August 2026 Newsletter
Five Critical Traits of High Performance Companies
Are you completely prepared to optimize sales, profits and the value of your business in 2026 and beyond? CEO Advisor, Inc. works directly with CEOs, presidents and business owners of small and mid-sized companies, and we have helped many companies achieve their goals, optimize their sales and profits and grow their business to the next level.
What does it mean to be a high performance company today? Most companies take a unique approach to the way they recruit talent, motivate employees, hold employees and vendors accountable, and create long-term customers. Many companies claim to be high performance companies, but few have the leadership or processes in place that actually allows them to do things the competition only dreams of.
Here are five critical traits of high performance companies:
1) 100% Sales Culture
In a true sales culture, everyone is proactive and is accountable - the CEO, the sales team, account management, customer service, marketing, operations, all the way to human resources. Making everyone proactive and accountable helps the company become all about growth and customer success. In a true sales culture, everybody talks to customers, everyone is a prospective or existing customer, and the goal is for every action to positively impact the customer. This enables a singular focus on the customer's success in every single thing that the company does.
2) Insane Focus on Their People This is what I like to call Winning As a Team. Smart companies have developed a methodical and more predictable approach to whom and how they recruit, how they train, and how to keep people motivated and on goal. For example, train your sales team weekly in sales meetings, set sales goals, track these sales goals and reward sales team members for achieving the goals with pre-determined bonuses. Hold the sales team members accountable for their goals and measure the goals annually, quarterly and monthly at a minimum. A heightened focus on achieving goals can be a result of increased success. Other companies may say, "People first," but at its core, you can't just believe it, you have to act on it.
3) Track, Measurement, Results
Companies that track, measure and review key performance indicators (KPIs), metrics and goals gain a distinct competitive advantage. This gives CEOs and presidents insight into the productivity of employees weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually and ultimately drives your employees to achieve goals, success and results. The leadership at high performance companies is empowered with up-to-date information in the form of a Management Dashboard on employees, sales, marketing, operations, financials and customer issues. This enables CEOs, presidents and business owners and their managers to improve performance, identify needed course corrections early, motivate and empower employees, create more opportunities for employees resulting in less employee attrition, and increase the bottom line.
4) Service, Service, Service
Focus on the customers' needs. This concept might be the most important. We all know that happy customers are the best, long-term customers. Additionally, by focusing on the customers' needs, you will uncover many desired products and services that you can upsell and cross-sell to them. Businesses that go above and beyond to show the customer that they have their best interests in mind, while valuing their products and services by adequately charging customers, are the companies that perform and grow at the highest level. Companies that not only track their own performance, but the satisfaction of their customers create long-term, loyal customer relationships.
5) Accountability
A critical component of leadership is accountability. This includes holding yourself accountable, and holding your managers and employees accountable, as well. This takes discipline and fortitude that so many entrepreneurs and business owners lack on a day-to-day basis. The consistency and discipline that is needed in your business is something that you may not possess in your daily life. Accountability is important in all aspects of every business and is extremely costly and time consuming when it does not occur. Create accountability by tracking and reporting on all aspects of your business as a core part of your business, and fulfillment, opportunity and success will follow for you and your team.
CEO Advisor, Inc. can help your company achieve these five critical traits and become a higher performing company. We work with CEOs, presidents and business owners of small to mid-size companies to grow your business to the next level, address your pressing challenges and plan your Exit Strategy.
For a free initial consultation, contact Mark Hartsell, MBA, President of CEO Advisor, Inc. at (949) 629-2520, by mobile phone at (714) 697-3370, by email at MHartsell@CEOAdvisor.com or visit us at www.CEOAdvisor.com for more information.
Disclaimer. This article is provided solely for educational and informational purposes. It is not intended for business or other types of advice. The views expressed by CEO Advisor, Inc. reflect general observations on various business issues.
What does it mean to be a high performance company today? Most companies take a unique approach to the way they recruit talent, motivate employees, hold employees and vendors accountable, and create long-term customers. Many companies claim to be high performance companies, but few have the leadership or processes in place that actually allows them to do things the competition only dreams of.
Here are five critical traits of high performance companies:
1) 100% Sales Culture
In a true sales culture, everyone is proactive and is accountable - the CEO, the sales team, account management, customer service, marketing, operations, all the way to human resources. Making everyone proactive and accountable helps the company become all about growth and customer success. In a true sales culture, everybody talks to customers, everyone is a prospective or existing customer, and the goal is for every action to positively impact the customer. This enables a singular focus on the customer's success in every single thing that the company does.
2) Insane Focus on Their People This is what I like to call Winning As a Team. Smart companies have developed a methodical and more predictable approach to whom and how they recruit, how they train, and how to keep people motivated and on goal. For example, train your sales team weekly in sales meetings, set sales goals, track these sales goals and reward sales team members for achieving the goals with pre-determined bonuses. Hold the sales team members accountable for their goals and measure the goals annually, quarterly and monthly at a minimum. A heightened focus on achieving goals can be a result of increased success. Other companies may say, "People first," but at its core, you can't just believe it, you have to act on it.
3) Track, Measurement, Results
Companies that track, measure and review key performance indicators (KPIs), metrics and goals gain a distinct competitive advantage. This gives CEOs and presidents insight into the productivity of employees weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually and ultimately drives your employees to achieve goals, success and results. The leadership at high performance companies is empowered with up-to-date information in the form of a Management Dashboard on employees, sales, marketing, operations, financials and customer issues. This enables CEOs, presidents and business owners and their managers to improve performance, identify needed course corrections early, motivate and empower employees, create more opportunities for employees resulting in less employee attrition, and increase the bottom line.
4) Service, Service, Service
Focus on the customers' needs. This concept might be the most important. We all know that happy customers are the best, long-term customers. Additionally, by focusing on the customers' needs, you will uncover many desired products and services that you can upsell and cross-sell to them. Businesses that go above and beyond to show the customer that they have their best interests in mind, while valuing their products and services by adequately charging customers, are the companies that perform and grow at the highest level. Companies that not only track their own performance, but the satisfaction of their customers create long-term, loyal customer relationships.
5) Accountability
A critical component of leadership is accountability. This includes holding yourself accountable, and holding your managers and employees accountable, as well. This takes discipline and fortitude that so many entrepreneurs and business owners lack on a day-to-day basis. The consistency and discipline that is needed in your business is something that you may not possess in your daily life. Accountability is important in all aspects of every business and is extremely costly and time consuming when it does not occur. Create accountability by tracking and reporting on all aspects of your business as a core part of your business, and fulfillment, opportunity and success will follow for you and your team.
CEO Advisor, Inc. can help your company achieve these five critical traits and become a higher performing company. We work with CEOs, presidents and business owners of small to mid-size companies to grow your business to the next level, address your pressing challenges and plan your Exit Strategy.
For a free initial consultation, contact Mark Hartsell, MBA, President of CEO Advisor, Inc. at (949) 629-2520, by mobile phone at (714) 697-3370, by email at MHartsell@CEOAdvisor.com or visit us at www.CEOAdvisor.com for more information.
Disclaimer. This article is provided solely for educational and informational purposes. It is not intended for business or other types of advice. The views expressed by CEO Advisor, Inc. reflect general observations on various business issues.
Four Growth Strategies to Maximize Your Profits and Value
Conducting strategy and planning to grow your business and increase sales, profits and the value of your business is critical. There are several methods for implementing a growth strategy.
Four growth strategies in business include:
Market ExpansionProduct ExpansionDiversificationAcquisition
Below is additional information on these four growth strategies that you can use in your planning to implement with your management team to accelerate growth, maximize profits and optimize the value of your business. The first three growth strategies focus on organic growth, while the last growth strategy focuses on acquisitions for growth.
1. Market Expansion Growth Strategy
A Market Expansion growth strategy involves selling your current products and services into new markets, either in new industries or new geographic markets - or both. There are several reasons why companies consider a Market Expansion strategy. First, the competition may dictate that there is little room for growth within the current market. If a business does not find new markets for its products, growth in sales and profits will be restricted - in fact, profits will tend to decline over time. A business may also use a Market Expansion strategy if it finds new uses for its current products and services in new markets.
2. Product Expansion Growth Strategy
A business may also expand its product line or add new features to increase its sales and profits. When companies employ a Product Expansion strategy they continue selling within the existing target markets. A Product Expansion growth strategy often works well when market conditions change, such as competition enters the market, or technology starts to change. A business may also be forced to add new products as older ones become outdated or obsolete.
3. Diversification Growth Strategy
Growth strategies in business also include Diversification, where a company will sell new products to new markets. This type of strategy can be more expensive and risky, and companies will need to plan carefully when using a Diversification growth strategy. Market research is essential because a company will need to determine if customers in the new market will potentially like, need and purchase the new products.
4. Acquisition Growth Strategy
The above strategies focus on organic growth, and most CEOs and business owners focus solely on these strategies. Growth strategies in business can also include mergers and acquisitions. With an Acquisition growth strategy, a company purchases the Stock of another company, or purchases the Assets of a company without taking on the liabilities to expand and grow. A business may also use this type of strategy to expand its product line and enter new markets, as well as, acquire needed talent and deeper management or needed intellectual property.
An Acquisition growth strategy can also be risky, but not as risky as a Diversification strategy. One reason is that the products and market are already established in an operating company with an Acquisition strategy. A company must know exactly what it wants to achieve when using an Acquisition strategy, mainly because of the investment required to implement it.
CEO Advisor, Inc. specializes in advising on all aspects of growth for small and mid-size businesses. Our mission is to grow your business to the next level, as well as, advise you on growth strategies. Contact Mark Hartsell, MBA, President of CEO Advisor, Inc. for a no cost initial consultation at (949) 629-2520, by mobile phone at (714) 697-3370, by email at MHartsell@CEOAdvisor.com or visit us at www.CEOAdvisor.com for more information.
Disclaimer. This article is provided solely for educational and informational purposes. It is not intended for business or other types of advice. The views expressed by CEO Advisor, Inc. reflect general observations on various business issues.
Four growth strategies in business include:
Market ExpansionProduct ExpansionDiversificationAcquisition
Below is additional information on these four growth strategies that you can use in your planning to implement with your management team to accelerate growth, maximize profits and optimize the value of your business. The first three growth strategies focus on organic growth, while the last growth strategy focuses on acquisitions for growth.
1. Market Expansion Growth Strategy
A Market Expansion growth strategy involves selling your current products and services into new markets, either in new industries or new geographic markets - or both. There are several reasons why companies consider a Market Expansion strategy. First, the competition may dictate that there is little room for growth within the current market. If a business does not find new markets for its products, growth in sales and profits will be restricted - in fact, profits will tend to decline over time. A business may also use a Market Expansion strategy if it finds new uses for its current products and services in new markets.
2. Product Expansion Growth Strategy
A business may also expand its product line or add new features to increase its sales and profits. When companies employ a Product Expansion strategy they continue selling within the existing target markets. A Product Expansion growth strategy often works well when market conditions change, such as competition enters the market, or technology starts to change. A business may also be forced to add new products as older ones become outdated or obsolete.
3. Diversification Growth Strategy
Growth strategies in business also include Diversification, where a company will sell new products to new markets. This type of strategy can be more expensive and risky, and companies will need to plan carefully when using a Diversification growth strategy. Market research is essential because a company will need to determine if customers in the new market will potentially like, need and purchase the new products.
4. Acquisition Growth Strategy
The above strategies focus on organic growth, and most CEOs and business owners focus solely on these strategies. Growth strategies in business can also include mergers and acquisitions. With an Acquisition growth strategy, a company purchases the Stock of another company, or purchases the Assets of a company without taking on the liabilities to expand and grow. A business may also use this type of strategy to expand its product line and enter new markets, as well as, acquire needed talent and deeper management or needed intellectual property.
An Acquisition growth strategy can also be risky, but not as risky as a Diversification strategy. One reason is that the products and market are already established in an operating company with an Acquisition strategy. A company must know exactly what it wants to achieve when using an Acquisition strategy, mainly because of the investment required to implement it.
CEO Advisor, Inc. specializes in advising on all aspects of growth for small and mid-size businesses. Our mission is to grow your business to the next level, as well as, advise you on growth strategies. Contact Mark Hartsell, MBA, President of CEO Advisor, Inc. for a no cost initial consultation at (949) 629-2520, by mobile phone at (714) 697-3370, by email at MHartsell@CEOAdvisor.com or visit us at www.CEOAdvisor.com for more information.
Disclaimer. This article is provided solely for educational and informational purposes. It is not intended for business or other types of advice. The views expressed by CEO Advisor, Inc. reflect general observations on various business issues.
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