PART II

The Strategic Attraction
Planning Process

63

Visioning—constant

interaction with the

brightness of the future.

Jack Canfield

YOU ARE now ready to envision, create, and implement your own Strategic Attraction Plan— a plan for attracting more of your perfect customers or clients. Before we begin, it is important to note that a Strategic Attraction Plan is distinct from a business plan, and both are necessary for the effective and successful development of any organization. A Strategic Attraction Plan is created to ensure that an organization is bringing the right customers to its door and Web site. A business plan makes sure that the operations of an organization will perfectly support these customers once they arrive.

The creation of a Strategic Attraction Plan begins with envisioning. This process is similar to the common practice among athletes of first envisioning themselves winning a race, a tournament, a game and then creating their training program to fulfill that vision.

It is also the same process that a lighthouse builder goes through when constructing the perfect structure on the perfect spot on the beach. The builder envisions all the possible scenarios—where, how, and when boats will need to depend on the lighthouse—and then builds the structure to accommodate those needs.

64

You are about to build your lighthouse. Each of the first four chapters in part II is written to guide you through one of the four steps of the Strategic Attraction Planning Process. The fifth chapter provides guidance for situations where different plans are needed for different stakeholders. In each step, by answering the main question of the chapter, you will design a particular aspect of your “most perfect customers” model.

Step 1:What qualities do I want my perfect customers to possess and demonstrate?

Step 2:What makes my perfect customers tick?

Step 3:What do I want my perfect customers to expect me to deliver or provide?

Step 4:What do I need to improve to attract or maintain my customer relationships with perfect customers?

To arrive at the answer for each overarching question, you will actually answer a series of questions within each chapter. These are the same questions that you ask yourself repeatedly—probably dozens of times a day. The goal for asking them here is to get the questions out of your head and the answers into the light of day, where they can be of the greatest use to you and your business.

You may find that you would enjoy doing these exercises with a partner or partners—perhaps a coworker or your entire team—for a richer experience. Whether you work alone or in a group, we recommend that you allow yourself two hours of uninterrupted time to create your first Strategic Attraction Plan. To create the plan, you will need one 8 ½-by-11-inch unlined white sheet of paper, folded in half lengthwise, with each of the panels labeled “Side #1,” “Side #2,” and so on. You’ll also need a pencil, a quiet space, and a willingness to transform your business easily and effortlessly.

Let’s begin.