First 100 Days

In these three articles Robert Tearle gives our top 10 tips as to how people assuming senior high impact roles can maximise their success in the first 100 days. Each of the three articles is focused on three categories of hire: “C” level Execs, Sales Directors / Sales VPs and Senior Salespeople working in “big ticket sales roles”.
The following tips are both for our hiring clients and those people we head-hunt. For “C” level positions we advocate the use of executive coaching which we can make available.

Top ten tips for “C” level Executive Leaders / Senior Managers in their first 100 days:

1. Do not assume that your interpretation of what is expected of you is correct. Immediately on starting clarify your purpose with the stakeholders and business owners by succinctly putting in writing objectives and an action plan. Remain in close contact with the stakeholders to ensure clarity over goals and expectations. Robert Tearle, Director at Arena Search & Selection who has 20 years head-hunting experience into “C” level positions worldwide, says if you ask bosses and employees what is expected of the job holder, all too often you get different answers. Start off focused on right things from the outset before you’ve missed your chance to excel or before it’s too late.

2. The most important thing (from an executive point of view) is to assess what needs to be done to achieve the corporate objectives for which you have been hired – says Andrew, CEO, Fortune 100 corp. Consider the following:

- What are the critical financial objectives to be realised?
- Is the current strategy correct and effective?
- How can you close the gap on any shortfalls?
- Do you have the right people – who do you need to retain or replace?
- What changes do you need to push through and why?

If you do not set your agenda here in the first 3 to 6 months, you may end up dancing to somebody else’s tune and this could lead to failure.

3. Connect officially or unofficially with your predecessor to gain insight.

4. Meet the management team as a group and individually and look for any common themes – says Stephen Branley, Founder, Branley Consulting. Try to get them on board by sharing some information about yourself, while telling them about the way you like to manage. Then meet people individually to find out what they like and dislike about their jobs as well as finding out ways they think the business can be run better – establish any common themes.

5. Ask for “state of the nation” presentations from your management team. List their top 5 business issues and ask for proposed solutions to these. Synchronise objectives in terms of short term goals i.e. 30, 60 and 100 days, and discuss 1, 2 and 3 year business plans with the senior leadership team.

6. Stop the things that are not working and continue the things that are. Start things that are not currently being done that should be.

7. Look for quick wins with maximum business impact.

8. Synergize the team and with the team. Build a culture of collaboration and develop lines of communication. Take plenty of time to listen and connect with your team and staff. Empower your team and create opportunities for others to lead – distributed leadership can be a wonderful thing. At executive management level the decision that you make affects people around you so it’s important that you let them know that you care. Do not alienate yourself and show that you care – don’t get fired because you’ve failed to fit in.

9. Meet your top 5 customers or business partners.

10. Mind the gap. It’s not unusual for people coming out of one environment to come in with incorrect or out-dated perceptions – there’s a difference between similar and same. Ask the people who hired you including HR what perceptions you may need to change and what knowledge gaps you need to bridge – says Jezz Moore, performance coach at zoomcow.co.uk who has coached business leaders at such organisations as Tesco, TNT, DWP and national Rugby & Rowing teams…

Top ten tips for Sales Managers in their first 100 days.

2. Do not get distracted – it’s all about revenue. 100 days’ of focus on deals will not be wasted; nothing sets out your expectations to your sales people more clearly than deal and pipeline scrutiny – says Jim Close, SVP of Software AG.

3. Establish what needs to happen to hit the targets.

4. Get out and meet customers with salespeople to develop better customer insight and understanding of your sales team members.

5. Is there a winning formula and if so, is it being repeated? If not, look to put it into action.

6. Establish who are the winners and losers on the team. Which salespeople on the team are the real contributors and who’s not pulling their weight. Determine who can be turned around and who cannot and formulate a plan to remove dead weight fast!

7. By the end of your first 100 days, you should be able to understand the whole picture.

8. Look at current operations.

9. Ask a lot of questions within the group. Let people know what you are thinking, where appropriate. Most of all, ask staff what they would like to see improved.

Top ten tips for Senior Salespeople selling complex / big ticket solutions in their first 100 days:

2. Develop and maintain a sense of urgency – says Nick Holbrook, RVP EMEA at The Complex Sale.
Salespeople need to develop and maintain a sense of urgency. This applies to creating/generating selling opportunities and to moving them through the sales cycle. Complex sales involve long selling cycles. In a world with quarterly objectives, in many cases quarterly targets and an ever watchful management eye, the salesperson needs to be either doing the numbers or at minimum to be seen to be taking the right initiatives/actions which will lead on to success.
This is particularly important for the new hire, who has not yet proven himself or herself.
A smart salesperson should look to be ahead of the game, doing things early not late – he or she must take the initiative and cannot afford to wait for things to happen. This should include looking for ways to bring actions, events and decisions forward both externally and internally. Not only will this maximise their chances of early success during the period in which the eyes are most likely to be on them but also help them counter any unexpected delays.

3. Few salespeople fail because they have too many opportunities, however, many fail because they have too few. A numbers game can be applied to every sales role – work out the ratios and apply them i.e. target, average order values, suspects, prospects, presentations, proposals, deals.

4. Is there a winning formula and if so, what is it and can you replicate it?

5. You need to understand your company’s propositions. Bear in mind that, at interview, it’s unlikely you were told the story “warts and all”. Work out what your employer does best and target your team to sell that. Less successful people sell what appeals to them or what customers want, but which can also be something their company is unable to deliver easily. Bring the best people internally on-side so that you can field an “A” team when bidding. You need to know the process of your organisation, what they can handle (how and how quickly), and also, importantly, what they are unable to do.

6. Develop your toolkit. What key questions will you, without exception, ask the customer or prospect and in what order? What elevator pitches do you need and what do they look like? What case studies and return-on-investment can you offer up?

7. Mind the gap. It’s not unusual for people coming out of one environment to come in with incorrect or out-dated perceptions – there’s a difference between similar and same. Ask the people who hired you including HR what perceptions you may need to change and what knowledge gaps you need to bridge – says Jezz Moore, performance coach at zoomcow.co.uk who has coached business leaders at such organisations as Tesco, TNT, DWP and national Rugby & Rowing teams…

8. You will be more successful if you understand competitive stand-points – says Yvonne, #1 salesperson globally at a Top 3 comms vendor. Who are your competitors? What are their strengths and weaknesses? In addition to asking colleagues, ask people who have worked for the competition – the answers are not always what you might expect.

9. Listen, find out first and avoid jumping to conclusions if meeting with existing customers, be aware that they may know more about your company and your propositions than yourself. They may have historical complaints or old promises that have been made but not delivered on. Both represent an opportunity to establish a new relationship.

10. Develop a support network in the management team. In big ticket sales it’s not unusual for sales cycles to take upwards of 9 months, so in a start-up period you may have sold very little. In the event of your immediate manager leaving, review or re-organization, you may need management level sponsorship if your position becomes at risk when you may not yet have proven yourself.