Nuggets from Behind Closed Doors
Inside every private Alliance meeting, there are hundreds of years of experience. While keeping confidentiality of the member who provided the challenge to their group, we’ve captured (with permission) just some of the insightful comments from a handful of members. Read what these members had to say to get a glimpse of what it is like to be an Alliance member.
To see insights for a certain category, choose one from the following list:
Sales - Search Results (42)
Member Marco Marini Speaks: Take Advantage of Your Small Size
Though it may seem like bad news when companies like Amazon or Costco move into your market, Marco Marini, CEO of ClickMail Marketing, sees an opportunity to differentiate and thrive.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Marketing Sales Strategy & Planning
Member Edmundo Costa Speaks: Stop Trying to Boil the Ocean
New technology can offer value to customers across multiple verticals. Edmundo Costa, Vice President of Sales at Automation Anywhere and previously the CEO at Catbird, shares his perspective on maintaining focus while scaling the business.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Marketing Sales Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Ebbe Altberg Speaks: Before You “Scale Up,” You Have Some Answering To Do
Scaling a business requires clear strategic vision. Ebbe Altberg, CEO of Linden Lab, asks some hard, but necessary, questions for the CEO that seeks radical growth.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Entrepreneurship Leadership M&A Organizational Design Sales Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Pat O’Malley Speaks: Strategic Transparency in Technology
As technology companies compete their way down the price curve, strategy changes when you hit bottom. Pat O’Malley, EVP of Seagate Technology, discusses the benefits of transparency and Universal Pricing Plans in a commoditized market.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Sales Strategy & Planning Technology Trends
Member John Maydonovitch Speaks: Don’t Miss the Analyst Calls
Managing risk exposure in your client portfolio is key to sustainable growth. John Maydonovitch, CEO of MCE, reveals a simple way to gain helpful insights.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Marketing Sales Strategy & Planning
Member Eric McAfee Speaks: Consider the Conveniences of Licensing
A new technology company owned by a close-knit group of founders is looking for a CEO – but they don’t want to give up any equity. Eric McAfee, Chairman and CEO of Aemetis, explains an ideal workaround.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Entrepreneurship Finance Leadership Sales Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Ittai Bareket Speaks: The CEO Should Be the Best Salesperson in the Company
Is your staff excited about a new product, but it just isn’t selling? Alliance Member, Ittai Bareket, CEO of Netformx, explains how to jump in proactively and quickly distill what’s the matter.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Marketing Sales Strategy & Planning
Member Sudhir Aggarwal Speaks: Go for the Gold, But Fall Back on Silver and Bronze
Embrace a spirit of achieving excellence. Alliance Member, Sudhir Aggarwal, Managing Partner at Transition Management, discusses ways to set ambitious goals and hedge risk to company reputation and team morale.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Leadership Sales Strategy & Planning
Member Paul Finkle Speaks: How to Get to a Recurring Revenue Model
The golden goose of most service-based firms is to attain predictable, recurring revenue. Alliance Member Paul Finkle of ABD SharedHR gives some insight into how it can be done.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Operations Organizational Design Sales Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Ted Christianson Speaks: 3 Basics to Remember as You Grow a Startup
The excitement of driving growth in a startup can all too often distract from critical business basics. Member Ted Christianson, Chairman of Christianson Systems, discusses key business ideas that are precursors to any sustainable growth.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Marketing Sales Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Kevin Chance Speaks: Breakneck Growth Demands Strong Processes
Here's a great problem to have: your business is growing at breakneck speed. Alliance Member Kevin Chance, President of Products & Services at Beckman Coulter, counsels the importance of building process within a dynamic business undergoing explosive growth.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Leadership Operations Sales Strategy & Planning
Member John Spottiswood Speaks: Use the Cloud to Improve — Not Repeat — Your Core Business
Instead of building specific, custom pieces of software to aide your client’s business processes, build up a common code base that can be deployed throughout your clientele. Member John Spottiswood, former EVP of Business & Corporate Development for Inflection, suggests using the cloud as an instigator to change one's core business model.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Leadership Operations Sales Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Joe Budelli Speaks: For Strong Partnerships, Engage Your Tactical Players!
Here's what Alliance Top Team Member, Joe Budelli, Senior Vice President, Sales for ABBYY USA, shared with his Alliance peers during a discussion brought by a CEO looking to establish a channel partner with a bigger player, nominally in the same space. Read the insights Joe provided, including incentivizing the tactical players involved.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Entrepreneurship Sales Strategy & Planning
Member Peter Bailey Speaks: Be the White Knight, Not a Kamikaze
Alliance Member, Peter Bailey, President & CEO of Vertical Communications, shares his insights on a case brought by the CEO of a technology company that was disrupting a traditional market by replacing hardware with a much cheaper software solution.
Read MoreInsight categories include: M&A Marketing Sales Strategy & Planning Technology Trends
Member Burt Cummings Speaks: Sell Yourself Through the Pain You Solve
Read what member Burt Cummings, CEO of Versaic, shared with his Alliance peers during a brainstorming session with a CEO who was challenged to more clearly explain his company’s value proposition.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Marketing Sales Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Brad Freitag Speaks: Go Direct, Go Small, Learn Lots
Alliance Top Team Member, Brad Freitag of FileMaker, shared his thoughts on a case brought by an SVP whose company was reinventing itself as a cloud provider offering SaaS in place of their current hardware/software package.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Boards Leadership Marketing Operations Sales Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Praful Saklani Speaks: Technology in a Luddite’s Industry
Read what Praful Saklani, Co-Founder & CEO of Pramata, shared with his Alliance peers regarding a case presented by a CEO in an industry with weak technology adoption and a history of poor employee retention. The CEO was looking for strategies to differentiate himself from his competitors and better retain his sales force.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Culture Sales Strategy & Planning Technology
Member Rick Martig Speaks: Get a Product Marketing VP
When a fellow Alliance member's product management efforts were stuck in research, Alliance Top Team Member, Rick Martig, CFO of Nexenta Systems, suggested jumpstarting their marketing initiatives in a way that tied its R&D with market needs.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Marketing Operations Sales Strategy & Planning
Member Sudhir Aggarwal Speaks: Not All Companies Are High-Growth
Read what Sudhir Aggarwal, Managing Partner of Transition Management, shared with an Alliance member who wanted to know how to double his company's sales in five years in order to sell it, even though the company had limited cash to put into growth efforts.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Exiting Sales Strategy & Planning
Member Anthony Sperling Speaks: Let Your Hunters Hunt
Here's what Alliance Top Team Member, Anthony Sperling, former SVP & General Manager of Advent Software's Asset Management Group, shared with his Alliance peers after a fellow Alliance member presented a sales team structuring challenge.
Read MoreInsight categories include: Operations Sales Technology
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