The Practical CMO

Our guest is Tim Doyle, the Vice President of Sales at TopSpot, a digital marketing agency serving over 800 industrial and manufacturing clients. They discuss the current state of industrial marketing, characterizing it as uncertain yet still seeing strong growth in some sectors. Tim highlights a leadership void in many mid-size manufacturers and how fractional executive engagements can fill gaps. We dive deep into the current stat...

Unique markets have different levels of Marketing maturity, use different ways of going to market, have different metrics of success, and view the role of Marketing in their organizations quite differently. Sometimes, it’s too easy to get too focused on what you have traditionally done in Marketing, and also a challenge to look outside your unique market for best practices in other markets which you might adopt. In today’s program,...

Unique markets have different levels of Marketing maturity, use different ways of going to market, have different metrics of success, and view the role of Marketing in their businesses quite differently. Sometimes, it’s too easy to get too focused on what you have traditionally done in Marketing, and also a challenge to look outside your unique market for best practices in other markets which you might adopt. In today’s program, we...

The value proposition of most businesses is based on what they do well. In many cases, focusing on what the company does--the products they make or the services they offer--is neither differentiating nor compelling. Even more problematic, many value propositions do not offer clear benefits to the problems and challenges their customers face.

In this podcast, we will discuss creating value propositions on the “how” businesses create...

This podcast is a very unusual but realistic view of what Marketing does well and what it doesn’t do well. You’ve been promised big results with a quick turnaround. You’ve been told that social media is a silver bullet for increased sales (so far, you haven’t seen an impact). Your marketing team and vendors have overpromised and underdelivered, and you’re disappointed. You’re frustrated.

Perhaps you’re close to giving up on marketi...

This podcast offers a practical guide about how you can use the Intellectual Property (IP) you already have in your business to enhance your revenues and profits, create more competitive differentiation, make your business more attractive to business partners, and enhance your exit value.

Intellectual Property is a largely unexplored business opportunity for SMBs due to a seri...

Like many emerging technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) is making its way into the market through several applications. Emerging technologies are often misunderstood and misapplied early in their adoption. Even when the technology itself is ready for commercial application, individual businesses need the maturity and readiness to use these newer technologies effectively.

In this program, we will focus on how AI is being used...

Most business start-ups fail. The numbers are both compelling and ugly—only 10% of all business start-ups reach $1M in revenue and fewer than 1% get to $10 million.

What if you could beat the odds by employing four tested business practices? In this program, we are going to take a positive track and outline a set of proactive actions every business exec contemplating starting a business, or already actively building a new business,...

The adoption of “digital” in your business may be an initiative you have considered but consistently tabled. With markets rebounding from COVID and with quickly forming preferences which will transform the way business is done online, you may be behind the curve. “Digital” offers increased abilities to manage your employees and your customer acquisition and relationships as online business becomes more o...

With the pandemic impacts on many businesses, a shift to more digital marketing and digital engagement with customers is definitely a priority for many CEOs and Marketing execs. One bridge to be crossed is the shift, or addition, of e-commerce channels for products and service delivery. And the second bridge comes right after the decision to move online: should you consider Amazon a friend or a foe as part of your e-commerce strate...

Now that the shift to a higher percentage of remote workers looks like it will continue after the current pandemic recedes, it’s time to ask what types of communications businesses should be used for effective customer acquisition and current customer development and retention. With an anticipated, 20-30% of the post-pandemic workforce projected to work remotely, what are the most effective communications channels and content? Shou...

When you boil down the model for successful leadership, what do you have? Do those key aspects of leadership translate from military to public companies? And is it possible to share practical guidance to help developing leaders grow?

In this podcast, I’ll be discussing these and related topics with Craig Whelden--a retired Major General in the U.S. Army. Craig also served as a senior executive for nin...

What is it about pricing that appears daunting? Is it that it seems a strange mix of art and science which itself is intimidating? Is it a challenge because we lack the data from customers and competitors required to make high-confidence decisions? Is it because we don’t have the courage to match our pricing with the value we provide? Or is it because we fear making a decision that may have unfortunate negative consequences on our ...

There are many ways to approach growth. Some businesses think incrementally about building off their core revenues and current customers. Others are a bit more ambitious and think one- or two years out and focus on bringing existing products and services to new adjacent markets. Still fewer other businesses think more openly about growth as transforming their existing business model or starting new businesses which could add signif...

There is plenty of free advice on how and what to do to manage your business through and out of the health crisis. Some of it is getting recycled regularly and starting to seem stale. I recently met Kyle Arneson when we participated in an “expert roundtable” and found Kyle’s guidance incredibly fresh and empowering. Building on his USMC background, Kyle attacks challenges just like you’d expect from a tenacious Marine. Kyle’s focus...

Two companies may take the same business processes or tools and adopt and implement them totally differently. Sometimes, there’s no “better or worse,” it’s more about making these tools and processes work best for you. 

Here’s an example. There are many ways small- and mid-sized businesses implement EOS/Traction management disciplines. Some use formal implementers, some contract with part-time integrators, and some try to do the wh...

Even the smallest companies can be challenged by poor internal communications. Fortune- sized enterprises? Sure. But small- and mid-sized business? Yes, it happens too often in these businesses. You might ask how and why that can happen when you have an employee base of less than 200 and everyone works in the same facility. I asked that question after observing poor communications--and the negative effects of having a workforce whi...

This is a continuation of the conversation with Bob Lambert of Samurai Business Group, LLC. We pick up with Bob talking about the reasons poor alignment happens. He says there must be three things in place:

Understanding the goal - a clear view of your future.

Getting a strategy alignment supporting that goal

Understanding and accepting the role each person plays to get there.

https://thepracticalcmo.com/ep10-core-reason…es-and-mar...

The dual challenges to both understanding the differences between Sales and Marketing and then align them for the benefit of your business don’t seem to be easy to resolve. For years, one of the most downloaded articles offered by Chief Outsiders has been the piece titled “What’s the Difference Between Sales and Marketing?”

https://thepracticalcmo.com/ep9-what-happens…when-they-do-not/

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Understanding the differences b...