http://www.cornerofficeconversations.com/index.phpSpeaking the Language of Business at the C-Levelenkurt@shurikensystems.comCopyright 2008 Shuriken Systems2009-09-28T07:24:59-06:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:52:42 -0600Kurt HaugKurt Haugkurt@cornerofficeconversations.comSales CEO Executive C-LevelSpeaking the Language of Business at the C-LevelAn Insider's Guide to Executive Selling at the C-Levelkurt@shurikensystems.comNone2009-09-28T07:24:59-06:00http://www.cornerofficeconversations.com/files/d9a4d7755f4523135e4dd80c9b0a200b-13.php#unique-entry-id-13http://www.cornerofficeconversations.com/files/d9a4d7755f4523135e4dd80c9b0a200b-13.php#unique-entry-id-13 var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.") ; document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); ]]>kurt@shurikensystems.comNone2009-09-07T11:32:57-06:00http://www.cornerofficeconversations.com/files/ef8eb1534cad07d38532fb6620fd51c3-12.php#unique-entry-id-12http://www.cornerofficeconversations.com/files/ef8eb1534cad07d38532fb6620fd51c3-12.php#unique-entry-id-12Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In and SPIN Selling and the rest and I'm not here to provide you with an opportunity to practice your "sales" skills. Don't try to be a smart-aleck by proving you already know more about my company and industry than I do (you don't), but do give me a sense that you're already moderately up to speed on the issues I'm dealing with and that it's worth the 15 minutes I'm willing to give you to listen to your pitch. ...Want to hear a pickup line that at least has a CHANCE of getting a date? Something like this: PICKUP LINE: "I was talking to Bill Grower, the controller of your parts division, and he mentioned that after looking at the details that came out this week in House Bill 1052.6, the proposed government bailout of your biggest competitor, TooBig, Inc., there may be unique opportunities to actually take advantage of the new restrictions in the bill to provide shorter delivery times to TooBig's nervous customers-- along the lines you already identified as a major objective in your last quarterly earnings conference call. Bill and I have discussed a way to cut three days from you standard delivery times resulting in an increase of 3% in your ASP and 12% increase in inventory turns resulting in an additional $18M in top line sales over a 12 month period while decreasing operating overhead (another of your priorities according to the latest annual report) by 680K." CEO RESPONSE: "Uh, really? How do you figure that?" So, he's a little chatty-- at lease he sounds like he knows what he's talking about. Not sure there's really any "meat" there, but for $18M revenue, better margins and a chance to kick TooBig while they're down, I''ll give him 15 minutes of my time. "Call my admin and say that I'd like to schedule 15 minutes with you, Bill Grower, and "Speedy" Shippman, the Operations Manager for next Tuesday sometime after 2:00pm." So how do you use that 15 minutes? Email me at kurt@shurikensystems.com for a free copy of a 15 Minute Executive Sales Presentation Template.

]]>kurt@shurikensystems.comNone2009-08-19T08:09:15-06:00http://www.cornerofficeconversations.com/files/18c5dc842ae09131d2149ccdca33f717-11.php#unique-entry-id-11http://www.cornerofficeconversations.com/files/18c5dc842ae09131d2149ccdca33f717-11.php#unique-entry-id-11kurt@shurikensystems.comNone2009-07-27T09:58:47-06:00http://www.cornerofficeconversations.com/files/c9173176db1293e731da06a374b83c40-10.php#unique-entry-id-10http://www.cornerofficeconversations.com/files/c9173176db1293e731da06a374b83c40-10.php#unique-entry-id-10 Sure, you'll make the (very legitimate) argument that your initiative can indeed produce measurable and significant improvements in revenue and profitability.  It's all about the metrics-- yeah, I get that.  But just like I'm telling the Engineering VP that he can't hire a new team of FLEX programmers, and the Sales Director can't open that satellite office in Atlanta (even though "it'll pay for itself within 6 months!") , YOU, Marketing Department, can't have a whole new budget for "the next big thing." What you CAN do-- and what I EXPECT you to do-- is figure out how to use what you've got more effectively.  And if you new proposal is REALLY that great, find a way to pay for it out of existing budget.  Stop going to low ROI tradeshows.  Cut some of the ad budget.  Get a second source print vendor to cut production costs.  You know-- MANAGE YOUR BUDGET. Absolutely feel free to reallocate your resources as you see fit within those parameters.  But don't ask the CFO/Controller to cut you a new "budget" at a time like this.  Believe me, if you don't already know, you soon will, that he/she is looking for whole chunks to take OUT-- not put in.  That's just the reality of any responsibly run organization. That said, as a financial executive I would love for you to present me with a ROI analysis of various programs and approaches and as long as it's not a cashflow issue ("I don't care HOW good a deal you can get on that Ferrari, we DON'T HAVE THE MONEY!" ), I'm willing to consider shifting funding your way if I am convinced of the payoff.  Show me direct improvement in actual revenue and profits.  Specific declines in costs due to customer service, recurring revenue and customer retention, etc.   Marketers need to stop "drinking their own bathwater" and notice that they're sharing the bathroom with more and more people who are not impressed with the "ring around the tub."  Clean up after yourselves, and learn the "Executalk" of your finance executives to earn their trust rather than expecting them to learn the "Marketspeak" about your initiatives.

]]>kurt@shurikensystems.comALLEconomic Crisis2009-01-15T13:32:10-07:00http://www.cornerofficeconversations.com/files/f69c760acef11bfdf5f0415fd2d4339a-8.php#unique-entry-id-8http://www.cornerofficeconversations.com/files/f69c760acef11bfdf5f0415fd2d4339a-8.php#unique-entry-id-8Change. We all like to think that we can handle (even thrive on) change, but recent financial market turmoil has almost everyone feeling disoriented and dizzy. Major investment banks, insurance companies, auto manufacturers and more boarding up the windows and shutting off the lights. Throw in a Madoff Ponzi scheme and a couple of trillion dollar deficits-- it may be enough to make you want to just pull the covers over your head and go back to bed. (By the way, check out NPR's Planet Money podcast for a reasonably succint, yet in-depth look at relevant financial news on a daily basis.) But you can bet that the smart CEOs are not sleeping in late. They know that now is the time to invest in increasing efficiency and expanding opportunism. Those who are going to weather the storm are going to end up dominating their markets in the end-- and the way to start down that path is to find ways to grab a bigger piece of the shrinking pie. So my need for a healthy top line and bottom line hasn't changed. What has changed is that I am even less willing than ever to listen to your sales pitch about your products' features (or even benefits) without a clear picture up front as to how it is going to address my very specific and increasingly daunting financial objectives. While the necessity of finding high ROI initiatives against which to deploy scarce resources is every bit as critical as ever (if not more so), my psychological and financial "hurdle rate" is now sky high. But make no mistake-- if you can really make me a hero in front of my stakeholders, I'm more than willing to listen. Just give me the bottom line first, and work backwards from there-- show me (credibly) how you came up with those numbers and take your ticket for the front of the line.

]]>kurt@shurikensystems.comALLBudgetsFiscal YearForecastsGoalsPlanningQuotas2009-01-05T09:46:14-07:00http://www.cornerofficeconversations.com/files/3917442caa5a3cf523e2b0183a6708c0-7.php#unique-entry-id-7http://www.cornerofficeconversations.com/files/3917442caa5a3cf523e2b0183a6708c0-7.php#unique-entry-id-7 ]]>kurt@shurikensystems.comALLTimingSeasonalityInternational2008-12-22T08:53:43-07:00http://www.cornerofficeconversations.com/files/72a56836e0582d0a0e88656c9c684d80-6.php#unique-entry-id-6http://www.cornerofficeconversations.com/files/72a56836e0582d0a0e88656c9c684d80-6.php#unique-entry-id-6 ]]>kurt@shurikensystems.comALLCEO MindsetElevator PitchExecutive Selling2008-12-15T14:05:56-07:00http://www.cornerofficeconversations.com/files/3e57da8990a52aa2f6817a72b81fcf43-5.php#unique-entry-id-5http://www.cornerofficeconversations.com/files/3e57da8990a52aa2f6817a72b81fcf43-5.php#unique-entry-id-5 ]]>kurt@shurikensystems.comALLExecutive SellingSales Training2008-12-08T23:23:31-07:00http://www.cornerofficeconversations.com/files/fe8b25a8ed0a78bb2f151e1f46afb78f-1.php#unique-entry-id-1http://www.cornerofficeconversations.com/files/fe8b25a8ed0a78bb2f151e1f46afb78f-1.php#unique-entry-id-1 ]]>kurt@shurikensystems.comALLCareer Development"John Smith"2008-11-30T20:46:44-07:00http://www.cornerofficeconversations.com/files/What_it_IS.php#unique-entry-id-0http://www.cornerofficeconversations.com/files/What_it_IS.php#unique-entry-id-0 ]]>