Technical consultants
Digital advice? CEOs are in a complex quandary on information security. On the one hand this is a topic requiring deep technical expertise which is (usually) outside the wheelhouse of CEOs, unless they head up a security tech company. On the other hand, it has become abundantly clear that in the court of public perception (and for that matter, the court of law), it is considered a CEO’s personal responsibility to ensure that appropriate protections are in place to protect the information of a company’s customers – particularly consumers. No CEO wants to end up on the front page of the newspaper or sued for negligence over a breach.
But from my first-hand experience with multiple CRM launches, I can affirm that EVERY company enjoying high adoption of their CRM also shared these traits as an organization: Churn was minimal. Their sales teams were generally happy and envisioned their future career path staying with the organization, The approach was collaborative. Internal poaching of deals was blocked, and entering notes about a lead INCREASED a rep’s chances of benefiting from a future sale, There was space for long-term thinking. Near-term quotas, if present, were manageable and allowed sales staff to work a bit “on” their process not just “in” it, Required data entry, especially in the early stages of a lead, was kept to a minimum. AI was leveraged where possible to fill in gaps and infer data, Sales managers resisted micro-managing on tidbits and details in the CRM, and instead coached for optimum overall long-term performance.
Every business should aim to have an IT consultant! The main advantage of hiring an IT consultant is that a business gets professional services and advice. Business technology is dynamic and IT experts can help a business integrate the latest technologies into its operations. In addition, experts can predict future trends in business technologies and help businesses adjust their operations in line with those trends. Certified IT consultants can analyse the current and future technology needs and help a business to meet those needs.
Over 90% of companies with dedicated sales teams have licensed a CRM system, and yet far fewer of these companies believe their CRMs are strategic in their impact to the top and bottom lines. Quora got double-digits responses to the question “Why do salespeople hate CRM?” “Why do salespeople love CRM?” had not been posted as a question as of the time of this writing. Why is it so challenging to get sales teams to use CRM systems? Contrary to some other commentators on this topic, I don’t believe the problem of low CRM adoption is due mainly to the systems being overly complex, or salespeople having limited grasp of software generally. Don’t get me wrong; some CRMs are no doubt too complex, designed by techies without sufficient input from real sales teams, etc. There are over 300 different CRM systems in the market today, and no doubt some are poorly designed. Read even more details on Analytics consulting.
We target our services at midsize companies. If you’re a company of this size (< $5B in annual sales), you will not likely see engagement with senior consultants or receive quality staff assigned from one of the Big 4 or Big 3. For each engagement we seek the best consultant match based on the client’s situational needs and the consultant’s industry and leadership expertise. If this approach intrigues you, please contact us to setup an initial conversation.
An advice any CEO should know about cybersecurity: Cyber liability insurance premiums are significantly increasing in cost and often do not cover all of the damages caused by a cyber breach. Further, it is incumbent upon CEOs to learn more about cybersecurity to ensure their company is taking appropriate actions to secure their most valuable information assets. This does not mean that every CEO needs to become a Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP). Rather, CEOs should increase their knowledge of core cybersecurity concepts and leverage their own leadership skills to conceptualize and manage risk in strategic terms, understanding the business impact of risk. See additional details at IT advice.
