Paul Sparrow

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Paul Sparrow is a Managing Partner based in Charleston, South Carolina. He places battle-tested CMOs and CSOs in right-sized client engagements to generate growth strategies that achieve revenue acceleration and profitability. Paul is a business growth expert with over 30 years of strategic development and execution in a variety of industries and organizational settings, including Fortune 50, startups, turnarounds, and emerging growth. He can be reached via email at psparrow@chiefoutsiders.com or at (615) 351-7189.
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Recent Posts

Your Buyers Have Already Shortlisted You—Or They Haven't

Your Buyers Have Already Shortlisted You—Or They Haven't

Wed, Sep 2, 2026 | Posted by Sabrina Donley

 

Executive Takeaways

  • 95% of B2B buyers purchase from the vendors on their initial shortlist, formed before any formal buying process begins.
  • That shortlist is increasingly built inside AI platforms your analytics can't see.
  • AI referral traffic is roughly 1% of total website traffic, yet 15% or more of conversions appear to originate from AI-influenced research, a gap standard attribution misses entirely.
  • If you're not on the Day One list, spend alone won't fix it.

Part 3 of our four-part series on the evolving AI search landscape and what B2B leaders need to know to stay competitive.

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