Choose your own Adventure(s): Executing a Customer-led Marketing Strategy – Data
March 9, 2023
DATA
I’m nostalgic; I like taking a sentimental sabbatical.
Nostalgia this week for customer marketing 2010, when value was defined by awesome customer events, smiling faces a barometer of success. Building relationships meant I got references/testimonials on the fly. I was a hero.
But not today – gotta bring the numbers. The impact metrics, the ROI, the justification of existence.
But here’s something that marketers know, but others still don’t get – WE CAN’T DELIVER IMPRESSIVE RESULTS WITHOUT A FOUNDATION OF SOLID DATA.
But marketing doesn’t create, manage, or own the data – but we need it to be successful. And this is why my week feels like five Mondays; I’ve been sifting, sorting, and locating pieces of customer data critical to my success…roles, contact info, geographies, products.
I promised I would share successes, failures, and frustrations. This is all three in three days. But I will succeed by following my own advice:
🔢 FIND YOUR DATA GURUS & SUPERHEROES – SFDC Administrator/Owner (thank you, Jon); Sales/CS Operations leaders (Robert and 🧩 Jonny are the best) – these folks make you look amazing because they know everything about how systems work and how the data feeds in and out of those systems.
🤝 GET TIGHT WITH SALES & CS LEADERS – Go beyond basic alignment; have focused, in-depth conversations around the data; share what you need, how you’ll use it and how, AND how it will make their lives easier. Suggestion: Set a meeting with a full agenda in the invite; bonus points for making it a collaborative working session. When my sales leader Daniel said, “You have to have this information to be successful; let me help,” these eyes glistened.
🤷♀️ DON’T SETTLE: If you know the data isn’t complete or useful, don’t try to “make it work.” It’s tempting to forge ahead, ignoring your gut instinct, especially if new to your role – of course you want to succeed. But one of two things will happen: 1) You’ll miss the deadline or goal because you don’t have the tools you need; 2) You’re going to work until midnight, get frustrated, and suffer a nervous breakdown.
💪 PUT IN THE HARD WORK UP FRONT: If you have the data, you will succeed. Let Vince Lombardi sum it up, “The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
🚫 REFUSE & REPRIORITIZE: The most powerful and empowering word is “no.” Embrace your inner toddler; respectfully push back when you don’t have what you need to do the job well. Explain why you can’t accomplish the task and ask how to reprioritize efforts to be set up for success. It’s not lip service – every single time I earn the respect and assistance of my leadership team. Remember, they win when you win.
So, go ahead, be nostalgic, but don’t lose sight that better days just may be ahead.
Want to keep following the journey? Follow me on LinkedIn for all kinds of information, resources, and observations around customer-led marketing (and the occasional pet, kid, or vacation photo): https://www.linkedin.com/in/alison-a-bukowski
Note: Today’s adventure photo is nostalgia at its finest, Disney – little me and big me with my littles.
