in touch with the state of mind of their employees. Often, what employees say is not really what they mean. The most convenient complaint is about compensation and the grass being greener at another company. If management has not been communicating well, employees will simply make up all sorts of stories about their dissatisfaction based on what they perceive to be true. Yup, they lie to themselves, and their management. Then, they decide to leave your company because they are not paid well enough. In reality, people are not motivated by money. They are motivated by having a challenging job and a great place to work. If they don’t get that, they will eventually leave for the greener pastures. If management has not created an environment of open communications and business process, along with clear roles, responsibilities and accountabilities, there is going to be trouble.

But, what is the Y in the road. In this situation, the Y has to do with the selection of experienced management that really knows how to lead and manage an organization of the size and complexity of your company and where it is headed. The choice is taking the road with current management and ending up in the ditch, or taking the road of enhanced management and keeping the company on the road to success.

Sales road blocks

Most small companies run into the dilemma of not appropriately getting their product or service into the market. The road sign is easily seen. Sales volumes are flat or down. But you would be surprised as to how many companies don’t respond to what the sign is saying. Hope takes over. Denial and excuses are pervasive. New forecasts ignore the past results. Extenuating factors explain what is going on. This Y in the road is decisive. If the wrong road is taken, the company runs into a brick wall and fails.
When faced with this choice, honest and objective evaluation of sales results is needed.

  • Is it a market understanding problem?
  • Are competitors winning?
  • Is the price an objection?
  • Are you selling to the wrong buyer?
  • Is your solution not a priority for the buyer?
  • Are your sales people ineffective?

To determine what direction to take at this junction, a detailed analysis of the reasons your company has not made its sales goals is critical. If you truly understand the reasons why you are not winning, you are on the road to adjusting your sales strategy to go down the right leg of the road.

Customers put up the signs

The most important sign to read is what your customers are telling you. If you do not have your eyes on this road sign, you are driving blind. All companies have a vision of what the value of their product or service is. And, they are proud of it. However, there is another viewpoint that the customer has. From the very beginning of your company’s history, you must be in touch with the customer’s view. If they are not satisfied, continually, they will eventually move on to other choices.

What you should be looking for is customer reaction to things like:

  • Functionality and capability
  • Support and maintenance
  • Ease of installation and use
  • Pricing structure
  • Responsiveness to their needs

You need to watch for any dissatisfaction expressed in these areas. As companies increase the number of customers, it gets progressively harder to provide top notch customer care. If you miss this road sign, you will find that customers will abandon your solution for your competitor’s.

Your choice at this cross road is to make sure you are continually adjusting your customer care support structure so that you maintain customer satisfaction. If satisfaction erodes, you will be traveling down the path to disaster in the form of lost future sales and high support costs.

Watch the signs

When you decided to run a company, you automatically got your drivers license, and it is assumed you know how to read the road signs. Tune up those antennas that read what is going on with employees and customers and you will become an expert driver. Better yet, bring people into your company that are expert drivers that know how to make the turns easier to navigate.

Filed Under: Business Operations, Business Strategy and Planning, Business Coaching & Leadership Skills



Bill Warner is the Managing Partner of Paladin and Associates, a business consulting firm in the Research Triangle Park area of central North Carolina, and is the Chairman of the Triangle Accredited Capital Forum, an angel investor network with over one hundred members throughout the southeast.

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