The February 9th, 2024, Inc. article headline reads, The 5 Biggest Hurdles for CEOs in 2024: With the next growth cycle just out of arm’s reach, CEOs must first confront these challenges.
So, what are the five hurdles that keeps CEO’s up at night?
- Economic uncertainty
- Access to capital
- Leadership and management challenges
- Talent management and workforce issues
- The impact of technology
When you read the article, you will note that neither procurement nor supply chain pops up
It doesn’t mean that procurement and the supply chain do not have a role to play or significantly impact these areas. What it does mean is that when solution providers boast of solution maps and AI’s great virtues, CEOs are not likely to listen. In short, traditional solution provider sales focus and corresponding content, while beautifully prepared and deftly presented, are playing to an audience of . . . who?
The Numbers Don’t Lie
Check out the following stats, then tell me why the sales process doesn’t have to evolve or morph into something new and dramatically different:
- McKinsey & Company echoes this sentiment, stating that two-thirds of the buying process is now done digitally.
- This shift towards self-directed research is also reflected in Gartner’s research, which found that 75% of B2B buyers prefer a rep-free sales experience.
- Research shows that over 80 percent of B2B decision-makers think that people involved with industrial and commercial sales are not as prepared as they should be. For example, “82% of B2B decision-makers think salespersons are unprepared.”
- 74% of salespeople fail. In contrast, 20% do well but could improve, and 6% are classified as elites. A separate study, based on an assessment of 650,000 salespeople nationwide, suggests that the average success rate across all industries is 3%.
Here are the results:
A Real-Life Example That Demands A Real Life Result
Click on the image below to watch this powerful 2:31 video from the CEO of a global brand. Below the image is my comment.
Authentic leadership is on display here!
Over the past 40 years, I have seen a great deal. For example, during the dot.com boom, share prices were rocketing to infinity, and money was falling from trees.
I was fortunate to sell my company for $12 million before the crash, but that did not make my future endeavors immune to the aftershocks. In short, business is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous, so Winston Churchill’s words should continue to resonate: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; It is the courage to continue that counts.”
Continuing requires authentic leadership, which is precisely what Debra Crew delivers in her message.
As a procurement leader, how would you address the above challenges? Is procurement on the sidelines here?
As a solution provider, how would you address the above situation—and I’m not talking about features, functions, and benefits here, but real problem solving?
Regarding the Inc. Magazine article, how would you explain to the CEO how procurement and the supply chain will address the following five hurdles either directly or indirectly:
- Economic uncertainty
- Access to capital
- Leadership and management challenges
- Talent management and workforce issues
- The impact of technology
The key takeaway – don’t tell me what the technology does; show me in no uncertain terms how it will address the above problems because automating procurement doesn’t happen in a vacuum.
30
Procurement Insights
5 reasons why the CEO “isn’t” worried about procurement?
Posted on March 20, 2024
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The February 9th, 2024, Inc. article headline reads, The 5 Biggest Hurdles for CEOs in 2024: With the next growth cycle just out of arm’s reach, CEOs must first confront these challenges.
So, what are the five hurdles that keeps CEO’s up at night?
When you read the article, you will note that neither procurement nor supply chain pops up
It doesn’t mean that procurement and the supply chain do not have a role to play or significantly impact these areas. What it does mean is that when solution providers boast of solution maps and AI’s great virtues, CEOs are not likely to listen. In short, traditional solution provider sales focus and corresponding content, while beautifully prepared and deftly presented, are playing to an audience of . . . who?
The Numbers Don’t Lie
Check out the following stats, then tell me why the sales process doesn’t have to evolve or morph into something new and dramatically different:
Here are the results:
A Real-Life Example That Demands A Real Life Result
Click on the image below to watch this powerful 2:31 video from the CEO of a global brand. Below the image is my comment.
Authentic leadership is on display here!
Over the past 40 years, I have seen a great deal. For example, during the dot.com boom, share prices were rocketing to infinity, and money was falling from trees.
I was fortunate to sell my company for $12 million before the crash, but that did not make my future endeavors immune to the aftershocks. In short, business is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous, so Winston Churchill’s words should continue to resonate: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; It is the courage to continue that counts.”
Continuing requires authentic leadership, which is precisely what Debra Crew delivers in her message.
As a procurement leader, how would you address the above challenges? Is procurement on the sidelines here?
As a solution provider, how would you address the above situation—and I’m not talking about features, functions, and benefits here, but real problem solving?
Regarding the Inc. Magazine article, how would you explain to the CEO how procurement and the supply chain will address the following five hurdles either directly or indirectly:
The key takeaway – don’t tell me what the technology does; show me in no uncertain terms how it will address the above problems because automating procurement doesn’t happen in a vacuum.
30
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