Improving commercial awareness can benefit both you and your organisation. The skills you learn will help you develop professionally and ensure you have the know-how and expertise you need to help your business to thrive.
Though it may seem counterintuitive, the first step in how to build commercial awareness is actually to get a deeper understanding of your own position within your company. Try to be absolutely clear on your job role and how it contributes to the success and profitability of your organisation.
If you want to know how to be commercially aware, staying up to date is essential. Make sure you read or watch the news on a regular basis and pay attention to interest rates, inflation, the labour market, currency and anything else that could impact your business.
Whether you’re in a customer facing role or not, it’s important to know what customers are saying about your organisation. Try to get some direct or indirect exposure to customer feedback and find out how buyers are interacting with your business. This will give you a clearer idea of your current role in the marketplace and a better understanding of how your target audience views your organisation.
Getting to grips with the basics of financial management will help you get a better overall picture of how your organisation is performing. Take a course, or talk to an accountant, to learn about things like balance sheets, cash flow and profit and loss.
Now you have a better understanding of the customer experience and the current commercial and financial marketplace, it’s time to put your knowledge into action. When making decisions at work, use your grasp of the various aspects of the business to consider the impact your actions have. Will your decisions affect the revenue of the business? And will they cost your organisation, even if it’s in a small way?
Finally, consider setting up relevant trackers and score cards using excel or other methods. This will help you to quickly and easily see the financial outputs of your business and how these relate to KPIs and key actions taken by yourself or others.
The exact trackers you put in place will depend on your specific role within the company. If your position requires a focus on employees rather than customers, an employee engagement survey could help you to track your progress.
If you want to know how to develop commercial awareness and make the most of your role within your organisation, we can help. Enquire to know more!
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