Big-company CEOs increasingly are being strafed by activist investors and others for moving too far afield of their core businesses, and many are simplifying their organizations as a result. But mid-market chiefs and many of their counterparts at Fortune 1000 companies still have good reasons to move beyond their corporate core.
Effective leaders know that delegating tasks is key to maximizing the value they can ultimately provide to the organizations they run. Yet when it comes to high-value customers, the direct involvement of CEOs can pay off in spades, indicating to customers just how important the company collectively considers the relationship.
Remember that glossy hardcover tome that documented school politics, embarrassing hairstyles and ridiculous fads? Whether it’s prominently displayed on a bookshelf or gathering dust in
Content marketing has become an integral part of most companies’ marketing strategies today. Yet while the initial surge was mainly by consumer-facing companies, B2B companies are picking up speed and finding success using content to draw clients in and build relationships.
Of all the strategies for growing your business, organic growth is the most daunting. But with the uncertainty and high failure rates of M&As and partnerships (most studies indicate between 70% to 90% of the time they fail to meet stated objectives), organic growth is also the path to the highest value for your business.
Many CEOs of middle market companies view sales and marketing functions as autonomous. When problems or inefficiencies arise in operations, finance, manufacturing or other areas of a company, CEOs zero in on well-established metrics and processes to pinpoint trouble spots and address them. However, that same kind of rigor and discipline is often absent in sales and marketing.
Hundreds of CEOs today use social media, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn and more. However, social-media use by mid-market companies often can be a tougher path for CEOs and owners than it is for their counterparts at other companies, because larger firms have more marketing resources, while startups tend to be founded by young and typically tech-savvier individuals and have much less management hierarchy.
Think about a time when you received amazing customer service. Now think about how rare it was that you experienced that level of customer service. In this day of social media and the omnipresent “review” of businesses and services, one would think companies would do their best to provide top-notch customer service at every turn. Yet it’s surprising how few companies really take the time and effort to provide service outstanding enough to increase customer loyalty.
The chief executive officer of the United States of America now has a Twitter handle. Should every CEO and company chief have the same? Many CEOs already do, but are you using it effectively, in a way that benefits the company and builds the brand?
Every week seems to bring some new revelation of trouble for the manufacturers that once dominated the U.S. and global processed-food business: Kellogg, General Mills, Kraft, Campbell Soup, PepsiCo, ConAgra and the like. And it equally brings news of some upstart brand that is helping to reorder this massive business with some new innovation in products, packaging, marketing or all three: Annie’s, Amy’s, Plum Organics, Chobani, Lifeway cultured-yogurt drinks, and Vita Coco coconut water.
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.
