CEO SUPPORT

Each day you plan your agenda, what you want to accomplish. With monotonous regularity unexpected issues arise, and on a bad day a significant problem can suddenly appear out of left field. Issues and problems are no respecters of your agenda, and their resolution takes on a life all its own.

You have to react quickly and often feel on the defensive. Decisions under these circumstances are not always the best and giving in almost always involves a compromise you would not voluntarily make. You need an external resource with no agenda except your best interest to take the pressure out of the situation, give you the luxury of perspective and offer advice based upon real world experience.

By their nature these issues and problems are unforeseen and therefore difficult to predict or describe. They can be any number of things but Edge has helped CEOs in the following scenarios.

• Your largest customer calls to tell you that, while they are happy with your service, they are going to sign with your major competitor for a substantial price reduction. The first thing is to get ego and anger out of the equation and analyze the situation rationally. Is this a predatory move or does the competitor have a lower price structure? Should you drop your price, at least part of the way, or to let the customer go and take the fallout. On the one hand, you have concerns about profitability and margin erosion; on the other, you fear your competitor and are very nervous about how the loss will appear internally.

• Your VP of Sales comes bounding into your office and tells you that it looks as tough your company is about to be awarded the largest sale in its history. Euphoria is in the air, and it would catapult you to the next level. But you have some concerns as to whether your company can gear up to deliver what is required, and the payment terms mean that it could put you under considerable financial strain if the deal is not renegotiated.

• You have just finished dinner when one of your key people calls to tell you that he/she has accepted an offer with a competitor and feels that it would be inappropriate for them to attend tomorrow morning’s management meeting. While you ask them why and listen to a (probably insincere) answer you have to think quickly on a number of levels. How serious is the problem? Do you want to keep somebody who can do this to you? Can you stall the announcement? Who have they told? Who can you talk to?

• You learn that two employees that you believe control a customer relationship are leaving to join a competitor and that they intend to take the customer with them. As in all cases that involve employees, you have to distance yourself from the personal and take a detached view. After you satisfy the personal agenda by searching to see whether they have non- compete agreements you find that your legal case is weak and you have stark choices. Counter? Moral pressure? Threat of legal action against competitor? Threat of legal action against employees? What will your other employees think?

• A competitor calls and indicates that they are interested in selling their business to you. Your VP of Sales feels that it is a terrific opportunity but your VP of Operations is concerned that digesting the new business will adversely impact service levels. You are concerned about the financial implications and the impact the new business would have on your culture.

• Your bank calls to tell you that they have identified some issues with the relationship and that they want to come and see you as soon as possible. When you ask what they want to talk about they tell you that they will discuss it at the meeting and press for it to happen this week. You are forced to agree and then have to figure out what they want. What has happened? What do you do? How can you stall?

• A major supplier calls to tell you that they are dropping you. While you know that there have been issues, you are unprepared and it raises a number of questions. Should you fight or is this actually an opportunity to rethink your business lines and restructure? How will it be perceived within the organization and what fall out might result?