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Beyond the Buzzwords: How CEOs Can Build a Truly Resilient Business
In every keynote, article, and boardroom conversation, “resilience” gets tossed around as the Holy Grail of leadership virtue. But resilience is more than just surviving economic turbulence—it’s about turning disruption into a competitive edge.
Too many CEOs treat resilience as a slogan rather than a strategy. Real resilience is built in advance, not claimed during a downturn. It starts with clarity regarding where you are in the economic cycle, where you’re headed, and how to align your people and resources accordingly.
Respected Boss? Trusted Coach? Why Sales Managers Need to Be Both
Mon, Apr 7, 2025 — As a front-line sales manager, distinguishing leadership from management responsibilities is critical to a sales team’s culture and success. Distinguishing between the two helps managers be more intentional about developing these very different skill sets. Sales leadership focuses on inspiring and developing people, while sales management concentrates on processes and immediate results. Effective sales professionals must balance both roles.
Tariffs and Your Next Chapter: Turning Disruption into Go-to-Market Growth
Mon, Apr 7, 2025 — Tariffs have been around for centuries. Commonly used to protect emerging industries or bolster national security, tariffs have evolved beyond trade tools into economic levers that can shift markets overnight. Tariffs have re-entered the conversation for mid-sized business leaders, especially those with global supply chains or international customer bases. But here's the thing: reacting like it’s still 1995 won’t cut it.
Helping Clients Nail Their Target Market™ in EOS®
Mon, Apr 7, 2025 — Four Steps Every Implementer Can Use to Drive Clarity and Growth One of the most critical decisions your clients will make in their Sales and Marketing Strategy is identifying their Target Market™ — the group of people or organizations for whom they solve a clear problem, in a compelling way. Getting this right isn’t just a branding exercise. It’s foundational to the ability to set the right strategy, message, and Sales and Marketing Rocks™.
Sales Terraformance: A Scientific Approach to Sales Growth
Fri, Mar 28, 2025 — Most companies deploy a sales “force.” Too often, this means a bunch of people do things with good intentions, but their combined efforts do not meet company growth expectations. Most CEOs and Founders would like a better salesforce but struggle with how to impact the “art and science” of sales improvement. At Chief Outsiders, we believe more science can help uncover and develop the insights, strategies, and execution required to achieve breakthrough performance.
What Marketing and Sales Executives Can Learn from Each Other
Fri, Mar 28, 2025 — In too many organizations, marketing and sales operate in silos—sometimes friendly, sometimes not. But in today’s fast-moving business landscape, the best-performing companies know that the relationship between all revenue functions – typically the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Chief Sales Officer (CSO) - is not just important. It’s mission-critical.
Leveraging AI: Is Your Company Future-Ready? | A Roadmap of Eight Essential AI Steps for Success
Mon, Mar 24, 2025 — A BCGX study reveals just 6% of companies have trained 25%+ of their workforce on Gen AI tools, yet 100% will require upskilling within two years. With Accenture projecting AI will augment 40% of work hours and McKinsey forecasting 70% automation of business activities by 2030, the urgency for strategic AI adoption has never been greater.
A Different Perspective on Marginal Cost Pricing
Fri, Mar 7, 2025 — I pulled up behind a Prius at a red light. A sticker on its left rear bumper, in type too small to read unless you were within a car length or two, said: “Sorry for driving so close in front of you.” A different point of view on the tailgaters that clearly bug that vehicle owner!
The AI Revolution: Why SaaS Companies Must Adapt or Become Obsolete
Fri, Mar 7, 2025 — In 2025, AI agents are revolutionizing the SaaS industry, transforming traditional cloud-based applications into dynamic, self-optimizing platforms. For business leaders, this trend represents a seismic shift from FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) to FOBO (Fear of Becoming Obsolete), with the rapid pace of AI adoption and its transformative potential driving noticeable shifts in strategy.
Unlocking Business Growth: The Power of USP, Value Proposition, and Positioning
Wed, Jan 15, 2025 — As a CEO, you understand that growth depends on effectively communicating the value of your products and services to your customers. However, our language and strategies to convey that value can often get muddled. That’s where understanding key concepts like Unique Selling Proposition (USP), Value Proposition, and Positioning becomes crucial to driving brand differentiation and customer loyalty. In this post, I’ll break down the differences between these terms and explain how they contribute to the growth of your business.