Strategic problem solving is one of the key skills needed and probably the one that is most lacking in today’s marketing teams and it is never more important than with CRM Marketing planning.  So often we are so pushed to resolve problems that we jump straight into fire-fighting mode and plough ahead with the most obvious or simplest solutions.  And whilst this might be a very successful short-term fix.  What any good fire fighter will tell you is that you have to get to the root cause of the problem if you want to prevent further break outs.

At Relevanz, we have a 5-step planning framework that is applied to every project that we undertake.  It helps us to understand any problem, scope it and find effective solutions.  The beauty of this simple framework, is that it is adaptable. Allowing you to spend more time on specific areas, dependent upon the particular ask/need.

Whether you are dealing with a strategic business problem or you have been asked to resolve a problem that someone else has defined (wake up agencies, this includes being given a brief), the basic approach should be the same.

1 DISCOVER

It’s reallyimportant at the first stage of problem solving that you have a clear understandingof the problem.  So try to hone down thespecifics into a clear “problem statement”.  A few short sentences describing the issue you’refacing. And just like objectives this should be as SMART as you can make it.  So, instead of, “We lose money each year dueto quality issues,” a better statement would be, “In 2019, we lost £1M due toquality errors. That’s 5% of our overall revenue.”.

Don’tbe afraid to ask questions that help you to really get to the nub of the problem at this stage.  It is important that you understand the actual problem, not just somebodies’ interpretation of it.

Once you have a clear “problem statement” then you can quickly set yourself some measurable objectives.

In other words what would be the outcome if you were successful in resolving the problem. In the above example, success would be a measurable reduction in the loss of revenue due to quality errors.   Decide not just what you are measuring, but how you will review and report on the outcome.

So, in order to ensure that your solutions have been effective, in our example you would need to measure the number &cost of the errors to demonstrate the improvement.

2. DEFINE -  “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I would spend55 minutes defining it and 5 resolving it” 

Next you need to look at what might be causing the problem. In strategic problem solving this stage of our framework is the most important. One of the secrets to being a great strategic problem solver is tenacity, or the ability to persist when others give in.  Another is lateral thinking.  Build your team carefully and make sure you include both subject experts and non experts.

There is a great anecdote from the CEO of a famous motor manufacturer, who asked his senior team to ‘brainstorm’ ways they could improve efficiency.  He got a lot of blank looks – so he decided to come at the problem a different way – tell me how you could make your jobs easier…  A really good example of lateral thinking, and one which will serve you well in your Development phase.

In finding the root cause, you need to force yourself to interrogate the problem systematically. There are some really simple techniques that will help you to help develop solutions.  They involve differing levels of rigour dependent upon the specific scale and size of problem you need to explore:  The Solution Tree, The 5 Why’s, The 

Fishbone 

Remember, that the purpose of our root cause analysis is not to highlight any one person, simply to identify where processes are at fault in order to solve the problem.

Solution Tree 

This is a more standard approach to identifying strategic solutions for simpler problems.  Your tree branches out over 3 columns.  Your objectives sit on the left hand column.  The potential solution branch off each into the next column and your possible strategies into the last column. So you effectively have a visual way to see how the objectives, solutions and strategies link together.

The 5 Why’s 

This simple approach can be used to get to the nub of a specific issue most often used to solve system or process driven problems, but adaptable to most circumstances.  Immediately following the issue a meeting is called to discuss the problem, with stakeholders from the departments effected.  To go back to our defined problem, we would need to do the 5 whys process for each error, trying to understand why each of the errors existed in order to fix the problem.

Why did the robot stop?                         Because the circuit overloaded,

Why did the circuit overload?                 Because there was insufficient lubricant on the bearing

Why was their insufficient lubricant?      Because the oil pump is not circulating sufficient oil,

Why is the pump not circulating?           Because the pump is clogged with metal shavings,

Why is the pump clogged?                     Because there isno filter on the pump

Fishbone 

This is particularly helpful when trying to resolve complicated problems.  The fish head contains the problem as defined,the bones leading off the spine – are the identified causes, and the smallbones branching off are the possible factors that contributed to the problem. Onceyou have got this far, you would need to spend time, assessing each of thesefactors and assess which is most likely the cause of the problem, as well asdeveloping solutions that help you fix the problem.

3. DEVELOP – “You will not fix a problem with the samethinking that caused it” 

The next stageis to assess each of your potential solutions.  This allows you to make sure you are focussing on the best solutions in context of their effectiveness, reward or effort.

The easiest way to do this, is to draw a 4 box grid. The axes are defined based upon your objectives – so in our example, if we were looking at ways to reduce errors and lost profit.  We might choose to have ease of implementation vs highest loss reductions. The scale is hardest or least reduction in the bottom and easiest or most reduction in the top quadrants.

Then plot your solutions on the grid – You don’t have to get too hung up about the finite details at this stage, keep it top line. Is it easy or hard to do, and will it create more or less cost saving.

High-impactand high-effort solutions will likely be the main focus of your work. Ones thatare high impact and low effort are quick wins, and good for buildingstakeholder confidence. Low-impact and low-effort solutions should bedeprioritized and only focused on when you have some free time. Low-impact andhigh-effort solutions are probably not worth your time.

4. DELIVER 

Next step isto assign responsibilities for each solution. Make a simple plan to solve your problem, but avoid any unnecessarydetail.  Use an action tracker, which canbe a spreadsheet that breaks down who does what and when. In the first column,put all the actions that make up your problem-solving steps. In the secondcolumn, note who is responsible for each action and when it should be done.

Discuss andagree on task ownership and due dates with the people responsible so thateveryone is on the same page. Share your action tracker with the group andregularly review it together to make sure due dates are met.

Remember that no matter how well you plan, things will change and your plan will have to change too. Be prepared to modify it so you can stay on track and achieve your goals.

5. DETERMINE

So, as part of the objectives you determined your goals – the final stage of this process is to make sure that you go back and measure the outcomes of your solutions. It is not enough to say that you have fixed the problem, you must ensure that you are seeing the results.  So once you have had chance to implement your solutions, remember to go back and check the efficacy of them.  If you are not achieving the results you expected then review your solutions to make sure they are being implemented properly.  If there are no errors, then work backwards through your previous outputs. To see if there are any solutions that you dismissed in stage 3 or overlooked in stages 2that you could still benefit from. 

Further Reading

Of course, we apply our 5 step plan to our strategic CRM Marketing Projects.  Often we are asked to help customers to develop segmentation strategies or improve their program performance to drive up customer value.   This is not always easy - so we try to look at the problem in the round by adopting the above processes.  If you are interested what long term benefits CRM Marketing can have for your business then read this article on driving customer lifetime value (CLV).