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Outsider Insights | From Hustle to System: Why More CEOs Are Rebuilding Their Sales Function
Outsider Insights
Across Chief Outsiders, we talk to hundreds of CEOs every month. In this new series, we explore the trends and challenges we’re hearing from these discussions – and what you can do if you’re facing the same issues in your business.
Consider These Six Focus Areas Now to Secure Market Success in 2023
Thu, Jan 12, 2023 — By: Rich DePencier and Scott Wright After the bubbly has lost its fizz, and the first quarter is – ready or not – swinging into motion, thousands of SMB owners, founders, and CEOs are looking to encourage and cajole their senior leadership to finalize their 2023 plans. But, framed against the backdrop of economic headwinds, hiring challenges, and political headlines, this year’s planning process is taking on a whole new sense of urgency. Rather than mapping out a strategy for maintaining the status quo or eking out incremental growth, it is clear that 2023 requires a dig-deep mentality. The question you may be asking as you face what’s to come is: What is my company’s next “big idea” -- and how will I get the team to achieve a loftier set of goals?
Stemming the Tide: How Conscious Leadership Can Stop the C-Suite Revolving Door
Wed, May 18, 2022 — Co-Authored by: Dana Prestigiacomo, CMO, Chief Outsiders Jim Fallon, Consultant, Conscious Leadership Group Gone are the days of the CEO for life. Today, when a well-intentioned, freshly-recruited CEO enters the doors of the highest executive office at the company, those doors typically are left propped slightly open. In fact, over the past several years, the average tenure of a corporate CEO has plummeted to just under seven years – a worrying notion for companies with consistency on their minds. In reality, the notion of leadership has changed -- and the change has accelerated over the past few years, starting at the very top.
Does the 80/20 Rule Apply to Executives?
Fri, Feb 11, 2022 — The Pareto Principle It was business management consultant Joseph Juran who suggested the 80/20 principle and named it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto – citing that for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. It was 1906 when Pareto observed that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. He then noted that 80% of the peas in his garden came from 20% of the pea pods. Today, in business, many have observed this “Pareto Principle” across various company operations:
The Entrepreneur’s Growth Playbook: Part Three
Thu, May 27, 2021 — Marketing Strategy: Bringing Your EOS® to Life Written by: Paul Sparrow, Area Managing Partner & CMO, Chief Outsiders with Samuel Kniseley Ballesteros of The Advantage Solution and a Professional EOS® Implementer For anyone who’s ever held a circular saw or tin snips, you know the importance of measurement. With the exception of artist Pablo Picasso and perhaps architect Frank Gehry, precise measurements are absolutely critical in gaining the right result. If you have a manufacturing business, you know what we’re talking about – think about what your supply chain would look like if you didn’t bother to measure things like delivery time, for example. Your customers would rebel, your reputation would suffer – and you may not have a business for very long.
The Entrepreneur’s Growth Playbook: Part Two
Tue, May 18, 2021 — EOS Vision: Defining Your Long-Term Plan Written by: Paul Sparrow, Area Managing Partner & CMO, Chief Outsiders with Samuel Kniseley Ballesteros of The Advantage Solution and a Professional EOS Implementer There’s a reason that unexpected success is credited to a “shot in the dark.” Because the tiny percentage of entrepreneurs who have succeeded this way managed to do so without the most essential trait of business success – vision. The rest of us will need the lights on and a great set of binoculars – not just to see what’s ahead, but to use that visualization in creating sustainable success. And for 66 percent of CEOs, you are going to need clear vision to avoid joining the pile of failed small businesses that couldn’t survive past their first decade.
Innovation, Part 2: Finding the Discipline Needed to Reinvent and Reinvest
Thu, Jan 28, 2021 — What does it take to be a change agent in a world that doesn’t stop changing? My last blog on change and innovation referenced Billy Joel, and you may recall his song, “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” essentially a history lesson of the 1940s through 1980s in three minutes. If we asked The Piano Man to write a tune forecasting the 2020s, it would likely last an hour – and still not cover everything.
Innovation, With a Purpose: Use 2020 as a Springboard for Change
Fri, Jan 22, 2021 — Alas, it was many moons ago that one of my favorite musical artists, Billy Joel, sang those insightful words: “Don’t go changing to try and please me.” No matter how eloquent or visionary he might be, the “Bard of Brooklyn” couldn’t have foreseen that a pandemic would all but mandate change as a means of business survival. Now we must all go changing, to try and please EVERYONE. Fueled by the ongoing digital revolution, lockdowns, economic turmoil, and a global financial shakeout, we can generally agree that the tried and true has given way to the untried, and new.
Your Sales and Marketing Pros Are At Odds – Here’s How to Get Them Aligned
Thu, Dec 3, 2020 — Since the era of cavemen, the roles of Sales and Marketing professionals have been fairly well defined. The earliest marketers would create awareness for that remarkable new invention, the wheel; and the salespeople would roll it down the streets, sharing the features and benefits to interested customers, then collect five dodo-birds in compensation. In the million years since, Sales and Marketing departments still have a similarly symbiotic existence -- but a lot seems to have changed in the digital era. Today, the gap between Sales and Marketing represents a gray area at most companies — from the smallest distributors, to the largest multinational enterprises.
Driving Growth in Service Businesses
Tue, Nov 3, 2020 — Creating a sustainable and predictable growth engine is critical to increasing revenues, profits, EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization), and the corresponding multiple in a service business. Creating a successful engine is more than just an annual plan or an intriguing digital marketing strategy. To succeed in their marketplace, service businesses must shift their thinking to implement the appropriate combination of revenue growth planning, processes, and talent.