During the recent webinar, Inventory Fitness – Governance, Targets, and Segmentation, we took audience questions and answered them.
Here are some issues that people in industry face and are interested in finding a solution to!
Question 9 of 14
Question:
How do we convince the CEO to focus on developing inventory strategy when they are more focused on sales, and are not very approachable?
Answer:
Oh, this one’s a tough one.
We at Oliver Wight have all experienced this from your side of the desk. Nobody (at Oliver Wight) gets to do what we do without having worked in industry.
I’ll say that in my experience, step one is making a case for change and being able to make that case for change in a language the CEO understands. CEOs don’t typically care about the minutiae. They’re looking at the big picture, so the units are dollars.
The political ramifications are huge. So, to make the case for change, I mean, we both had to provide good and bad news to people above us.
Working toward and keeping in mind leadership’s goals, top line, if that’s misaligned, then we’re going to need to manage their goals a little bit. So, talking about the right language, profit, EBITDA, market image, customer complaints, and whatever their pain point is, using that to make the business case is essential. That’ll catch their ear.
Makes sense?
Absolutely. And building on that, in many senses, it’s about how you can help them make their numbers. So, for example, if they need to tidy up the balance sheet, maybe now is a good time to take write-offs on obsolete inventory.
Or if, for example, they need to increase cash flow, then maybe it’s a matter of running down stocks and maintaining a more consistent level of days on hand.
In each case, you can make a case for supporting the goals and objectives of the business. And in doing that, as Leon said, if you speak the language of making the number, I think that you’re going to get a pretty fair hearing.
Yep. And even if you have their ear, sometimes you are not the right messenger for that. This is the lesson we’ve all learned. We’ve all burned scars from this.
Oftentimes, it’s good to bring the news yourself. There are times when you send an emissary.
If you, and not somebody necessarily disposable, but somebody who’s going to catch that C-level person’s ear. So, if you know someone else on the board, on the leadership team, or someone who’s trusted by that C-level person and can bend their ear a little bit because you’re going to want to find out what that language is the CEO understands, that’s going to help. This is actually where Oliver Wight can pitch in. We’ve carried a lot of tough messages to leadership teams.
Oftentimes, when people ask us what we do, the answer will be, We’re a marriage counselor for broken leadership teams, or, We help leadership teams make their numbers. So, we’re pretty well-practiced in both developing and carrying those tough messages. Either way, that’s not just a pitch for us. Make sure you’re not endangering your livelihood in doing this.
There are times to carry the message yourself. There are times to send an emissary, and this is a super interesting challenge that we face all the time. So, you know, give us a buzz. We’re more than willing to talk about this.
Great advice. Thank you.
Remember, we’d be happy to chat with you about any of this in more detail.
And if you’re interested, check out our schedule for upcoming business process improvement courses that we offer throughout the year to help you achieve business excellence.