Four CEO Myths That Like a Greek Tragedy, Hold Back the CRO

 

by Rick McPartlin

A Greek tragedy is a play in which the protagonist (think business owner), usually a person of importance and outstanding personal qualities, falls to disaster through the combination of a personal failing (think believes in Myths) and circumstances (think rapidly changing business world) with which he or she cannot deal (think won’t change).

A business can last for two or three or even a dozen generations.  Businesses don’t die of old age, the flu or kidney failure. A business only dies when it no longer adds enough value to buyers in the market to keep growing sales and profits and as some businesses demonstrate that should never happen.  Business should go on, but they all don’t – why don’t they? They don’t because the people who run them fall victim to myths and the result is an unnecessary but fatal disaster.

These are four of those myths and the Revenue Science™ prescription for killing the myths before they kill the business.

1) Focus on not losing –

Too many leaders have a good life with status (they don’t want to lose on their watch).  If they just don’t do something stupid they can live a nice long life and retire comfortably without ever having moved the business forward.

Think General Motors, Chrysler or Sears.  All ran predictable roads to bankruptcy that took decades of not losing everything.   The result was millions of people lost billions of dollars so a few in leadership roles (without the integrity to change) stayed on that predictable path to keep their pockets full even to the end.

Revenue Science™ is a continuous improvement strategic process that measures short-term activities against the RoadMap to long-term achievement.  Part of the measurement is leverage for resources invested.  With a continuous improvement Revenue Strategy, no organization can suffer negative leverage for decades.

2) Focus on competition –

A leadership team focusing on “the competition” is like the two campers running from the attacking bear.  One says to the other “what are we to do – we can’t outrun the bear?  To which the other says “Bear?”  –  I just have to outrun you.   A focus on competition is another form of “not losing.”  It is a CEO’s way to say if I am better than the other guy I don’t lose.

The Revenue Science™ focus is about knowing as much about buyers and the buyer’s problems to be solved as possible.  By solving those buyer’s problems, adding unique buyer value there is new money in the engagement for both buyer and seller to share.  Focus on bringing so much value to the buyers they can’t go forward without the seller and the value provided by the seller. Forget the competition the buyer doesn’t care.

3) Focus on meeting our HQ goals –

CEOs and other HQ staff get up in the morning and work on how “not to lose” during their watch.  HQ’s goals and those of the investors (Wall Street) are one in the same.  Yet the investors buy NOTHING from the company.  Those investors most of whom know nothing about customers, customer’s problems or adding value to a customer’s business are who defines most of the business strategy and fear losing more than anything.

Revenue Science™ tells you to focus on achieving a “Revenue Strategy” (a very specific customer-focused thing developed by an intentional process).  That achievement is the result of using metrics to deploy the buyer focused strategy that is continuously changing based on the customers, technology and the market – not HQ and Wall Street.

4) Focus on expenses –

Often the planning for the year starts with a budget and an expense plan.  There is only one thing that assures business survival (hint it is not cutting expenses to zero) and that is continuously growing sales and profits by delivering and receiving value.

Revenue Science™ puts value delivery first.  When you deliver more value to a client that means the client now has MORE cash (resulting from this new value) that they gladly share with you.  Next Revenue Science™ focuses on positive leverage for all the invested “Revenue Resources Required” to grow your business (which means you are creating your own value and this you get to keep all of) and finally to STOP doing “dumb stuff” to reduce your “Cost of Chaos” to create immediate capital from your previously budgeted expenses.

A myth is a result of “partially true evidence” and these four myths have slivers of truth in them but that is all.

Learn Revenue Science™ and one at a time build intentional habits to make the science part of what you do and who you are.  Most myths hang around for a long time because they are the easy way to do things (mostly requiring luck) and if you follow the myth like everyone else you are not to blame.

Today the world knows at least some of the myths but not yet all the science.  Be the first to learn the science, delight your customers and continuously grow sales and profits.

Avoid Revenue Tragedy with Revenue Science™

If you wish to learn more about this future please contact us.

AVCON.WW Inc. is a consulting & training solution Company specializing in best practice, SMS & environmental change transition management solutions through quality auditing, training and corporate cultural integration throughout all levels and departments, in the Transportation Industry in the Aviation, Trucking, Transit, Rail and Shipping sectors.