I often think about marketing, the excruciatingly fun challenge to capture growth inflection points, as not just a two-legged race (marketing only) rather a multi-legged race (the whole freakin organization aligned for success). I am drawing upon my love of the two legged sack races I enjoyed celebrating the 3 summer holidays. It is the race where two people each put one leg in a sack and need to coordinate steps together to move or even better to move fast toward the finish line. Moving fast for me was even better than winning. It never was easy, or a given even if I ran the race over and over with my sister. I love stepping forward together, finding that step, finding a pace, then finding a pace that moves faster and faster together. Speed is a joy for me. My career journey started as an engineer. I’ve never leg go of the emerging technology mindset. I was quickly set in front of the customer. I was shocked at the huge disconnect between what the customer was asking for, and what the customer was needing, and what engineering had as its challenge in front of it. Literally, there often is no alignment I often sit in that challenge, to get the two legs in one sack, the customer and engineering, and then striving to step forward together. In a sense, the only way a company can step forward into its industry, growth and success, is to close that gap of disconnect ferociously. In my career, I’ve layered in finance. The deep understanding of funding as well as ROI, and landed square in corporate value as the measure of the entire breath of the organization. It is the joy and the responsibility of the whole company to work together in the three legged race or the hundred thousand person race a corporation is. Growth? How well are the entire assets, technology, human and finances, and all the departments aligned? Are they taking the same steps together and how quickly can they move forward together toward the same goal? These are questions I like to sit in with organizations and with people. Even just asking these questions there is a movement toward alignment and discovery. What are your questions? What are the questions you’re not asking? Are these questions keeping you up at night, are they best shared with the entire organization and teams? You as a leader, are you creating space for these questions to be asked? Do you share your thoughts here. I would really like to hear.
CEO @ CMO Huddles | Podcast host for B2B CMOs | Leading CMO Coach | AdAge CMO columnist | author Renegade Marketing | Inspiring B2B greatness via Community, Coaching + Content | Ben Franklin nut
“Why can’t you just get more pipeline?” asked the founder-CEO of a $125mil SaaS brand. The CMO took a deep breath and tried to explain how marketing works without condescending. It was a fruitless conversation initiated by the wrong question. This scenario is being replayed at countless companies with equally poor conclusions. Founders who enjoyed rapid growth due to plentiful cash, strong economic tailwinds, and a temporarily unique product offering are suddenly confronted with the challenge of leading a sustainable business. It isn’t pretty. Great leaders ask great questions. Inexperienced ones seek blame. Notice that the CEO spotlighted here starts his question with “Why can’t you…” versus “Why aren’t we…” Questions that include “We” recognize collective responsibility to address the organization’s biggest challenges. Leaders own challenges. This isn’t the only problem with the question. There’s the use of “just” as in “just spend marketing dollars on demand-generating activities” which is also folly. As Jon Miller, co-founder of Marketo and Engagio gamely puts it, “Marketing is not a gumball machine.” In other words, you can’t just put in a quarter and expect a deal to fall through the chute. The biggest issue with the question is its demand, “get more pipeline.” I’m not suggesting that marketers shouldn’t contribute to business growth. That’s a given but not the problem here. When fast-growing businesses suddenly stop growing the problem isn’t “just” a marketing one. It’s usually a combination of product performance, customer experience, employee engagement, reputational strength, and economic conditions. A great leader asks, “Why aren’t we growing?” and convenes a braintrust to assess the problem and revise the overall business strategy. It might be a tweak to the product, price, positioning, or experience. More likely, it is a distinctive combination of all four summarized in a crystal clear promise to the market. A promise that permeates and aligns the organization. A promise that inspires employees, customers, and partners. A promise that when executed with relentless consistency delivers growth. Growth is not a strategy. It’s an outcome of a successful strategy. Growth is not a strategy. Yet every day, a founder-CEO parrots the question investors ask, “What are you doing to grow the business?” Imagine for a moment if we just changed two words in this question, so it read, “What are we doing to differentiate the business?” Oh, the power. Oh, the profundity. We differentiate. So here, marketing leaders, are your marching orders. When asked for growth, accept the challenge of differentiation. Talk to your customers. Survey your employees. Find the strategic insight. Set the agenda. Convene your peers. Lead the development of a singular promise. A promise that engenders competitive advantage. A promise that, when cleverly and consistently executed, captures mind space. Go forth and differentiate.
