Business Development & Getting Through to a New CMO – Reflections

LinkedIn is an incredible place - I’ll share some thoughts to help harness it and some tips to avoid ??.

You can listen to the full episode on Josh Braun’s Inside Selling podcast here.

After recently announcing my new ?? role as General Assembly 's new Chief Marketing Officer (which I’m absolutely ?? loving BTW), I started receiving hundreds of LinkedIn messages like this: “Hi, I saw yesterday you joined GA as the new CMO. Congrats. Can I schedule a demo of our product next week so our team can tell you what we do for marketers?” One person asked what my ??budget was (yikes ??). Definitely an important ? question during the sales cycle, but not an opening one of a ? cold outreach the day someone gets hired. On the other hand, there were so many thoughtful outreaches filled with great info, industry insights, support, and a genuine desire to build relationships. What a treasure trove of opportunity!

I definitely noticed when a person tailored their DM to me - whether through humor, sincerity, or leveraging something I wrote. So, if you are taking the time to do that, keep it up!

The First 90 Days Vs. The Long Game

I wanted to share some insight into what the first 9?? 0?? days typically ?? looks like for a new CMO. LinkedIn is an incredible place so I’ll share some thoughts to help you harness it.

Tomorrow I’ll be back to reveal some of the ?? outreaches I found very valuable ?? that did or will lead to ?? meetings, ?? connections, and yes…even… ? sales (at some point, just not day 1). PS - So many of you of you are ??crushing it out there! I’m so appreciative of the connections, learning, networking, and support that LinkedIn creates.

Before I do that, here’s what on my mind:

The first few days, weeks, and even months ?? are not typically when a new CMO is ready to take a cold call for a demo of a product that may or may not solve a problem that may or may not be there that may or may not be prioritized this year. Instead, they are:

• Working their way through the list of activities below (keep reading, it's at the end)
• Getting acclimated to the business
• Understanding their CEO's vision (what up Daniele Grassi )
• Learning about the needs of their customers
• Building great internal relationships (the key to success for any org)
• Forging meaningful connections with existing partners

Natural Synergies, Existing Relationships, and Critical Priorities Take Precedence

For all your Sales Farmers out there, there’s some good news because a newbie is probably going to look to an existing relationship to see if they can solve a particular gap in the early days (don't come in too hot on day 1). They are also going to look for natural synergies across the existing landscape to find quick wins. They are likely walking into their team having a laundry list of in-flight critical projects and will want to get dialed in to the expertise of their teams and getting those efforts across the goal line (shout out to my awesome team Kate Braner Rafael Vieira Tiago Michaela Clark ).

Documenting Capability Gaps and Solidifying Solution Requirements Before a Demo is Best

Long before anyone is ready for a product demo, a few things need to be true: business and marketing goals need to be created, a strategic plan crystalized, a set of real problems/blockers identified, collective agreement on prioritization established, and for the spots where a new product/service is needed - a set of business and functional requirements created cross-departmentally should be solidified. (I'm enjoying that process with Rebecca "Becks" Bondi Danielle Chircop Meg Randall Hannah Lee Edward Shiplee John Madigan Julien Deslangles-Blanch Jeff Bergin, PhD Gretchen Jacobi and many others).

First 90 Days Activities: Consider How To Tailor Your Outreach With This in Mind

If you are about to reach out to a new CMO in LinkedIn, here’s what they are likely focused on - consider how you can tailor your outreach knowing this is what’s on their plate:

• Meeting Stakeholders & Building Relationships at Every Level
• Learning the Operating Models
• Understanding The 1-3 year Business Vision, and FY Priorities
• Diving into Financials & Revenue Drivers
• Digesting Documentation Galore
• Scoping Out the Competitive Landscape
• Obsessing Over Customer Insights
• Learning The Other Departments (winning as a business means there’s strong connectivity, trust, and reciprocal value generation between departments)
• Marketing Performance Audit
• Budget Reviews and Reporting Familiarization
• Technology Stack Review and Training
• Goal Setting & Strategic Planning
• Team Alignment, Empowerment & Having Some Fun (ask me about our recent pet photo contest)
• Campaign Launches Review
• Performance Metrics Digestion
• Establishing Feedback Loops and Figuring Out How To Best Navigate The Org –(i.e, who to go to for things and how to quickly build reciprocal, productive relationships at every level)
• Vendor Assessments Including End User Assessments (is the thing doing the thing intended?)

Keep At It - Eventually Luck & Intentionality Lead to Something

LinkedIn, mentorships, networking, conferences, or any conduits of building relationships may yield the connections needed for two people to swap their expertise down the road. You'll never know when the timing lines up, but I find it's typically a worthwhile pursuit with the right approach.