Ensuring buy-in for LCM
Consider LCM as Integral, not Optional
“We need to decide on our LCM priorities in the next 6 weeks”
“We have some spare budget, let’s look at developing an LCM plan”
Sound familiar? Historically, LCM has been seen as a ‘nice-to-have’ activity, supported primarily when resources, both financial and manpower, are not tied up in either new product development or short-term issue management.
We are now faced with an industry where a sustainable competitive advantage rarely exists, and it is no longer acceptable to consider LCM as optional or an afterthought. Long-term success is reliant on the ability to uncover, realise and evolve beyond periods of transient competitive advantage. Therefore, ensuring LCM is a key focus and a living component of brand or portfolio strategy is essential to continued success.
LCM is about preparing us for the evolution to the next stage of the product lifecycle, and it should focus as much, if not more, on defending and protecting our value proposition rather than simply being an exercise to expand patient reach. It should help us anticipate and respond to future market challenges, to shore up our value proposition and aid us to overcome persistent issues that cannot be fully eradicated with short-term tactics alone.
What Does it Mean to Consider LCM as Integral?
Companies that truly integrate LCM into strategy commit to 3 key tenets of LCM:
How Do You Drive the Commitment to LCM?
For many companies, a renewed focus is now driven by necessity, with little else to drive revenue growth. However, for those companies where LCM is still lagging, both a bottom-up and top-down approach to change is often needed. Teams at ground level must take it upon themselves to drive LCM, to prove its value and to commit to the integration of LCM in future strategy.
Once buy-in for the process is established, how can we ensure an environment where teams can dedicate time to longer-term thinking is fostered? The next module in our series on Critical Success Factors for Lifecycle Management will focus on the importance of allowing time to think about the future and how this environment can be encouraged.
