Growth Insights for CEOs

Your Buyers Have Already Shortlisted You—Or They Haven't
Executive Takeaways
- 95% of B2B buyers purchase from the vendors on their initial shortlist, formed before any formal buying process begins.
- That shortlist is increasingly built inside AI platforms your analytics can't see.
- AI referral traffic is roughly 1% of total website traffic, yet 15% or more of conversions appear to originate from AI-influenced research, a gap standard attribution misses entirely.
- If you're not on the Day One list, spend alone won't fix it.
Part 3 of our four-part series on the evolving AI search landscape and what B2B leaders need to know to stay competitive.
Recent Posts

The Digital Growth Imperative for Small- and Mid-Sized Businesses (SMBs)
Thu, Apr 19, 2018 — There are many ways to think about growth, and many models to help stimulate your thinking. One of the more traditional, best known, and still effective models, is this one:

An Equitable View: Four Questions to Ask in Gauging Your Company’s Market Potential
Tue, Apr 17, 2018 — Private Equity investors, as a rule, have a propensity for looking before they leap. Known for their discipline and attention to detail, PE investors rarely reach for a dime without conducting a fair amount of due diligence. Most potential PE investment activity has within its foundation a document known as the investment thesis – essentially, the private investors’ “white paper,” outlining in detail how value will be created and a return made on the investment within the target exit timing. Often the primary drivers of this thesis are restructuring costs – fixed overhead, asset deployment and operating expense. Another driver relates to the sales force – in particular, whether an addition of headcount or selling tools would drive more sales, and increase effectiveness.

The New "Growth Kid" on the Block: Introducing Horizon (Zero)
Wed, Apr 11, 2018 — Since the introduction of Horizon Growth planning in the late 1990’s, businesses which have successfully understood and adopted this multi-year approach to generation of new revenue and profit streams have realized the benefits of forward planning. Horizon Growth planning was introduced in 1999 in a book titled The Alchemy of Growth: Practical Insights for Building the Enduring Enterprise by several McKinsey associates (Baghai, Coley, White). If you want to read a Cliff Notes version of Horizon Growth planning from the author, you can read excerpts here.
Stay up-to-date with the latest from Chief Outsiders

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?

Supercharging Your SWOT, Step One: Consolidating Your SWOT
Wed, Jan 10, 2018 — Conducting your SWOT analysis was fun, wasn’t it? It allowed you to take a break from working in your business, and allowed you to work on your business — a valuable step back during which you were able to take a breather from the day-to-day grind, and view the big picture of your business with clarity. No matter how long your SWOT process lasted, undoubtedly, once you got rolling, the information flowed — resulting in a growing cavalcade of lists that characterized your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

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.

Do I Need a Chief Growth Officer? Five Questions to Ask Your Top Marketer in 2018
Wed, Jan 3, 2018 — Back when my hair was long, and my taste in music was more eclectic, I was a huge fan of the musician Neil Young. Among the great albums he issued was one called “Rust Never Sleeps” – introduced at a time when newer artists threatened his relevance.

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.

CEOs: What’s your Competitor’s Plan to Win?
Wed, Oct 18, 2017 — Part 4 of Creating Sustainability for the Business “How could she not see this coming?” Look in the mirror. Armed with a strategic plan built on the foundation of purpose and stocked with customer insight, it’s now time to look closely at the competition. Learning how your competitors plan to defeat your strategy will fortify your plan to achieve long-term success.