You get a different view of a business when you run a large company, a unique view, a broad perspective. You become concerned about different things, hold a responsibility that only those that hold it understand, and you become very particular about your priorities and who you spend your time with.
Having made it to the top chair after 10 years as a sales and marketing director, life in the last four years has taught me a lot.
It’s taught me that 99 per cent of all inbound B2B marketing communications to my office are poorly prepared and ineffectual, bordering on lazy. It’s taught me how to think like a CEO and how to effectively market to a CEO. It’s taught me about the gaps that need to be closed for CMOs to make it to the board, and then leapfrog themselves to the top job. There’s been a lot to take in.
Questions. Questions. Questions.
When connecting with senior marketing leaders, I’m often asked: what do I need to do to become a CEO? How do I break through to the board? How do we more effectively reach you with our marketing activity? How can we be more equally treated with sales? And how can marketing be taken more seriously within organisation? So many questions, so much positive enquiry.
There isn’t a one-word answer. It’s complicated and there are some winning patterns you can replicate to ensure success. I heard the word ‘flawsome’ the other day. That is success achieved through failure, and it sat quite well with me having made lots of mistakes in a sales and marketing journey spanning two decades. Mistakes you don’t need to repeat.
I’ll be talking TAT mostly (an acronym for time, attention and trust) as being one of the key pieces of thinking you’ll need to adopt to build an effective strategy to breakthrough with senior executives, while also relating it to your own career journey.
I’ve always been a fan of the Tony Robbins concept of the ‘syntax of success’. That is, what is it that other people do which creates success that you can code, copy and implement in your life to achieve your outcomes. I’ll be happy to share some of the ‘syntax ‘ I’ve learned about engaging executives for your career and for your campaigns.
Phil Jones MBE is providing a keynote session at this year’s B2B Leaders Forum, which is taking place 14 September 2016.
