It’s one thing to say you’re the best in the world. It’s a completely different thing to be the best for the world.
In this Takeover episode of #FMF, founder and CMO at Cheshire Impact, Casey Cheshire, interviews Sangram about marketers shifting their focus to being the best for the world.
What we’re unpacking today:
- How to show the customer that they are the hero
- Making sure your organization knows who you’re serving
- Why marketers should first be facilitators
Being For Your Customers
Sangram: It’s less about marketing courage and it’s more about recognizing what the most important thing is for your business to move forward.
There’s a book written by Jeff Henderson called Know What You’re FOR and his point is that the next-generation companies are going to be the companies that are not the best in the world, but the companies that are going to be best for the world. It’s such an interesting paradigm shift.
We all keep saying we are the best account-based marketing platform in the industry. But guess what? Customers don’t care about that. That’s why the idea of building a community is such a big deal for us.
“The next-generation companies are going to be the companies that are not best in the world, but the companies that are going to be the best for the world.”
We need to be for the community — for the industry.
I think marketers need to build up the courage to ask themselves if they’re for their customers.
Make the Customer the Hero
Sangram: I feel like the best marketing strategy that I’ve ever run in the last 10 years of my marketing career has been bringing customers into the office. There are so many different ways of showing customers that we are for them — they are the hero.
Bring out whatever the red carpet is for them.
We used to have dinner with the executive team of one company. The next morning we’d do a product session with them and show them behind the scenes what’s going on. Then, we’d put them in front of the entire company and they get to ask them questions.
We have a Customer of the Month where it’s full-on red carpet from start to finish. Now we’re doing it through Zoom, but that’s just one idea to show that you’re clearly for your customers.
Know Who You’re Serving
Sangram: This is something that marketers don’t really think about: You have access to the people you serve more than anybody else. Because of that, it’s your responsibility — not just a privilege — to make known to every person in your organization who you are serving.
Once you do that, people will run through walls to do things for their organization because now they can see who it has impacted.
“This is something that marketers don’t really think about: You have access to the people you serve more than anybody else.”
I remember Daniel Day, one of the first customers we brought into the office. He shared that we had changed his life. I said, “C’mon, we can’t change your life. We build software. We don’t change lives.”
He said, “No, you don’t understand. Your organization, this movement, this whole thing around ABM has given me the confidence to walk into the CMO’s or the CEO’s office and tell them directly where the money is coming from. Here’s my impact on business outcomes. I didn’t even know how to talk about those things. But now I’m not afraid of my job.”
Be a Facilitator of Feedback
Sangram: I feel that right now every organization has a great opportunity to stand out. If we stop doing the usual webinars, the usual eBooks — all the usual stuff — we are going to create great experiences that our customers will remember. And they will come back to you because of that.
Great marketers are facilitators. I need to learn to be a facilitator first. If I do that well and I bring the right constituents to the table, we don’t have to make a decision by committee. But we need to make sure that everybody feels heard.
When marketing leaders do that, they can build the greatest brand, the greatest campaigns. They can drive the biggest business outcomes.
“Great marketers are facilitators.”
Today’s Takeaways
In the end, we find that being the best for the world starts with being the best for your organization and your customers. Remember:
- Make sure that you’re for your customers and your industry.
- Do things to remind your customers that they are the heroes.
- Know who you’re serving.
- Be a facilitator first, then a marketer.
This post is based on a podcast episode with Casey Cheshire and Sangram Vajre. If you’d like to listen to more #FlipMyFunnel Podcast episodes, you can check them out here.
