Q&A: Fit the Focus, Share the Strategy!

Question: I'm wondering if you'd be willing to share any of your mistakes made in the process of building the business, trying to introduce something new, etc. What "don'ts" did you learn from? --submitted by Angela Fehr.

Angela, please e-mail me your choice of paper packet or stamp set that I can send you as thanks for submitting your question! Send it to me@jeanettelynton.com and I'll drop it in the mail right away!

Answer: I think some of the most valuable lessons we can ever learn come from our mistakes, and I've certainly been "blessed" with my fair share. (Note to self: always be careful when you pray for wisdom, because the Lord will send you trials!)

A defining lesson for me came more than a decade ago when the company was still called DOTS, for Dozens of Terrific Stamps, and our core product was stamp sets. I knew I wanted to expand and diversify into related scrapbooking product lines, and to me the strategy was clear. I saw the lines as very complementary, sister product lines, if you will. At the time, I introduced scrapbooking by bringing out a second and separate catalog called "Close To My Heart." It was chock full of papers and other unique-to-scrapbooking products. (Many of you will remember this time!)

What happened? Consultants were confused -- they couldn't figure out which catalog to sell out of. Initially, some even asked: "Who are we? What is our purpose?" The sales mix shifted dramatically between the two catalogs, and it created quite a bit of financial and product turmoil at first. Shortly thereafter, I fused the two catalogs and product lines into one: showing Consultants and customers alike how stamping and scrapbooking should be married, and ultimately that the brands needed to be married. We adopted the name "Close To My Heart" and helped educate people about our unified strategy.

What did I learn from this error? Two key things:

First off, you can only serve one master. I have long considered my company to be a creativity company that focuses on hand-made treasures that help us celebrate our relationships and preserve memories. Sound like a mission statement? To be true to that focus, it means I also need to select products and programs that support that ideal. As I've watched other companies introduce separate vinyl products or separate jewelry lines in separate catalogs, I can envision their Consultants wondering "Why a second catalog? Who are we? What do I sell?" I have learned that if a product truly fits our creativity strategy, then it will have a home in our idea book. If it doesn't fit there, it doesn't fit in our company at all.

Secondly, I learned that when you have a "serve one master" strategy, it still requires great communication to be embraced and understood. I knew that the fusion of scrapbooking and stamping was strategic and focused. But we didn't execute it in a focused way, and we didn't communicate the strategy behind it. That left people wondering. Today, we work very hard to explain the "why" behind our product decisions so that the strategy is clear -- we know it helps current Consultants share the message with their customers, and that it draws more new Consultants who resonate with our focus.

Now, this doesn't mean that we won't bring out new and different product lines and embrace new expansion opportunities -- quite the opposite (insert plug for Convention here: come so you can not only see all the new products but hear all the strategy behind them!). It just means that I have learned that things must fit the focus, and we must share the strategy to be successful.