In a bid to impact the organisation and drive change, the chief financial officer (CFO) and their colleagues must become the consummate sales team.
As the business world continues to evolve, the power of sales does not reside only in the realm of the company's chief marketing officer.
A CFO must develop an organisation adept at communicating, reporting, and analysis, as ideas and feedback must be clearly articulated within the company. This will help in realising the full impact of the organisation’s efforts and expertise.
Knowing the customer
The CFO is intimately involved with virtually every aspect of the business, spanning from interactions with the CEO and executive leadership on new or key strategic business initiatives, to negotiating deals with third parties, to dialoging with cost-center heads over budget submission.
The role entails an almost constant state of selling new ideas or solutions to issues, with each of these scenarios having different internal and external customers to listen to, to understand and to serve.
The customers of the finance team include not only the ultimate customers of the business itself, but also each unique vendor, department or division.
Many CFOs deal with the issue of identifying stakeholders as “customers,” and tend to not approach these interactions as a sales process.
Outside sales are rarely a one-meeting accomplishment and should be approached expertly.
Building and selling a sales team
Careful thought and planning should be given to the hiring and development of individuals who have the skills to perform the necessary technical tasks of finance and to embrace and acquire the business communication skills for success.
In the business world, time is frequently wasted in inadequately written emails or poorly written memos that do not clearly communicate issues or potential solutions.
An effective CFO must focus on building a team that embraces and excels at communication through writing effective and accurate emails, memos, and analytical comments in reports.
The final step in this process is that a CFO must effectively communicate and sell to the company leadership the importance of the finance team and the short- and long-term strategies, necessary investments and value being driven by the finance organisation.
The CFO should thoughtfully prepare, plan, and sell the importance and value that the finance team brings each and every day to the organisation.
