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AI Isn’t a Replacement—It’s an Accelerator: How SMBs Can Use AI to Elevate Human Performance Across the Organization, Part 2
AI as an Executive and Organizational Force Multiplier
In Part 1, we explored how AI streamlines execution in outward-facing functions like marketing, sales, and customer service. Now it’s time to turn inward. In this second half, we’ll examine how AI empowers internal operations, drives better financial strategy, and helps executive leaders see farther and act faster—without sacrificing the human qualities that make a business thrive.
Attention, Company Founders: Keys to Avoiding Colossal Marketing Flops
Mon, Jul 25, 2016 — They’re some of the worst American marketing flops of all time: Smith & Wesson Mountain Bikes, Cosmopolitan Yogurt, and Coors Rocky Mountain Water. These three powerhouses are some of the most well-known brands on the planet – and yet they still hit the skids when their seemingly unique and interesting idea failed to meet customer expectations and gain traction in the market.
How to Leverage Visioning to Drive Value
Tue, Aug 11, 2015 — There was a recent exchange on Twitter between Tom Peters and others debating Vision vs. Excellence. Rather than thinking about this as an either/or proposition, a third path – Vision with Excellence – creates the greatest value. As stated in a Japanese proverb – “Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.” Having a clear Vision of the future you want to create, taking the necessary steps to activate it and exhibiting the behaviors needed to make things happen are a powerful formula for driving growth and prosperity for your business. The following are steps that you can take to leverage visioning to drive value in your organization.
Marketing Requires Vision
Tue, May 6, 2014 — Over the years that I was in marketing leadership, I experienced the variety of misconceptions that companies had with marketing. It was rare to find a company that viewed marketing as a profitable tool to communicate the vision of the company. Instead, they expected marketing to compensate for their shortcomings, and somehow convince customers to prefer us despite our failures.
Marketing Budget: How much should a CEO spend?
Wed, Jul 17, 2013 — How much sould a CEO spend on a marketing budget? Whether or not it is the first question asked, it is usually one of the first questions a CEO thinks about when discussing his or her marketing efforts: how much should I spend on a marketing budget? Well, the average company spent 10.4% of its revenue on marketing in 2012. And according to Gartner, that marketing budget is scheduled to go up by 6% in 2013. Now this includes salaries of the marketing people, but it doesn’t include things like software licenses or servers for the data. And this spend widely varies for the types of companies from IT at 3.5% to over 12% for media companies.
CMO's Guide to "Hiring" the Right CEO
Sat, Jun 29, 2013 — Today's blog is by guest blogger, Des Cahill. I recently enjoyed reading Barbara Fowler’s blog post “Hiring the Right CMO”, which outlines the things CEOs should thing about when considering the right CMO for their company. As a CMO, I thought it would be interesting to flip the perspective and outline what a CMO should look for in a CEO they might work for. Caveat - my background is primarily as a marketing executive (CMO, VP Marketing, VP Product) in Silicon Valley tech companies both large (Apple, Netscape, Autonomy) and start-ups (efax.com, Ensighten). So my views reflect primarily a Silicon Valley tech and B2B perspective. I also spent 5 years as CEO of a start-up (Habeas), so I do bring a view from both sides when considering what it takes to create a successful working relationship for a CEO and CMO.
3 Ways to Drive Innovation – a CEO’s Perspective
Sun, Dec 16, 2012 — What makes some companies more successful than others? And what role does innovation play in this? I have always been fascinated by this topic, especially if the business is facing a turn-around situation.
![Market-Driven Strategy Doubles Annual Revenue for ISTN [CASE STUDY]](https://www.chiefoutsiders.com/hs-fs/hub/50878/file-14389357-jpg/images/business-strategy.jpg?width=320&name=business-strategy.jpg)
Market-Driven Strategy Doubles Annual Revenue for ISTN [CASE STUDY]
Tue, Dec 11, 2012 — In this case study, see how a market-driven strategy helped a business consolidate sales and marketing programs, increase revenue growth, and expand into new geographic markets. As a management buy-out company of a Westinghouse division, IST produced instrumentation and optics used in the nuclear power, defense, safety and spectrophotometer markets.
How to Differentiate When You’re Not That Different?
Sun, Nov 11, 2012 — Positioning is a critical step in any business’ marketing strategy. It defines the company, forms the basis for messaging, drives the marketing approach and impacts the way in which products and services are priced. To be effective, positioning must be clear, compelling and, most importantly, differentiated. One of the most common complaints I hear from sales people is that their company’s positioning sounds the same as everyone else they sell against. Their products are “innovative”, their services are “world class”, and they are “customer focused”. These are all examples of buzzwords that marketers use to try polish their position. But spin is not enough. Instead, business leaders need to find or create real differences they can leverage in the market. But how do you differentiate yourself when you’re not that different?
Sales is RIGHT? It IS Marketing's Fault?
Sun, Sep 30, 2012 — The Eternal Conundrum. The sales executive comes to you and says that marketing isn't delivering qualified leads. The marketing executive responds that they are delivering qualified leads, but the sales people can't close them.