Selling to CEO's

Based upon my personal experience as a CEO and coaching and advising them over the years, I've concluded that there are a few important interests nearly all share in common from a business perspective:

• CASH


• TIME


• VISION

When selling to CEO's, if they can't quickly relate us and what we represent to these interests, we'll be done in short order; they typically have very short attention spans. This is especially germaine when dealing with CEO's of smaller businesses.

Consequently, the impact of a strong positioning statement that encapsulates these interests is paramount. Without it, there's a tendency to ramble and present too soon, which will result in a quick "thanks, but no thanks" decision. My experience has further taught me that, once we're out, CEO's will rarely let us back in . . . they're quickly on to all the other stuff they deal with daily that impact CASH, they're TIME and VISION for the business.

Winning the Ryder Cup

As most golfers know, the Ryder Cup golf match is a team event played every two years between the USA and Europe. While golf is predominately an individual sport, most of the best golfers in the world come together as team mates bi-annually for what has become golf's premier event. In watching the USA win for the first time since 1999, having lost three straight and five of the last six matches, I was struck by frequently verbalized words and phrases that also apply to success in business:

• vision and a plan;
• strategy;
• we came in here with a concept and stuck to our guns/stayed on point;
• the guys bonded and bought in as a team;
• we had a great system;
• CEO (referring to team captains);
• forward looking;
• leadership and respect for individual skills;
• picked players that were right for the situation;
• coaching leadership;
• put my heart and soul into this for two years;
• committed;
• practice, practice, practice;
• winning attitude.

A business without most or all of the above in play will probably be mediocre at best, and may well fail in due time.

Hats off to Captain/CEO/Leader Paul Azinger of USA for a job very well done.