Think Like a CEO

A good friend of mine, Ken Schmitt, the CEO and Founder of Turning Point Executive Search helps companies find the right Sales and Marketing Talent to help them grow their firm. Ken has done an amazing job growing his firm over the last 8+ years and continues to innovate, provide excellent service and most importantly, listen.

He asked me one day what I felt the most important characteristic was when I am helping a company find their next sales superstar. You see, Ken is always willing to listen and learn as he continues to try to improve his company on behalf of his customers. My answer is the one I tell anyone who asks:

“They need to think like a CEO.”

What I mean when I say that is, they need to be able to understand the value chain of their prospective customers. The approach they need to take is one, similar to Ken, of curiosity. Most good CEO’s realize that they don’t know everything and are willing to ask and listen.

Asking the Right Questions

What they do know how to do well is to ask good, focused questions, listen (there is that word again) and synthesize information from their conversations with a prospect and from, get ready, their research. Then, they need to make good decisions based upon the information they are given, or, asked for from their team. The ability to follow the chain of information, connect right course of action to the desired outcome, is what separates the charismatic decision makers (we all have worked for one) from the real leaders. The pretenders from the contenders.

This is the most difficult talent to test for when hiring a Sales Professional because generally, it does not come naturally. It is a learned behavior. It is a behavior that needs to be modeled, taught, practiced and supported with the right tools and most importantly, the right leadership. The aptitude for this can be recognized. I call it thinking to the next step.

Tools to Help Evaluate

To see if your candidate has the potential to think like a CEO have them do the following two things:

1. Give them a potential customer scenario. Let them know who the buyers are, what type of company it is, what their growth goals are and the product or service they are looking to purchase from your company. Ask them to put a presentation together for you articulating how the potential customer makes money and how your product or service will help each buyer and their company achieve their growth goals.
2. In addition, ask them for their 90 day plan. What will they do in the first 90 days to learn about your company and create pipeline build? This will give you a chance to see how their mind works. Are they ambitious? Will they tell you they just need that time to learn the product and probably won’t have much in the pipeline? Will they try to sell you a bunch of bull about crushing their number with no real plan? Can they build a logical approach?
3. During the process. Take note of whether or not they reach out to you for more information. To ask questions to clarify what they are doing. You want this to happen. You don’t want them doing this in a vacuum. It will give you an indication of how well they utilize resources to put together a solution.
4. Have them present these to you and whomever else is involved in the hiring and leadership of this Sales Professional.
5. Prepare questions to ask. Don’t just say “great job.” Let them know where you felt they excelled and need to improve. See how they take the feedback.

It may seem a lot to ask, and chances are, they may not get it exactly right but, it will help you make a good decision. It will help you see how they think and what their level of ambition is as it relates to your company and their career. An extra step, an extra week in what you hope to be a long-term relationship is worth it.

Most importantly, it will help you determine if they have the ability to guide your prospective customers through a Sales Process that is focused on their business outcomes. Just like a CEO would do it.