Top Executive Coaching with Tony Mayo

How many new sales do you need to recover the cash lost in just one poor negotiation? If your net margin is 10%, you would need $1,000 in new business just to cover the deficit from giving away a single $100 discount.

Every dollar that poor negotiating removes from your price is a dollar of pure profit lost; free cash flow you have utterly wasted.

The most shameful part is, because you failed to negotiate well, the customer didn’t even appreciate the bargain you gave away.

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Everybody lost!

I have read a lot about negotiation and even written a little, but most of the literature is for buyers trying to get better price and terms. Advice for the other side of the table, the salesperson, is harder to find. My executive coaching client, Raj Khera, CEO of MailerMailer, has just put a superb, free guide for business owners on his blog. Titled Negotiating price: how to overcome price resistance, Raj’s post is concise and practical. Apply his simple advice and increase your profits.

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Business Week has a short article about Jerry Levin, the former head of Time Warner. He lead the merger with AOL. The merger is generally considered a disaster for Time Warner and Levin left under pressure. What did he learn?

From the article and his life after leaving the executive suite, it sounds like he learned how to learn:

…understanding that it’s O.K. to be open and vulnerable, to ask for help.

To state it in different terms, it’s probably helpful to invoke the feminine principle and be compassionate, empathetic, understanding, give respect to everybody, don’t get deluded by the natural hierarchy. And don’t get too self-satisfied that you have all the answers.

He has gone on to establish a holistic retreat, Moonview, with his wife. What learning is he most eager to share with executives?

My strong advice would be to find a calm, meditative state every day. With the tempo of executive life, that seems almost impossible, but it’s probably the most important thing that you can do.

Namaste, Mr. Levin, and thank you.

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I am a great fan of the social networking site for professionals, LinkedIn. It is a powerful business tool. While discussing its use and value with a group of business people whom I was coaching, I made a promise to write recommendations for everyone in the group.

I was, as usual, feeling drained and tired by the time I got back to my office after facilitating the executive coaching session. I wanted to keep my word, so I spent about an hour writing 30-50 word referrals for each of these clients and posting them on LinkedIn. Then I got on with my usual work.

I noticed that something important that night;

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Tony’s executive coaching has been very valuable to the growth and development of DIAMOND Marketing. For example, he’s helped us identify and then develop key business relationships that have taken the firm to a higher level. We were unaware of most of these potential partners before working with Tony. All have paid significant dividends.

Fred Diamond, President
Diamond Marketing

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I discussed with other executive coaches the same topic during two teleclasses. We explored the ethics of coaching a person on producing a result that had direct, significant impact on the coach’s personal finances. On the first call, I felt pretty sure that it would be ethical to coach someone with the agreement that I would share in that person’s increased sales, profits, stock price, etc. I was also comfortable with the idea that I could make part of my agreed fee contingent upon the client producing a particular result. I am now sure that is a bad idea.

I shifted my opinion during the second teleclass. I saw that if I, as an executive coach, become attached to a particular tangible outcome, whether it affects my compensation or not, I will be taken away from executive coaching toward some sort of manipulation, that is, I would

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Lessons for managers from how the Army re-made itself between Vietnam and Desert Storm.

I was moderating a conference of business owners in the late 1990s as they lamented the poor work habits and other failings of “Gen-Xers.” Finally, I’d had enough so I said, “Say what you will about body piercing and Starbucks, I don’t think that’s the key issue. It looks to me that our generation’s contributions were the drug culture and Vietnam while the present generation has given us the Internet and Desert Storm.” The question becomes, how did this happen? Into the Storm provides part of the answer.

I am a baby-boomer who came of age in the Vietnam era, so my interest in things military was slight and my general opinion of military organization, I’m ashamed to say, came more from Catch-22 and MASH than reality. Yet, the U.S. Army has done some huge and useful things, so I was willing to take a fresh look with this book.

In the aftermath of Vietnam, “the Army began a revolution in

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I worked directly for Tony at pingMEDIA and found him to be focused, insightful and a great manager. He was able to break down any opportunity and effectively go after it efficiently. Tony’s knowledge and enthusiasm was instrumental in the company’s development. In my professional life, Tony stands out as the most honest and honorable person I have ever had the good fortune to work with.

Stephen Goldsmith

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I keep a graphic representation of my calendar on the World Wide Web so clients can choose the best times to request appointments with me. It is just an image of my availability; I do not reveal with whom I am meeting. Clients still need to contact my office to set the actual appointment. Here is the link to my availability calendar:
http://www.mayogenuine.com/availability.htm

Clients and other coaches often ask how I do this. I created a simple

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I have been repeatedly surprised to hear from many of my CEO executive coaching clients that, of all the many skills needed for the top job, one area where they often readily admit weakness is in financial insight. They rely on their accountants or a “numbers geek” to watch and even interpret company results. A fundamental reason for this blind spot is, I believe, that so many CEOs are highly visual, intuitive thinkers. Rows of precise digits are not their preferred form of communication. It is essential, therefore, to display financial and quantitative data visually to have it used and absorbed by these executives.

A second flaw in most

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Tony has the unique ability to bring out the best in you. In executive coaching sessions, he can articulate thoughts so clearly that you understand yourself and your options better after just a quick conversation.

He is a straight shooter, knows when and how to dig deeper to get to the root of an issue, and stays on top of your goals so you achieve more fulfillment in your own life, personally and professionally. I HIGHLY recommend him.

Tony’s ability to cut through the clutter and get to the heart of an issue very quickly, keeps us on our toes and eager to attend our one-to-one executive executive coaching calls as well as our group meetings. It is what Tony brings to the table – his ability to focus the dialog and bring out the best in the members – that sold me on membership in his CEO coaching group.

Raj Khera
MailerMailer LLC.

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