Podcast episode 3 is here already and hasn’t time flown? After two successful outings so far, we have another special treat with Dan Greenall, Marketing Director at Sorted. You may remember that Dan interviewed our co-founder, Steven, about neuroscience and customer experience back in June so the shoe is well and truly on the other foot! Read on to find out why where marketers align themselves can make all the difference.
Our special guest gives an objective view on alignment
Dan is a B2B technology marketing leader that has spent the last 10 years building and developing teams in high-growth businesses. In his current role at Sorted, he manages the marketing and sales development functions with a firm focus on scaling acquisition and expansion demand.
Sorted is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business, whose delivery experience platform enables ecommerce retailers to develop a competitive advantage by allowing them remove poor delivery choice, broken customer promises and dis-jointed post purchase communications. They also ocount the likes of Boohoo, M&S, Asos and FarFetch amongst their customers.
Marketers aligning themselves in a matrix
We often hear of the CMO being one of the ‘loneliest’ roles in the boardroom. Dan believes that the most critical relationships are “sales, product and finance”. He makes a crucial point that marketing exists “to make selling easier”. The most interesting angle was how product is seen to be a crucial relationship as “fuel for the fire” in marketing. In summary, product creates various opportunities for marketing.
Dan finally comes around to acknowledging that finance is also a part of the mix and cites a current example. As marketing and finance deepen their relationship, finance is working with marketing on a model for ROI and attribution. This helps to create empathy.
A customer-centric organisation
One of Dan’s most insightful comments is his belief that “there is no single champion for the customer”. His view is that everyone has ownership for part of the customer journey. He suggests that every member of the C-Suite should represent the voice of the customer.
As a Marketing Director, Dan is clearly passionate about how Sorted lives and breathes the customer experience. He also talks at length about how important customer advocacy is and why every part of the business owns the relationship with the customer.
Marketers aligning with sales is a must in B2B
Dan ensures that Sales is the most important relationship of the three key stakeholders. He also says “that when the teams don’t have a shared goal, that’s when the problems arise”. Here at Think Beyond, we come across the challenges in aligning sales and marketing often. When both teams are aligned behind the same goal, Dan suggests that there is a “Venn diagram relationship” between the functions. If salespeople and marketers align to new business acquisition, marketing asks how to create pipeline and sales ask how to best convert that pipeline.
Does VC or private equity investment affect where marketers align?
One insightful answer was Dan’s change from a large telecoms provider to a “Series A startup in the fintech space”. He is accountable for what he calls “a key growth enabler” in the marketing function. Ultimately, the need to grow the business and deliver results is much more pronounced than in a large business. He refers to the need to deliver ‘hyper-growth’ in a technology or software business.
A different emphasis is clear in his role with the clear understanding and focus on marketing data from VC owners coming as a surprise. This is an area to which he has adapted quickly.
Unsurprisingly, finance came in for some criticism as part of the ‘power trio’. Historically, he viewed finance with some suspicion. Along with maturity and experience, he now recognises how “finance can add a lot of value to marketing”. Furthermore, a good working relationship between the teams has enabled an understanding of ‘experimentation’ required in marketing. He clearly emphasises the need to “place those bets” and invest in areas to see if they can make a return. Steven made the point that this close working relationship “tests your data and measurement” to underpin these investment decisions.
It all ties back to a holistic view of marketing alignment
A huge thank you to Dan for his open and honest feedback on alignment and some crucial lessons for marketers. Where we have historically heard reference to the ‘power couple’ of sales and marketing, Dan refers to everyone owning the customer journey. Where we previously argued for the ‘power trio’ of sales, marketing and finance, Dan includes product in the B2B software space. It seems that it really does depend on the business and its strategic priorities. However, one thing that comes through clearly is that a customer-centric business requires that marketers align themselves across the C-Suite.
A quarter travelled
Yes, that’s a wrap on our 3rd of 12 planned podcast episodes. We offer a huge thank you to both Dan for his contribution and to Sorted for lending us their top marketer to record this.
As a marketing consultancy, we work with marketing executives to board members and everything in-between. We are a friendly team and we treat every conversation in confidence. If you would like to discuss your marketing needs, why not call us on 01565 632206.
Alternatively, feel free to email us at sales@think-beyond.co.uk with your questions.
Finally, if you enjoyed episode 3, why not check out our inaugural podcast or the superb follow-up chat around CX in episode 2.
To listen to the podcast, you can check it out on Anchor, Google and also Spotify. So, just follow the links below!
