Ten Do's and Dont's in Good Times and Bad

As a business leader, here's a quick look at key areas of focus for the success of your business.

1. Magnetic Vision- It's the role of the leader to ensure our associates understand where we are headed and are regularly reminded of their role in making the successful journey. The successful vision is one that gets everyone excited each day to be a part of it, looking forward to coming in and making a difference. "Making it up as we go along" isn't going to cut it!

2. Winning Culture- we've talked about this in previous newsletters, but as a reminder, what we want to create is an environment in the company where the people who work there don't get up and feel like they "have to" go to work, but rather that they "want to" go to work. We get this by winning over their hearts. So, the great challenge of a question is "what are you doing to win over the hearts of your associates?"

3. Key People in Key Spots - a Sales Leaders job is NOT TO GROW SALES, it is to grow salespeople. Do that, and they will grow your sales. So, who is actively and regularly growing the sales force in quantity and quality? I don't believe it to be effective if the CEO is also the Sales Leader. As well, promoting the best sales producer rarely results in a solid Sales Leader. And, the worst is where we make the best sales producer the Sales Leader and expect them to continue with their book of business. If you seriously want to grow your sales, invest in a top performing Sales Leader.

4. Cash and KPI's- CASH is KING. The CEO needs to stay on top of this critical number and should have daily/weekly actual and rolling 60 day forecasts available for review. As well, attention must be paid to the current ratio, particularly in these times of the financial and banking crisis. The lines of credit you "think you have" just might be an illusion when you really need them. A daily review of a quality financial "dashboard" is highly recommended- see Verne Harnish' "Mastering the Rockefeller Habits" for a good model.

5. Change Agent- Take it from Jack Welch: "If the change inside your company is slower than the change outside, the end is in sight." It's the responsibility of the leader to "sell" change throughout the organization as not just a needed thing but as a good thing.

6. Winning is in the Preparation- All too often in challenging business environments, we see a cutback in the training and practice areas. The best sales people are "canned", saying the same things each time they encounter similar situations. We need to ensure all on the team are prepared, practiced and not out there "winging it".

7. Systems and Processes- There's hardly anything that goes on in a sales call that couldn't be anticipated before your arrival. As such, most everything can be designed and built into a system and process. The largest sales force I led was 2600. Clearly there are not 2600 "best ways" to sell. So, our opportunity is to discover what those "best ways" are and build the needed systems and processes.

8. Key Relationships- Identify your key relationships by category: for example, bankers, centers of influence, key clients, government officials, etc. Go "deep". Example: If you are working with 3 banks, you should ID 1-2 more prospect banks and nurture them, along with nurturing the existing 3 with about 4-5 bank executives in each. Set up a schedule of "touches" with personal visits and email/phone calls to ensure the relationship is leveraged.

9. Continuous Education- there are a myriad of organizations of CEO's, entrepreneurs and "C" level positions designed for idea sharing, high level business education and mentorship. These organizations can bring insightful solutions and support for your business challenges and opportunities, comprised of business leaders from all matter of industries. As well, we recommend active involvement in your industry trade groups. Never stop learning!

10. Have Fun! If you as the leader aren't, it will be reflected throughout your organization. Companies enjoying what they do typically outperform those that don't. Besides, do you really want to wake up and decide to not have fun?

The "Don't's"? Just re-look the list and play out the opposite!

Good Hunting!