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Why Operationally Strong Companies Still Lose Major Accounts · Speak In Flow

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  (Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Imagine you've been climbing up the mountain for
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  years.
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  You have a successful company, you've fired the
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  right people, you've earned the trust of your
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  clients, and you know how to deliver.
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  You look down the mountain and you think,
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  wow, we've built a successful company.
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  The truth is, you probably can't stay there
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  very long.
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  The market is changing.
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  Customers, clients, they're shifting.
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  Employees are moving out and moving along, and
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  now you have AI accelerating it all.
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  So the question isn't that you're not successful,
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  or am I successful?
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  The question is, what you have built?
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  Is that going to take you forward to
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  the next chapter and the next phase of
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  growth?
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  The companies that start to slide down the
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  red arrow, you may be a really good
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  company.
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  You may be operationally strong.
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  But when there's so many priorities, so many
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  different opportunities, people don't know where to focus.
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  And it's really common where sales and operations
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  are doing different things.
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  And then growth starts relying on a couple
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  key people.
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  And then imagine a large major account lands.
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  I call these the LMAs.
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  Is your team ready to communicate?
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  Is your leader, your CFO, going to say
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  the same thing as your VP of Sales?
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  If they cannot share the same story, your
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  client is going to feel that disconnect.
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  And they may lose you your opportunity.
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  Then it happens over again where the leaders
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  at the top, the few key people are
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  responsible for the growth of the company.
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  Things are scattered.
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  Growth slows in this era of AI.
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  And it's not that AI is the villain
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  or the hero because AI is here to
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  just give, there's so much information.
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  But I believe that the companies that are
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  going to continue up the arrow, up the
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  mountain are those companies that know how to
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  take this information, decide quickly, move and move
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  forward together in a way that translates to
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  your clients.
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  And so we do this in these three
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  phases.
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  The first one is know the large major
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  account that the leadership team is going to
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  pursue, make decisions confidently and align around it.
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  And then each leader knows how to take
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  ownership and knows what they're being held accountable
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  for.
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  What is the performance measure that they're being
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  held accountable for?
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  So we have clear metrics on the things
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  that matter most.
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  And once you have clarity around that, then
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  the whole leadership team can hold each other
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  accountable.
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  But it's not dependent on a few people
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  reminding each other what to do.
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  And so when we're clear on the LMA
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  and the pursuit of that, then we're able
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  to articulate to our clients and customize and
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  tailor our messaging so it's consistent and because
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  we all know where we're going and we're
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  able to overcome those very difficult objections that
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  sometimes clients have.
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  And then you're able to start to win
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  those accounts.
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  Win because you are not just good at
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  communicating, but you're communicating clearly and executing consistently.
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  Right now you're building a culture of communication
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  where you scale, where people are moving forward
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  together on the same strategic initiatives.
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  And then leaders are developing that skill to
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  hold each other accountable on what really matters.
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  Remember, communication is just not a soft skill.
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  It is all your people move forward together.
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  Communication can communicate friction, confusion, and people start
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  to point fingers.
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  Or you can communicate what really matters to
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  move people forward together.
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  And that is communicating momentum.
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  So having clear intention with that, that is
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  how you're going to build a legacy of
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  your company because your leaders are aligned, they
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  know how to take ownership in the direction
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  of its growth, and then you're communicating it
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  to your clients.
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  You're closing the gap of what your leaders
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  promise to your clients and how your clients
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  experience that value.
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  But I have a question for you.
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  What direction is your company headed?
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  Are you sliding down or are you moving
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  up?
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  Thanks so much for joining me every single
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  time on the Speak and Flow podcast.
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  It's always good to have you.
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  And until next time, remember, communicate what matters,
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  communicate it often so your people move forward
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  together.
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  Until next time, take care.
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  Bye-bye.