Thought Leadership
(The Five Pillars for Revenue Growth @ SP Home Run)

Thought Leadership (The Five Pillars for Revenue Growth @ SP Home Run)At SP Home Run, our clients have found the greatest success growing their revenue when they’ve integrated these five essential pillars for growth in their overall strategy and company culture:

Meet The Five Pillars for Growth:

  1. Differentiation
  2. Thought Leadership
  3. Competitive Positioning.
  4. Sales Cycle Acceleration
  5. Revenue Growth

 

Thought Leadership Defined

Thought leaders spend a lot of time obsessing about who their buyer personas are, what motivates them, what drives them, and what kind of behaviors they exhibit. Thought leaders want to know how they can be more relevant to their buyer persona’s questions and problems, helping them with their goals as early as possible in the buyer's journey. If you want to be a true thought leader, spend a ton of time learning more about your buyer personas and develop content that helps them solve their biggest problems.

How has the way you research and make purchase decisions changed in the past five years?

Do you go right to Google or Siri to get immediate answers to your questions?

Do you look at articles or reviews to help you make decisions?

 

Everyone’s Decision-Making Process Has Changed. Has Your Company Adapted?

When you’re vacationing or traveling in an unfamiliar city, how do you decide which restaurant to dine at? How do you decide which hotel to stay at? How do you decide which car to rent or which travel option you’ll use to get from the airport to your hotel?

When making an electronics purchase -- such as a laptop, TV, or camera -- how do you decide which brand and model to go with when confronted with dozens of options? How do you decide ultimately where to make the purchase?

And have you (or your friends or family members) changed how you evaluate once-sacred institutions like schools, medical offices, and legal practices?

Even potential employers, potential business partners, or potential boyfriends or girlfriends are searching for and vetting people very differently than they did as recently as five years ago.

 

You No Longer Control Your Brand

The reality: In today’s world where most buyer’s journeys start with a search on a search engine, or a question posed on a social media website, your brand is no longer what you say it is.

Your brand now is the collective wisdom, or collective opinion, of what people find out about you. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

 

The Value of Proactive Thought Leadership

That’s the bad news. But there is some very good news: Your company can dramatically influence the way that the world views your business by changing your positioning, so that your company’s employees are seen as industry experts, subject matter advisors, educators, and thought leaders.

Think about every question that you’ve ever been asked in person, on the phone, over email, or via social media. How many of those questions and answers are addressed on your website?

Wouldn’t it make sense, that if your company wants to be seen as thought leaders, that its advice and insight appear when prospects and clients ask questions on Google, Bing or Yahoo! Or on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn? Or via Siri, Alexa, or Cortana?

The challenge for most companies is that they’re living in the past -- and very slow to change. Unfortunately, in most cases their marketplaces are zooming by at 70 miles per hour, while their team is stuck in the slow lane, limping by at 20 miles per hour.

 

Thought Leaders Refuse to Get Thrown in the Vendor Box

But it doesn’t have to be that way if your company is serious about changing how it’s perceived by prospects and clients, and competing aggressively -- not as vendors, but as thought leaders.

If you’re tired of getting dragged into price wars that destroy your profit margins and employee morale, or you’re ready to get realistic about what it take to compete, here’s what we recommend.

Recommended Resources

If you’re a CEO, president, founder, or owner of a small business in South Florida, and you’re trying to position your company as the premier provider in your industry, differentiate from larger competitors, improve processes, and build trust among your prospects and clients, here are some recommended resources:

  • Download Free Sample Excerpts from Market Opportunity Research Reports
  • Register for an Upcoming Workshop
  • Schedule Business Advisory Consulting