Growth Insights for CEOs
Bob Sherlock
Recent Posts

When Customer Value Becomes the Growth Engine
Executive Takeaways
- Differentiated value, not better targeting, moves the accounts that matter most.
- Insight is understanding what a customer's situation means for their business, not just knowing it.
- Shift from capability-led messaging to outcome-specific conversations, then prove the impact.
- Rigorous ABM works because it forces real customer understanding and demonstrated results.
This blog is part of Chief Outsiders’ New Growth Imperative series, designed to help CEOs and leadership teams engage executive decision-makers at targeted strategic accounts by turning deep insights into compelling customer value.
Recent Posts

Sold, not Bought: The Marketing of Unfamiliar Solutions
Mon, Nov 20, 2017 — Several years ago I met Davis, an executive in Ohio, who segmented his product lines into “Bought, not Sold” and “Sold, not Bought.” “Bought” products, he said, were familiar to prospective buyers. They had self-diagnosed what they needed and self-prescribed a product solution for that need. Often, they’d previously purchased a product in the category. By contrast, a “Sold” product presented an unfamiliar solution—so the prospect couldn’t self-prescribe, and may not have self-diagnosed. In fact, their need could be latent and wouldn’t be recognized without prompting.