What Does Outsell Do Anyway?
I often hear how much many of you enjoy having a cup of coffee with us each morning as you review our curated headlines. It’s a great ritual and we love knowing this service makes a difference.
And we are so much more.
Many execs in the industry tell me Outsell’s brand punches above its weight (true), and it surprises them to find out we are not the size we seem (also true). We take pride in it.
At the same time, when I ask many executives what we do they often either don’t know or respond with the service they’ve touched or used.
“What is it you do exactly?” I swear, I have friends who still think I work for the CIA.
It’s hard for folks to get their head wrapped around an industry called “data and information.” To complicate things even further, we are a data and information solutions provider for data and information solution providers. Huh?? Who thought of this anyway?
Well, crazy as it seemed, in late 1997 we set about a journey to provide critical intelligence to executives in data and information because the internet and the digital onslaught that came with it was about to wrack this industry and all its sectors, and few could see what was around the corner.
Go to big pharma, IT, real estate, CPG, financial services, oil & gas, automotive, and just about any vertical sector on the planet, including government and academia, and that sector had information providers serving it.
But the information sector had no one serving it, and no one to look at our industry through the technology prism that was going to reshape all of its sectors. When we started Outsell, there was no iPhone, there was barely a browser, search engines were nascent at best. Our firm’s founders understood both information and technology. We tracked and analyzed all these shifts and what questions it raised for the business of information: What’s around the corner? What risks to avoid? How not to miss a critical growth opportunity? How big is a market? How much share is there? None of that existed. So, we filled the gap.
Our primary focus then and now: serving the CEOs of today and tomorrow in the data and information industry.
In this industry, that can also mean COOs, Managing Directors, and Presidents given the way titles and P&L ownership can work. We also serve their teams, most often those in the c-suite, and in many cases individuals in strategy, product management, corp dev, and marketing in the larger information enterprise. We also serve investors such as those in private equity that operate in this sector.
What does Outsell do?
We ensure these executives outperform and grow. Our clients are leaders who look to us as a trusted advisor to help them grow their businesses and avoid costly mistakes. We do this through a powerful combination of proprietary and third-party data and research, industry-leading analysis, world-class events, and a thriving and growing CEO P2P network.
How do we do it?
By focusing on one main thing — GROWTH for our clients. We offer five key solutions to help our clients make the best possible decisions for their businesses:
1. Competitive Analysis: We track and analyze competitors and markets. That’s table stakes, and it’s the foundation of what we do, but it’s just a snippet of what we do.
2. Operating Benchmarks and Best Practices: We track and analyze important operating benchmarks and best practices that impact how companies operate and grow. Gender diversity, valuations, COGs comparisons, technology investment levels? Growth rates? We know how you stack up.
3. Product-Market Fit: We assess target markets, market adjacencies, new product opportunities, and product management best practices to make sure the right mix is in the market. We will vet your roll-out of new offerings to make sure they resonate with the market and differentiate with the competition.
4. Sales Performance: We’ll benchmark sales organizations, website performance, how well phones are answered, and if a client is missing the boat on front-facing customer activity where firms make or break it with their markets.
5. M&A: We identify M&A candidates and do due diligence on assets competitively and within the market to make sure the top line being promised isn’t going to disappear or is not at risk.
We recently advised a leading Silicon Valley PE firm, who ultimately decided not to invest hundreds of millions in an asset. We keep companies out of bad decisions as much as help them make good ones.
We advised a leading society CEO and his board about why they weren’t growing as fast as their direct competitors and what levers they could pull to expand organic growth. They have folded our recommendations into their strategic plan and are setting a course for executing them.
For another market leader, we evaluated product line profitability for the CEO and board, and benchmarked against competitors so they could understand if their margins were better or worse and how to make better investment decisions and allocations competing for scarce resources.
A small B2B lead gen startup joined our community of CEOs when they were about $1 million in revenue. Ten years later, at about $40 million in top-line sales, they sold for $250 million. We have so many more stories like that.
We recently worked with a leading firm to identify the appropriate M&A candidates to support their requirements for inorganic growth. We benchmarked and advised one of the leading energy information providers on how best to organize their global research and product organization.
Clients tell us we help them see around the corner, are their arbiters of truth. Do we get everything right? No. But we feel pretty darn good about the quality of decision-support we deliver and the value our CEO community delivers to one another. Our analysts, practice leaders, and consulting partners know their stuff and aren’t afraid to share it with leaders — even when it means delivering bad news.
And we recognize that data and information industry leaders have decisions to make that aren’t necessarily perceived as directly related to growth. For example, hiring the best talent, bringing on board a PR or branding agency, finding an investment banker they can trust, or finding good IP attorneys. We also identify who can help them with infrastructure decisions to support or outsource their technology and data management or conversion efforts.
That’s where our Outsell approved partner program comes in or our coverage of industry suppliers. This is a small industry, and we’ve been a part of it for more than 20 years. We know who is who, and we know who to recommend. Our partner network is expanding every day. Our knowledge of suppliers runs deep. And we do a ton of informal networking. With mutual permission, we ensure people who need to meet, do. It’s part of the relationship focus we have in the firm.
The bottom line: we have your back.
Rather than us talking about ourselves in the coming days, you’ll hear more testimonials, see blinded case studies, and see examples of our research. Our client list is confidential. Our membership is exclusive. We’ll show you what we can. And what we can’t show you is the sigh of relief leaders have knowing our focus is their success.
What else can I tell you about Outsell, or what we see in the industry? Ask Anthea — it’s confidential, and it’s great to hear from you.
— Anthea Stratigos
To learn more about Outsell and its solutions, visit us here, or contact us.