From CEO Forum Keynote on October 1 with Paul Sarvadi
About Paul Sarvadi
Paul Sarvadi is the Chairman & CEO of Insperity, a $4B public company he founded in 1986. He has 34 years of experience learning to think like a CEO who is always ready to take his company to the next level and create consistent, predictable growth and profitability. Paul has led through startup, growth, expansion and going public, mastering the CEO role in every phase of his company’s journey.
What are the 5 CEO Breakthroughs?
Paul is arguably one of the most successful founders and CEOs in American, and his leadership is characterized by 5 CEO Breakthroughs he shared at the 21st Annual CEO Forum on October 1st. Through a series of five posts, we will dive into each Breakthrough to help you unlock greater growth for you and your company. And remember, every Breakthrough comes down to how you think.
The key to growth in any season is to focus on understanding your customer’s needs at a deep level, and then make sure that the product or service you provide makes it better for them in a tangible way. Even when things are hard, companies will prioritize and keep those vendors that fill their needs so well that they couldn’t possibly be without them. Do everything you can to make sure you’re one of those vendors, and make sure your sales teams can clearly communicate the value they provide. When you do this well, the demand will be there through any season.
PUTTING CEO BREAKTHROUGH #1 TO WORK: BE LASER FOCUSED ON THE CUSTOMER
When your company is customer-centric and laser focused on your customer, the outcome is a true “hand-in-glove fit” that drives volume, pricing, and ultimately growth and profitability. Here are a few keys to this Breakthrough:
- First, take some time to understand who your customer is and what they need; then, challenge yourself to go deeper and understand their desires and what their life is like.
- Next, evaluate your products and services to see how closely they fit your customer’s needs and desires – do they fit like a perfect pair of gloves?
- Ask yourself, “Am I making a difference for my customers?”
- Make sure your product development is customer-driven, in a way that anticipates your customers’ needs, even before they realize they have those needs. It is critical that you stay in sync with your customers when you roll out new products to ensure that your offerings continue to drive demand.
To Make Your Company Customer-Centric, Consider: Are distractions getting in the way of a laser focus on your customer?
Having a laser focus on your customer protects you from many of the distractions that can get in the way of consistent, predictable growth. If you notice the following patterns in yourself or your company, it could be that returning to a laser focus on your customer could make the difference:
- You are doing things that do not make your customers’ lives better and are not clearly meeting real needs and desires they have
- Internal issues and challenges have gotten in the way of a laser focus on your customer
- You are tempted to try lot of ideas or search for a silver bullet to drive growth
- Customers may not be seeing value from your products and services leading to attrition
Questions to Ask Yourself
- Do I have a real heart for our customers? Do my people share a heart for our customers, with a relentless drive to make it better for them?
- Are we laser focused on our customers?
- Are there any distractions that need to be set aside?
- Are my people continually learning and staying in sync with our customers’ needs as they evolve and change?
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