When a CEO has to Blow the Whistle to Improve Sales

A CEO has to constantly straddle the line between intervening and meddling.

When it comes to the sales process, there is usually a well-defined line that should dictate when it’s time for a CEO to step in. As an example, consider the lead management process. A hypothetical company is funneling money into lead acquisition through the marketing department. But once these leads fall into the sales department’s hands, they stagnate. It’s now time for a CEO to intervene and do some cross-department counseling.

When it comes to playing mediator, the CEO should be prepared to hear both sides’ argument. It very well just may be a minor issue that is causing a great deal of pain. Again, that is the purpose of the intervention: to discover the problem and then solve it.

While operational conflicts do crop up, they’re certainly easy to solve with the right perspective. For more information on how a CEO should be refereeing sales, watch the video from OpenView Labs featuring Rich Chiarello.