STRATEGIC thinking & planning gearing up for better times in 2005

摘要

Now is the time, in these final months of 2004, to prepare strategic plans for the coming year. And with some optimism on the horizon, planning can be a more enjoyable process than any time since the late 19903. This doesn't mean, however, that you can prepare a plan in the traditional way. Our industry has very little relationship to the past, and the planning process must change accordingly. There's a new model for a new economy. Customers still want lower prices and specific added values such as online ordering. Their goals are to lower overall purchasing costs of office products and to have the entire process of ordering and receiving products be as efficient, reliable, and easy as possible. Your dealership's key issue is not price and margin, or even being price competitive; it's price to value-adding value and being cost competitive.