Think About Field Marketing Differently

WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.540 --> 00:00:02.740 Yeah, 2 00:00:04.640 --> 00:00:08.750 welcome back to be to be growth. We are here today with Heidi Eisenstein, she 3 00:00:08.750 --> 00:00:14.770 is the VP of global field marketing events and alliances at oracle Heidi. 4 00:00:14.780 --> 00:00:19.770 I'm so excited to have you on the show today. Thank you James. It's a pleasure 5 00:00:19.770 --> 00:00:23.340 to be here and really looking forward to our conversation today. Yeah, this 6 00:00:23.340 --> 00:00:26.830 one is going to be fun. So Heidi, we were talking off line right before we 7 00:00:26.830 --> 00:00:33.130 hit record here and we were talking about how there's this common myth in 8 00:00:33.130 --> 00:00:39.560 field marketing where you know, field marketing is really seen often times as 9 00:00:39.740 --> 00:00:45.290 an execution arm as opposed to a strategic arm. And this is something 10 00:00:45.290 --> 00:00:49.210 you've run into time after time throughout your career in field 11 00:00:49.210 --> 00:00:54.030 marketing. Uh and so as we were talking off line, you really had what I think 12 00:00:54.030 --> 00:00:59.320 are some really smart ways that field marketers can position themselves and 13 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:02.810 really think about the role a little bit differently so that they can be 14 00:01:02.810 --> 00:01:09.240 seen as a strategic arm of the business and not just essentially an order taker. 15 00:01:09.250 --> 00:01:14.490 Um so so to start down that path, Heidi, what do you think, you know, as we were 16 00:01:14.490 --> 00:01:18.510 talking before, you know, you really pressed in on this with two different 17 00:01:18.510 --> 00:01:22.690 questions that I asked you, you talked about this, you know, than than being 18 00:01:22.700 --> 00:01:28.910 seen as execution instead of strategic. What's the number one thing that that 19 00:01:28.910 --> 00:01:33.340 field marketers can focus on coming out of this interview, they just listen to 20 00:01:33.340 --> 00:01:36.430 this interview. They're going back to their desk from there, you know, walk 21 00:01:36.430 --> 00:01:39.820 around the block or whatever, what is something that they can do that's 22 00:01:39.820 --> 00:01:44.970 really actionable this week to start to take that turn from being seen as more 23 00:01:44.970 --> 00:01:49.900 execution to being seen as more strategic. Yeah, it's a great question 24 00:01:49.900 --> 00:01:54.850 and certainly like part of any field marketers role, there is an execution 25 00:01:54.850 --> 00:01:59.660 component. We do plan and execute events and programs initiatives all the 26 00:01:59.660 --> 00:02:03.380 time and we have to do that with excellence. But there's this whole 27 00:02:03.390 --> 00:02:07.800 other side to the role that is about understanding the strategic priorities 28 00:02:07.800 --> 00:02:12.370 for the business, understanding how you align to the sales, go to market, 29 00:02:12.380 --> 00:02:16.660 understanding what the growth objectives are or those business 30 00:02:16.660 --> 00:02:21.440 priorities are for a given quarter or fiscal year and you have to build a 31 00:02:21.440 --> 00:02:26.800 field marketing plan that is really tied to that tightly and that's how you 32 00:02:26.810 --> 00:02:33.390 position yourself as a strategic leader and a partner to sales, I'd say really 33 00:02:33.400 --> 00:02:37.140 getting in close with sales to understand what is their business, How 34 00:02:37.140 --> 00:02:40.960 are they aligned, how are they going to market? What are their core challenges 35 00:02:41.040 --> 00:02:44.510 for that given quarter or year? It might be an issue with pipeline 36 00:02:44.510 --> 00:02:48.630 creation, it might be more of an issue with scale pipeline and they need help 37 00:02:48.630 --> 00:02:51.800 progressing that pipeline to close. There are different field marketing 38 00:02:51.800 --> 00:02:57.240 tactics that have field marketer can do to help in those, both those scenarios. 39 00:02:57.250 --> 00:03:01.150 So my single advice to a field market or who might be listening to this today 40 00:03:01.160 --> 00:03:07.480 is do you understand the business that you're trying to grow or sustain or 41 00:03:07.480 --> 00:03:11.960 retain and if you don't know your number, if you don't know who you're 42 00:03:11.960 --> 00:03:16.250 equivalent kind of sales leader is that you're supporting, really get closer to 43 00:03:16.250 --> 00:03:19.210 the business, Ask those questions. You shouldn't be building field marketing 44 00:03:19.210 --> 00:03:23.160 plans, programmes, initiatives in a vacuum because they're fun or cool. 45 00:03:23.340 --> 00:03:26.300 Yeah, but like really trying to understand like who are you building 46 00:03:26.300 --> 00:03:29.360 this for and what is the business objective you're trying to achieve? 47 00:03:29.540 --> 00:03:34.730 Yeah. So Heidi for for folks listening that maybe they're in a seat like yours 48 00:03:34.740 --> 00:03:39.980 where they're tasked with finding field marketers for their organization. What 49 00:03:39.990 --> 00:03:44.710 types of qualities, characteristics are you looking for as you're growing your 50 00:03:44.710 --> 00:03:50.070 field marketing team, honey, I've really, you know, certainly you need 51 00:03:50.070 --> 00:03:54.010 somebody who understands the marketing mix and marketing framework. Somebody 52 00:03:54.010 --> 00:03:57.210 who can really think through what are all the different tactics that we can 53 00:03:57.210 --> 00:04:01.450 use to drive a strong marketing plan and therefore reach those business 54 00:04:01.450 --> 00:04:07.090 objectives. So yeah, marketing experience is key for sure. But given 55 00:04:07.100 --> 00:04:11.430 the uniqueness of the film marketing role, a lot of what we do is about 56 00:04:11.430 --> 00:04:15.310 relationship building and trust with sales if we want to get in there and 57 00:04:15.310 --> 00:04:19.970 really understand the business, like sales may or may not have, you know, 58 00:04:19.980 --> 00:04:23.320 the history with marketing, where they feel comfortable pulling marketing into 59 00:04:23.320 --> 00:04:27.070 their pipeline calls or forecast calls, really sharing where they're struggling 60 00:04:27.070 --> 00:04:32.290 and where they might need help. And so hiring folks who can build relationship, 61 00:04:32.300 --> 00:04:37.490 who can instill trust, who can really prove that they're in it to support 62 00:04:37.490 --> 00:04:42.300 that sales objectives alongside that sales leader is going to be so much 63 00:04:42.300 --> 00:04:45.510 more valuable than somebody who comes in with the brightest marketing ideas. 64 00:04:45.510 --> 00:04:49.460 So you really need folks who know how to have relationships and build trust 65 00:04:49.640 --> 00:04:53.350 first and foremost and then build the plan and then of course we want folks 66 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:59.310 who can execute with excellence, but that's secondary or tertiary to those 67 00:04:59.310 --> 00:05:03.800 first, foundational people. Does it make sense at all? Heidi to look for 68 00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:07.650 people with a background in sales or are the disciplines a little too 69 00:05:07.650 --> 00:05:11.500 disconnected for that to make sense? I think I had lots of folks on the sales 70 00:05:11.500 --> 00:05:14.440 side who are interested in changing careers and kind of coming into 71 00:05:14.440 --> 00:05:18.610 marketing and vice versa. And I do think with regards to field marketing 72 00:05:18.610 --> 00:05:22.920 in particular there is a natural connection point when you think about 73 00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:27.630 that sales marketing continuum and how that continuum is more connected than 74 00:05:27.630 --> 00:05:33.020 it's ever been in years past and now we have software and different technology 75 00:05:33.030 --> 00:05:36.310 that really mergers that sales marketing continuum. I think the 76 00:05:36.310 --> 00:05:41.660 closest marketer to fail in the field marketer, so we often are the ones that 77 00:05:41.660 --> 00:05:45.390 are closest to the customer were closest to the business. We speak in 78 00:05:45.390 --> 00:05:50.680 terms of pipeline, we understand growth objectives. So I do think there's 79 00:05:50.680 --> 00:05:54.640 crossover between an account executive and a field marketer. So I can see 80 00:05:54.640 --> 00:05:59.620 folks go back and forth between those roles. They are, they are distinct 81 00:05:59.620 --> 00:06:04.400 sometimes in marketing, we have to take a longer investment view, were 82 00:06:04.400 --> 00:06:08.460 oftentimes thinking a year or two out and making investments to drive 83 00:06:08.460 --> 00:06:12.430 something like awareness. If our plays awareness, we're not going to achieve 84 00:06:12.430 --> 00:06:16.080 awareness in a single quarter, we have to make investments now to achieve 85 00:06:16.080 --> 00:06:19.300 awareness over the course of a year, two years, three years in a particular 86 00:06:19.300 --> 00:06:25.000 category. And that can be a different way of thinking for a sales person who 87 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:28.580 certainly nurtures relationships long term and is thinking of future business 88 00:06:28.590 --> 00:06:32.720 but is really focused on the quarter at hand or the fiscal year at hand and the 89 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:37.270 number that they have to go after makes all the sense idea. I want to I want to 90 00:06:37.270 --> 00:06:43.550 go back to this idea of getting field marketers out of the mindset of being 91 00:06:44.040 --> 00:06:49.350 execution focused and being more strategy focused and being seen really 92 00:06:49.350 --> 00:06:52.800 more as a strategic partner for the field market are listening to this, 93 00:06:52.810 --> 00:06:56.850 they want to go do this, they want to ask the right questions to the right 94 00:06:56.850 --> 00:07:02.090 people really get aligned with sales objectives. What could you foresee that 95 00:07:02.090 --> 00:07:06.060 field marketer who it kind of falls into the myth that you shared earlier 96 00:07:06.070 --> 00:07:09.970 that they're thinking of themselves just as execution. What could be 97 00:07:09.970 --> 00:07:13.730 something if they're trying to follow your advice, What's a potential way 98 00:07:13.730 --> 00:07:18.690 that they could screw it up in, trying to actually do what you're saying? It's 99 00:07:18.690 --> 00:07:20.820 a good question. That's not where I thought you were going to go with that 100 00:07:20.820 --> 00:07:25.890 one. I am at this great question because you can't just walk into a room 101 00:07:25.890 --> 00:07:30.210 and say I'm your strategic partner and it just doesn't work that way. You do 102 00:07:30.210 --> 00:07:33.820 have to commit yourself to understanding the ins and outs of the 103 00:07:33.820 --> 00:07:37.420 business. You do have to commit yourself to conversations around 104 00:07:37.420 --> 00:07:41.770 business priorities. You do have to push back. In some cases, sales will 105 00:07:41.770 --> 00:07:46.490 often want what they might need in a moment and it might not align to the 106 00:07:46.490 --> 00:07:50.710 marketing strategy and plan that you've agreed to for that quarter for that 107 00:07:50.710 --> 00:07:54.330 fiscal year. So sometimes you have to have that confrontation or that 108 00:07:54.330 --> 00:07:59.960 conflict respectfully to push back and through the course of time, you 109 00:07:59.960 --> 00:08:04.400 establish yourself as somebody who can speak on business terms, who can look 110 00:08:04.400 --> 00:08:09.880 at pipeline numbers or scorecard and you know, take insight from that and 111 00:08:09.890 --> 00:08:14.110 pivot their plans based on those insights and the sales leader, sales 112 00:08:14.110 --> 00:08:18.740 folks that you're working with, see that and that trust, you know, grows 113 00:08:18.740 --> 00:08:23.820 over time and therefore you earned the reputation as a strategic leader. So 114 00:08:23.820 --> 00:08:27.170 you have to lean in, you have to know where to lean in and you have to be 115 00:08:27.170 --> 00:08:31.880 patient and I think if you're looking at like step one, if you haven't sat 116 00:08:31.880 --> 00:08:35.159 down with your sales leader, your sales team that you're supporting to really 117 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:39.659 net out what their business priorities are for the quarter or for the year, 118 00:08:40.539 --> 00:08:43.890 you need to do that first and foremost. And we started our physical, you're 119 00:08:43.890 --> 00:08:48.770 doing the same thing because you owe a marketing plan to that sales team, you 120 00:08:48.770 --> 00:08:52.160 can have the best ideas in the world and like a gut sense for what that 121 00:08:52.170 --> 00:08:56.430 group needs and maybe you're spot on. But if you don't start with their 122 00:08:56.430 --> 00:08:59.730 business inputs and kind of forced them to think through their priority 123 00:08:59.730 --> 00:09:03.520 industries, is this a year where we're going after net new business or 124 00:09:03.520 --> 00:09:06.870 retaining our current installed base? Like if you haven't gone through that 125 00:09:06.870 --> 00:09:10.610 conversation of understanding what the business priorities are, you can't 126 00:09:10.610 --> 00:09:15.520 possibly serve up a marketing plan, that strategic, you have to start there 127 00:09:15.530 --> 00:09:19.820 really digested ask questions center in on that and then come back with a 128 00:09:19.820 --> 00:09:22.940 marketing plan that reflects those business priorities. That's step one. 129 00:09:23.040 --> 00:09:27.900 So step one, you've got to have those conversations and ask the questions 130 00:09:27.900 --> 00:09:31.220 that you need to ask So that you can get aligned on what those objectives 131 00:09:31.220 --> 00:09:36.260 are, what those goals are. Step two is you're gonna build a plan to then 132 00:09:36.260 --> 00:09:40.190 present to them to say, hey, this is what I think we can do, that is going 133 00:09:40.190 --> 00:09:44.200 to align what we're doing in our field marketing efforts with the goals you're 134 00:09:44.200 --> 00:09:49.170 trying to achieve then, is it just a matter of being a dance back and forth 135 00:09:49.170 --> 00:09:53.380 because sales inevitably is going to want to go off track of that plan. And 136 00:09:53.390 --> 00:09:56.960 is it just a matter of pointing back to that North star that the plan that you 137 00:09:56.960 --> 00:10:02.510 guys really came up with together? Yeah, that I think is where the rubber meets 138 00:10:02.510 --> 00:10:06.820 the road. So a lot of the initial sourcing of business priorities and 139 00:10:06.820 --> 00:10:10.870 building of the plan can happen in the first month or two of a fiscal year and 140 00:10:10.870 --> 00:10:14.100 now you've kind of got your plan and we all know it's build marketers, nobody 141 00:10:14.100 --> 00:10:19.180 sits on a plan for a year and calls it good. Like we are constantly evolving 142 00:10:19.180 --> 00:10:23.440 and optimizing our plan based on how sales is performing each quarter. And 143 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:27.410 sometimes we're putting into the mix some new marketing tactics throughout a 144 00:10:27.410 --> 00:10:31.880 given quarter if if we're not seeing the performance that we want to see, 145 00:10:31.890 --> 00:10:35.460 you know, and so we have to stay on our toes in the way we stay close to the 146 00:10:35.460 --> 00:10:40.250 business. And the way we're able to pivot and optimize our plans as we go 147 00:10:40.260 --> 00:10:44.500 is we stay close to fails and that means we we asked to be part of their 148 00:10:44.500 --> 00:10:47.920 team, We have to be part of their strategic teams. So can you join 149 00:10:47.920 --> 00:10:52.010 pipeline calls weekly where they go through every opportunity that's in 150 00:10:52.010 --> 00:10:56.330 cycle. That's expected to close that quarter and they talk about where they 151 00:10:56.330 --> 00:11:00.670 might be stuck or things are going really well, You can create a top deal 152 00:11:00.670 --> 00:11:03.920 list with your sales partners like what are the top 10 deals you absolutely 153 00:11:03.920 --> 00:11:08.040 must close. And maybe two of those 10 actually could use marketing support to 154 00:11:08.040 --> 00:11:11.280 help bring those over the line. Others you can't touch as a marketer and 155 00:11:11.280 --> 00:11:15.880 that's fine. But having those conversations to say where can I lean 156 00:11:15.880 --> 00:11:20.120 in to support you be successful this quarter and if they're looking a 157 00:11:20.120 --> 00:11:23.490 quarter or you're looking at some film market or a quarter or two quarters out 158 00:11:23.500 --> 00:11:27.510 and you see that you're not going to have the pipeline, you need to hit your 159 00:11:27.510 --> 00:11:31.790 revenue target that quarter. You can start putting in place programs this 160 00:11:31.790 --> 00:11:35.560 quarter that will impact pipeline, build next quarter of the quarter after 161 00:11:35.560 --> 00:11:39.950 so that you can get in front of that problem. So you're just constantly 162 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:43.450 reviewing the data, the sales performance together, you're measuring 163 00:11:43.450 --> 00:11:46.260 the impact of your own marketing programs to say what's working. Not 164 00:11:46.260 --> 00:11:51.620 working any good sales leader will say let's dial up what's working and let's 165 00:11:51.620 --> 00:11:55.260 dial down and pivot on what's not and as a marketing professional field 166 00:11:55.260 --> 00:12:00.220 market or you have to be able to say these executive engagement programs are 167 00:12:00.230 --> 00:12:03.970 thriving. Look at all this great impact we've been able to have on the business, 168 00:12:03.980 --> 00:12:09.640 these kind of generic horizontal roundtable series, not really 169 00:12:09.640 --> 00:12:14.450 performing. Let's create an industry lends to those and see what we can do 170 00:12:14.640 --> 00:12:18.560 to read our accounts that that you know are organized by industry for example, 171 00:12:18.940 --> 00:12:24.290 God, we touched on this a little bit in the pre interview Heidi. But I I want 172 00:12:24.290 --> 00:12:27.290 to press in a little bit more here because you've had a really storied 173 00:12:27.290 --> 00:12:32.660 career in field marketing. What's something that you have changed your 174 00:12:32.660 --> 00:12:37.120 mind about or maybe evolved your thinking on as it relates to field 175 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:41.580 marketing throughout your career? You know, it's it's a great question and I 176 00:12:41.580 --> 00:12:45.740 have been doing this profile and so it's like what did I initially think? 177 00:12:45.740 --> 00:12:50.100 And I think we've we've touched on a lot of it here. You know, I I think I 178 00:12:50.100 --> 00:12:55.740 thought at one point that if you if you are the brightest marketer in the room 179 00:12:55.740 --> 00:13:00.940 and you come with the most creative ideas that that might be enough. I also 180 00:13:00.950 --> 00:13:04.990 have thought that if you just simply have the best relationship and you get 181 00:13:04.990 --> 00:13:09.550 along really well with sales, that maybe that's enough. And what I've 182 00:13:09.550 --> 00:13:13.990 learned over time is that there is a healthy tension between sales and 183 00:13:13.990 --> 00:13:18.860 marketing and that's good. It needs to be respectful and you need to know 184 00:13:18.860 --> 00:13:23.050 their business to be able to hold that tension respectfully, but it's 185 00:13:23.060 --> 00:13:28.160 appropriate to push back. It's appropriate to share more about your 186 00:13:28.160 --> 00:13:32.610 discipline and why you've made investments in certain areas. I love 187 00:13:32.610 --> 00:13:36.380 personally learning about sales discipline and how they approach their 188 00:13:36.380 --> 00:13:40.250 business and how they generate interest in an account and then how do they move 189 00:13:40.250 --> 00:13:43.280 it to the next level. And then at what point did they expand that buying 190 00:13:43.280 --> 00:13:48.460 committee and get closer to a different L. O. B. To actually be successful in 191 00:13:48.460 --> 00:13:52.690 closing the deal like that side of the business is fascinating. Marketing is 192 00:13:52.690 --> 00:13:59.820 the same way. And so I think pulling each other into understand kind of the 193 00:13:59.820 --> 00:14:05.900 anatomy of what it is that we do is really important and it's something 194 00:14:05.900 --> 00:14:11.770 I've I've kind of slowed down and build confidence to do through my career. And 195 00:14:11.770 --> 00:14:17.190 sales are super receptive to that. Like they want to see you as an owner of 196 00:14:17.190 --> 00:14:21.470 your discipline and they want to understand the logic behind the 197 00:14:21.470 --> 00:14:25.020 investments that you make or the recommendations that you make and so 198 00:14:25.020 --> 00:14:29.620 slowing down to explain those and sometimes push back or shared different 199 00:14:29.620 --> 00:14:32.960 rationale with the direction they might want to go that you don't agree with is 200 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:36.750 also appropriate. Yeah I think something you mentioned earlier, how 201 00:14:36.750 --> 00:14:41.370 did it's just an important reminder here that if this hasn't been how you 202 00:14:41.370 --> 00:14:45.880 are operating in your organisation, this kind of change. The perception 203 00:14:45.880 --> 00:14:50.120 shift doesn't happen overnight. It takes patients, you mentioned that 204 00:14:50.120 --> 00:14:54.460 earlier but I think there is a path to you being seen as that strategic 205 00:14:54.460 --> 00:14:58.600 partner. If you start doing a lot of the things that you've outlined here 206 00:14:58.610 --> 00:15:03.120 asking those questions really getting that alignment eventually you're going 207 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:06.740 to see the tide turning you're going to start to see your sales counterparts, 208 00:15:06.750 --> 00:15:10.780 looking at you through the strategic lens, like you want them to be seeing 209 00:15:10.780 --> 00:15:13.780 you. So I really appreciate your time here today, Heidi. This has been 210 00:15:13.780 --> 00:15:16.750 fantastic. If there's somebody listening to this, they want to stay 211 00:15:16.750 --> 00:15:21.550 connected with you, what's the best way for them to do that? Certainly, I mean, 212 00:15:21.550 --> 00:15:28.050 I love too learn from others. I love to connect with marketers and folks who 213 00:15:28.050 --> 00:15:32.770 are looking at marketing as a potential career path or they're looking to shift 214 00:15:32.780 --> 00:15:36.600 gears, move from sales to marketing or vice versa, so feel free to reach out 215 00:15:36.600 --> 00:15:41.960 to me on linked in. I'm out there and would love to touch base and connect. 216 00:15:42.040 --> 00:15:46.720 That might be the best way to do it. We'll have a link to Heidi's linkedin 217 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:50.590 profile in the description of this episode. So if you want to check out 218 00:15:50.590 --> 00:15:54.620 Heidi just find her on linkedin and that link. And Heidi, thank you so much 219 00:15:54.620 --> 00:15:57.260 for your time today. This has been incredible. I really appreciate it. 220 00:15:57.270 --> 00:16:00.640 It's been so fun. James, thank you for the opportunity. 221 00:16:01.940 --> 00:16:07.890 Are you on linkedin? That's a stupid question. Of course you're on linkedin 222 00:16:07.900 --> 00:16:12.420 here. Sweet fish. We've gone all in on the platform. Multiple people from our 223 00:16:12.420 --> 00:16:16.180 team are creating content there. Sometimes it's a funny gift for many 224 00:16:16.190 --> 00:16:20.310 other times. It's a micro video or a slide deck and sometimes it's just a 225 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:24.380 regular old status update that shares their unique point of view on B two B 226 00:16:24.380 --> 00:16:28.600 marketing leadership or their job function, we're posting this content 227 00:16:28.600 --> 00:16:33.380 through their personal profile, not our company page and it would warm my heart 228 00:16:33.390 --> 00:16:37.950 and soul if you connected with each of our evangelists, we'll be adding more 229 00:16:37.950 --> 00:16:42.930 down the road. But for now you should connect with Bill Read, our Ceo Kelcy 230 00:16:42.930 --> 00:16:46.890 Montgomery, our creative director, dan Sanchez, our director of audience 231 00:16:46.890 --> 00:16:51.270 growth Logan Lyles, our director of partnerships and me, James Carberry. 232 00:16:51.280 --> 00:16:55.050 We're having a whole lot of fun on linked in pretty much every single day 233 00:16:55.340 --> 00:16:58.970 and we'd love for you to be a part of it. Mm