Why Do CEO’s Call Us Their Secret Sales Weapon?
We really feel for many of our CEO/MD clients as they try to manage the challenges that confront them on a daily basis. It is not just the Volume; it’s also the Velocity and the wide Variety of issues that they have to contend with. One recently described it as being like trying to drink from a fire hose!
25 Hour Days
In the current economic climate, the majority of CEO’s are in constant overwhelm. The amount of new data alone, that could be consumed each day, would keep several people full-time busy let alone dealing with what is already in play. Emerging trends in their industry, new competitors, changes to legislation, OH & S, technology and it’s various impacts, all the options for marketing strategies, the list goes on and on. No wonder many of them send us emails late at night, very early in the morning and over the weekend. They are just trying to stay ahead of the game as best they can!
Managing the 3 V’s
To manage the 3 V’s, (the volume, velocity and variety) they simply have to start relying on other people and resources that separate the fire hose down into manageable straw-sized channels of information that they can then choose to drink from.
A Flawed Approach to Sales
It is not typical for many CEO’s to have come from a pure sales background (and even if they did, it was usually many years ago) so they often rely on their sales management team to provide the information they need. This is understandable but there is a fundamental flaw with that approach.
It probably wouldn’t surprise you to hear about the number of times we complete an objective Sales Evaluation & Improvement Analysis (SEIA) and find that the mis-alignment between the CEO’s business model and expectations, the Sales Management’s skills and perspective and the daily activity and understanding of the front line team is a significant part of the problem.
Choose Your Drinking Straw Carefully
Whilst it is important to acknowledge the strengths of a system, a team and an individual, it is the hidden weaknesses that tend to have the greatest impact on immediate and long-term success. When you are the business leader, it is vital to gain an objective assessment of what is actually happening and what is actually causing it, not just what you are being told is the case.
CEO’s Secret Weapon
One of our CEO clients recently told our Director Craig Leaney “it’s the thing that you don’t see coming that concerns me the most, you have to expect the unexpected and be constantly prepared to maintain the upper-hand especially when it comes to sales strategies and the teams that have to execute them, that’s why you and your team are my Secret Sales Weapons”.
If you would like to know more about how we can help you know what is actually happening, why it’s happening and most importantly, what you can do about it, feel free to contact us directly to arrange a confidential, obligation free initial meeting.
