You have a chance to connect with a CEO. You are dying to tell them about the 7 Stages of Growth and the X-Ray, right?
Where do you start?
This is a common question I get asked. People are curious what information they should share with a CEO when they get a chance to connect in order to introduce the 7 Stages of Growth and ultimately the X-Ray or the Profit Zone program.
My ‘go to’ approach is to spend time finding out certain aspects of the company. I ask questions and I’ll share some of these with you in no particular order:
How long have you been in business?
How many employees do you have today?
How many did you have a year ago?
What do you most enjoy about your job?
How do you feel about your employees?
How do you feel about your managers?
What do your clients say about your company?
What are the top three things that keep you up at night?
What have you done to address those challenges?
How has that worked?
Is the company doing well financially?
Are they profitable?
Do they have a proven sales process?
My goal is to simply connect at a personal level with that person. As I talk to them and ask questions, I begin to populate my comments with my own experience and with language from the 7 Stages of Growth.
As they answer my questions and we talk, I know a lot about that person and their company.
I know:
What stage of growth they are in today.
What stage of growth they were in a year ago. Now I know how fast they moved from one stage of growth to the other and can identify some of the pain they are in.
I know:
How they feel about their managers and employees. Now I know if they are fairly adept at leadership and management or they are struggling to deal with the many challenges people bring to a company. If they complain a lot about accountability, if they feel they can’t find good people, if they wonder out loud why people can’t just do what they are told ….. I have someone that may feel a bit desperate to get some help, right? Or I may have found a CEO who is too stuck in their own ways of doing things, they may not be open to listening to new ideas. This gives me other areas to explore.
I know:
Their top three challenges. And if I know what stage of growth they are in, I can start explaining how the programs I use, help CEOs:
Focus on the right things at the right time;
Predict how growth will impact them; and
Help a leader adapt their skills to the needs of the company.
At this point, I’ll probably talk about the research-proven model I use, called the 7 Stages of Growth and show them the Matrix. I’ll explain, based on their number of employees, they are a Stage 4 company and only a year ago, they were in Stage 3. I’ll share with them the Four Rules that govern this model:
- As soon as you land in any stage of growth you are getting ready for the next stage of growth. Great conversations can arise over this as you explain the model as a ‘continuum’ that helps a business owner be aware of the different stages of growth.
- What you don’t get done in any stage of growth doesn’t go away.
Again, great conversation about looking back to Stage 3 and showing them the challenges they needed to address in Stage 3 and now what they are needing to focus on in Stage 4. - Time will make a difference.
Because I know they moved from Stage 3 to Stage 4 pretty quickly, I can empathize with their growth curve and talk about what changed from last year to this year. - If you aren’t growing, you’re dying.
If a company is struggling, and the CEO is noticeably concerned about the financial health of the organization, you can talk about things they can do to continue to grow in spite of a downturn in revenues.
Now, I’ve got their attention. I’ve shared the Matrix with them and explained how I work with companies to help them gain alignment, engagement and implementation.
Of course, there are many ways this type of conversation can go. However, I normally can get a CEO to open up as I ask questions and I can pretty easily start positioning the 7 Stages of Growth into my conversations.
I hope this gives you some ideas you can use to create a conversation that introduces the concepts and the programs you offer. Remember, I don’t always lead with selling an X-Ray or a Profit Zone program. I figure out what the client needs and adjust my offerings to helping them solve their immediate problems.
However, every client I’ve worked with eventually went through the X-Ray process.
On the GCS Membership Site, under the Tab, 7 SOG Videos, you’ll find a video called:
Marketing Tips for the Growth Curve
http://www.gcspecialists.com/member-dashboard
I strongly suggest you listen to this video to also give you ideas on how to get that critical conversation going.
My goal is to help you feel comfortable in explaining these concepts. Never hesitate to connect with me personally.
P.S. Have you purchased my Flash Sheets by FlashPoint! yet? This is the only place where all of the information about the 7 Stages of Growth comes together in one easy-to-read and listen to document. You’ll find yourself using the information in Flash Sheets for marketing copy, blog posts, getting ready for a conversation with a prospect, putting together a proposal for an X-Ray. Check it out at:
http://gcspecialists.com/flashsheets
Your success. My passion.
Laurie Taylor, FlashPoint!
