Implemented well, ideas for a new product or a marketing campaign can turn into profits. But business leaders cannot just come up with a plan and sit back and hope that it will magically take hold.

SELLING THE AGENDA

A mistake of many leaders is to assume that a plan will be successfully implemented following their pep talk about it. Insightful leaders realize that if they want their campaign or project to successfully become a reality, they will need to sell the idea initially to those within their organization and then to customers and the investment community. They understand that a key factor in turning an idea into profits is their ability to effectively communicate and manage every step of implementation. How do you do this? The answer lies in part in leaders knowing the roles they play within their organizations, how they personally function as a leader, and the tools they have available to influence others to support and commit to their agendas. They should have an awareness of their strengths and weaknesses and how they are viewed as leaders within their organizations and by those who matter. They must look at all the possibilities for success and failure before implementing or promoting their marketing campaigns and must constantly monitor, evaluate, and do progress checks to know where their campaigns stand to keep negative surprises at a minimum.

Equally important, leaders will need to have insights into their organization's abilities to accept change.in particular, what has worked in the past and what has not worked. They will have to evaluate their company's culture to determine if it allows for change implementation. If not, the leaders will have to transform their company's culture. Also, it is important that leaders evaluate who their possible supporters, resisters, and change agents will be and the roles each will play. Every department will be affected differently when a new idea is being considered for implementation. Analyzing the impact it might have elsewhere within the organization will enable the person behind it to determine his or her odds of success.

BUILDING MOMENTUM

An idea means little until it is implemented. The goal is to create momentum and support from the organization, suppliers, investors, customers, and others who directly or indirectly will be impacted by it. The first step is to establish a message that will not only communicate but will get others to rally around and support what the change is trying to accomplish. Another important element in turning idea agendas into profits is for leaders to ensure that their organizations' current and future customers buy into and support the agendas. The more outside media publicity the agenda receives, the more customers will be informed of the changes the organization is making. This can best be accomplished by recognizing who in the organization has direct contact with customers and making sure that they totally understand and support the agenda. A leader should not make the mistake of thinking that because he or she presented the agenda once to these individuals that they understand and support it. If a customer service representative tells a customer that no one knows what's really going on anymore with all the changes taking place, damage can be done to the customer relationship. In some cases, this will cause the organization to lose current and future customers.
Leaders must remember to sell the individual benefits the agenda will have on each department, such as how it will make the organization more productive, more profitable, and a better place to work. As the great chefs of the world know, it is all in the presentation that will cause their creations to be viewed as average or irresistible. Great messages will clearly and simply communicate what the agenda is trying to accomplish and the goals the organization wants to reach. This will inspire the kind of support and teamwork needed to get the right things done and have the desired changes take place. When leaders try to overcomplicate their messages, they will lose not only their audience but the support needed to turn agendas into profits. This can cause individuals to make their own interpretation on what the agenda is trying to accomplish, which can be detrimental to turning the agenda into a reality.