The CEO hits the road (and other sales tales)

Kenneth Macke, CEO of Dayton-Hudson, the soft goods and discount store chain, often spends weekends prowling his own and competitors' stores, observing. Edwin Artzt, CEO of Procter & Gamble, once interrupted a global marketing jaunt to work with a division on its promotion plans. These are CEOs in the trenches, a place where they ought to spend a certain amount of their time so that they can learn how the business is going. "A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world," says John le Carré, as quoted approvingly by the author. Mackay asserts that time spent on the road with the sales force is especially valuable. You will learn: Whether all the sales team knows its prospects and sets reasonable expectations. How much the salespeople know about the product, particularly in ways that differentiate it from the competition. Whether the sellers keep abreast of changes in customers' businesses. If the salespeople feel they have a stake in the business. As a rookie envelope salesman, Mackay was taken in tow by a veteran and shown the value of learning the competition's local customer base intimately. Later, as the CEO with a junior salesperson in tow, he demonstrated the value of learning not only the competition's moves but also the customers'. To close sales, salespeople and the CEO have to look over their customers' shoulders as well as their competitors'.