Thought Leadership

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Blog

Search five years of archives – we share compelling stories, inspirational guidance, and specific playbooks to grow your business.
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Latest White Paper

Make Your Own Luck: What COVID Can Teach Us About Building a Crisis-Resistant Business

Sometimes business advice feels like it’s designed for the best of times. But it’s rarely the case that all the stars align. And in the 21st century so far, we’ve faced economic downturns, social turmoil, and a pandemic—all events that put the business world on shaky ground.

We wanted to investigate what businesses can do to thrive in tough times. That’s why we developed our white paper, Make Your Own Luck: What COVID Can Teach Us About Building a Crisis-Resistant Business.

Sterling Woods spoke to 40 executives from middle-market organizations across industries. In the white paper, we explore the patterns unearthed in these conversations with executives and postulate what this means for middle-market organizations hoping to crisis-proof their businesses in 2021 and beyond. In other words, how can you make your own luck?

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The New CMO's Checklist

The New CMO's Checklist: 30 Questions for the First 30 Days

We interviewed 20 leading CMOs to better understand the challenges CMOs face and how best to meet them. Then, we consolidated their advice into 30 questions all CMOs need to answer in their first 30 days

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Thought Leadership in Top Publications

Rob’s writing also appears regularly online, where he’s been featured in publications including Digiday, Adweek, Business Insider, Chief Executive, TotalRetail, and BRAND United.

Here’s a look at the most recent pieces Rob has penned or contributed to:

Several Top Journalists Are Suddenly on the Move, Placing Digital Media Businesses at a Crossroads

The budget constraints created by the COVID crisis are driving some of digital publishing’s top names to giant traditional publishers, like the New York Times and Washington Post. What does this mean for the world of digital publishing? Rob Ristagno is quoted in this article from Adweek.
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How B2B Sales Teams Can Leverage Big Data Like B2C

B2Cs have plenty of data on hand, so it’s easy for them to see a path forward with leveraging data in driving sales. B2Bs, however, often have more modest data reserves. Does that mean that data-driven change just isn’t for them? Not at all! Learn about the mindset shifts that can help any B2B get the most out of its data.
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How to Grow Sales on a Downsized Marketing Budget

Sales and marketing go hand in hand. When your marketing budget is reduced, it affects your ability to target prospects and grow your sales. By turning to data on your existing customers, though, you can get smarter about your messaging and your product offerings. Understanding more about those who already love your business can help you find prospects who will feel the same way. And knowing what it is about your offerings that appeals to existing customers can help you create new products or services to upsell your whales.
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Balancing Sensitivity with Business Strategy in Times of Crisis

How do companies avoid seeming insensitive or exploitative during this crisis while continuing to exist—which means continuing to grow revenue? The key lies in understanding your best customers and their needs.
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Book

A Member is Worth a Thousand Visitors

What this book is really about is how to reliably grow your sales in the near-term by better understanding who your best customers are, what they want, and how to give it to them. In this essential playbook, Rob Ristagno uses his innovative Five Forces Framework to help you do just that. A Member Is Worth a Thousand Visitors guides you step-by-step through these five forces, and shows why it is vital to identify your very best customers—your “whales”—and focus relentlessly on their wants and needs. This book gives you the specific processes, analyses, case studies, and templates needed to launch an outstanding membership program – a membership so compelling that customers can’t wait to enroll and will never want to leave.
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