Without a bit of industrial espionage, it might be pretty impossible to get an answer to that question :-)))
Still, it needs to be considered. And the goal should be ‘better than our competitors’.
I know, a bit of a vague KPI, right?
But here’s the thing – 82% of businesses that go bust go bust because of cash flow issues.
Even profitable companies go bust when they fail to pay their bills because they haven’t got the right amount of cash, in the right place, at the right time.
So as vague as it is, we should be determined to hit that impossible-to-hit KPI.
Because being best at collecting the cash might just be the ultimate competitive advantage.
Which is why, if you’re a smart CEO you will ensure that everyone you employee – no matter what their role – is a good custodian of your cash flow.
Everyone.
Yes, even your top salesperson. Because ‘the sales not made until you’ve been paid’.
Glib, maybe.
But ‘cash flow’ is way too important to be left just to ‘accounts’.
And it should definitely be on your list of important things to measure.
Like it was for Jack Welch, the legendary CEO at GE who once said:
“If I had to run a company on three measures, those measures would be customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and cash flow.”
And if cash flow was important enough to get onto ‘Neutron Jacks’ top three, it’s good enough for me.
How about you?