Growth Insights for CEOs

From Loyalty Programs to Leadership: What 20 Years in CRM Taught Me About Organizational Growth
Executive Takeaways
- The principles that build customer loyalty work just as well on your best employees and partners.
- Salary and bonus are table stakes. What keeps top performers are the moments that make them feel like insiders.
- Internal friction is as damaging as friction in a customer journey — and just as fixable.
- Generic recognition retains no one. Tailored moves do.
Loyalty programs taught many of us how to turn casual buyers into raving fans. My 20 years in CRM and loyalty for brands like Marriott, Amazon, and American Express—and leading a $3B customer platform—taught me something bigger: The same system that keeps customers coming back also keeps your best people from leaving. When growth stalls, most CEOs reach for the usual levers: more demand gen, more recruiting, more channels.
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Mon, Oct 24, 2016 — Is it possible to hit our growth targets every time? American sharpshooter Annie Oakley, also known as “Little Sure Shot,” would say it is. In fact, legend has it that the famous markswoman was known to consistently slice a playing card perfectly in half with a single bullet – and as a child, she was so reliably successful at game hunting, that she used her skills to pay her parents’ mortgage in full.

What Giraffes can Teach You about Building a Strategic Growth Plan
Thu, Jul 23, 2015 — A funny thing happened as animal beings evolved over the past several billion years – one such beast was bestowed with the ability to get a bird’s eye view of all it surveyed – while staying firmly planted on the ground. The giraffe can grow up to 18 feet high, with nearly half of that height accounted for with a neck and head. The giraffe, rightfully so, is often chosen symbolize taking in the big picture, communication and gracefulness. This, my friends, is why you will understand when I say you need to roadmap like a GIRAFFE – visualizing your organization from a broad view before fabricating the details of its long-term strategic direction.