1204: 6 Areas You Must Assess in Your First 90 Days as a CMO w/ Alex Gobbi

WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:08.310 Hey there. This is James Carberry, founder of sweet fish media and one 2 00:00:08.349 --> 00:00:11.189 of the cohosts of this show. For the last year and a half I've 3 00:00:11.189 --> 00:00:14.990 been working on my very first book. In the book I share the three 4 00:00:15.070 --> 00:00:18.910 part framework we've used as the foundation for our growth. Here is sweetfish. 5 00:00:19.350 --> 00:00:22.620 Now there are lots of companies that everised a bunch of money and have grown 6 00:00:22.660 --> 00:00:25.579 insanely fast, and we featured a lot of them here on the show. 7 00:00:26.339 --> 00:00:30.579 We've decided to bootstrap our business, which usually equates to pretty slow growth, 8 00:00:31.100 --> 00:00:34.700 but using the strategy outlined in the book, we are on pace to be 9 00:00:34.859 --> 00:00:38.649 one of inks fastest growing companies in two thousand and twenty. The book is 10 00:00:38.729 --> 00:00:42.729 called content based networking, how to instantly connect with anyone you want to know. 11 00:00:43.289 --> 00:00:45.289 If you're a fan of audio books like me, you can find the 12 00:00:45.369 --> 00:00:48.450 book on audible or if you like physical books, you can also find it 13 00:00:48.570 --> 00:00:54.799 on Amazon. Just search content based networking or James carberry CR be aary in 14 00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:58.920 audible or Amazon and it should pop right up. All right, let's get 15 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:03.880 into the show. Welcome back to be tob growth. I'm Logan lyles with 16 00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:07.750 sweet fish media. Today I'm joined by Alex Gobe. She is the CMO 17 00:01:07.909 --> 00:01:11.109 over at code forty two. Alex, how's it going today? Great, 18 00:01:11.189 --> 00:01:15.230 how are you looking? I am doing fantastic. We're recording this and the 19 00:01:15.310 --> 00:01:19.219 little bit of luw between Christmas and New Year, so nice, kind of 20 00:01:19.459 --> 00:01:23.659 slower part of of the year, a little bit before we hit two thousand 21 00:01:23.700 --> 00:01:26.579 and twenty. Off and going, and we're going to be talking about one 22 00:01:26.620 --> 00:01:30.739 of those trans position periods today. We're going to be unpacking some lessons learned. 23 00:01:30.819 --> 00:01:34.849 You've been on board at code forty two as a new CMO for about 24 00:01:34.849 --> 00:01:38.489 three months. We're going to be talking about those first crucial ninety days as 25 00:01:38.530 --> 00:01:42.489 a CMO with a new company or coming into a roll new yourself to a 26 00:01:42.569 --> 00:01:46.450 company. But before we jump into that, Alex, I would love for 27 00:01:46.489 --> 00:01:49.480 you to share with listeners a little bit about your background and what you in 28 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:52.519 the team at code forty two or up to these days. Great. Well, 29 00:01:52.599 --> 00:01:55.640 thanks for the opportunity to have me on the show and, as I 30 00:01:55.719 --> 00:01:59.400 mentioned to you when we were we were just talking before, I'm actually an 31 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:01.549 avid listener of the show as well, so excited to be to be a 32 00:02:01.709 --> 00:02:06.629 featured on the show today. I have, as you mentioned, I've been 33 00:02:07.030 --> 00:02:10.069 a CMO at Koefy two for three months. This is going to be my 34 00:02:10.310 --> 00:02:15.580 fourth run at being ahead of Marketing Cmo. All of those opportunities have been 35 00:02:15.740 --> 00:02:21.699 in the BB text space, starting with a two hundred million dollar company in 36 00:02:21.819 --> 00:02:27.180 the source to settle space, to a one point two billion dollar manage network 37 00:02:27.259 --> 00:02:32.370 services company, to a half a billion dollar cyber security company and now to 38 00:02:32.610 --> 00:02:37.610 a little bit over a hundred million dollar security company. So all in the 39 00:02:37.650 --> 00:02:42.210 BB space. I'm originally from Europe, from Belgium to be precise, and 40 00:02:42.250 --> 00:02:44.960 I kind of grew up with one foot on one side of the Atlantic and 41 00:02:45.039 --> 00:02:47.639 the other on the other. Went Back and forth, you know. Moved 42 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:52.520 here at a young age, hence no accent, and then move back to 43 00:02:52.599 --> 00:02:57.759 Europe as a teenager, Finish University there, my first job. They're back 44 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:01.789 here to do an MBA. Back to Europe for First Job Post Mba, 45 00:03:02.590 --> 00:03:07.629 and then in two thousand and one have the opportunity for what was going to 46 00:03:07.669 --> 00:03:12.750 be a two year stint in the US, and two years became now over. 47 00:03:13.139 --> 00:03:16.340 Nineteen years on, I've been here ever since. Wow, that's awesome. 48 00:03:16.379 --> 00:03:20.819 We may have to have you on one of our other new shows crafting 49 00:03:20.900 --> 00:03:23.539 culture. Just talking about you know that one foot on one side of the 50 00:03:23.620 --> 00:03:28.330 pond and the other and hopping back and forth and how you know that probably 51 00:03:28.370 --> 00:03:32.810 gives you a unique perspective as a leader. Probably a whole other podcast episode 52 00:03:34.250 --> 00:03:37.849 there to be had on our crafting culture show. I would love for you 53 00:03:37.889 --> 00:03:39.889 to share a little bit of what you told me about code forty two. 54 00:03:40.210 --> 00:03:43.240 You know, you can give us some context on what you guys do, 55 00:03:43.400 --> 00:03:46.400 who you guys serve, but I think there's some there's some interesting background with 56 00:03:46.439 --> 00:03:50.520 the name of the company that you shared with me before, right, yeah, 57 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:53.479 yeah, so could forty two is a company I hadn't heard of actually, 58 00:03:54.159 --> 00:03:59.710 but is in a super interesting space insecurity, and I'll talk about the 59 00:03:59.750 --> 00:04:01.189 name in a second, but I think I want to want to share a 60 00:04:01.189 --> 00:04:06.830 little bit more about what we do. So we're security software company and what 61 00:04:08.270 --> 00:04:11.539 what is unique in what we do is that we look at data movement and 62 00:04:11.860 --> 00:04:16.819 we can really detect, investigate and respond to data loss that is happening daily 63 00:04:17.019 --> 00:04:20.980 and specifically they day a loss from inside with inside of risk. We're sider 64 00:04:21.019 --> 00:04:24.730 threat. So let me unpack that a little bit. You know, some 65 00:04:24.889 --> 00:04:29.930 context forty million people every year or changing jobs. You know, it's no 66 00:04:30.170 --> 00:04:33.009 longer the company that you know, our grandparents are, our parents used to, 67 00:04:33.569 --> 00:04:40.079 used to be life employees at and with them changing jobs, they're also 68 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:44.199 taking data with them. Right. So they're obviously bringing their know how with 69 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:48.040 them, but a lot of a lot of people are actually moving data around. 70 00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:54.110 The other trend that's happening is you think about all of the applications that 71 00:04:54.310 --> 00:04:59.990 we all have access to today, sharing applications, whether it's box or whether 72 00:05:00.029 --> 00:05:05.470 it's slack, all of these applications were using to collaborate and to innovate as 73 00:05:05.550 --> 00:05:12.139 companies, but they also are are creating a more porous enterprise, which has 74 00:05:12.180 --> 00:05:15.740 as consequence that data's leaving the company. So what our product does? It 75 00:05:15.980 --> 00:05:24.009 really allows you to detect data movement and and really follow the data and make 76 00:05:24.089 --> 00:05:27.769 sure that the data is going to places that you want it to go, 77 00:05:28.009 --> 00:05:31.730 versus places that you don't want it to go, and and it works across, 78 00:05:31.930 --> 00:05:35.319 you know, end points in the cloud and across email and all sorts 79 00:05:35.319 --> 00:05:41.399 of vectors that you can think of. We're data becomes portable and sleeping the 80 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:45.839 boundaries of your organization. One of the things that I really liked about code 81 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:48.920 forty two is just how bold and innovative the company is and and I'll go 82 00:05:49.029 --> 00:05:51.910 to the name now. You know, the name is really comes from the 83 00:05:51.949 --> 00:05:55.870 HITCHHIKER's guide to the universe, which was a kind of a cult following in 84 00:05:55.949 --> 00:06:00.589 the s right, is actually in the s and the founders of the company 85 00:06:00.670 --> 00:06:04.740 just wanted a very short name that, you know, could be memorable and 86 00:06:05.459 --> 00:06:09.420 in the domain was available, and so code forty two was born. And 87 00:06:10.100 --> 00:06:14.019 what I like about the company is the culture has retained, remained very innovative 88 00:06:14.060 --> 00:06:20.009 and very creative and also just really a little bit countercultural and in going against 89 00:06:20.009 --> 00:06:26.129 the grain of traditional security of blocking and preventing. And what we believe is, 90 00:06:26.290 --> 00:06:30.129 you know, security needs to be there to help companies innovate and enable 91 00:06:30.290 --> 00:06:34.399 companies to grow. So we don't believe in some of those traditional measures, 92 00:06:34.600 --> 00:06:39.759 but we really want to make sure that security comes part of the fabric of 93 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:44.199 the organization that allows it to grow and and and data movement and visibility to 94 00:06:44.199 --> 00:06:47.509 data movement is really foundational to that. Yeah, I love that story about 95 00:06:47.509 --> 00:06:50.750 then the name of the show, when you shared that with me before we 96 00:06:50.870 --> 00:06:55.389 were courting here. I just thought me and you've got some founders who have 97 00:06:55.870 --> 00:06:59.430 their marketing hats on because, you know, they found a name with a 98 00:06:59.509 --> 00:07:03.379 pop culture cult following that's recognizable and they also they were thinking about, okay, 99 00:07:03.500 --> 00:07:09.100 we need something short for for domain availability so it can have that ring 100 00:07:09.180 --> 00:07:12.740 of authority to it. So let's talk about that. I mean that was 101 00:07:12.819 --> 00:07:16.569 probably something that initially, as you joined as Cmo, you were kind of 102 00:07:17.050 --> 00:07:21.170 I imagine the first step is to assess the situation, the founders, the 103 00:07:21.250 --> 00:07:26.250 executive leadership team, what marketing is doing. Tell us a little bit about 104 00:07:26.250 --> 00:07:30.079 how you looked at all levels of the organization and this state of things. 105 00:07:30.680 --> 00:07:33.439 Not only is it relates to marketing, but what were some of the things 106 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:38.560 in that initial assessment phase, is you came on board as a new CMO, 107 00:07:38.759 --> 00:07:41.680 that you were taking a look at closely? Yeah, it's a great 108 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:46.269 question. I mean the first first ninety days for any any leadership roles is 109 00:07:46.389 --> 00:07:53.350 really critical and I was very fortunate the interview processed was super, super thorough. 110 00:07:53.550 --> 00:07:57.310 Before joining code forty two and I had had exposure actually to every single 111 00:07:57.430 --> 00:08:00.740 member of our leadership team. It's a very big leadership team. I think 112 00:08:00.740 --> 00:08:05.339 we're about twelve and and that was actually one of the reasons that I joined 113 00:08:05.339 --> 00:08:11.060 the company, is just the cultural fit, as well as just the respect 114 00:08:11.139 --> 00:08:15.170 that I had for every single person on the leadership team, starting with our 115 00:08:15.250 --> 00:08:20.889 CEO, who's actually been very, very successful in the past that at creating 116 00:08:20.970 --> 00:08:26.769 new categories in an IPO and companies. So so that's been that's one of 117 00:08:26.930 --> 00:08:31.600 the reasons I joined. But in the first ninety days or in the first 118 00:08:31.639 --> 00:08:37.080 thirty days, you know, you have an opportunity to really establish establish who 119 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:39.600 you are and what you're going to stand for, and you also have to 120 00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:45.110 do, to your point earlier, that assess meant that first phase assessment around. 121 00:08:45.149 --> 00:08:48.389 Well, you know, what is this market opportunity really you know, 122 00:08:48.629 --> 00:08:52.350 they tell you a lot as you're going through the interviews and you're doing your 123 00:08:52.350 --> 00:08:54.820 own research, but now you've become kind of an insider to the company. 124 00:08:54.980 --> 00:09:00.019 So what is the market opportunity? What's unique about the product? What are 125 00:09:00.059 --> 00:09:03.379 our customers saying? What are the analysts saying? What are the employees saying? 126 00:09:03.539 --> 00:09:07.899 Do they believe even the product and where do they have doubts? And 127 00:09:09.019 --> 00:09:13.570 then, more importantly, what are we doing from marketing perspective, what's our 128 00:09:13.690 --> 00:09:18.250 message to the marketplace? Does that does that message? You know, is 129 00:09:18.289 --> 00:09:22.529 it congruent with who we are and what we do? Is it unique and 130 00:09:22.649 --> 00:09:28.600 compelling in the marketplace? What are we doing from marketing spend perspective right or 131 00:09:28.679 --> 00:09:33.879 where we focused? Is A line to the business priorities? What are some 132 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:41.230 of the areas of spend in terms of showing the ROI on that spend? 133 00:09:41.509 --> 00:09:43.750 Is it really driving to revenue and, if not, you know what are 134 00:09:43.789 --> 00:09:50.190 some of the gaps and in your ability to really connect the dots between your 135 00:09:50.549 --> 00:09:56.100 marketing spend and and and Revenue Generation? And then, last but not least, 136 00:09:56.100 --> 00:09:58.500 I would say, you know, the assessment of your team members. 137 00:09:58.940 --> 00:10:03.379 What's the team that you have on that you have you know, what are 138 00:10:03.379 --> 00:10:07.769 the strengths of the team? I'm a really big believer in actually in strength 139 00:10:07.809 --> 00:10:11.809 finders, and how do you make sure that not the team is matching the 140 00:10:11.970 --> 00:10:16.409 priorities that you have and that the that the company has? So those are 141 00:10:16.490 --> 00:10:20.690 kind of some of the big things in terms of the assessment phase. Yeah, 142 00:10:20.769 --> 00:10:22.399 what I heard you say, they're Alex's. You know, if you 143 00:10:22.759 --> 00:10:26.480 if you didn't have as thorough and interview processes, as you were fortunate in 144 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:31.279 enough to have it code forty two, assessing, you know, where the 145 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:35.399 executive team that you're going to be working with, looking at your messaging, 146 00:10:35.639 --> 00:10:39.549 looking at your marketing spend and then looking at the strengths and weaknesses of your 147 00:10:39.629 --> 00:10:43.950 marketing team. You know the those kind of for keys, and I think 148 00:10:43.990 --> 00:10:46.669 if folks kind of think about that it's a little bit less overwhelming to after 149 00:10:46.830 --> 00:10:52.500 assess everything. Okay, think about these four buckets. was there any specific 150 00:10:52.539 --> 00:10:56.899 strategy you use to kind of compile all of this information together? As you 151 00:10:58.100 --> 00:11:01.860 started to take in a lot of this information? You know, I kind 152 00:11:01.860 --> 00:11:05.409 of use the analogy it's almost like drinking from a fire hose in those first 153 00:11:05.490 --> 00:11:09.730 thirty days and it can be tough to kind of assimilate all of that information 154 00:11:09.929 --> 00:11:13.929 and start to analyze it. Anything you recommend for folks, other than kind 155 00:11:13.970 --> 00:11:18.720 of maybe breaking it down into these four categories, which you you provided pretty 156 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:22.279 nicely in how to organize that information so that eventually you can start to do 157 00:11:22.440 --> 00:11:26.279 something with it? It's a really good question because you know, and one 158 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:28.679 of the one of the ways, of course, you know I need to 159 00:11:28.759 --> 00:11:33.950 do that to be able to assess quickly but also to convey the synthesis of 160 00:11:33.029 --> 00:11:37.669 my assessments and, yeah, whether it's to my peers on the executive team 161 00:11:37.830 --> 00:11:39.350 more even to the board. And and one of the things that I did 162 00:11:39.549 --> 00:11:45.070 is kind of created a little bit more of my own marketing maturity assessment. 163 00:11:45.789 --> 00:11:52.779 So I actually looked at six different areas of marketing and try to give give 164 00:11:52.940 --> 00:11:56.419 ourselves a score of one hund twenty five, one being, you know, 165 00:11:58.340 --> 00:12:01.649 lowmaturity and five being really mature. And I would say that the sixth areas 166 00:12:01.690 --> 00:12:05.490 are one is what is the role of marketing? Is Marketing scene, is 167 00:12:05.570 --> 00:12:09.450 just a cost center in the organization, or is it really a strategic function 168 00:12:09.610 --> 00:12:16.080 in the organization? And I would say to anybody interviewing or looking to change 169 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:20.200 jobs that is probably the number one thing you want to understand is what does 170 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:24.960 the CEO and what to the rest of the executives think about the role at 171 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:30.110 marketing place? So that was my number one my second area was the relationship 172 00:12:30.230 --> 00:12:33.669 that marketing has with sales. Right, is it a confrontational relationship? Is 173 00:12:33.710 --> 00:12:37.470 With a partnership? What are some of the indicators of the strength of the 174 00:12:37.549 --> 00:12:43.070 sales and marketing relationship. The third is messaging and content. Right. Is 175 00:12:43.110 --> 00:12:48.019 a message clear? Is it compelling? Is it congruent with your business priorities 176 00:12:48.100 --> 00:12:54.659 and your product, and do you have content that supporting your message? The 177 00:12:54.779 --> 00:12:58.009 fourth area is just core processes and technologies. Right. What is your text 178 00:12:58.090 --> 00:13:03.570 act look like? What are the processes and art is the technology actually supporting 179 00:13:03.649 --> 00:13:09.049 well the fine processes, or is it just companies that are binging on technology 180 00:13:09.049 --> 00:13:11.809 because they're trying to solve a process and and you know, those of us 181 00:13:11.850 --> 00:13:16.000 that have been there not that that's not going to help. The fifth area 182 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:22.120 is around data and analytics. So I would say, you know, look 183 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:26.639 at the quality of the data that you have and is it being used to 184 00:13:26.759 --> 00:13:30.710 drive insights and to make decisions or is it just, you know, being 185 00:13:30.830 --> 00:13:35.350 showed to to you know, support that we're using data, but it's not 186 00:13:35.549 --> 00:13:37.590 really there to drive in sight? So that's that's the fifth area. And 187 00:13:37.710 --> 00:13:43.220 the last sixes around organizational talent and culture. Right. What is your what 188 00:13:43.379 --> 00:13:46.059 is your team look like? What are the leadership competencies on your team and 189 00:13:46.139 --> 00:13:52.220 and what's the culture? You know, famous expression, I think is Peter 190 00:13:52.299 --> 00:13:54.700 druckers and culture. Each strategy for breakfast, so you know it's thanks. 191 00:13:54.769 --> 00:14:00.809 You do have the right culture on your team to move forward. Hey, 192 00:14:00.929 --> 00:14:03.330 everybody, logan with sweet fish here. If you've been listening to the show 193 00:14:03.370 --> 00:14:07.570 for a while, you know we're big proponents of putting out original, organic 194 00:14:07.730 --> 00:14:11.519 content on linked but one thing that's always been a struggle for a team like 195 00:14:11.720 --> 00:14:16.919 ours is to easily track the reach of that linkedin content. That's why I 196 00:14:16.039 --> 00:14:20.720 was really excited when I heard about shield the other day from a connection on, 197 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:24.429 you guessed it, linked in. Since our team started using shield, 198 00:14:24.470 --> 00:14:28.470 I've loved how it's let us easily track and analyze the performance of our linkedin 199 00:14:28.590 --> 00:14:35.429 content without having to manually log it ourselves. It automatically creates reports and generates 200 00:14:35.509 --> 00:14:39.139 some dashboards that are incredibly useful to see things like what content has been performing 201 00:14:39.179 --> 00:14:43.659 the best and what days of the week are we getting the most engagement and 202 00:14:43.019 --> 00:14:48.179 our average views proposed. I'd highly suggest you guys check out this tool if 203 00:14:48.220 --> 00:14:50.539 you're putting out content on Linkedin, and if you're not, you should be. 204 00:14:50.980 --> 00:14:54.169 It's been a game changer for us. If you go to shield APP 205 00:14:54.490 --> 00:14:58.169 DOT AI and check out the ten day free trial, you can even use 206 00:14:58.289 --> 00:15:01.850 our Promo Code, be to be growth, to get a twenty five percent 207 00:15:01.970 --> 00:15:07.039 discount. Again. That's shield APP DOT AI and that Promo Code is be, 208 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:11.240 the number to be growth. All one word. All right, let's 209 00:15:11.240 --> 00:15:18.759 get back to the show. I love it. I for those listening, 210 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:22.070 you might want to hit that thirty second back a couple times. I love 211 00:15:22.149 --> 00:15:26.149 the way that you broke down those six areas that you've baked into your marketing 212 00:15:26.230 --> 00:15:31.070 maturity assessment. Alex, you know I'm tempted here to say, okay, 213 00:15:31.309 --> 00:15:35.899 let's talk about the the next phase in how you determined your priorities, because 214 00:15:35.940 --> 00:15:37.980 I imagine some of those are closer to a one than a five. As 215 00:15:37.980 --> 00:15:41.100 you broke down that six areas and you graded them, but as you and 216 00:15:41.179 --> 00:15:46.500 I were chatting offline, it just naturally in our conversation you started to talk 217 00:15:46.539 --> 00:15:52.250 about setting yourself up for success before jumping into tackling problems. Setting yourself up 218 00:15:52.330 --> 00:15:56.610 for success in the relationships that you're going to have, both peer to peer, 219 00:15:58.090 --> 00:16:00.850 up to your founders and and the the CEO down to the rest of 220 00:16:00.889 --> 00:16:06.679 your team and marketing. Tell us a little bit about how you prioritize relationships 221 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:11.039 and how you approached. You know, that relationship with with the your counterpart 222 00:16:11.159 --> 00:16:15.159 in sales and those sorts of things. I think the importance of pausing and 223 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:19.830 recognizing that your first ninety days in the any leadership role is important. I'd 224 00:16:19.870 --> 00:16:22.549 love to hear you know how you kind of went about that and then we'll 225 00:16:22.549 --> 00:16:26.710 get into all right, all right, you got all this information, you're 226 00:16:26.830 --> 00:16:30.549 determining your priorities. How how'd you go about starting to tackle some of that 227 00:16:30.590 --> 00:16:33.220 at least? Yeah, you know, when you and I were talking about 228 00:16:33.259 --> 00:16:38.179 line, I definitely talked about relationships and I think it's those first ninety days 229 00:16:38.220 --> 00:16:45.379 are an important period to establish core relationships that are going to take you through 230 00:16:45.299 --> 00:16:51.289 the your entire life time at the company. And they're important because you need 231 00:16:51.370 --> 00:16:56.529 to figure out who are the influencers in the organization, who are people that 232 00:16:56.730 --> 00:17:03.440 could be potential detractors, who are key partners that you're going to need to 233 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:08.039 to work with across the organizations at all levels, right whether they're a part 234 00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:11.079 of your executive team and of course you know the head of sales is a 235 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:15.309 key partner there, but also you know the head of product is a key 236 00:17:15.430 --> 00:17:21.990 partner there. But there's also team members across the organization, whether it's because 237 00:17:22.029 --> 00:17:26.430 they've been there for several years and they have some history with the company or 238 00:17:26.710 --> 00:17:30.259 just by the nature of the role or just buy their skill sets that are 239 00:17:30.339 --> 00:17:33.339 that you know are going to be highly influential. So I'll give you an 240 00:17:33.380 --> 00:17:40.099 example. Company is actually has a very strong VII team, business intelligence team, 241 00:17:40.819 --> 00:17:44.609 and like any well run company, you know, we look at our 242 00:17:44.730 --> 00:17:49.130 performance on a weekly basis and and we try to really extract some of those 243 00:17:49.170 --> 00:17:56.609 keen metrics that are leading indicators of of our performance. And one of the 244 00:17:56.690 --> 00:18:00.920 members on the team is the person actually pulls together the reports for the executive 245 00:18:00.920 --> 00:18:04.640 team and I spend a lot of time with this one individual, this you 246 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:08.680 know, who's actually probably at it, you know, just been with a 247 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:14.750 company a couple of a couple of months, not particularly senior in the company, 248 00:18:15.390 --> 00:18:19.230 but just has such a good grasp and understanding of where all the data 249 00:18:19.390 --> 00:18:22.349 sets and how it's being pulled together and what are some of the questions that 250 00:18:22.470 --> 00:18:26.220 these ecutive team aren't asking and and and what are some of those leading indicators? 251 00:18:26.940 --> 00:18:32.619 And that is somebody that I've just partnered with from the GETCO because I 252 00:18:32.660 --> 00:18:37.660 am a big believer myself, and making sure that marketing data is aligned entirely 253 00:18:37.940 --> 00:18:41.130 to the rest of the business data and making sure that it's being able to 254 00:18:41.250 --> 00:18:47.930 contribute to telling the story and telling it actually and factually correct, rather than 255 00:18:48.009 --> 00:18:51.769 just having, you know, marketing pulled their own data. So that's this 256 00:18:51.930 --> 00:18:55.089 one, one little example of relationship and steps. I think the other piece 257 00:18:55.250 --> 00:18:57.000 is, you know, of course, and marketing. One of my key 258 00:18:57.079 --> 00:19:03.279 priorities has been building relationships with sales and especially with those car carrying salesmen that 259 00:19:03.319 --> 00:19:07.640 are on sales women that are on the road day it and they out because 260 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:11.349 they're the ones talking to customers and they are the ones, at the end 261 00:19:11.349 --> 00:19:15.230 of the day, where the rubber is, is meeting the road and everything 262 00:19:15.269 --> 00:19:18.670 that we're doing in marketing. So what is their perception of marketing? What's 263 00:19:18.750 --> 00:19:22.309 working, what's not working? Where Are we aligned with what they're hearing in 264 00:19:22.390 --> 00:19:25.579 the market place? What are some of the things that customers are telling them? 265 00:19:25.619 --> 00:19:29.940 Are Buyers are telling them? And so building those relationships with sales is 266 00:19:30.299 --> 00:19:33.460 absolutely key. I love to hear that as a as someone who wears my 267 00:19:33.579 --> 00:19:37.059 sales and marketing had on a small team. So for me, as long 268 00:19:37.099 --> 00:19:41.490 as I'm not arguing with myself that I've got a good relationship between sales and 269 00:19:41.569 --> 00:19:45.009 marketing. But I love to hear you know, what sang rumbager over at 270 00:19:45.049 --> 00:19:47.970 terminus often says is, you know what they call it? Terminus? One 271 00:19:48.049 --> 00:19:51.369 team that approached between sales and marketing, and I love that you touched on, 272 00:19:51.769 --> 00:19:56.480 you know, building relationships with those quote of carrying back, carrying salesmen 273 00:19:56.559 --> 00:20:00.640 and women in addition to your counterpart WHO's heading up the sales team. I 274 00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:04.720 think that can be invaluable for you and I think you know the as you 275 00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:08.109 mentioned, you've done this a few times and I think that's that's words of 276 00:20:08.190 --> 00:20:11.710 wisdom there that folks can take from this. Alex. let's talk a little 277 00:20:11.750 --> 00:20:15.829 bit, as we wrap up today, about, you know, the next 278 00:20:15.910 --> 00:20:18.269 phase. They're towards the latter part of your ninety days and as you look 279 00:20:18.470 --> 00:20:22.940 into the rest of two thousand and twenty with Code Forty two, what were 280 00:20:23.059 --> 00:20:27.579 some of the ways that you took your assessment and then determined, okay, 281 00:20:27.619 --> 00:20:30.380 what am I going to tackle first? How am I going to let go 282 00:20:30.539 --> 00:20:37.009 of some of the things that are I had to deprioritized in some former fashion 283 00:20:37.089 --> 00:20:38.490 tell us a little bit about, you know, making some of those hard 284 00:20:38.529 --> 00:20:42.650 decisions and what your process was like there that others can learn from. Yeah, 285 00:20:42.769 --> 00:20:47.970 I mean a couple of things. So my process is really built around 286 00:20:48.809 --> 00:20:51.920 some of the core beliefs that I have and around marketing, which is marketing 287 00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:53.599 is there for sales. Right at the end of the day, if the 288 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:59.640 company's in producing revenue, I really don't care how many MPL's we're not, 289 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:03.670 we're producing, or whatever metric you're using in terms of leads. If we're 290 00:21:03.670 --> 00:21:08.109 not going, if the company isn't successful at driving the revenue target, than 291 00:21:08.190 --> 00:21:14.069 marketing isn't successful. So that's one of my number one beliefs. The second 292 00:21:14.190 --> 00:21:17.869 thing is, and I'll get to how that's, driving priorities in a second 293 00:21:17.910 --> 00:21:21.180 and the second belief I have. I've got three or four, but the 294 00:21:21.299 --> 00:21:23.380 second one is really that at the end of the day, all buyers are 295 00:21:23.420 --> 00:21:27.779 emotional buyers and so you can give them all the data that you want, 296 00:21:27.940 --> 00:21:33.769 but ninety five percent of decisions that we as humans make, even in business, 297 00:21:33.849 --> 00:21:37.490 are emotional and then we post rationalize them. So how do we how 298 00:21:37.569 --> 00:21:40.690 do we hit on the emotional piece, so to that and I'll speak about 299 00:21:40.849 --> 00:21:44.849 two of the two big priorities that I tackled in the first ninety days and 300 00:21:44.930 --> 00:21:49.960 I've kicked off. One is really around the entire demand process and that starts 301 00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:53.519 with with, you know, marketing and then ends all the way through, 302 00:21:53.960 --> 00:21:57.640 you know, the closed one deal, so across. So it's it's really 303 00:21:57.680 --> 00:22:02.990 a demand transformation that we're doing across the entire go to market engine. And 304 00:22:03.829 --> 00:22:07.230 the reason it's really transformational, and it has to be, that we put 305 00:22:07.349 --> 00:22:10.990 the buyer at the at the center of everything that we're doing. So we're 306 00:22:11.029 --> 00:22:15.470 unders trying to understand map out the entire buy or journey. What are the 307 00:22:15.509 --> 00:22:19.099 different touchpoints, what is the content in the types of content that the buyer 308 00:22:19.180 --> 00:22:22.220 is looking for at each stage of the journey? Where do we have gaps, 309 00:22:22.779 --> 00:22:27.019 gaps and content gaps and processes that might not be working, and how 310 00:22:27.059 --> 00:22:30.289 do we make sure that, end too end, we're really starting to improve 311 00:22:32.009 --> 00:22:36.130 the ability of marketing to contribute to closed one revenue. So that's been one 312 00:22:36.170 --> 00:22:38.970 of the big priories, I would say. The second one is really around 313 00:22:38.970 --> 00:22:45.160 driving consistency around our brand, not just starting with for our message right who 314 00:22:45.160 --> 00:22:48.279 we are, what we do and more importantly, why? Right? Why 315 00:22:48.359 --> 00:22:52.200 do we do it? What's our purpose? Starting with the purpose and then 316 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:57.400 translating that into our brand architecture and our brand values and making sure that we're 317 00:22:57.400 --> 00:23:03.670 going to be consistent throughout and that we're really hitting on the emotional parts of 318 00:23:03.150 --> 00:23:07.349 our brand. Right, why are we why are we going to be different 319 00:23:07.509 --> 00:23:11.109 in what we do and what are some of the emotions that we're going to 320 00:23:11.150 --> 00:23:15.180 be wanting to trigger with our buyers? So I would say demand transformation is 321 00:23:15.299 --> 00:23:18.420 is was one of the big priorities and it's a long term investment, but 322 00:23:18.579 --> 00:23:23.180 once you have that engine built, it pays for itself tenfold. And then 323 00:23:23.220 --> 00:23:27.690 the second piece is getting the entire team along around our brand voice and and 324 00:23:29.329 --> 00:23:32.769 our brand architecture. Yep, I love that. You know, I think 325 00:23:32.930 --> 00:23:37.289 every marketing leader I talked to on the show and offline is trying to balance 326 00:23:37.450 --> 00:23:41.130 that brand and demand and I think the ones that are doing it well are 327 00:23:41.329 --> 00:23:45.720 committed to both and both are the long game that you can't you know, 328 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:48.200 focus. We all know you can't build a brand and in a day and 329 00:23:48.279 --> 00:23:53.039 you can't also you can do some quick wins, but to build a sustainable 330 00:23:53.640 --> 00:23:59.509 demansion engine. It takes time on the front end and and as with with 331 00:23:59.750 --> 00:24:03.549 most things, it takes consistency over time. It's something we're talking with our 332 00:24:03.549 --> 00:24:07.109 customers about all the time when it comes to when it comes to podcasting, 333 00:24:07.230 --> 00:24:10.420 you know, we tell them ninety percent of podcasts don't make it past six 334 00:24:10.460 --> 00:24:15.099 episodes because they don't begin with that long game in mind. And I think 335 00:24:15.220 --> 00:24:18.779 you're you're echoing that across, you know, everything that you do in marketing, 336 00:24:18.819 --> 00:24:22.579 and I couldn't agree with that more. A book if people are interested 337 00:24:22.660 --> 00:24:26.529 in what you were just saying there, Alex, about hey, we make 338 00:24:26.609 --> 00:24:30.369 emotional decisions, even in be tob purchases, and then back them up with 339 00:24:30.569 --> 00:24:34.210 logic. Definitely recommend, whether you're in sales or marketing, check out the 340 00:24:34.289 --> 00:24:40.119 transparency sale by Todd Caponey. It has some some information in there about, 341 00:24:40.279 --> 00:24:44.440 you know, the the psychology of buyers and some tweaks that you can make 342 00:24:44.920 --> 00:24:48.599 to your marketing messaging, to your approach in sales to really, I want 343 00:24:48.599 --> 00:24:52.950 to say take advantage, but maybe that doesn't necessarily sound as good. But 344 00:24:52.430 --> 00:24:56.589 to operate with that reality in mind is probably a better way to say it, 345 00:24:56.630 --> 00:24:59.950 and I think we forget that we think, oh we're taking all of 346 00:24:59.990 --> 00:25:03.150 the emotion out of bb buying, and I it's just not the case. 347 00:25:03.950 --> 00:25:06.869 That's a topic for another episode. But none of the resource, if you 348 00:25:06.990 --> 00:25:11.099 like that, Alex I love the way that you broke down your marketing maturity 349 00:25:11.099 --> 00:25:15.420 assessment for folks today. Shared some really great insights and how to tackle your 350 00:25:15.460 --> 00:25:18.420 first ninety days. Is the CMO for other marketers out there who've learned something 351 00:25:18.460 --> 00:25:22.130 from you today would like to reach out or stay connected with you with the 352 00:25:22.210 --> 00:25:26.650 best way for them to go about doing that? Oh Yeah, so I'm 353 00:25:26.690 --> 00:25:30.089 on Linkedin and I'm on twitter, so they can definitely connect with me there 354 00:25:30.210 --> 00:25:37.759 and I think my twitter hand was Alexandra Underscore Gobi and saying for linkedin it's 355 00:25:37.799 --> 00:25:41.680 Alexandra Gobi. And Yeah, I love staying connected. I thank you for 356 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:47.200 the resource on the transparency. What was it? The transparency? The transparency 357 00:25:47.240 --> 00:25:49.869 sale by todd the link to it in the show notes for listeners to yeah, 358 00:25:49.990 --> 00:25:52.990 definitely, I hadn't heard of that one for sure, so I definitely 359 00:25:53.470 --> 00:25:57.029 definitely appreciate you sharing that one. And Yeah, no, I think you 360 00:25:57.150 --> 00:26:03.230 know. You asked about before we got started about resources and kind of you 361 00:26:03.349 --> 00:26:07.099 know, where do I we're do I connect to where and I need help 362 00:26:07.259 --> 00:26:11.180 and and what are some of the resources I tap into? And I was 363 00:26:11.299 --> 00:26:17.660 introduced this past this past year, to the network of a female CMOS called 364 00:26:17.700 --> 00:26:22.410 the empowered CMO group, and it was founded by Amanda Callo, who's the 365 00:26:22.650 --> 00:26:29.529 actual founder of sixth sense, and I just it was a fantastic event that 366 00:26:29.650 --> 00:26:33.240 they put on once a year, but it was a great community of just 367 00:26:33.480 --> 00:26:40.279 like minded CMOS both, you know, cross across the US Bay area as 368 00:26:40.359 --> 00:26:44.039 well as East Coast. I think all of us were in be tob tach 369 00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:49.109 and what I loved, loved about this network, and we're continuing to support 370 00:26:49.190 --> 00:26:52.990 each other, you know, virtually, and just stay connected through all sorts 371 00:26:53.230 --> 00:27:00.269 of mediums, is it was really about empowering women and supporting women rather than 372 00:27:00.349 --> 00:27:03.420 kind of, you know, you trying to beat each other out, and 373 00:27:03.660 --> 00:27:08.220 and that's really what I loved. Every single woman CMO and that team just 374 00:27:08.380 --> 00:27:12.579 brought their authentic, vulnerable self to the meeting, shared stories, you know, 375 00:27:12.819 --> 00:27:18.329 was very open about some of the challenges that they faced and and just 376 00:27:18.450 --> 00:27:22.009 an incredibly supportive network. And I just want to shout out to Amanda. 377 00:27:22.490 --> 00:27:26.369 She did a really, really fantastic job at bringing together this group of like 378 00:27:26.569 --> 00:27:32.759 minded, very very inspiring women. So that was gone my moments of the 379 00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:37.079 year that I really appreciated. That's awesome. The empowered CMO group. Where 380 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:38.559 can folks go if they want to? If there are, you know, 381 00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:42.799 a female CMO or marketing leader, is there a linkedin group? As they're 382 00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:48.789 a page save six and it linkedin. There's a private linkedin group, but 383 00:27:48.069 --> 00:27:55.069 certainly look at six cents and connect with Amanda. She's she feel she's the 384 00:27:55.109 --> 00:27:57.029 one that kind of founded this group and yeah, I definitely I just I 385 00:27:57.230 --> 00:28:00.819 love what you're what you're saying there. I've we've interacted with a few of 386 00:28:00.900 --> 00:28:04.619 the folks from sense. I know we've had their CMO on the podcast here 387 00:28:04.740 --> 00:28:08.660 before, and just want to make it easy for folks if they're kind of 388 00:28:08.700 --> 00:28:12.809 fitting that mold and that's a group that that could be useful for them, 389 00:28:12.849 --> 00:28:17.089 as it has been for you, Alex. I'd recommend you know, they 390 00:28:17.170 --> 00:28:19.730 reach out to you, they reach out to Amanda, it's some way get 391 00:28:19.809 --> 00:28:22.369 plugged into that group, because it sounds like it's been helpful for you and 392 00:28:22.730 --> 00:28:26.960 definitely want to share that. are absolutely yeah, awesome. Well, Alex, 393 00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:30.720 this has been a really fun conversation. Thank you so much for sharing 394 00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:33.759 with listeners today. All right, thank you and best the luck to you 395 00:28:33.920 --> 00:28:38.759 and in the next decade. We totally get it. We publish a ton 396 00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:42.109 of content on this podcast and it can be a lot to keep up with. 397 00:28:42.670 --> 00:28:47.470 That's why we've started the B tob growth big three, a no fluff 398 00:28:47.549 --> 00:28:51.990 email that boils down our three biggest takeaways from an entire week of episodes. 399 00:28:52.430 --> 00:28:59.339 Sign up today at Sweet Phish Mediacom Big Three. That sweet fish Mediacom Big 400 00:28:59.660 --> Three