Don't Shy from Business Execution

Our discussions had been promising.

The company was a start-up operating in what is commonly referred to as stealth mode. They had built out a feature rich software product in a market poised for expansion. Customers had signed on. Financing was banked. From a public relations and social media perspective there was a lot to work with.

We viewed the company as primed for sales execution. They had corporate and product messages in place that had proven to resonate with prospects. Yet, they insisted on the need for a comprehensive and thorough evaluation of this messaging, along with what would likely be a slow-role testing with industry analysts and influencers.

Ugghhh!

We shared two thoughts:

1. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.


2. You’re the only one that cares about your messaging. Your key audiences are focused on themselves and their problems.


I guess that was the wrong answer as we haven’t heard from the start-up since.

However, I truly believe our counsel was on target. While I’m no proponent of the “ready, fire, aim” school of business execution, my experience working with clients of all sizes has led me to conclude that many executives spend too much time inwardly focused on planning.

Think, evaluate, decide, execute and then revise accordingly.