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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Framing vision statement - Guide with some examples

This article spells out vision statement of some well known companies and details a step by step guide to form your own vision statement.

For any company, be it a large corporation or a startup, the vision statement is of great importance. It is like the light house on a dark night, the north star in difficult times. It is the few words that you just don't speak to your customers, but live and serve by it.

So, if you are starting a company and need help in framing a vision statement, here is a collection of visions statements from well known companies.

At Alcoa, our vision is to be the best company in the world--in the eyes of our customers, shareholders, communities and people. We expect and demand the best we have to offer by always keeping Alcoa's values top of mind.

Caterpillar - "Be the global leader in customer value."

Amazon - "Our vision is to be earth's most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online."

ICICI - "To be the preferred bank for total financial and banking solutions for both corporates and individuals."

Hero Honda - "A mobile and an empowered India, powered by Hero Honda."

Pfizer - "We will become the world's most valued company to patients, customers, colleagues, investors, business partners, and the communities where we work and live."

Sears  -  "To be the preferred and most trusted resource for the products and services that enhance home and family life."

So, when you are ready to craft a vision statement, start by:

Step 0.   This is not part of the process but Always keep your customers in mind while forming the vision statement.
Step 1. Getting a piece of paper and writing down few key words about your company's products and services. Ideally, 4-7 words are enough. Spend 15 - 20 minutes with your team on this.
Step 2. Next, think about where your company would be 15 - 20 years from now.
Step 3. How would your customers remember and think about your company?
Step 4: Combine the words realized in step 1 and 2 with phrases formed  in Step 3.
Step 5: Combine all the ingredients to create that perfect "Vision Statement".

Let us work with an example. Let us say, you are starting an online retailing business "nameit.com" which deals in many product categories.

Step 1: Pick the words - shopping, destination, customers/guests.
Step 2: Think about the future - value, experience, innovation.
Step 3:  "I like shopping from nameit.com", "Great value for money", "I am impressed with nameit.com 's customer service".
Step 4:  "Preferred shopping destination", "Deliver outstanding value", "Great/Exceptional customer experience"

And finally, combine these phrases to form a coherent vision statement. So here we end up with something like this - "To make 'nameit.com' he preferred shopping destination for our customers by delivering outstanding value and an exceptional customer experience by  consistently fulfilling our 'Delighting you always' promise."

Hope this article helped you form a vision statement. Feel free to share your company's vision statements in the comments section below to help other budding entrepreneurs.

Good luck!

Tags: Visioin statement, creating vision statement, vision statement example, vision statement sample

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