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The Chief Outsider
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Recent Posts
Turning Competing Revenue Team Truths into Market Insight
| Executive Takeaways |
| Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success each see valid but incomplete versions of the market. |
5 Steps to Building Customer Service into your Company's DNA
Wed, May 15, 2013 — This is an updated version of an article published in Yahoo Voices by Barbara Fowler, CMO and partner at Chief Outsiders "Make new Friends but Keep the Old Ones" True for Customers too. Positive customer service experiences are the key to building and maintaining a business. Multiple studies have repeatedly concluded that gaining new customers is much more difficult than keeping your current customers. A delicate balance must be kept between actions that go above and beyond in retaining customers and actions that focus on immediate costs or promote profitability for an organization. Just as important as this balance is the integration of a high quality customer service approach or mindset throughout all departments of a business.
"I Don't Know Anyone Here" - 8 Tips on What Not To Do!
Sun, May 12, 2013 — This is a revised blog, originally posted on UNDER30CEO. I am sure most of you have been in a situation similar to mine. Last month, I attended Social Slam in Knoxville, Tenn. I knew absolutely no one who was going to the conference, but I decided to attend because I believed it was relatively close to my new home in Charleston, S.C. (Seven hours later, in a tremendous rainstorm, I arrived. I stand corrected.) The experience gave me the opportunity to adopt a fresh perspective on attending a conference as an unknown. I knew it would be hard to go and meet people, but I figured, “So what? I’m an adult.” I was up for it — and you should be, too. Pushing myself beyond my comfort zone improved my networking skills and expanded my circle in new ways.
Whole Brain Brand Positioning
Fri, May 10, 2013 — There are innumerable articles, books and classes devoted to aspects of developing a distinctive brand positioning. And, why not? Your brand positioning should drive all communication, and, as a wise man once told me — EVERYTHING communicates. However, the elements of brand positioning have become disjointed and disconnected over time, as focus shifts form one aspect to another. Also, it feels like brand positioning has become unnecessarily over-complicated by the scholarly focus, causing the project of sitting down to develop a new brand position to end up on the “someday, maybe” pile for many busy CEOs. Developing a differentiated brand positioning is nothing more than making sure your brand occupies a unique, distinctive and relevant place in your target customer’s mind (get it? Brain, Mind…), so they consistently choose your brand in preference to that of your competition. It allows for consistency of message and experience across time and across management. It articulates your brand’s DNA across all aspects of the brand — from your brand identity/logo to packaging, from creative and media to distribution strategies, and from promotional offers to new product development plans.
The Difference between CEOs That Manage vs. Lead
Fri, May 3, 2013 — Today's blog is by guest blogger Kevin Dincher.
The Perfect Storm – Why Sales and Marketing Are Changing
Wed, Apr 10, 2013 —
Want to Grow your Company? Let’s Talk!
Sun, Apr 7, 2013 — Today's blog is by guest blogger, Kevin P. Dincher, Crazy Moon Consulting, LLC
Cracking the Code of Organizational Change
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 — It was 1996 when John Kotter first published Leading Change and told us that 70% of all major change efforts by businesses fail. Nearly two decades later there is little evidence that any improvement has occurred, and this 70% failure rate has become axiomatic in business development and change management circles. Despite some individual successes, change remains difficult—and few companies manage change successfully. Organization change is a strategic imperative in today’s fast-paced business environment. Unfortunately, in the pursuit of change and trying to be the best, CEO’s and their executive team frequently chase after the latest and greatest idea. They lose focus and become mesmerized by all the advice available in print and online about why companies should change, what they should try to accomplish, and how they should do it. This proliferation of recommendations often leads to failure. Cracking the Code of Change
Bridging the Gap Between Marketing and Sales
Sat, Mar 9, 2013 — Guest blogger Carlos Nouche from Visualize. Many companies today grapple with a misalignment between marketing, sales, and the executive staff. This can cause a case of the “mis”- missteps and miscommunication, which lead to lower productivity and, ultimately, lower profits. According to a 2010 report by Aberdeen Research, companies who are “best-in-class” at aligning marketing and sales had 20% average growth in annual revenue as opposed to a 4% decline in “laggard” organizations. It is important for CEOs to lead the charge in aligning marketing and sales (critical aspects in any business) to develop momentum that feeds upon itself and moves your organization forward. Marketing Challenge: Marketing teams struggle today to maximize marketing dollars spent on lead generation, product positioning, analyst relations, and sales materials. Often these marketing resources are not targeted to reaching the ultimate buyer nor do they use a common framework that allows for sales to take immediate action in the field.
5 Super Tips for a CEO Faced with a Media Interview
Wed, Mar 6, 2013 —