The tip of your spear

Your salespeople are not just important, they are EVERYTHING about your company’s growth.  Do you know what’s going on when EACH of them interacts with customers on a daily basis?

Are they great, good, or not so good?  Are they consistent?  Are they experts?  Are they good with people?

Nothing matters more.  Check it out for real.

Learn from the experienced experts

If you want to grow a successful business, study how others have done what you want to do.  Show a genuine interest in learning from the right people and you will learn how you can do it, too.

Who do you learn from?

Your highest use as CEO

1) Vision casting – get one and share it.

2) Resources – People, Money, Place

3) Execution – Ensure it’s happening.

4) Accountability – Measure.  Make changes for the results you want. 

Are you getting your job done?

Increasing your value

What is the least valuable thing you spend your time on?

Is it time to stop doing that?

The morality of a crappy business – part 2

You CAN make your business better – that’s always possible.  If it’s your business, you can do whatever you want.  It’s not immoral to do it your way.  But the market is watching – and it is a ruthless judge.  You will be punished or rewarded for how effective your businesses output is relative to what people value.

In the end, it’s your choice – and your results.

Is it immoral to run a crappy business?

Your business employs people, customers depend on it for products and services – the future hangs in the balance.  

As the leader, if you CAN make it better, should you?  

What do you think?

Tired and Beat Down

They go hand in hand.  If you don’t get enough sleep one night, or a little less than you should for a string of nights, you aren’t going to have the juice and power you need to be an entrenpreneur.

A never ending stream of challenges awaits you every day.  

Get ready.  Get rested.

Obstacles

My two sports are business and motocross.  In both of them, when I encounter an obstacle, how hard and fast I hit it determines how high and far I fly off of it. 

What are you doing with your obstacles?

“Give Back”?

When used in the context of “business owners should give back” I’d ask – “Why, have I taken something that doesn’t belong to me?”  Businesspeople are the ones who risk, invest, and create things that help other people.  They bring others along by creating jobs and paying taxes on commercial real estate and equipment, and if they are successful – on profits.  They make life better for customers who voluntarily exchange money for the products or services created by the business – that is theie customers value the product or service more than the money.  Business owners make the world better or they don’t exist for long.

I’m a firm believer in giving for the right reasons, and  “I owe” is not one of them.

What do you think?

Lowest price or lowest cost?

There are a lot of price shoppers out there.  Are your salespeople good at explaining how your product, while it may not be the lowest price, is the lowest cost in the end for the result they want over time?

How do you know they are good at it?  Ask them and see…

Then train them.