5 Slides to Clarity: Simplify Complex Business Challenges
Manage up and down and get better results, with this simple framework
Hey there! If you’re looking to tackle some tough business challenges or struggling to communicate your strategy or expectations to your team, your boss, or your board, relax, because I’ve got you.
Here’s a straightforward, no-nonsense guide for you. It’s a practical, been-there-done-that framework, built on a ton of reps and lessons learned, that should help you
We’ll go through a five-page presentation that’ll help you solve specific problems and make sure you communicate clearly and get results.
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Slide 1: Problem Statement
Objective: Pinpoint and clearly state the problem. This is about getting everyone on the same page right from the start.
Summarize the Problem: What's the big issue here? Spell it out simply and directly.
Provide Context and Background: What led us here? A quick backstory can help everyone understand the journey.
Explain the Impact: How is this affecting us? Be clear about the consequences.
Examples (just to give you an idea):
Customer Retention: "Our customer retention has tanked by 15% from last year, hitting our recurring revenue hard."
Sales Pipeline: “We’re looking at a pipeline that’s 40% shy of where we need to be for the next two quarters.”
Hiring Plan: “We’re not hiring fast enough to keep up with our growth, leaving us short-handed in crucial areas.”
Slide 2: Data That Shows the Problem
Objective: Show the hard facts. This slide is all about letting the data do the talking to highlight the severity and trends of the issues. I like to have at least three to five if possible.
Present Data: Use clear, easy-to-understand graphs and charts.
Visual Aids: Think line graphs for trends, heat maps for demographics, bar charts for benchmarks.
Examples:
Customer Retention: A line graph of monthly retention rates, a heat map of churn by customer segment.
Sales Pipeline: A funnel chart of pipeline stages, a line graph of lead trends.
Hiring Plan: A bar graph of planned vs. actual hires, a pie chart showing gaps in departments.
Slide 3: Learnings from the Data
Objective: Extract and highlight insights. What’s the data telling us? This is where we learn from what the numbers are showing.
Summarize Key Learnings: Pull out the critical insights that will inform our actions.Ideally these flow directly from the data in slide 2.
Examples:
Customer Retention: High churn mainly in the first year, negative feedback tied to pricing changes.
Sales Pipeline: Poor lead generation in new markets, low conversion rates at early stages.
Hiring Plan: Biggest gaps in tech roles, high rejection rates due to competitive offers.
Slide 4: Action Plan
Objective: Lay out a practical, actionable strategy based on what we've learned. This is the "what are we going to do about it" slide.
Outline the Action Plan: What specific steps will we take to tackle these issues? Again, these should be obvious flowing from the data and learnings. The story should be coming together here.
Examples:
Customer Retention: Start a loyalty program for new customers, revisit pricing strategies, target communications for renewals.
Sales Pipeline: Push marketing in underperforming areas, boost training for sales qualifications, create an upsell strategy.
Hiring Plan: Offer better signing bonuses, partner with staffing agencies, streamline the hiring process.
Slide 5: What Does Success Look Like
Objective: Define clear, measurable goals. How will we know we've succeeded? This slide sets the benchmarks.
Define Goals, Metrics, and Timelines: What are our targets and by when do we want to hit them?
Examples:
Customer Retention: Boost retention back to 85% in a year, cut churn by 50% in six months.
Sales Pipeline: Meet pipeline targets fully in the next two quarters, improve conversion by 30% in six months.
Hiring Plan: Fill all tech roles in three months, reduce hiring time by 50%, increase offer acceptance by 25%.
Conclusion
This framework isn't just about making good slides; it's about how you organize, prioritize, and communicate. It's a practical approach that can transform the way you work and lead to real results. By clearly defining problems, analyzing data, learning from it, and setting a clear action plan with success metrics, you're not just presenting; you're actively managing and leading your team towards improvement. Remember, it's not about the slides—it's about the clarity and action they bring to your work.
Let's Make This Even Better!
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