Attract Clients By Thinking Like A Coca-Cola Chief Growth Officer

Grow or die. This is the truth of running a business, whether you are self employed or are in the top 10 of the Forbes “World’s Most Valuable Brands” list like The Coca-Cola Company.

Are you the chief growth officer of your company? What are you doing to manage the growth of high-paying clients?

In a recent news item, The Coca-Cola Company announced in December of 2019 that chief growth officer Francisco Crespo, 54, will retire in 2020, stepping down after a three-decade career with the company. Crespo was named to the newly created position of CGO in May 2017. 

What do you have in common with a company that has 500 brands in more than 200 countries and territories, and employs 700,000 people? Probably more than you think.

As CGO, Crespo had oversight of integrated global marketing, corporate strategy and customer and commercial operations. 

“Francisco has played a critical role in the success of our company in recent years, especially in helping develop a growth strategy that has become thoroughly embedded in our operations and our culture,” said James Quincey, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. “He leaves an important legacy of helping make us more focused on fast-changing consumer needs at a critical time.”

Maybe you are a solopreneur or an independent consultant, or maybe you run a small business. Here are some questions to help you think like a chief growth officer:

1. Are you thinking about growth?  You need a growth strategy. There is something in business called the growth imperative. To paraphrase a country song lyric, you got to get busy growing or get busy dying. Death is a natural process, even for a business.  Everything ends. But not on your watch.
2. How are your client needs changing? Crespo knew that consumers want less sugary drinks. What are the trends in your world?
3. How many offerings do you have? You should have a signature product or service. When I was a newlywed and thinking about a home mortgage my mom gave me this budget advice: “Always leave enough money in the budget so you go out for Coke.” Now I buy many products from Coca-Cola, but not Cokes or Diet Cokes or Coke Zeroes. Thanks to Crespo there are other offerings I can choose like Minute Maid juice and Dasani water.
4. Are you being agile? “We know consumer needs are changing faster and faster, and it is critical for the company to be agile in how it responds and adapts,” Quincey said. The only constant in business is change, so be agile.

For full disclosure, I sold what little stock I owned in Coca-Cola a few years back when my doctor informed me that I had already consumed my lifetime supply of soda and I should let others have their share. But obviously I am a Coca-Cola watcher.

If you are a student of marketing like I am, I highly recommend the next time you are in Atlanta to visit The World of Coca-Cola museum that showcases the history of Coca-Cola. That’s where they keep the secret formula for Coke in a vault. Getting insights into the marketing evolution of Coca-Cola is a real education.