The “Business Sanity Check” Engagement

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Why is it called “Sanity Check”? And What is it?

Why is it called “Sanity Check”? And What is it?

This is not implying a business has lost its sanity, it’s quite the opposite. Most businesses have a clear vision (comprising business goals and aspirations) and are on a specific trajectory to meet/exceed this vision.

The issue comes when a business thinks it’s on the right trajectory. But what happens if it’s not? What happens if specific functions of the business are not performing in line with the vision?

The result is, the business continues in a direction where long term value is not attained, wasting both time and money.

99% of the time, the fundamental culprit is the digital channel and the conduct wrapped around it. This is why and how businesses fall behind in the digital context. They keep to the wrong trajectory.

This is the purpose of the “Business Sanity Check” and why it was created.

Why does this engagement add value?

Why does this engagement add value?

  1. This engagement is short and quickly identifies areas where the business needs to focus effort on.
  2. The inclusion of high-level solutions help the business visualize what the changes need to look like.
  3. The document is written in “business speak” and for the executive team.
  4. There is no obligation beyond this brief engagement.
  5. Greg Randall is a senior strategist and business transformation specialist. Greg conducts the entire engagement and writes the output to ensure the quality is high.
Why is Greg the ideal person to lead this service?

Why is Greg the ideal person to lead this service?

  1. Greg Randall has been designing business strategies and leading business transformations for 17 years.
  2. Greg is recognised globally as a top customer experience design specialist and an authority on eCommerce/Digital best practice. Greg is a published author in both.
  3. Because Greg has been exposed to hundreds of business models, he can quickly identify issues.
  4. Greg brings a deep understanding and knowledge of business performance benchmarks. Greg can look at business department output and quickly determine if it’s performing to standard (or not) in the context of the vision and industry.
Learn more about Greg

What does the engagement look like?

This engagement is designed to be short and nonintrusive to quickly turn a response around:

Step 1: Face to face meeting:

A meeting is held to understand what the vision looks like. This session is kept to 1 hour and is packed with questions pertaining to what the business wants to achieve both in the short and long term.

Step 2: Scanning the business:

Core business functions are reviewed in a high-level manner with specific emphasis being applied to the digital channel. Because business success is underpinned by digital conduct, focus is applied here.

This scanning process varies based on the business model and vision. Step 2 is customized for every engagement and incorporates proven methods to dig deep enough for this engagement to add value.

Though having access to data (such as behavioural analytics) is preferred, it's not essential.

Step 3: Executive summary creation:

A succinct high-level executive summary is written and comprises the following themes:

  1. Calls out all business functions which do not align to the vision
  2. Each issue will be supported with substantiated proof
  3. High level solutions are documented

Step 4: Executive Summary Review

Greg presents the executive summary.

Depending on availability, this review meeting will either be face to face or via other digital methods. This presentation is 1 hour with the purpose to review outcomes and take on questions.

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The Deliverable

What does the deliverable look like?

The outcome of the “Sanity Check” engagement is a document comprising three sections….

"Section 1 - Business Strategy Summary":

This section of the document comes from the initial face to face session. The purpose of this section is to summarise the following…

  1. Business vision and strategic focus
  2. Short and long term business goals
  3. Perceived business weaknesses from those interviewed

This sets the tone for the analysis.

This is a high level summary and is typically 2 to 3 pages in length.

"Section 2 - Analysis":

This section summarises the analysis process and calls out what was found. The analysis process will vary by what is identified in "Section 1".

The methods of analysis will comprise a mix of....

  1. Employee interviews
  2. Data analysis (this will come in many forms and is dependent on "Section 1")
  3. Digital Channel audit - comparing existing channel conduct to the outputs of "Section 1" and identifying gaps

This section is between 8 to 10 pages in length and is dependent on the analysis method.

"Section 3 - Issues and Solutions":

This is a concise high-level summary of all top level issues. For each issue, a solution is also presented.

In this section there is a narrative explaining why the "issues" are actually issues. It's important to include this rationale, so the executive team can understand why they are not on the right trajectory for specific parts of the business.

Explaining the “Why” is the crucial part of the "sanity check". It explains why there is a need for change.

Section 3 also comprises guidance around what recommended next steps look like for those who wish to pursue the solutions.

This section can vary in size, and normally ranges between 5 to 6 pages (depending on what is found).

Summary

In summary the document is around 10 to 15 pages in length and explains…

  1. Where you want to take the business
  2. What you ARE NOT doing which keeps you from getting to where you want to go (the “issues”) - or what you ARE doing which is wrong and will keep you from getting to where you want to go
  3. An explanation as to why the “issues” are issues
  4. A summary of solutions to resolve the issues
  5. Next steps for those who want to correct the trajectory
What does this service cost?

What does this service cost?

This service comprises a one-off cost of $10k (AUD) and depending on workload can be turned around in under two weeks.

To learn more about this service, email Greg on greg@commaconsulting.com.au.