Tag Archives: Contribute

How Do You Sell an Annual Plan? Five Points

Situation: A CEO has developed an annual plan. She wants ideas on the best way to communicate the plan to staff, secure buy-in and create accountability for execution. How do you sell an annual plan?

Advice of the CEOs:

  • Communicate your vision for the company and the future as a broad outline so that employees know how they can contribute. Create a picture so that they can see and support your vision. Ask for input on how to implement the plan. Since they will be doing the work, the best way to generate buy-in and accountability is for them to own the implementation plan.
  • You don’t have to share all details of the plan with everyone. If you communicate the plan in parts to those who will implement them, tailor the message to the person, and create individual objectives that will support the overall plan. Connect achievement of objectives to job evaluations.
  • Limit the number of objectives for each person – three key objectives plus one personal development objective. Have each employee develop activities to support achievement of their objectives.
  • Once objectives are in place, conduct regular meetings to review progress against plan and objectives, identify performance obstacles and solutions, and to reinforce the overall vision. The vision must be simple and direct. Consistently repeat and reinforce the message. Publicly recognize individual contributions that support the vision.
  • Establish metrics to track progress toward the vision. Stay on message with each person – focus on their goals and contributions. Be consistent in your words and actions and use them to reinforce the vision.

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How Do You Navigate Communication Style Differences? Four Points

Situation: A CEO seeks advice on how other CEOs work with employees who have significantly different styles of communication. He suspects that this is a source of conflict between employees and wants to reduce that conflict. How do you encourage employees to be more open and receptive to other employees? How do you navigate communication style differences?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Conduct regular personnel reviews. In reviews work with the individual to develop personal growth plans in addition to professional development objectives.
    • It may be necessary to create enough stress in an interview situation to prompt the real personality to show.
    • Recognize that sometimes an employee who meets professional goals can still be a poor fit for the team. This can impact other, productive team members. Don’t be afraid to fire a bad hire.
  • How much can you expect to mold another person’s communication style?
    • There must be personal motivation to change – the impetus must come from within.
    • To prompt the conversation acknowledge that something isn’t working – or isn’t as effective as expected.
    • Communicate to the individual that the consequences of not changing are potentially worse than the effort to change.
  • Breed adaptive communication skills throughout the organization.
    • Use an assessment tool to start the conversation and align tasks.
    • In dealing with an individual who is confrontational, probe to determine what is motivating the individual’s question or position on an issue. Does the individual genuinely need additional information or are they using a wall of questions as a roadblock to moving on?
    • Work with the individual to organize their answers or input into a plan.
  • Communicate values and goals as they pertain to individual contribution and appreciate the impact of different departments’ actions on each other.
    • Be flexible – some people need more definition and reinforcement than others.
    • Understand that changes and transitions in the company’s focus can shift roles.
    • Review each individual’s role periodically to insure that it fits the company vision. This can increase the individual’s understanding of how they are contributing to moving the company forward.

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How Do You Shift the Sales Mix? Five Suggestions

Situation: The CEO of a professional services company wants to shift the focus of the company from emphasis on service of existing customers to new customer development. Historically they have counted on repeat sales, but these have lagged. The CEO wants to develop new customers to build current and future revenue. This is a mentality shift. How do you shift the sales mix?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • The objective is to move the current customer to new customer mix from 80/20 toward 40/60.
    • As an example, the CEO has shifted her focus day to day management to long-term planning and strategy over the last two years.
    • Now it’s time to motivate others to make a similar shift in customer development.
  • Make the shift to sales – to rain-maker – a requirement for Partner Track. Let those who want to pursue Partner Track know that this is a key part of their qualification for Partner.
  • Make cash flow analysis an integral part of new project proposals and current project tracking. Have project managers devise their project analyses to show return but review these to assure that their analyses are accurate. Require them to sell their analyses to the Partners. This will help them to see the value of correctly bidding new projects up-front.
  • Ask them – what do you want to be doing in 10 years? How will you be contributing to the goals of the firm? What are you doing to get there? Communicate the critical metrics that will be evaluated: sales, new account development, profitable bids and project cost control. Focus cost control on keeping options presented under control and minimizing rework.
  • Reserve Partner Track for those who can produce both sales and effective delivery of services. In employee reviews make this distinction clear.

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How Do You Foster Channel Development? Three Topics

Situation: A company has grown successfully designing and producing products for larger companies. In the process they have enhanced their own reputation in the industry. The CEO wants to boost growth by designing and marketing their own products. This will require the development of new marketing channels. How do you foster channel development?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • What are the initial steps?
    • Hire a commissioned salesperson with deep experience and contacts in in the company’s industry. This individual’s objective will be to seek new business opportunities.
    • Have top management, including the CEO, take a sales course – for example Dale Carnegie Sales Training.
  • What are the company’s objectives as it seeks to grow?
    • To feed the company’s ability to develop, produce, and sell their own proprietary products.
    • To create the capacity for the company to grow without relying on the efforts and success of current customers.
    • To develop pride in building a solid and lasting company that makes important contributions to technology.
    • To increase profitability and company value to benefit owners and shareholders.
  • What can be done right now, as the early steps are put into place?
    • Find ways to include pictures of company’s products in all company collateral – whether the company’s own or products developed and produced for others.
    • This may mean creating a small variation to an easily recognized existing product – without the customer’s logo – so that it becomes clear that the company is the source of these ideas and products without voiding existing agreements with key customers.

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How Do You Facilitate Management Change? Four Suggestions

Situation: Historically the management of a company has been family and a few long-term managers who’ve grown with the company. Some of these managers have reached their limit. Over the last couple of years, the company has added new, high capacity management. Who do they do with existing managers who can’t keep up? How do you facilitate management change?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • This is why packages exist. Employees, even key managers are not forever. As a company grows both its needs and culture must grow. There comes the time in the life and growth of most every company when certain managers are unable to accommodate this growth or adapt to the changing culture. You may well find that these managers are not very happy and no longer feel at home. Whatever the case, it is better that they move on.
  • Who creates the package?
    • You or your HR manager come up with the outline.
    • Get professional advice if you have none in-house.
  • Is there a moral issue – our commitment to our employees?
    • If an individual is demotivated, they are not contributing – this solves the moral issue.
    • If the individual is terminated amicably this can be for the best – for both parties.
  • How do you ease the pain of separation, both for the individual and the company?
    • Packages can be adapted to the situation.
    • Take the example of a manager who has made important contributions in the past, and who has good relations with others in the company, but doesn’t have the skills to adapt to the next level. Include a generous term of job search assistance. If the separation is amicable, offer them space, computer and a telephone to facilitate their job search. This can ease the separation.

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