Growth Insights for CEOs

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.
Recent Posts

Are you Ready for the Next Senior Living Crisis?
Thu, Mar 30, 2023 — Use Insights to Uncover Your Unique Value Prologue It was the kind of headline that no one wanted to see: Whispers of a global pandemic became a reality on American shores, with the first high-profile widespread case hitting a nursing home in Washington state in January 2020. It was a crisis that no one could predict – one that left many residential facilities scrambling, without a cost-effective marketing strategy in place to continue acquisition efforts.

Why Generative AI Will Eat Your Website and Change B2B Marketing Forever
Tue, Mar 28, 2023 — The Tsunami We’ll start with an opinion and put it upfront to save you time. B2B marketing is over as we know it. Full stop. A tsunami of buyer behavioral change is coming. Generative AI will truncate buyer research cycles and steal away with the first-party and third-party data that drives so much of our buyer engagement.

Four Ways that Fractional Leadership is Transforming a Resource-Starved World
Fri, Mar 24, 2023 — In a world where much is spoken about uncertainties, there still are many things that are as certain as ever. Despite the impact of a shaky global economy and a population still looking to shake off Covid’s impacts, hard work – and ingenuity – still rule the day. Individual efforts of unaffiliated workers comprise more nearly 60 percent of the U.S. workforce today, thanks to modern socio-economic values that embrace such flexibility. This also has given rise to a new trend -- building and leveraging common shared resources, especially at the upper tiers.
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The Retailer’s Dilemma - Acquisition or Retention?
Thu, Mar 23, 2023 — Last year, the CEO of JCPenney talked with the Wall Street Journal about “doubling down on existing clients.” That got me thinking about that often ignored, but important aspect of marketing for many companies – retention. For some companies, keeping a customer is far more profitable than acquiring a new one. But is that true for all? I suggest it’s not.

A CEO’s Guide to Growth | Part 1
Wed, Mar 22, 2023 — Part 1: Introducing the GROW Blueprint In less than 30 years, the lifespan of an S&P 500 company declined from an average of ~ 32 years in 1996 to a projected 19 years in 2023. By 2030, experts predict companies will last a mere 17 years. The trends will be no different for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

Wizard or Witch? How to Keep Your Business Ahead of the Tornado
Tue, Mar 21, 2023 — My little sister, the owner of an upscale hair salon in Georgia, called last week. Twice. No message. In our family that means a twister has touched down in the backyard, so “call me back – now.” I eventually reached my dear sis and she spat, in a Wizard-of-Oz-Lions-and-Tigers-and-Bears-Oh-My tone of voice, her concerns over the economy. The collapse of two banks. Rampant inflation.

Is ChatGPT Going to Change Search Marketing?
Tue, Mar 21, 2023 — Microsoft’s recent announcement on adding ChatGPT AI Technology to Bing must be sending warning signals to Google on the future of search marketing. With the integration of ChatGPT in Bing, the search engine will be able to provide results in a natural language – more conversational than a list of links that is today’s norm.

“It worked really well, until it didn’t”
Thu, Mar 9, 2023 — Over dinner with Ted, the retired founder/CEO of a successful company in the electric power sector, I heard an interesting story with a widely applicable lesson.

How to Use ABM to Drive Revenue Growth and ROI: Part 4
Tue, Feb 28, 2023 — By: Carol Eversen and Jeff Loeb Part 4 - Getting Started with ABM In part 3 of our four-part ABM blog series, we explored the technologies available to support ABM and articulated how different tech stack elements can be leveraged to support your ABM program. We also provided thoughts about the essential elements of reporting for an ABM initiative. In part 4 we focus on the best strategies for ABM programs and offer a framework to help determine whether ABM is right for you, and, if so, the flavor of ABM to deploy. We also provide practical advice about how to get started with an ABM pilot program.