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Downsizing, Re-Sizing Re-Organizing: In these trying times, unfortunately, the CEO is often forced to "execute" - almost in the literal sense of the word.
To help build the incoming rate of highly-profitable and sustainable orders, make everyone in the company - not just the sales force - more effective at "Listening" and "Communicating" to gain more Customers who willingly pay for your goods and services. Maximizing Cash Flow: As we speak, CFOs are working ever more closely with Treasurers, Vendors and Customers - just to maintain an optimal cash position. Too Much Push, Too Little Pull: CMOs, distraught at the lack of customer response, see VPs of Sales in a tactical downward spiral. These are times to test our souls. Responding To The Helm: Not unlike the engine room on the Titanic, COOs are often the only island of smooth, productive tranquility. Even when surrounded by a Tsunami of Turmoil, Operations, like Finance, can be an area of "spare resources" who can help cope. Deming and Drucker: Management Guru Peter Drucker often hammered on the need to listen to customers. While many CEOs read his books, few were able to get their companies to work harmoniously together to actually do it well. This was mostly because too few people in any given company are educated and motivated to help "Listen",
Use The Other 95% of Your People
Quality Guru W. Edwards Deming understood that customer experience—formed by Interactions with each and every Employee, positively affects success. The CFO as Strategic Consigliore: In addition to your accepted financial role, your position as CFO is evolving into that of a consigliore whose tasks include not only advising the CEO and the board, but also as the "Cognizant Strategist" who must even show out-of-their-depth "Analysts" how to listen, internalize and analyze. You are asked to be the calm, centered person who can soothe the frightened vendors, placate the recalcitrant investors, reassure hesitant key-customer CXOs -and be the de-facto hand-holder for everyone within the company's sphere-of-influence The CMO as Company Communicator: No longer can you merely create a message and have your key people offer it to the media. . The COO as Company Integrator: No longer is it enough for you to manage well the areas of Manufacturing, Shipping and all the tasks normally associated with your firm's Operations. In the Titanic, the engine room was immaculate and it was capable of immediate response to a request for more steam. But today, as then, extra power applied to an entity facing an Iceberg - physical or monetary - is not an optimal response. The acquisition, nurturing and retention of profitable customers: One Need is for everyone to be calm, capable and steady: Every member of the C-Level Staff needs to understand - and work well with - every other member; the need is to anticipate change and respond and help with the various tasks inherent in getting everyone in the company focused on one paramount effort: Each CXO needs to be willing to take on two more duties. 1. Be an Up-Stream Strategist who can help to analyze the market and advise "Marketing". Fortunately, this can be both fun and rewarding. 2. Be the "Sales" Strategist who can monitor overall Sales Efforts and advise the "Sales Group" on the best use of manpower and cash to maximize revenues and margins. Each CXO needs to take some time to analyze, strategize and lead toward the light. This is especially true when the CEO is also the Chairman of the Board. Crisis times demand literal acts of execution. When the COO is buried in reactionary day-to-day Tactical Challenges, adherence to a calm, proactive strategy is nigh on impossible. Rowing Toward Rome: To meet these demands on your time and talent, all of the people in the company must pull in the same direction. Everyone must be "Selling" all the customers on the benefits of doing profitable business with your firm. To paraphrase a Hewlett Packard founder: "Sales is far too important to keep it isolated within the "Sales Group". Your Mission - Should You Choose To Accept It: While not all of your people can be smart enough or lucky enought to have come from the best schools, and only a few of them can be expected to be brilliantly proactive, almost all of them, from the Front Desk to the Back Dock, can learn how to be an effective "Non-Sales" person who "Sells" well; every day - by doing a fine job for everyone within THEIR Sphere-of-Influence" - customers, visitors, vendors, shippers, associates and others. As an Intelligent, Planning Being, Your Are The Catalyst and the Mentor: No matter how capable, charismatic and effective your CEO might be, the day of one leader working alone is gone. You can now be the "Consigliore" who bolsters the existing expertise of the entire staff and everyon within your company. This way, you can ensure that the future of your company is one of calm and sustainable prosperity. This site offers you and your people two unique and proven tools: 1. Motivational and Educational Tool: e-Handbook 2. Free excerpts as: White Papers Warm Regards, John C Schuler John is the Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of OEM Solutions Group, based in Portland, Oregon, USA Contact: mail@johncschuler.com Web Site: www.johncschuler.com |  | | ||||||
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Especially In Tough Times, every C-Level Officer is looked upon as the "go-to" person for solid, calm advice. As one manager's area is driven into frantic overload, another's can help. One successful way to spread risk and instill winning behaviour is to permeate the "Sales" function across the company. To do this, give every person a "Sales" 
Fewer than 5% of the people in most companies are doing any heavy lifting when it comes to Customer Communication that lead to Acquisition, Retention and Profit. This means we can improve "Profitable Customer
A 10:1 Gain: Even if we classify twice the normal number, say 10% of any given company, as "Sales and Marketing", that still means that the other 90% are "Non-Sales". i.e. They are not "tasked" or educated to cope well with Prospects and Customers. Since we can readily educate and motivate at least half of that other 90% to "Listen" better to Customers, it means we can have over 50% of our entire company (instead of just 5%) improving the Customer Interface.