This has been “one of those weeks” for the business world. We all woke up on Tuesday with fears that the markets were in for their worst performance since the crash of 1987.

A lot has changed since the pandemic including remote work and hybrid models, “AI” and the digital transformation of things, an evolved focus on mental and physical health, changes in social interactions, increased environmental awareness, continued focus on climate change, and continued political volatility and social unrest.

Earlier this week, I shared some ideas and insights about ways of preparing for the upcoming big sales meeting. That blog post generated lots of interest and many questions in my inbox.

As a follow-up, and to present some additional ideas, I am pleased to share a specific application of an immersive simulation-centric meeting experience.

What is a “Walk in the Mile in the Shoes of Your Customer” Business Simulation?

Imagine for a moment you are a sales professional selling superior quality consumer products to a retail store buyer. The buyer is responsible for generating revenue, driving profit, and satisfying the needs of their consumers. They are under tremendous pressure daily to make the right choices in terms of the vendors they work with and the products they buy. One mistake could be catastrophic. By understanding the strategic and financial metrics of the customer, the sales professional can engage in a different conversation. A conversation that avoids talking about the features of the product they are selling and focuses on how much revenue and profit our product can add to the customer’s P&L.

As the calendar turns to August and the dog days of summer are upon us, the last thing many Sales leaders are thinking about is that big Q1 2025 Sales Meeting. But you know it will be here sooner than you think and the last thing you want to do is scramble to throw something together at the last minute that doesn’t excite, motivate, or train your team to sell more.

The reason I am writing this blog is that we have several innovative and thoughtful clients who are already planning their January and February 2025 national sales meetings and have asked us to develop business simulation workshops to be integrated into their agendas.

Like blood that flows through our human bodies to keep us alive, cash flows through a business to keep it alive. Cash Flow and having cash to run continued operations is one of the most important parts of the business. Managing cash flow is one of the most critical skills within the business acumen portfolio.

As I continue my life’s journey of helping our client organizations build their business acumen skills, it has become more apparent than ever that we have a lot of work to do in this area.

Most of our learners “get” the Income Statement and Balance Sheet pretty easily. The Cash Flow Statement is a different story. The Cash Flow Statement, which helps us understand the sources and usages of cash from an operations perspective, investing perspective and financing perspective can be challenging because of its complexities and nuances. However, without a foundational understanding of how it works, senior leaders down to first-time supervisors can make huge, game-changing mistakes.

To help provide some insight and clarity, I am borrowing some of our very own business acumen content to share some ideas and information about the criticality of cash flow.