Posted by Christine on June 19, 2011 under Uncategorized | 
Fournaise, a marketing consulting firm, recently completed a study that found that marketers and CEOs have a big disconnect. I don’t disagree there is a disconnect but it is disconcerting that a study of 600 companies finds marketing has such a widespread lack of credibility.
I could dissect the study’s approach and find flaws with the methodology or with how the results were interpreted. Or point out that the study headlines have been sensationalized and are rather self-serving given what Fournaise does.
But attacking the credibility of the study does not remove the gnawing feeling that there is truth in the headline. The short tenure of CMOs, the persistent lack of sales and marketing alignment, widespread disappointment in marketing’s poor revenue productivity, and the ubiquitous head scratching about what exactly is marketing’s role supports the claim that there is a disconnect between the CEO and marketing. What I don’t buy is that this is all marketing’s fault.
Marketing, as a discipline, is at a tipping point; it will either redefine its value within the corporation and the market or marketers will find themselves relegated to a tactical role in sales. There are three driving forces behind this: An economic rebound that is growth-challenged, the rise of transparent markets where the buyer (B2B as well as B2C) sets all the rules, and a forced fundamental transformation of marketing.
In a market flooded with new information channels that are not well defined and customers making purchase decisions based on their expectation of lifetime experience, marketing is focused on understanding how to navigate this new landscape while redefining how it mediates the company’s value promise with the buyer’s desired outcome. Marketing, as a discipline, is evolving from being sales’ advocate to enabling and empowering buyers.
Not many CEOs understand that.
To CEOs who lament about marketing’s lack of “speaking the P&L language”, I say start by first reaching a common understanding with your CMO of what marketing means to your company. I can assure you that your definition of marketing is very different from your CMO’s definition; and just because you’re the CEO doesn’t make your definition the right one. Second, develop some empathy and try to understand the transformation that is happening. You need to understand this because it’ll help you make better investment decisions that drive revenue. Then, together, set some meaningful goals and KPIs for marketing.
To CMOs who complain about being misunderstood, under appreciated or Sales’ punching bag, I say step up to the challenge. This is a critical time for marketing. You need to lead the company through this transformation with an inspired vision, gutsy and decisive leadership, fact-based decision making and a laser focus on how to drive constant revenue growth in a world where unpredictability is the constant. Your KPIs need to reflect marketing’s new scope and measure what matters – revenue growth, quality of customer experiences, reputation and effectiveness of strategy. The real opportunity is to transform marketing into the company’s guiding light for continuously creating meaningful value; however the market defines ‘value’.
If you’re interested in the Fournaise study, here is the link http://www.cmo.com/leadership/73-ceos-say-marketers-lack-credibility
Posted by Christine on June 4, 2011 under Uncategorized |
The economy is working on rebounding and companies are gearing up. Pipelines and revenues are heading north and hiring along with it. But something in this rebound is different.
For new sales hires, the expectation is that they join with a solid book of business and a pipeline already in hand; even for companies where the ramp time for sales people to achieve repeatable revenue productivity is six to nine months. Same goes for marketers. Regardless of the market’s or company’s maturity or readiness the expectation of newly hired marketing leaders is that they produce a significant uptick in pipelines in 60 to 90 days, regardless of the capabilities or competence of marketing or sales. For many new hires, these are unrealistic and unachievable expectations. Nevertheless, the message is loud and clear – growth comes only from net new customer acquisition.
Have CEOs finally ‘had enough’ of sales and marketing mis-alignment? Or has the uncertainty of the rebound resulted in a laser focus on priorities? What’s really happening is that customer acquisition is dead. The irony is that customer acquisition always was a myth.
Companies do not acquire customers; it’s actually the other way around. But for decades companies, and their marketers, held a myth that they controlled how and when customers purchased their products. With better marketing, snappier messaging, the right sales approach, better sales people, and more features the customer will “have” to buy the product if they want to successfully address their challenges.
By the end of the Great Recession, the buyer took control and began to mandate how companies will sell to them. If companies want a sale, they need to follow the buyer’s rules which can be somewhat unforgiving. And these rules are not obvious since buyers never told vendors what the new rules were. Except that the buying process is now social.
The statistics point to the sea change that has happened and the ensuing chaos within the vendor community. Only 3% of all sales interactions are considered worthwhile by prospects. On average only 50% of sales people make quota. A buyer spends 2.7 seconds reading an email before deciding to delete it. A voicemail is only slightly better at 5 seconds before the buyer hits the delete button. Ask for more than 5 pieces of information on a web form and conversion statistics plummet. And don’t even think of asking for a phone number.
The myth of customer acquisition is dead.
The new rules are for vendors to invest in a deep, intimate understanding of the buyer – their business, challenges, desired outcomes, definitions of value, and how they go about solving problems. Only by understanding the buyer’s journey and how value is defined can companies begin to compete and win new business.
Counter to marketing’s traditional integrated marketing approach (a.k.a., cover all the mediums in case buyers show up at one of them), marketers need to first invest in understanding the buyer’s journey. How do the various buyer roles acknowledge they have problem, commit the organization to solving the problem, understand the root causes of the problem, investigate best practices and alternatives to solving the problem, explore available solutions, develop a criteria to screen potential solutions, and validate shortlisted solutions?
Marketing needs to accept that much of the journey happens without their knowledge. For companies the first inkling of a buy cycle is when buyers download multiple pieces of information from corporate websites or click thru on adwords. At that stage the buyer is already 50% into the buy cycle with well formed impressions of what constitutes a successful solution (and vendor). Marketing and sales is too late to dramatically influence the buyer’s process or their definition of an optimal solution.
The new rules require that marketing map the buyer’s journey by stage and document where they go (medium), what they look for (content), and the actions taken. To win, marketing needs to be where the buyer goes at each stage of the journey. If the buyer turns to industry analysts to ‘understand causes of the problem’ make sure the analysts are well briefed on the vendor’s capabilities and their reports mention the buyer. If the buyer looks to social communities for suggestions on available solutions, make sure vendor evangelists and customers are regular, credible contributors. If buyers explore and evaluate potential solutions by downloading or accessing free versions, offer freemium versions. Then engage them through ‘tips, tricks, and best practices’ drip campaigns integrated into the product.
The key is to first understand the buyer’s journey and secondly, to purposely participate in the journey by offering the sought content in the right mediums for each stage of the journey. Done right the buyer will engage with the company early on and subsequent conversations will be more meaningful for both parties.
Think of it as sales enablement for the buyer.
Tags: alignment, automated lead management, buyer journey, CMO, creative destruction, demand generation, integrated marketing, marketing campaign, marketing rules, marketing strategies, marketo, new economy, revenue, sales, sales & marketing alignment, sales cycle, sales enablement, social media, strategy