Outsell Growth Framework — Step 7
We’ve taken you through all the steps of the Outsell Growth Framework, a tried and true approach to growing a data, information, or software-driven analytics business. It’s important to note that while the organization is executing on products, it is also updating strategic business plans. In a sense, the strategy function (Chief Strategy Officer) must work in lockstep with the product function (Chief Product Officer) as the business and its products continuously evolve — especially at a time like now, when reimagining everything with speed is critical. Markets and customers change, competitive dynamics develop, and the technological, legal, political, and regulatory landscape is in constant motion. Now throw a pandemic into the mix, and it’s unprecedented change at a breakneck pace.
While we depicted the Growth Framework in steps, know that in a digital world, products never sleep, customers are always on, and the need for executive teams to be in lockstep as they act and respond is critically important. In essence, the Outsell Growth Framework is a framework for agility and a checklist for “slowing down to speed up” in a world where motion from MVP to production is fluid and where bold competitive moves can force a reconsideration of plan assumptions. It’s a continuous process that is cyclical and always dynamic, creating the need for speed and agility in both strategic planning and product execution. Remember also that “product” can mean a service, virtual exhibition, or anything else you “sell.” If it has an SKU in your business, it has a lifecycle to manage.
Based on Outsell’s analysis of successful, well-differentiated companies and our understanding of business planning and product management, it’s essential to do the following in order to build and scale a commercially successful and well-differentiated data, information, and analytics business. Have fun, and get in touch when you need help. We have your back.
Emerging upstarts moves by established firms, and new larger entrants are coming from above, below, and around the periphery. Plot a course and keep it current to act as context for the rest of the Outsell Growth Framework and the decisions the C-suite makes.
Establish a One-to-Two-Year Rolling Strategic Business Plan Eyeing Long-Term Competitiveness
Identify/revamp strategic goals based on true competitive advantages. Identify markets, verticals, and use cases and the associated products that support their workflows or natural adjacencies. Identify make-or-buy opportunities and know what pieces of the puzzle are essential to add to the portfolio to power growth. Look at this through the lens of market ownership and long-term competitiveness. Companies are increasingly fighting for market share, and being fit for purpose and well-differentiated to win that share is the name of the game in any strategic plan. Stay agile and flexible.
Communicate Strategy and Implementation Plans with Clarity
Ensure that product development and tactical plans fit within strategic goals and are communicated clearly within the organization. Create a process for management to review implementation against plan on a regular cadence and report on agreed measurement metrics, with an eye toward making mid-course corrections as needed.
Execute by Ensuring That Product Management Is Strong and Functional
Organizations must build and maintain the product management function based on customer needs and empower the function to play its rightful role across the business. It is essential to strike the right balance to act as an advocate for the market and customers independently within the company and focus on product-market fit and delivering value. In product management, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, communication and collaboration are key, so arm the function with soft skills as well as technical product management skills.
In today’s digital era, no product, service, platform, or offering is ever complete. Train customers to deliver feedback, and be voracious about feeding it back into the loop of an agile framework for prioritization and execution. It’s essential to build agility into the fabric of all functions and ensure that product roadmaps and strategic plans are balanced in their short-term and long-term considerations and continuously revisited and updated at regularly planned intervals. This is the only way to stay adept in an everchanging world. The driving forces here are analytics, measurement, and KPIs that inform dashboards and decision-making.
Build the business of the new era by thinking in terms of platform and scale. Platforms offer value to customers when they successfully integrate must-have tools into day-to-day workflows or offer commerce or other means of engagement, including ecosystems such as apps in the Apple Store or developers in Salesforce. Consider what can surround offerings to create impenetrable barriers to entry. This builds scale and value to acquirers because scale can also come with recurring revenues while keeping relationships with users sticky, coming back for more where logical extensions can be added over time. In short, they create virtuous circles.
Along the way, embrace new technologies. Build an AI strategy into the product roadmap by identifying where AI can scale the business and fulfill specific use cases. Recognize that the Internet of Things enables AI and vice versa. Have a view into how to leverage or respond to blockchain technology, as enabler or disruptor, or how the use of augmented reality as a new way of delivering experience can be part of the plan.
Build Ethics, Trust, and Security Across Every Action of the Business
Provide backgrounds, bios, expertise profiles, and contact information for staff. Make clear the business’s target markets and core competencies. Openly publish a policies and ethics playbook, and show how the company avoids conflicts of interest. Train staff on these cultural norms and values and have zero tolerance for violations. Uphold and celebrate whistle-blowers and make sure the company walks its talk about trust. Manage contractors and outsourcing to the same standards and make sure that the company trains people about security and their role in ensuring it. Look beyond the CISO for security — that role is only a start at informing and preparing the C-suite and training employees. Everyone must be involved.
Hire the Right Skill Sets
There is no replacement for deep subject matter expertise, which includes both industry knowledge and an understanding of the moving parts within a business. Succeeding in today’s marketplace requires extensive data science and analytics expertise. Knowing how to integrate various datasets and leveraging data to provide predictive and prescriptive analytics services is key to successful growth.
Partner with local universities to build intern programs or collaborate on product development and leading-edge analytics solutions that can be embedded in offerings. This talent also becomes a recruitment funnel. University programs provide relief from the talent conundrum while building a local brand reputation for progressiveness.
It’s an exciting time in our industry. We stand alongside the execs we serve every step of the way.
Outsell serves clients throughout all aspects of the Outsell Growth Framework, including strategic business planning and all stages of product lifecycle management. Our services revolve around communities of practice for each major role in the Growth Framework, beginning with the CEO, COO, CSO, or president. Outsell services offer functional benchmarks and analysis of the state of play in each function, supported by vertical intelligence and hot topics that analyze markets, competitors, and essential regulatory, economic, and technological developments. This is augmented by confidential advisory services and custom consulting, all supported by our staff and partner network. Give us a call. We’re here for you.