DecisionMaps™ help Find the Best Expansion Markets.
Most leaders of successful businesses want to expand. Some expansions are successful; some are disasters. Teams with a good strategic management process in place know their business model is valid and need only look for other markets where the business model would be valid. Teams with a poor, or no, strategic management process in place too often pick expansion areas that do not have the attributes needed for success.
Executives using DecisionMaps™ KNOW their business model is valid. They use DecisionMaps™ to screen thousands of small geographic segments to quickly find and prioritize areas where they could successfully expand.
Does your team ever disagree over which variables are more important than other variables? How were the variables validated? When were they last validated? DecisionMaps™ enable all decision-makers to see all the relevant variables, intelligently discuss the implications, and reach the best decision.
The following case example is highly summarized.
Case 898: Geographic Expansions and Acquisitions
Problem: How to find the best expansion markets, the best sites in those markets, and assure the field team checks expansion sites quickly and efficiently without missing any promising sites.
Situation: A team was assigned to lead a major geographic expansion. The only restriction: any geographic expansion area had to support a particular store format. The team developed criteria for successful sites.
DecisionMaps™: The criteria were symbolically represented on a dynamic series of maps (each a mouse click away). Starting with the most important variable represented for very small geographic areas, whole states were reviewed to find areas of promise. Then, those areas were screened to find the best sites. Ultimately, the model was placed on a laptop computer and used in conjunction with GPS to enable a field team to drive the areas of highest priority to find the best locations for market entry. The field team was able to quickly validate the model.
Result: Confident of the model's information the field team was able to select specific areas to inspect without fear that they were missing something important. They were able to determine the best locations for entering the market, prioritize them, and develop the approach and negotiating strategy most appropriate for each top priority expansion location. In some cases an appropriate business already occupied the site and acquisition became a viable alternative.
Application: Most companies thinking of investing significant dollars in geographic expansions develop criteria to evaluate prospective sites. Some companies even prioritize the criteria. Far fewer companies use existing locations to validate the criteria. And, very few create visualization tools that can be used in the field to validate the model and help find and evaluate alternative sites within the target geographic market.
Are you considering expanding? How much value could DecisionMaps™ add by enabling all decision-makers to quickly see all the relevant variables, intelligently discuss the implications, and reach the best decision. For help now email the best time and way for us to contact you to discuss the issue privately and confidentially.
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