By Cultivate | November 4, 2021
In the last episode…Sam unveiled her seven steps to accelerate sales results and began a deeper dive into market opportunities.
In this episode, Sam gets a closer look at the dynamics between marketing, sales and customer experience. Things start to get a little sticky. The only question is: Which hurdles can she clear and which ones will trip her up?
I’ve conducted CEO listening sessions with almost all department heads. I deliberately left Marketing and Customer Experience for last, and now I need to meet with three leaders in those departments: Kay P. Eigh, Sharon Kare and Brandy Quity.
As luck would have it, Kay, Sharon and Brandy joined me in the Friday morning yoga class organized by HR.
“That was just what I needed,” Kay says to Brandy and Sharon as they roll up their mats.
“Same here,” Sharon adds as I approach the group.
“Sure, it was relaxing, but I haven’t sweat this much since we almost lost the Cincinnati account,” replies Brandy.
I greet them, “Good morning, ladies. I hope you’re all this flexible when it comes to team projects.”
“Don’t worry,” responds Brandy. “We bend over backwards to wow the customer.”
“I look forward to seeing all of you back here in a few hours for our listening session,” I say as we head out the door. They all smile and nod, but it seems like Sharon’s smile is a little forced. I make a mental note to pay attention to her demeanor in the meeting this afternoon.
The rest of the day I bounce from one meeting to the next until my listening session with Kay, Brandy and Sharon.
“Thanks for taking time to meet with me today. This session is an opportunity for me to get to know all of you better by listening and answering any initial questions that you have for me.”
Kay jumps in with a question. “Samantha, we’ve had a good year, despite many external obstacles. My question is: What are your plans to sustain success?"
“Good question, Kay. From what I’ve evaluated so far, we’re in a prime position to compete in new markets. I met with Ken Kaizen, Cash Maker and Justin Thyme earlier this week to discuss the opportunities for Tikky-Tak in the west.”
“Those west coaster customers may be two hours behind us, but they’re two years ahead when it comes to maximizing trends,” comments Brandy.
“I agree. Before we move forward with these plans, I’d like to get your input on this opportunity. I’ll be calling a meeting next week to discuss the data from Ken’s team and to identify other market intelligence that we should be considering from your departments, including competitive research, voice of customer insights and brand studies."
We discuss many topics that are on their minds. I take them through my playbook of 7 steps to accelerating sales results.
There’s a palpable sense of relief in the room. I can practically see Sharon’s shoulders coming down from her ears and her smile looks genuine. They seem happy to have a CEO that gets marketing and customer experience best practices.
"We need to align data across sales, marketing and customer success. I believe Rev Ops can get us closer to a unified view of our customers and their needs."
"CX and Rev Ops are intrinsically linked. Better CX = Higher revenue. I’m all in."