Todd Ebert

Help Please! What's a good mission statement for a marketing team?

Well, it's that time of year again when we do annual plans.  This time around I'd like to clearly lay out the mission statement for my team so our role and contribution is super clear to all stakeholders [including my team].  

Toward that end, I'd like your thoughts and suggestions on my first draft. 

To create marketing programs, content and tools so engaging/educational/useful that “Premium SMBs” want to do business with us [leads], our Sales teams have an easier time turning prospects into clients, and we keep clients for a longer time. 

What do you think?  Is it clear? What is missing?

How to Drive More Customers Through Your Sales Funnel

Every marketer leaks leads from their sales funnel so we created an ebook to help them plug the holes and get more customers. 

Leadership Lessons from Colin Powell

The "Good" - applying leadership principles to make your team more effective

I know this is loosely related to B2B marketing, but I read a great article about Colin Powell's leadership principles and thought about how I could apply them to my marketing team.

Here are my 5 favorites out of the 18 lessons in the article. You can find the rest at Chally.com.

1. Being responsible sometimes pisses people off. My thoughts -- You have to make the hard choices because most people won't. You can't procrastinate, treat everyone equally or worry about being nice. Doing that only makes things worse for everyone.

2. Never neglect details. When everyone's mind is dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant. My thoughts -- You have to execute the details or the strategy is worthless. Vision alone does not equate to success.

3. You don't know what you can get away with until you try. My thoughts - In today's hyper competitive market (especially in my space - online marketing) you can't be timid or sit around waiting for approvals. Better to try, fail and learn from it than to do nothing. Of course you need to take measured risks not reckless ones.

4. If it ain't broke don't fix it is the slogan of the complacent, the arrogant or the scared. My thoughts -- You have to constantly be trying to improve your strategy, tactics, processes and execution because the competitors are not standing still.

5. Plans don't accomplish anything. Theories of management don't much matter. Endeavors succeed or fail because of the people involved. Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish great deeds. My thoughts -- You have to have the best people to get the best results. And you have to create the right environment for success - that means managing by getting into the trenches, leading by example, rewarding hard work, innovative thinking and creativity while weeding out the poor performers (see number 1 above).

CMO Council research: 2/3rds of us are not effective

The "Bad" - trying to compete with half a team

The CMO Council released research, "Driving the Bottom Line from the Front Line" (exec summary here and Marketing Charts summary here), that shows most companies still don't get it when it comes to Sales and Marketing effectiveness and go-to-market strategy.  While the study covers multiple issues with companies' go-to-market capabilities, I was particularly interested/saddened to see that less than 20% say their sales and marketing organizations are extremely collaborative, and moreover less than half have taken any steps to integrate and align the two functions.  That strikes me as a huge opportunity to improve effectiveness and hence competitiveness which ultimately translates into improved market share/revenue/profit/stock price. 

Note the image of the Indy car team on the cover of the CMO Council report.    Per my prior post on this subject (Marketing is a Pit Crew), the pit crew (Marketing) and the driver (Sales) must work seamlessly as one unit in order to get around the track faster than the other teams.  Its a simple concept but takes a lot of planning and hard work to accomplish (otherwise there would be ties every week in NASCAR).  It might be heresy to suggest, but in order to win the race for revenue Sales and Marketing need to be structured, measured and incented as one team, not two.  This idea scares both sides (each fearing subservience to the other) which is probably why so few have taken any steps to formally integrate the functions.

Marketing is a Pit Crew

The "Good" - fostering sales/marketing partnership using the analogy of a champion auto racing team.

I just finished presenting the 2008 marketing plan at my company's global sales meeting and I used an analogy that really resonated with both marketing and sales.  If you're trying to more closely align with Sales then try thinking of the combined unit as an Indy Racing team, and marketing as the Pit Crew.   Here's the analogy...

Team Owner (President/GM) - Owns several teams (sales regions) and expects a return on his investment in the form of racing championships (exceeding revenue targets).   

Driver (Sales Representatives) - Competes aggressively in weekly races in order to earn points toward the championship (exceeding quota).  Must be able to perform on his own out on the track, but also needs the pit crew (Marketing) to make adjustments to the car and provide fuel at regular intervals.

Auto Shop (Product Marketing) - Works with the engine designers (R&D) to build the car (product).  Must have regular input from the driver in order to enhance the design and make the car competitive week-in and week-out.

Business Manager (Corporate Marketing/PR) - Builds brand awareness with the fans by promoting the driver/team through all media outlets.

Pit Crew (Corporate Marketing) - Provides race strategy (marketing plan) and supports the driver throughout the race by delivering fuel (leads), changing tires (sales tools), and making adjustments to the car (competitive comparisons/demos).

• Crew Chief - VP/Director of marketing that analyzes the competition, develops the race strategy and regularly makes tactical adjustments to the plan.  Also develops relationships/deals with other drivers (channel partners) to work together against other teams.   
• Fuelers - Integrated marketing managers that execute lead generation programs via the web, events, direct marketing, teleprospecting, etc.
• Tire Changers - Field marketing managers that develop/deliver sales tools, collateral, demos, RFP responses, etc.

The pit crew must work seamlessly as one unit in order to be faster than other crews and give their driver a competitive edge.  Moreover they must be in constant communication with the driver in order to make real-time adjustments to the strategy and tactics.   The bottom line is that the driver can't win races without the pit crew and there is no reason to have a pit crew without a driver.  Sales and Marketing must partner to win the race for revenue.