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Recent Posts
When the Founder Is the Rainmaker: How to Scale Without Losing the Spark
In many founder-led businesses, the founder isn’t just the leader—they’re also the best (and often only) rainmaker. They land the big deals. They have the trusted relationships. They know the pitch inside and out because they are the pitch.
It works—until it doesn’t.
As the business grows, this model creates a bottleneck. Every new opportunity depends on one and only person. And it’s the same person every time. But there’s a downside. When that person is also responsible for running the business, mentoring the team, and shaping the vision, something eventually gives.
How CEOs can Leverage Multiple Best Practices: Integrating Horizon Growth Planning with EOS/Traction
Fri, Mar 16, 2018 — What happens when you combine two best practices? Do you get best practices on steroids? Are two best practices always better than one? Is there a chance that they conflict with each other? Can they be used in a complementary manner to accelerate your business’ growth and performance?
CEO’s Guide to Improving the Customer Experience
Wed, Feb 21, 2018 — Part 1 of a 3-Part Series "The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer." - Peter Drucker With that simple, concise statement management consulting legend, Peter Drucker, captured the essence of business. He also made it clear it all starts with the customer. That’s never more true than today. The era of the empowered consumer, driven largely by technology, has resulted in customers demanding more of companies and wanting the experience to be delivered on their terms.
Only the Paranoid Survive: Three Steps to Being a Disruptive Innovator
Thu, Jan 11, 2018 — There is a much-ballyhooed Harvard Business School case study which examines the competition between athletic shoe companies Nike and Reebok -- before Nike became the behemoth it is today, and when Reebok was a tiny company making its first attempts at scaling up. Nike, at the time, was a “runner’s runner” shoe, aimed at the hardcore, “rise-at-5 a.m.-and-run-like-the-wind” customer. Nike’s signature advertising visual at the time was very compelling: The perspective, down the length of a deserted Manhattan avenue in the early morning hours. A glimmer of the sunrise peeked around one building; no traffic or people were around – with the exception of a lone runner, a tiny figure against the cityscape. It characterized what Nike stood for – hardcore training -- and that famous ad resonated hugely with Nike users. It was about the discipline and fulfillment of running. Shoe comfort at the time, while adequate, clearly was secondary.
Get in “Gear”: How a Market Focus Can Propel Your Company Forward in 2018
Fri, Jan 5, 2018 — For CEOs reading this blog, you are undoubtedly working to emerge from a bit of holiday malaise in your enterprise. Though you would love to enjoy peace on earth and spreading good will to all mankind, you still have a business to run – and 2018’s benchmarks, objectives and targets will be here before you know it.
The Marketing Health Check: 5 Questions to Ask Right Now to Prep for 2018
Wed, Dec 13, 2017 — Another calendar year is just about in the books – and the atmosphere around most businesses is decidedly festive. Your staff, no doubt, is thinking about spreading cheer, forgetting about old acquaintances, and making plans for that dead zone between Christmas and New Year’s when the most mission critical strategic consideration is whether to drive or fly to grandma’s house for the holidays.
Turn it Around: Apply the Visions of a Microsoft CEO to Your Business
Mon, Nov 13, 2017 — I just finished the new book, “Hit Refresh,” written by Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft. More than just a memoir, the tome is a mid-course report of Nadella’s learnings about life and leadership, and how he is applying these lessons in specific ways to turn around Microsoft. Nadella likens the techniques in “Hit Refresh” to those of refreshing a web page – every time you do it, some of the content stays, and some is replaced by new content. Repeated refreshes over time creates a whole new web page, just as repeatedly learning, and then applying these lessons to our lives, creates a more capable, up-to-date person.
What is Account-Based Marketing and Why CEOs Should Care
Wed, Nov 8, 2017 — If you are the CEO of a B2B company, you may have heard of the latest innovation in generating revenue: Account-Based Marketing (ABM). This article will explain the why’s and what’s of ABM so that you can ensure your company is driving the maximum results. Let’s face it: your leads probably suck. They suck either because there aren’t enough of them, or the quality is poor. Most likely it is both. Your sales team is always asking for more and better leads – and you are too.
Is The “VP of Sales and Marketing” Role Becoming “Mission Impossible?"
Thu, Oct 26, 2017 — Here’s to those of you who currently have that title and are performing effectively in a “Vice President, Sales and Marketing” role today! If you are confident, balanced and managing both roles effectively at the same time, you are unique. I think, though, that this combined role will become less common in the future. Here’s what is driving my thinking. I’ve been in a VP Sales and Marketing role in three companies. Most recently, I served in an interim VP Sales role added to an interim VP Marketing role for a client which had an unplanned executive opening. After five months of trying to perform both roles productively and with balance, I have greater empathy for those who have that title and who actually can do both concurrently.
Got a Big B2B Deal On the Line? Three Questions to Ask
Mon, Oct 23, 2017 — Consider this situation: A large enterprise service firm – we will call them “Steady Company” - spent two years cultivating a Fortune 500 prospect. Their selling approach was professional, persistent, and “by the book.” They asked penetrating questions to fully understand their prospect’s needs. They had a “top-to-top” of the key players from both sides. They identified decision makers at each level, and crafted detailed execution plans to support their bid. They understood the competitive bidder’s relative advantages and disadvantages.