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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.
Driving Toward the Long Game: Is your Business Geared for Lasting Success?
Fri, Jun 9, 2017 — In business, the road to financial success, it can be agreed, isn’t always paved in gold. Whether pocked with potholes, laden with land mines, or strewn with stones, the goal isn’t just to keep all four tires on the highway – instead, it’s to ensure you arrive at the destination. One question that you must continually ask yourself along the way – is your business built to go the distance? Understanding whether you’re playing the long game, or the short game, in business can be the key to weathering the road hazards beneath you, or the storms above.
CEOs: What do You Stand For and Who Cares?
Thu, May 25, 2017 — Part 2 of Creating Sustainability for the Business I often work with CEOs who have created an idea and started a business. They grew sales and needed to hire more people along the way, even managers. Most loved the creative journey of getting the business off the ground. They started out thriving as an expert in a business function or leading the development of a product or service. Over time, they grappled with the increasing demands of managing a business with many other function or process leaders. Some have grown the business to the point where they decided to bring in a President to do much of the leading and managing of the business for them. This is the time when answering the question, “What do you stand for?” becomes critical.
What B2B E-commerce can Learn from Consumer Retail
Tue, Apr 25, 2017 — The world of consumer retail is in the midst of rapid transformation. Traffic in brick-and-mortar stores is decreasing. Consumers are moving away from shopping malls. Traditional advertising—whether via direct mail, TV ads or newspaper and magazine ads—is losing its relevance.
Five Steps to Ensuring Strategic Planning Success
Mon, Apr 10, 2017 — Strategic planning – two words that need not strike fear in the hearts of corporate executives. After all, if you think about it, we’ve all been strategic planners since childhood – setting our objectives, then figuring out the best way to make them happen. Like the time you figured out that if you wanted Santa Claus to come, you HAD better go to bed first. And when you were older and setting your sites on a special college. You did your research to understand what they were looking for, you took the right classes and participated in the best extra-curricular activities--all in an effort to present yourself as the type of student they would consider. Of course, now that you are a CEO, the stakes around strategic planning are maybe just a tad bigger. In the bid to get our highest-quality products or services to the market, it will be the strategic planning process – scaled appropriately, of course – that will get us there. Understanding which combination of markets, pricing, offerings for each market segment, distribution channels, communication channels and the like is integral to cracking the ROI code. And with so many options to power today’s strategic plan, it’s hard to fully understand which to do first, and which to leave by the wayside.
Grow From Within: Three Ways to Enlarge Your Slice of the Pie
Sat, Feb 25, 2017 — Psst. I have a secret. I’m talking to you, CEO. While your counterparts are handwringing about how to grow their business by earning more customers, or by stealing more customers from their competition, you and I are going to have a Zen moment.
3…2…1… We Are “Go” for Product Launch
Wed, Feb 8, 2017 — Part 1 – Gathering Strategic Insights B2B product companies have to move quickly to innovate and release new offerings to remain viable and sustain growth. All too often, B2B companies rely too heavily on their sales channels to launch their products. Because we are always connected to the Internet, your sales prospects have access to a wealth of information making the traditional sales journey less relevant. Your marketing team now has a greater responsibility than ever in driving success of a new product launch.
Is Your Business Planning or “Strategically” Planning?
Mon, Jan 9, 2017 — You might be thinking… “This is the year that my business really focuses on developing the best strategic growth plan.” Then the process starts and the questions surface… Am I developing a strategy or a plan? What’s the difference? If they are different, does my business need both?
As the World Turns: What Globalization Really Means to Your Enterprise
Wed, Jan 4, 2017 — This could very well be the shortest blog you ever read – this New Year, or last! That’s because, at the moment I decided to begin a series of blogs covering the megatrend of globalization, the New York Times decided to announce that it is dead. Though the sentiment of this particular New York Times feature was fueled by the recent U.S. election of Donald Trump, I wanted to make sure that my particular viewpoints on globalization were still valid.
A Dog’s Eye View of Marketing: Six Steps To Ensuring Customer Delight
Thu, Dec 29, 2016 — Dogs, it is said, are man’s best friend. Exceedingly loyal, our four-legged canine buddies want to follow us when we walk, doze when we nap, and sometimes plop themselves at our feet when we are busy writing blogs. But, heaven forbid, if we were to slide over to them a bowl of dog food that they found to be appalling, they become quite single-minded. They protest. They turn away. And all that loyalty? Pfft. Out the window.