By Chuck Sink
There is one precious commodity that most C-level executives guard with their lives – time. Pull them away from current work activity to instead focus on important long term strategies requiring changes in tactics and some will freak out. They may feel their time could be better spent going for the jugular or expediting a price driven deal, never mind positioning their firm for success in a rapidly changing regional and world economy. Understandably, most CEOs want to get to the bottom line and get to it now!
Time is indeed precious. We get that.
- We get that spending an extra hour providing critical information to the marketing manager could put that information in front of the right prospects at the right time. Timing is everything!
- We get that taking a few extra minutes to melt the ice with a new face at a networking event can lead to a profitable business relationship.
- We get that writing your best CV for a keynote speech, LinkedIn profile and website will qualify you as an expert in a major prospect’s mind.
- We get that reviewing and editing the firm’s online marketing, blog and social media content will keep the messages on target for attracting new business.
- We get that time spent being a resource for valuable, lead generating information for newsletters and trade articles helps clearly differentiate a company from its competition.
- We get that spending time building a reputation as the leader in the industry is priceless.
But is it measurable?
The new media channels that both consumers and businesspeople pay attention to are
equipped with data capture, tracking and measurement tools. From every click that opens an email, visits a landing page, Likes a Facebook business page and generates a phone call, new business results are easily measured. Detailed reports are generated at will and the data are highly actionable for targeted marketing and sales follow up. And of course, old fashioned face to face networking is as measurable as it gets. Forge relationship + discover need = new client.
The Bottom Line
Those in the C-Suite who strive to work on the business rather than in it usually have a better view of where the organization is headed and where they should lead it. Investing time in communications that generate qualified incoming leads reduces the cost of sales dramatically over the long term. Perhaps not every reader will be convinced today but I’ll keep plugging away at this over time.
