Outsell Growth Framework
I just got off the phone with a client that has a disconnect between the potential customers targeted by its sales team and those addressed by its marketing team.
Another client jumped straight to technology and rebuilt its platform but didn’t sort out growth expectations — the new revenue that this new platform would help them garner. Now the firm has spent oodles of money and can’t find its way to new revenue, which is putting cost pressure on the organization. This is what I call “jumping straight to technology.”
Still, another is trying to attract next-generation users. It hasn’t taken the time to understand what resonates with these users yet, but it is off and running, developing marketing messaging.
Still, another has put millions into a new platform — and I mean big millions — but the target market is not adopting, and they don’t know why.
At Outsell, we always say we’re of the industry we serve. We’re in a privileged and trusted position. And we respect that because we see the good, the bad, and the ugly — frankly, we see it all.
I could tell you stories of boardrooms I’ve been in where the business execs and editorial execs were meeting for the first time — and this in a 100+-year-old company.
It goes on. Another had its primary means of distribution disappear because of a sea change in technology, but key team members were not informed.
I don’t sit in judgment. We all can do things better, and there are many, many fine companies and great executives doing their absolute best. However, in doing their best, we often see them flipping priorities and not taking the time to manage their business strategies and keep their product execution in harmony.
So, we’ve updated the Outsell Growth Framework to provide a tried and tested methodology — one that we follow on ourselves. We’ve seen it as a best practice going back as far as Q4 1997 when we launched Outsell and leveraged best-in-class product management thinking done then by ADP. We tailored it for information services, and we’ve been updating it ever since in a series of reports written over the years.
Fast forward, and we updated our approach again, launching the Outsell Growth Framework for the Business of Data, Information & Analytics and sending it to all our clients. It’s perfectly tailored for an analytics-driven world and for use in the data, information, and analytics economy. Whether you are in an enterprise launching an internal analytics offering or commercially selling one, the methodology is for you.
The world continues to change, with new technology and more data to license and use. Today there are more functions than ever involved in the launching of digital, data-intensive offerings. Years ago, there was no such thing as a CISO, and the notion of a chief product officer was quaint. Today it’s a lot more complicated. The costs are higher; the stakes are too. It’s important to get it right and improve the odds of success.
Enter the Outsell Growth Framework, which has two interlocking parts: Strategic Business Planning and the data and Information Product Development Lifecycle (dIPDL).
The first part, the outer ring, is necessary to chart a course for where the business is going in the context of understanding market opportunity, competitive differentiation, and changes in the external environment. It’s a place to reassert purpose, mission, and vision and affirm how the company will differentiate and create viable long-term success.
Within that planning cycle — we recommend rolling two years, with the annual business plan firm, quarterly revisions, and read-out of goals and KPIs monthly so that everything cascades — there is the need to execute the products and services that the firm will offer in order to create revenue, growth, and profits. The product execution (dIPDL) is critical. The strategy asserts where you’re going and why; dIPDL is about what and how at the tangible products and services level. M&A, make or buy, and other key decisions are made in each part of the cycle.
For each step in each cycle, we’ve delineated details about what has to be done. We also specify who does it — exec team, head of product, engineering, data and analytics, marketing, sales, legal, security, you name it — and we tie it together in a step-by-step approach that puts the right things in the right order for this noisy, fast-moving world.
What we know to be true is that getting this right, in an agile way and world, and doing things in a sensible order are essential. It eliminates rework and minimizes time to money while maximizing return on effort (ROE) and investment (ROI). And who doesn’t want that?
So, take a look at our full report delineating the Outsell Growth Framework. Let us know what you think or if you have any feedback.
And don’t hesitate to turn to us to help you get it done. The cool thing about this framework is that we have an answer for your to-dos. We can do the work for you, advise into your process, or introduce you to trusted corporate partners and consulting partners that are brand approved to help you get the key work done that we don’t do.
Whatever you do, use this essential blueprint and you’re sure to grow. We guarantee it.
Anthea C. Stratigos
Co-founder & CEO
