The 2 most important steps in strategy (that most CEOs overcomplicate)

I work with CEOs and founders, and the biggest mistake I see is this:
They make strategy more complicated than it needs to be.

They want to talk competitive advantage, market power, moats… all important, but mostly theoretical—until you nail the two most basic steps:

1. Pick your target customer.

2. Build a marketing funnel that converts.

A SaaS entrepreneur I worked with built an incredible product—an all-purpose issue management system. On paper, it could do everything. The problem? It was designed for everyone, which meant it was designed for no one.

No clear customer focus = no clear buying process = no marketing funnel that worked.

After months of flatlining, he worked with me and made a radical change: he picked a very tight customer segment and built a funnel directly around their buying journey.

Within a month, everything shifted.
Leads started flowing. Deals started closing.
Six months later, growth was steady, and investors were lining up.
He eventually cashed out with a big acquisition—and today he’s living on his ranch in Tennessee, making angel investments.

It all started with one decision: go narrow.

The lesson:
Until you choose your customer—and choose with discipline—you’ll be stuck in theory-land. Strategy only becomes real when it hits the ground in a customer’s buying process.

Here are 5 questions to help you define your target audience:

1. Who needs what you offer?

2. What keeps them up at night?

3. What have they already tried?

4. What transformation do they need?

5. What does their buying funnel look like?

That last one is the key.

Answer it well, and you’ll know exactly how to build a funnel that connects at every step of their journey.

If you’re a CEO or strategy leader, resist the temptation to start with the grand theories. Start with the basics: pick your customer, build your funnel.

Do that, and everything else becomes a lot easier.

—
Stay lucky,
Alex

Alex Nesbitt
Founder, Strategy Academy

P.S. When you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you:

(1) Contact me for 1:1 CEO coaching and advisory services

(2) Take my online master class (use coupon code SUMMER25 for a $50 discount) - Strategic Thinking for Advantage

(3) Apply to the Strategy Accelerator program for leaders and strategic professionals who want to master strategy in action.