CEOs, we all know this rule applies to many different areas of leadership.  We could list them, but the one that comes to mind for me here is the boundary we create when initially hiring an employee.  We define these boundaries when we apply a job description to the position.  This is the tool we use to define what the employee needs to do, what responsibilities they have, and their level of authority.  Of course, a job description is a living document that needs review.  From time to time, you might identify gaps in position development and training needs not being met.  You may find that it is time to review, refresh, and even rewrite the job description.

Here’s a tip:  Sit down with one of your key managers or ask them to sit down with one of their department employees.  Go through the original job description for their position line-by-line.  This will immediately show how much of the work you originally hired them to do is actually being performed.  Work with the manager or employee to make adjustments to the job description and outline measures to make sure that they are being fully successful.

This has been your CEO Rule of the Week.  I am Ruben Estrada.  Your Next Move

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Whether you have three, thirteen, or thirty employees, every business has a culture.  Either you create the culture of your company or the culture will create itself.

Here’s a tip:  Every year in your strategic planning make sure to review the company’s vision, core values, and mission with the managers who are participating.  Spend some time emphasizing the importance of reviewing the elements of culture with the entire company team and make a plan for regular review during the year.  Frequency of review could be as simple as once a month during staff meetings.  More frequent reviews could easily be done during one on one coaching sessions and would create the perfect opportunity to reinforce the company’s vision, core values, and mission.  All of this matters because, CEOs, if we don’t create our company culture, our company culture will create itself.

This has been your CEO Rule of the Week.  I am Ruben Estrada.  Your Next Move

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Would you allow your sales people to mail out printed brochures that contain inaccurate or outdated information?  Would you allow your printer to reproduce high quality, glossy, multi-page brochures at a very high cost if they were not accurate or updated?  Now ask yourself, do these same standards of accuracy and excellence apply to your website?  Is everything there accurate and up to date?  Are you using the best tools and most effective strategies to get the most from the site?  Remember, your website is your very best brochure.

Here’s a tip:  For every dollar you invest in printed marketing material, allocate a similar dollar amount towards the enhancement and development of your Website.  Review the site for accuracy and up to date information at least once each quarter.  You should also explore the opportunities to have voice-recorded testimonials and animated demonstrations of your product and service placed on your website.

This has been your CEO Rule of the Week.  I am Ruben Estrada.  Your Next Move

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We market because we want to be known and make an impact.  Our sales people hand out business cards, we give out brochures, we mail flyers or cards, but what makes us stand out.  All too often we find companies doing exactly the same things as their competitors.  The center of the message is all about why my service or my product is better than the competing product or service, but nothing really makes the company stand out.  Nothing really makes the company memorable.  Is this happening to you?

Here’s a tip:  Take one marketing piece, something like a little token that you give away when you’re networking or a desktop item that you leave behind on a visit to the customer, and redesign it to make it a clever reminder of who you are.  A clever give-away or leave behind can often replace a business card or brochure because people will hold on to the giveaways.  A business card is easy to toss away when the meeting is done.  A brochure will likely find its way quickly into the trash can.  But a clever and memorable giveaway will find its way to the desktop or perhaps even the pocket of your prospect and when it comes time to make the buying decision, guess who they are likely to call first.

This has been your CEO Rule of the Week.  I am Ruben Estrada.  Your Next Move

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No doubt you know that it’s your responsibility to insure that everybody throughout your organization clearly understands the vision of the company, its values, and the mission of the organization.  Yet from time to time through our actions and through the actions of our people, we may be compromising our vision, values, or mission.  Not intentionally, but it just happens in business.  Changes in the scope of the business, economics, struggles within the organization or employee turnover can all draw us off.  Often the vision, your core values, and your mission get a little bit tweaked.

Here’s a tip:  On a regular basis, once a week ideally, once a month if necessary, but at minimum once a quarter, take some time and push out a message to all of your employees.  You can use email, a newsletter, or maybe even a recorded voice message.  Use that message to reset the scales.  Re-communicate the vision of the organization.  If possible communicate something that the company has done recently to move closer to that vision.  Review your mission and communicate a strategic initiative that was accomplished that gets the company closer to serving that mission.  When you do send this message, be sure to let people know how they can contribute to living the vision and accomplishing the mission.

This has been your CEO Rule of the Week.  I am Ruben Estrada.  Your Next Move

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CEOs, many of us spend too much of our time managing Accounts Receivables.  We all want them to be 95% to 98% current, but we’re always following up on the 60 day accounts and taking action on the 120 day ones.  So much human resource is expended as a direct result of what happened, or should I say what failed to happen, at the Transactional Level.  When the sale was made or the customer was set up, something may have been missing.

Here’s a tip:  If you have policies and procedures for how your accounts are sold, be sure your sales people put a lot of emphasis on your payment terms and conditions.  I once had a client who had their sales people fill out a separate form for every new account.  The form included a place for the name of the purchasing manager responsible for paying their bill, the phone number of that contact, and their address if they were at a different building.  Additionally, for every welcome letter that went out to that new customer, another welcome letter, as well as a phone call, went to the purchasing department.  This introduced the new contract to that department and advised them in detail of the specific payment terms and conditions.

This has been your CEO Rule of the Week.  I am Ruben Estrada.  Your Next Move

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Sounds simple doesn’t it?  The trouble is that often when we look at our branding strategy we put our products and our service in front of us. Ultimately, of course, the product or the service is what our customers receive.  But a lot of companies offer similar products and services.  Do you really want to brand your product or your service or should you be branding you?  Here is a great example.  Think about Nike.  Think about their brand.  Ask yourself, what is a Nike?  It is certainly not the name of a product or a service, but their brand has become one of the most recognizable in the world.  We know from the brand that they sell sports clothing and equipment.  Obviously, they’ve done a good job branding Nike.

Here’s a tip:  Look again at your Branding Strategy.  Are the image and language you use focused on your products and services, or are you branding you?  Take a fresh look at the messages you’re sending out through your e-mails, pushing out through your marketing collateral, even what your sales people might be saying.  Make sure that what your customers hear leaves them knowing you.  If they know you they will have no trouble remembering what it is you do and what you sell. Remember, brand you.

This has been your CEO Rule of the Week.  I am Ruben Estrada.  Your Next Move

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When we review the Executive Maturity Curve, we realize that an effective CEO spends 50% or more of his time delegating and then following up to get his results through others.  Once a CEO understands this, making a list of things to delegate is not a difficult task and we often delegate many things.  Why, then, are we not always successful in our delegation?  The most common source of failure in delegating is in the method of follow up.

Here’s a tip:  Start a journal, maybe on a notepad, using the name of the person that you are delegating to.  Each time you delegate something to them, write it down in that journal.  Be specific by including the date you assign the task and what it is that you are going to follow up on.  As you come in contact with that person throughout the week, just pull out your list, review it with them, and perhaps make a note or two about the progress they have made.  Better yet, if you conduct coaching sessions, start your sessions by reviewing these open items.  You’d be amazed how much gets done through effective follow up.

This has been your CEO Rule of the Week.  I am Ruben Estrada.  Your Next Move

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Think back CEOs:  Think of a time when you called a vendor and left a message and nobody called you back.  So you called again, and still didn’t get a call back.  How did you feel?  What was your attitude toward that vendor?  How quickly would you change if another vendor with a more responsive customer service system came along?  Now imagine how your customers feel if they call and nobody gets back to them.

Here’s the tip:  First, develop a system to make sure that every customer’s incoming calls and your team’s responses are tracked.  When you find customer inquiries that have no response within a reasonable time, make it a point to ask why.  You may be surprised at what you hear.  Your team may say things like, “I had nothing to tell them, no update to give them, and no changes to communicate.”  The lesson here is very important.  Remember, to make and keep a happy customer the key is not fulfilling the immediate request every time.  Customers understand that orders take time and sometimes things happen to slow down delivery.  No matter what that status of the order, for the sake of the relationship it is often enough just to respond to their inquiry.  It’s true:  Responding to a customer’s request is as important as fulfilling their request.

This has been your CEO Rule of the Week.  I am Ruben Estrada.  Your Next Move

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You know CEOs, there’s no question that our employees and our managers follow our lead.  Although we really want them to listen to what we say, we need to be very careful to make sure that our actions don’t speak louder than our words.  In other words, we need to be sure we are practicing what we teach?  Remember, people truly do have one ear tuned to what you say and both eyes focused on what you do.

Here’s a tip:  Look at the things that you do routinely.  Here is a simple test you can use to evaluate yourself.  Think about how many meetings you schedule with people in your organization.  As you think, ask yourself this question:  Do I find myself setting these meetings and then canceling them?  Do I schedule them and then show up late?  After you are sure you have answered honestly, then ask yourself this, do you get frustrated when your managers schedule meetings and then cancel them?  How do you feel when they show up late to your meetings?  Now, ask the really critical question, how much of the weakness in your managers is a mirror of your actions?

This has been your CEO Rule of the Week.  I am Ruben Estrada.  Your Next Move

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