On site at SapphireNow, I was briefed today on a brand new CEO study from IBM. The company interviewed more than 1500 CEOs worldwide. Among the key learnings: CEOs say creativity is the most important quality they look for in leaders; companies that enjoy long-term success have done so by turning complexity into financial advantage; success also comes from co-creating products and services with customers. PLUS one key quote from the executive summary is very relevant to our ongoing discussion about executive engagement: “In a massively interconnected world, CEOs prioritize customer intimacy as never before. Globalization, combined with dramatic increases in the availability of information has exponentially expanded customers’ options.” Access the full report here.
Posted May 18th, 2010 in
Who are the most innovative and transformational CXOs–and why? What are some characteristics of a transformational corporate leader? If you have any opinions on this topic, we would love to hear from you. We are working on an ongoing series on executive leadership and will be sharing the results with our community. To give your input on this topic, please email me at sharon@boardroominsiders.com.
Posted March 18th, 2010 in
Join the Boardroom Insiders LinkedIn Group and see what your peers have to say about reaching executive decision makers.
Posted March 18th, 2010 in
I had coffee with Silvia Quintanilla last week. She is a seasoned sales pro and an expert when it comes to identifying “triggers” at Fortune 500 companies that present opportunities for vendors of all kinds. She creates amazingly concise, yet in-depth company reports that are completely customized for her clients. Of course she does not do this for free–but what you can get for free is her monthly newsletter highlighting current sales triggers at Fortune 500 companies. As you know, timing and relevance are everything when it comes to making a sale. Industry Gems’ monthly report is a great way to keep up to date on these opportunities.
Posted February 16th, 2010 in
I just found out that Tom O’Toole has been named CMO of United Airlines. I have been following his career for quite awhile. While at Hyatt Corp., he held a dual role: Chief Marketing Officer AND Chief Information Officer. This is a very unusual combo and puzzling to many. How can one person be an expert in both marketing and technology–both left brain and right brain?
No one explains it better than O’Toole himself. Just listen to some of the insight he has shared over the years: “The priority needs and interests of marketing and IT tend to go hand in hand,” he said. Long considered outside the purview of marketing directors, qualitative information is something O’Toole has repeatedly counseled fellow CMOs to “get comfortable dealing with.” He has encouraged CMO’s to learn about various technologies, including XML, relational databases and ASP’s. “One need not be a chief technology officer – being conversant is enough,” he said.
In 2009, O’Toole told BearingPoint, “CMOs and CIOs may not realize it, but they increasingly share a common aim: They both are working to create information-driven enterprises. Marketing is increasingly conducted through IT-enabled media driven by database analytics/applications…in my view, the areas of overlap between these two spheres are where the most dynamic, interesting, important, growing business activities are happening.”
O’Toole is not the only one who feels this way. Bob Willett, the CEO of Best Buy International (and a former CIO himself) believes that the path to the corner office is going to skew more toward the CIO role in the future. “A lot of CEOs have come from the CFO background – in the future I think a lot of the CEOs are going to come from the CIO background. Because technology…it’s the only thing that touches every single facet of the company in great depth and great detail. And so I think the route to the corner office in the future, five ten years, is going to be much more via the CIO route than it is the CFO route today.”
What does this mean for those of us trying to engage them? It means you can no longer make assumptions about the CMO or CIO persona or archetype. With the convergence of business, marketing and technology, the people ascending to these positions come from more diverse backgrounds. It is important we look at them as individuals and tailor our messages to speak their language.
For example, if you are pitching a marketing solution to O’Toole that has a technology component–say a marketing analytics package or virtual events platform–you better be prepared to answer questions about what’s under the hood and how the back end technology could integrate with solutions he is already using. While this is not typically what you would expect with a CMO, given his background, it could come up. Don’t be caught unprepared.
Posted January 29th, 2010 in
I have been enjoying Marc Benioff’s book, Behind the Cloud, which Santa left for me under the tree last month. Benioff is the CEO and Founder of Salesforce.com. Of particular interest to those of us in the business of CXO strategy, is a story he tells on pp. 92-93, called “Connect the Dots:”
“Don’t dial for dollars! Never cold-call; always call with a plan. Learn about the company and use your network to find the right individual(s) to approach. Our sales team uses our network the same way people use the business networking Web site LinkedIn, constantly reaching out to our contacts (our executive team and board of directors) to find connections. With the reach of our executives, customers and partners, it is almost impossible not to be able somehow to connect the dots before engaging with a prospect. When we were trying to win lender CIT as a customer, for example, we realized that Gary Butler, the CEO of ADP, a customer of ours, was on the board of CIT. I reached out to Gary, who recommended us to CIT. The first meeting we had at CIT was with its CEO and chairman, Jeffrey Peek. By connecting the dots, we won the unlikely opportunity to get to the “C” level on an initial sales call. This ultimately resulted in a multithousand-user deal and an extremely short sales cycle.”
This is what we have been preaching for years! We can help you pull together the information you need about your prospects and customers, so you can take a similar approach. And if you haven’t checked out Behind the Cloud, you should. It’s a great read for entrepreneurs and salespeople.
Happy New Year,
Sharon Gillenwater
Founder, Boardroom Insiders
sharon@boardroominsiders.com
Posted January 11th, 2010 in
I have been following sales guru, author and speaker Jill Konrath for quite some time, and have used her advice and resources to help break into big enterprise accounts. If you are in the position of selling to big companies, check out her website and learn why Fortune calls her book, Selling to Big Companies, a “must read” for salespeople. Jill’s email newsletter is also a great resource and she is offering a free sales call planning guide to subscribers.
Posted December 16th, 2009 in
On Nov. 3rd, Boardroom Insiders founder Sharon Gillenwater was the guest speaker at a Netprospex webinar on Best Practices in CXO Marketing. You can access a recording of the webinar here.
Posted November 3rd, 2009 in
Join NetProspex and Sharon Gillenwater, founder of Boardroom Insiders, as she shares best practices on targeting senior enterprise executives and increasing the effectiveness of account-based marketing efforts. You will learn:
- What CXOs expect from vendors who want their business
- How to ‘move the needle’ with executive-level customers and prospects
- How to customize communications and programs for individual CXOs
- How other companies have successfully reached and engaged CXOs
Don’t miss this opportunity to learn tips and best practices for targeting, connecting, and achieving success with senior enterprise executives.
Register for November 3rd webinar at 9:30 PDT
Register for November 4th webinar at 9:30 PDT
All attendees will receive a free one-month subscription to Boardroom Insiders.
Posted October 23rd, 2009 in
Two new surveys of retail executives show that retailers believe the economic recovery could be just around the corner. The BDO Seidman Retail Compass Survey of CFOs reveals that 62% of retail CFOs plan to increase inventory purchases by the first half of 2010. The most recent quarterly supply chain risk report of U.S. retail and manufacturing executives from AMR Research supports the Retail Compass Survey’s findings that retailers and their partners are expecting a need for increased inventory in the coming year. Forty-four percent of the survey’s respondents believe the recovery cycle is the biggest supply chain risk in 2010 because of potential commodity price increases, limited internal skills after workforce reductions, and problems meeting new demand with constrained capacity, low inventory, and transportation constraints. In contrast, only 23% of respondents are worried that the recession will continue, resulting in weak customer demand. Most respondents, 83%, expect the economy to turn around in Q2 2010 or later, with 41% predicting a turnaround will occur in Q2 2010.
If you are marketing to retail CFOs, this is good information to have. After more than a year of stagnation, they might be ready to buy what you’re selling. Now is the time to become familiar with your target CFO careabouts so you are prepared to engage them around how your offering can address their current initiatives and challenges.
Posted September 30th, 2009 in
