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Strategic Planning

  • Our proven team-based strategic planning approach is personalized for each client and fully supported from start to finish.
  • Effective business strategies are developed by answering three key questions:
1. Where are we today? (Perception)
2. Where do we want to go? (Direction)
3. How are we going to get there? (Execution)
  • Actively involving key managers in creating a Shared Knowledge Base™ about the company and its market position is important for clarity of today's reality (Perception).
  • Developing statements of company values, vision and mission creates common focus (Direction).
  • Strategic goals, priorities and action plans are then developed and implemented to make it happen (Execution).
  • We are convinced that involvement produces commitment and commitment produces results.
  • We work closely with the management team every step of the way to support and facilitate the process.
  • When our clients succeed, we succeed.
What Our Strategic Planning Clients Say About Us
"All of the major initiatives our company has undertaken over the past several years are the direct result of our annual Strategic Planning work with your firm." - Douglas F. Brush, Chairman Sentry Group Rochester, New York
"One of the key things about Craig Stokely that would be easy to overlook is his use of very simple but proven questions to approach complex business issues like strategic planning or customer satisfaction. He is excellent at running meetings, facilitating teams through difficult decisions, making them prioritize and select. He has a well-defined, proven process that begins with gaining a consensus on the current situation and then steps through a set of strategic questions to arrive at an action plan. This action plan is an excellent tool for management to use to establish key activities, create accountability and a time line to report on. You don't end up with a book that's going to sit on a shelf and gather dust with Craig. You end up with an action plan that is unrelenting. At Clarke it's been impressive to see Craig grasp the core business issues of a set of companies that are in service, distribution, manufacturing and chemical blending. We are a diverse set of players with different levels of business skills in an old company that needed to rethink things. Clarke has been able to grow substantially, in a managed fashion, and organize itself as a company at an entirely new level. During the period of time Craig has been involved with us we have doubled in size. Clarke has recently been selected as the winner of the Loyola Family Business Award." - Joseph A. Drago, Chief Financial Officer Clarke Mosquito Control Companies Roselle, Illinois
"Our management team is focused and excited about the direction set forth in our strategic planning session. Your facilitation and guidance was instrumental in creating the perfect 'roadmap' for Power Sentry. We look forward to implementing/achieving our goals and continuing our relationship with your company." - Mark A. Schaffner, President Power Sentry, Philips Accessories & Computer Peripherals Ledgewood, New Jersey
"Craig Stokely did an excellent job in facilitating our strategic planning meeting. He kept us focused on the strengths and weaknesses of our company and the markets we sell to. The end result was a set of optimistic yet achievable goals and an action plan to reach those goals that all top managers agreed upon." - Karen Whistler, President Redi-Tag Corporation Cypress, California
"It was amazing to me that we were able to accomplish so much in just two days. Your ability to stay "on track" with the process and expertise in keeping us focused on our objectives and goals made it possible." - James R. Bankes, President/CEO Samsill Corporation Fort Worth, Texas
"I wanted you to know how pleased we were with the entire strategic planning process conducted for our board of directors and staff. From your precise articulation of how our goals should be established, your coordination of the marketing research phase, and your excellent leadership of the strategic planning session with the board, you demonstrated your professionalism. I am convinced that the new Association for Corporate Growth will be a direct outgrowth of your efforts." - Carl A. Wangman, CAE, Executive Director Association for Corporate Growth Glenview, Illinois
"Our strategic planning session was successfully accomplished because of Craig Stokely's experience in keeping the focus on the important issues, by establishing discipline in the process, the objectives and the schedule, but most importantly by facilitating in a way that everybody's opinions were heard and taken into consideration." - C.P. Luis R. Fernandez I, Director General/CEO Novamex El Paso, Texas
"Craig Stokely did a great job helping Mortar Net USA, Ltd. define it's goals and set a course of action. We were all amazed at how much progress we made in just three days....and we had fun." - Karren Lee, General Manager Mortar Net USA Ltd. Gary, Indiana
"Craig Stokely did a great job 'digging in' to better understand our business. These efforts along with his professionalism made our planning session extremely productive. We look forward to working with Craig in the future." - Mikel S. Briggs, President Bretford Manufacturing, Inc. Franklin Park, Illinois
"Fox Valley Volunteer Hospice was certainly blessed to have you share your knowledge and talents leading our retreat. As board president, I feel much more confident that we will achieve our goals. We now have an easy to read and concise document to refer to when planning for the future. We wouldn't have accomplished this in one day - and with fun - without your guidance." - Pat Engel, President Fox Valley Volunteer Hospice Geneva, Illinois
"Your strategic planning process gives our company the opportunity to break down what is important and what our focus needs to be." - David Gould, President Gould, Inc. Duluth, Georgia

Strategic Planning Articles From our Company Newsletter

The following articles have appeared in The Stokely Letter, our company's newsletter on Business Growth issues.
To read an article, click on the title.