Business Growth Strategies For CEOs: Top CMOs On Marketing Strategy Implementations

Karen Hayward

Karen Hayward is a Managing Partner and CMO of Chief Outsiders. Karen is a results-oriented marketing, sales and operations executive with a proven track record for building and executing strategic programs that accelerate revenue. Karen’s industry marketing awards include a DemandGen Top 10 Award for "Using Sales and Marketing Automation to Fuel Corporate Growth" (2008 - CenterBeam) and a Stevie Finalist recognition for "Best Marketing Department" from the American Business Awards. In 2004, Karen was named a “Selling All-Star” by Selling (a monthly publication of Institutional Investor. She has also been a featured speaker at Interop 2007, On24 Webcast on Lead Farming, and a guest lecturer at USC East Bay. In 2010, Karen was recognized by CRN as one of the "Power 100: The Most Powerful Women of the Channel" for driving top-line revenue growth and revving up CenterBeam's social media program. Karen holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

What Does it Take to Innovate? Part 5: Choosing a Development Methodology and Testing, the Second and Third Phase Gates

Fri, Oct 1, 2021 | Posted by The Chief Outsider

Why innovate? Your business depends on it.

By Angus Robertson, Ahmet Abaci and Beth Somplatsky-Martori

In the first blogs in this series, we talked about how to get started with innovation and ideation, and building a business case – essential components in what we are calling the “Stage Gate Lite” approach to fostering and accelerating new product and service ideas within your organization.

Now it’s time to talk about what happens when the rubber hits the road. And trust us – this can be a very messy part of the process. We are reminded of a quote from that famous innovation guru, Mike Tyson, who once said that “everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” At this point, though you may have some glancing blows aimed in your direction, we hope in this blog to give you some processes on how to handle this turmoil and maintain your course.

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The 1 Percent Secret: How to Price Your Product for Mid-Market Revenue Success

Fri, Aug 18, 2017 — Psst. I have a secret for you, CEO. How would you like to learn one easy, surefire way to immediately add more than 10 percent in operating profits to your bottom line? Before you declare this another attempt at “fake news,”– let me assure you, this is a legitimate, real, and practical offer. Though it requires very little in terms of effort to achieve – it does require a leap of faith, and resolve of focus, that many CEOs have either been reticent, or reluctant, to make.

Tuning Your Lead Generation Engine: One Expert’s View on How to Fill Your Funnel in 2017

Thu, May 11, 2017 — The subject of lead generation has always been near and dear to my heart – even more so when I am engaged by companies that are seeking to evolve their business development practices and struggle with where and how to get started. Lead generation has become an increasingly complex landscape to navigate with a plethora of services, solutions media and approaches.

Take the “Path to Closure” to Ensure Forecast Accuracy Success

Tue, Jan 17, 2017 — Only a half a generation ago, we thought we had it made, technology-wise. Getting onto the World Wide Web was as easy as loading up the latest CD mailer from America Online; and we were able to send important messages to beeping little black boxes that resided on our belt clip or purse strap. We truly had it made – or so we thought.

Enabling the Sale: How to Handle Requests for Customer References Without Losing Momentum

Thu, Sep 8, 2016 — Sales and marketing in the B2B space is ever-evolving, often disrupted with new technologies or strategies that revolutionize traditional processes. Sales enablement is a relatively new concept in the B2B sales industry, one that refers to the utilization of training, tools, metrics and marketing alignment to maximize a deal’s potential and close it faster, no matter the product or service.

Growth Insights for CEOs