Strategic alignment in SMEs: a major challenge (#3/3) "The Operational Team"
- Olivier Forlini
- Mar 13
- 3 min read
The concept of alignment within SMEs/mid-sized companies and the resulting managerial challenges (#3/3)
"The Operational Teams"
The operational teams:
Bringing the vision down to the ground, to embody it.
Introduction
A vision can be clear at the top and properly communicated by managers…
And yet, to fail where everything is truly at stake :
In the daily behaviors, decisions, and interactions of operational teams.
In SMEs and mid-sized companies with 50 to 5,000 employees, the challenge is not just to define a strategy.
The goal is to ensure that:
Commercial,
Account manager,
After-sales service technician,
Industrial operator,
Junior marketer…
… Make decisions every day that are consistent with this strategy.
This is the challenge of operational alignment.
1. The “last meter”: the point where the vision either materializes or falls apart
In real-world practice, alignment is tested with each interaction with an individual:
Customer email
Sales pitch,
Customer service response
Promised deadline,
Incident management,
Social media post,
Product sheet,
Facility,
Service performed on site.
If these touchpoints do not reflect the vision, the market will never perceive it .
2. Structural causes of operational misalignment
2.1 Functional Silos
Each entity optimizes its own performance — not necessarily overall consistency.
Marketing talks about a premium experience.
The salesman promises a low price.
Customer service resolves issues quickly, but without adding value.
Customer service lacks information.
The brand appears inconsistent.
2.2 Non-existent or unequal standards
Two teams, two styles, two levels of expectation.
Without standards:
The experience varies depending on the people involved.
The newcomers interpret it in their own way.
Customer irritants are multiplying.
2.3 Lack of feedback loop
90% of field irritants do not reach management. They remain localized, untreated, and recur.
A vision never progresses if the reality on the ground doesn't speak for itself.
2.4 Contradictory Messages
When marketing campaigns, sales scripts, and customer service practices are not synchronized, the customer experiences immediate dissonance.
3. Concrete examples — French SMEs/mid-sized companies
🔎 Somfy (~3,600 employees)
Premium and innovative positioning.
Challenge: to guarantee a consistent experience between installation, customer service, distributors, and digital communication.
Levers activated: quality standards + unified installer training + harmonized after-sales service processes.
🔎 Babolat (~500 employees)
An innovative and sporty brand.
Challenge: consistency between premium communication, international distribution, and club experience.
Answer: standardization of sales materials and training of partners.
🔎 Manitou (~4,400 employees)
Clear vision on innovation & customer proximity.
Challenge: to guarantee consistent quality across industrial sites, subsidiaries, technicians and sales representatives in 140 countries.
Solution: creation of an operations playbook + field feedback rituals.
4. Concrete levers for disseminating the vision in everyday life
4.1 Standardize key messages
To avoid disagreements:
unified sales pitch
consistent communication style
guidelines for client teams,
harmonized customer service scripts,
Internal key messages.
Without standardization, the organization “reinterprets”.
4.2 Create an operational alignment playbook
This document summarizes:
the key messages,
quality standards,
expected behaviors,
good field practices
the non-negotiable.
This is not an HR manual:
This is the operational expression of the vision.
4.3 Implement a customer voice system
A vision only lives if it is nourished by the reality on the ground.
Possible mechanisms:
Monthly field feedback
analysis of recurring irritants,
continuous improvement loop,
quarterly summary to the Executive Committee.
4.4 Unify the training system
New recruits must understand 2
what is expected of them,
Why,
how this fits into the company's vision.
Without training, culture is “copied” unevenly.
4.5 Reducing contradictions
If marketing promises X, sales sells Y, and customer service delivers Z, the field experiences organized chaos.
A monthly alignment committee must synchronize:
communication,
commercial,
customer service,
operations.
5. The benefits of robust operational alignment
When alignment reaches the ground, the company gains in:
Consistency perceived by the client,
Quality of service,
Speed of execution,
Competitive differentiation,
Internal satisfaction,
External attractiveness,
Sustainable performance.
This is often where the invisible competitive advantage is created.
Conclusion
A vision is only valuable when it lives in:
the processes,
behaviors,
daily decisions.
The role of the leader and the executive committee is to build a coherent system.
that of mid-management to translate it,
and that of the operational teams to make it tangible.
Alignment is not a cosmetic process:
It is the condition for an SME/mid-sized company to become legible, differentiated and sustainably performing .
This item is a GTM NEXUS 360® production
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