Calling All CEO’s – Are You Sitting Behind a Desk All Day?

I recently attended the Fortune Growth Summit in Las Vegas.  One of the speakers was Jack Daly.  Jack is the author of Hyper Sales Growth as well as a very passionate and dynamic speaker, the latter being a true understatement.

One of the messages he shared was that the job of a CEO is to grow the company, not to run it.  In addition, to grow a company, you cannot do it sitting behind a desk.  You need to be out in the field speaking to and learning from customers and prospects.  He states that action is the only thing that matters and people are too busy working on the urgent and not on the right priorities.  This is something we coach day in and day out.  Determine the right 3-5 priorities for the year or quarter and make sure you have the right people working on them with very clear success criteria so we all agree what the results should be.

I agree with Jack and recognize that some of the most successful companies I coach have CEO’s who spend their work lives out meeting with stakeholders, partners, prospects and clients.  It is this firsthand knowledge that contributes the insight to develop a vision for future success.  The vision you create needs to be magnetic and compelling.  Another big part of the CEO’s job is to sell that vision to everyone, inside and outside the company.  You have to be able to see and create a vision of success.  Man cannot accomplish that which he cannot see in his mind. 

Richard Branson of the Virgin stable of companies is their biggest cheerleader.  Jack stated, “People do business with people they like,” something I learned myself thirty years ago from one of my father’s suppliers.  And that by no means infers that you should create false friendships in business.  It does suggest that you should be passionate about the business you are in and the products and services you offer and honestly discover the needs of those you are trying to serve in a sincere manner.

Below are some tips that Jack offers directly from his website.

22 Tips to Increase Sales & Profits:

Selling

1.   Be unique — from reception to voice mail.

2.   Never make a call without a purpose.

3.   Ask questions and listen.

4.   Selling is the transfer of trust.

5.   Never quote price until you establish value.

6.   Goals not in writing are dreams.

7.   People like to buy, not be sold. Help them buy.

8.   Trust trumps price all day long.

9.   Things that get measured get done.

10. The best sales people are canned. Don’t wing it.

11. Model the masters. Learn from the best.

12. People are different. Sell accordingly.

13. We are what we think we are. Raise the bar.

Leadership 

14. Successful cultures need to be intentionally managed.

15. Hire slowly. Fire quickly.

16. Implement minimum standards of performance.

17. Recruiting is a process, not an event.

18. Start new hires with a celebration.

19. Recognition “systems” are a must.

20. Coach on the field, not in the locker room.

21. Sales leaders grow salespeople.

22. Salespeople grow sales.

I thought this was a good list worth sharing; I am sure you are already doing a lot of these, others are good reminders, and there even may be a few new ones for you.

So how are you spending your time each week?  I previously wrote that you should spend 20% of your time developing and coaching others on a weekly basis.  In addition, a large portion of your time needs to be spent out in the field gathering intelligence, making connections, fostering key relationships along with selling the company vision.

Consider tracking where you spend your time for one month.  The results might surprise you.

Good luck and let me know your thoughts, Alan