Forrester’s B2B Summit North America proved to be an invaluable gathering for B2B sales, marketing, and product leaders. With a laser focus on driving sustainable growth by prioritizing customer-centricity, this event provided attendees with a wealth of insights and actionable strategies. The three-day summit highlighted the importance of aligning with customers, leveraging emerging technologies like generative AI, and embracing revenue operations (RevOps) as a critical driver of go-to-market (GTM) success.
A Customer-Obsessed Growth Engine
The keynote address by John Arnold set the stage for the entire summit, emphasizing the intense competition B2B companies face in today’s dynamic landscape. To succeed, organizations must build a customer-obsessed growth engine that consistently delivers value across the customer lifecycle. By centering their strategies and processes around the customer, businesses can gain a competitive edge, boost retention rates, and elevate their roles within their organizations.
“So great Forrester is bringing back the importance of “customer value” front and center, as it can get lost with enterprises wanting to exceed the bottom line and shareholders’ wealth. Focus on the customer, and profit and shareholders’ wealth will follow – it’s a win-win-win!”
Sophia Agustina, Global Demand Strategy @ IBM
Generative AI: A Game-Changer for B2B Marketing
One of the hot topics at the summit was generative AI and its transformative potential in B2B go-to-market strategies. Sessions across the event speculated on the lasting impact of generative AI and how it opens up new realms of creative possibilities and operational efficiency. With its disruptive power, generative AI challenges B2B marketers to lead adoption within their organizations and drive standards for quality, consistency, and brand voice. Attendees expressed enthusiasm for integrating generative AI into their marketing efforts.
“The keynote sessions really encouraged attendees to think big about Generative AI and implement it in our Marketing efforts. Several breakout sessions were useful in reinforcing best practices to get the best out of our growth marketing investments.”
Lax Madapaty, SVP Global Marketing @ JPMorgan Chase & Co.
RevOps: The Catalyst for GTM Success
Laura Cross shed light on the growing importance of revenue operations (RevOps) as a critical driver for predictable and sustainable growth. RevOps encompasses a set of capabilities required to align sales, marketing, and customer success teams, and it represents the fastest-growing job in the market. While C-suite executives are mandating a revenue operations capability, transforming operations and processes requires leaders with a change-agent mindset. The summit highlighted the need for B2B organizations to invest in operational transformation and embrace RevOps to thrive in today’s competitive landscape.
Navigating the Marketing Technology Landscape
Malachi Threadgill‘s thought-provoking presentation focused on the collision course of B2B marketing engagement platforms. Attendees were challenged to rethink their primary technology strategies and consider how shifting buying behavior and overlapping features have reshaped the roles played by marketing automation platforms and account-based marketing platforms. The rise of “coopetition” has given way to direct competition, urging marketers to adapt and stay ahead in the evolving marketing technology landscape.
“Forrester B2B Summit was a perfect event to focus on my craft as a marketer. B2B marketing is changing quickly, and learning from leaders and peers is critical. I enjoyed how the conference centered around aligning cross-functional teams but also martech. It’s always been about people, process, and technology – but you have to add “data” to that mix now.”
Laney Monsey, Senior Marketing Manager @ Point B
The Forrester B2B Summit 2023 in Austin, Texas, proved to be an inspiring and transformative event for B2B sales, marketing, and product leaders. Amidst the pursuit of profits and shareholder wealth, the importance of focusing on the customer was reaffirmed as the ultimate win-win-win strategy. By aligning cross-functional teams and embracing marketing technology, attendees recognized the evolving landscape of B2B marketing and the need to leverage people, process, technology, and data to stay ahead.
As B2B companies continue to battle for customers amidst shifting market dynamics, buyer behaviors, and technological innovations, the lessons and connections forged at the summit will undoubtedly serve as a guiding light for future success.
About the author: Taylor Young
Taylor is an enthusiastic and ambitious go-to-market strategist known for her vibrant personality and unwavering drive. As an enneagram type 3 and a proud Gryffindor, she fearlessly embraces any challenge, propelling her success in the marketing world. 🦁
With a proven track record as a revenue-boosting powerhouse, Taylor is passionate about empowering organizations to excel. Her expertise shines through in her development of game-changing ABM Playbooks and pioneering the Revenue Flywheel framework.
