Putting Your Plans Into Action

Implement Your Plan

Now that you’ve created your plan, it’s time to put it into action.

Here is some advice we’ve learned over the years!

Stick With It

Make sure you see the plan through to completion! Sometimes it’s easy to get sidetracked with other priorities. Make sure you make a calendar of your marketing activity timing for you and your team.

Rally Your Team

Review your plan with your team and post it in the back room for everyone to see. Encourage employees to write thoughts and results in your communication log.

Check-In Often

If you’ve assigned tasks to team members, check in with them to make sure they’re successful and not stuck. If you’re doing tasks yourself, check in with *your* boss to let them know of your progress. Often people assume no news = bad news. Provide check-ups and check-ins often.

Check for Clarity & Understanding

You’ve done all the work – written a clear plan, written detailed project plans – but that doesn’t guarantee others completely and clearly understand what needs to be done. With each task and as you complete milestones, check to make sure there is clear understanding of what needs to be done next.

Have Patience

Most often you won’t see immediate results of your efforts. It takes time for marketing activities to start to work. It can take four to six weeks to see the impact of many local marketing activities. Stick with it, and you’ll see the results!

You And Your Staff Are Not The Customer

Often it can feel like a program is dragging on. An in-store promotion feels old and boring because you’re seeing it 40 or 50-hours per week. Employees may complain they’re getting bored. It is important to realize you and your employees are NOT the customer. Your customers visit you – how often? Once or twice a week? Once a month? Once a quarter? Your programs should be built to ensure maximum exposure for your customers and their visit frequency.

Make Adjustments

Implementing a plan can be like piloting a boat. You don’t just turn the engine on and point the ship in the direction you’re headed. Wind, tides, and currents affect your course. You have to make adjustments. The same is true in running projects: things run late, budgets run over, you forget you need a permit or permission. Be prepared to make small adjustments as needed. As mentioned above, be patient and wait a few weeks for results before making any significant adjustments.

Yippee! Now that your programs are up and running, let’s track, measure and share our results in the appropriately named Track, Measure, Share section…