Today I interviewed Mark Kuta, who will make you think like the CEO of the brand called YOU!
Mark Kuta has sold over $94 million in technology solutions to C-Level executives. A significant number of these sales were at greater than list price – an unheard of feat in the software industry. Mark has closed deals in a variety of different industries, as demonstrated by his client list which includes General Motors, TRW, General Electric, Honeywell, NACCO, Juniper Networks, Delphi, Steelcase, Ingersoll-Rand, Emerson Electric, Harris Industries, Grupo Industrial de Saltillo, Cisco Systems, Qualcomm, Agilent and Vitro, SA.
Since formalizing the Wall Street Selling Methodology™ in the book “Think Like a CEO,” he’s become a highly sought-after speaker for national conferences, as well as an advisor to senior executives from companies throughout the world.
Mark, how does one think like a CEO? Wouldn’t you say that we are all CEO’s of the brand called us? Is everyone fit to be a CEO of a company?
Yes, we ARE all CEO’s of our personal brand. In fact, now that I authored this book, I have a business card representing the Mark Kuta Brand. I think that while everyone, like it or not, is a CEO of their own life, they are not born to be company CEO’s. However, there are many ways to prepare to climb the corporate ladder. You can certainly start at the ground floor of a business to learn it, but getting an advanced degree will help, and, of course, taking advantage of OPE, or Other People’s Experience is huge.
What was your experience like writing the book and attaching so many executive brands to it?
I wrote the book over a four year period as I traveled. I only read 4 books during that time, and whenever I wanted to kick back and pull out the latest bestseller, well, I’d look over at someone on the plane reading and think, “One day they will be reading Think Like a CEO.” The tough thing was I was closing a lot of deals over those four years, and I wanted to write about some of them in the book. Once the book was finished, it was remarkably easy attracting executives who wanted to review it.
Do I still need my MBA, or will this book’s teachings be sufficient?
I would absolutely recommend an MBA for anyone interested in getting ahead in the business world. What my book does is teach some techniques that you can use to get action out of an executive. While many B-Schools teach these methods, what they don’t teach is the application of these when one is selling to – or dealing with – senior executives. For example, the idea of Profit Strategies is something that I coined in order to align your product or service to a company’s strategy.
You won’t learn about Profit Strategies in graduate school. A number of readers who are not in sales are reading Think Like a CEO. I have a couple of presentations lined up, for instance, for an organization called APICS, and focusing on purchasing personnel. Someone bought my book and realized value and the next thing you know I’m on the podium there.
Why is it so important to understand your financial’s, as well as your companies. Does everyone need to understand cash flow statements and balance sheets?
I don’t think that anyone really needs to understand everything about financial statements. What you need to do is have the ability to deal with C-level executives. You need to understand what drives them. And what drives them is Wall Street. The thing about Think Like a CEO is that I focus only on what you need to understand, and it is always presented in a way focused to accomplishing your results.
The analogy I like to use is the US Secret Service. Do you know how they teach their agents to recognize counterfeit bills? They don’t. They teach them how to recognize the REAL THING. So, reading Think Like a CEO won’t make you a financial whiz, but you will understand what senior executives are interested in. You will be able to converse with a senior executive, probably just like YOUR CEO does now when he runs across another CEO at his club. That’s really what I’m after.
Describe one of your case studies you used in the book.
The beginning of the book describes a case where I felt like that guy in “Catch Me If You Can,” you know, the guy that pretends to be a doctor, or an airline pilot, etc. I was pretending to be a lean manufacturing consultant when I was actually a software salesperson. While not understanding anything about brake presses, kanban’s or TAKT time, I used the methods I outlined to close the deal with a bunch of Ivy League MBA’s. Thus, the subtitle of the book.
Was it harder selling your technology solutions or this book?
The book tends to sell itself, while technology solutions have a long and intricate sales cycle. I was in a meeting the other week (with a company that everyone would recognize, by the way) and started driving home their need to improve their Gross Margins. The senior executive who I was selling to said, “Mark, that’s just like in your book!” He had picked up a copy earlier and recognized what I was doing. So, I asked him what his CEO would say about that, and he said, “You know what he would say about that. That is why we are talking to you!”
What 3 tips do you have for people starting out in business today?
Set high goals. Look out there and make something your personal Normandy, or your personal Moon Landing. Once you set these goals, build good work habits. I discovered early on in my career that whether you are a salesperson or a factory manager, you will work long hours and probably have to do some travel. Learn to work hard and you will be successful. Finally, never stop learning. I’ve met people with one year of experience eighteen times over, and I’ve met people with true eighteen years experience. If you want to eat steak instead of bologna, you have the be that latter person.
