SBI, The Growth Advisory

For CEOs who just got back into the seat in our post-COVID business environment, unpredictability and rising costs seem to hinder the efforts of any growth strategy. Today’s market leaders have clear, focused segmentation supported by streamlined commercial processes, helping their businesses drive consistent profitability.

CEOs who succeed the founder of a company must lead the company differently from how the founder did it to ensure that the company scales sustainably. But without much of a roadmap or guide, how do these ‘second CEOs’ get it right without having to resort to costly trial and error?

Many CEOs and CROs often see their sales teams gaming the compensation system, but the reps only do what they are incentivized to do. By focusing sales reps on driving behaviors leaders want, CEOs can capture higher quality deals and increased revenue from existing customers.

Amidst pressure from the board and an increasingly volatile market, many CEOs make the mistake of pursuing growth at all costs when they should be building a resilient and sustainable business instead. Find the right balance between growth and profitability, then build up the talent to drive quality revenue streams.

Tune into the first part of the conversation with host Mike Hoffman, SBI CEO, and Chris Cabrera, Founder and Board Member of Xactly, as they explore the common pitfalls of an aggressive growth thesis and how leaders can navigate shareholder expectations while increasing profitability.

Key talking points:

Despite record-setting investments, marketing leaders have historically struggled with showing results. The divide between sales is clear: marketing needs to demonstrate how they contribute to the company’s revenue. Make ROI the primary objective, and create the dependencies necessary to drive effective growth.

Listen in the conversation in this episode with host Mike Hoffman, SBI CEO, and Jeff Pedowitz, President and CEO of The Pedowitz Group, as they discuss the role of marketing in a B2B environment and explore how marketing leaders can reinforce their position as a key revenue driver.

Key Talking Points:

• Marketing as a cost-center vs. revenue generator

• Key dependencies to effective marketing

• How to design a holistic campaign model with sales functions

The playmakers and managers that worked well for you in the past may now be slowing you down. But it goes beyond tech augmentations and enablement, it is the fundamental hiring framework that is flawed. Cut through the noise and focus on what your customers want from your sellers to drive win rates and loyalty.

Join the conversation in this episode with host Mike Hoffman, SBI CEO, and Nick Toman, SBI Chief Strategy and Product Officer, as they explore the evolving requirements of sales functions and how outdated talent frameworks could be slowing companies down.

Key Talking Points:

• The critical role of talent in driving growth and value creation

• How the sales role has evolved from the Great Depression

• What to look for in new talent, and who to potentially let go

The playmakers and managers that worked well for you in the past may now be slowing you down. But it goes beyond tech augmentations and enablement, it is the fundamental hiring framework that is flawed. Cut through the noise and focus on what your customers want from your sellers to drive win rates and loyalty.

Join the conversation in this episode with host Mike Hoffman, SBI CEO, and Nick Toman, SBI Chief Strategy and Product Officer, as they explore the evolving requirements of sales functions and how outdated talent frameworks could be slowing companies down.

Key Talking Points:

• The critical role of talent in driving growth and value creation

• How the sales role has evolved from the Great Depression

• What to look for in new talent, and who to potentially let go

Augmenting your sales with AI goes beyond automation and efficiency, it’s enabling your sellers to break down silos and approach more segments. Train your sellers to leverage a diverse skillset and capture the opportunities from stronger customer relationships.

In this episode, Ray Makela, Managing Director of Talent Services at SBI, sits down with Alfred Ojukwu, Co-Chair of Blacks at Microsoft (BAM), to discuss how Microsoft approached AI development and its use cases in developing customer relationships.

Key Talking Points:

• How AI makes the human element more crucial in sales

• Accelerate trust building with intelligent and informed information

• What a diverse team can do to drive organizational growth

Creating customer success is more than just sales, it’s about creating value before you arrive at the negotiating table. Give your customers a vision of what they would need, and demonstrate how you would be the best fit for them.

In this episode, join SBI Senior Partner and TMT Practice Leader, Tony Erickson as he resumes the discussion with symplr CEO, BJ Schaknowski and President, Nicole Rogas on how the provider of enterprise healthcare operations software and services succeeded in building a large, consolidated brand with a focus on customer success.

Key Talking Points:

• The current state of the healthcare industry and opportunities to come

• Adopting a consultative approach that creates positive impact for customers

• How symplr positions itself within customers’ existing investments

At the surface level, it seems obvious that top-line growth plays a big role in creating value for a company—but different conditions and factors may affect how much top-line growth affects value creation, and the strategies that can effectively generate that growth may also differ.

In this episode, SBI CEO, Mike Hoffman hosts Jake Silverman, CEO of Kroll and a Board Member at SBI, as the two discuss the role of top-line growth in value creation and contemporary topics on the minds of CEOs, including cybersecurity.

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