Why sales skills are your secret weapon as a CEO

Posted on by michael nitschke
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When I took over the family real estate agency suddenly at 30, when my father passed away, I had no management or leadership experience. I was the top salesperson in the team, but I had no idea what I was doing.

I knew how to bring in business, but not how to run a business.

I thought I was at a deficit, not knowing how to nurture a team, especially during tough times (while they were grieving the loss of their boss, too). But not having a business degree or management experience under my belt ended up being the best thing.

Why? I didn’t come in with pre-conceived notions or judgement for the shape of the business. I called in outside advisors and got to work.
No experience meant having no ego.

When I finally found out the financial state of the business, I knew exactly what to do in order for it to survive: Revenue.

My sales skills help keep the business afloat, not my business skills (or lack of).
Sales skills are a CEO’s secret weapon.

Don’t overlook your sales experience

If you know how to bring revenue in the door, you’ll always be in business. The operational issues can always be solved, especially when your cash flow and revenue are healthy. When you’re worried about making payroll, you can’t make clear decisions as a leader.
While it’s important to level up from technician (sales agent) to visionary (CEO), it’s also comforting to know you can get back ‘on the tools’ if you lose a key salesperson or need to bring in more revenue.
It’s muscle-memory:

  • Getting on the phones
  • Door knocking
  • Calling old clients
  • Revisiting your contact book.

Whereas for a CEO who hasn’t had a career in sales doesn’t know how to quickly activate business. It’s harder to learn at a later age because you need to put the reps in and a lot of sales mastery is psychological.

If you’re new to the business side, sign up for my 30-day free email education course that’ll help you level up as a leader.

Spending any amount of time in sales before becoming a leader, especially if it’s at the same company, will give you irreplaceable insights that you can’t get coming in as an outsider. You have personal experience, so therefore can understand the psyche of salespeople, to better mentor the team.

If you feel like you’re falling short on the business side of things, here’s where you should start:

  • Get your systems, processes and workflows in order. Most small businesses operate without structures. Let the systems support you.
  • Establish a leadership team. You don’t have to do this alone. This works for SMBs in any industry.
  • Assemble an awesome sales team, so you can focus more time on being CEO.
  • Keep your contacts close. Don’t let relationships atrophy, even if you’re not actively selling. You might need to one day.

Make sure you’re on my email list, if you want to lead an industry-defining company.