With the high churn rate among marketing executives in the storage industry, what is the best way to keep your job or find a new one?
Jamie Matlin; President Jobstor.com
November 25, 2003
In my last article (How high is the churn rate among storage marketing executives), I interviewed Dave Lamont of marketing services agency MarketingSage. We discussed a recent report from the company which, found that private companies in the data storage industry churned 73% of their senior marketing executives last year. Of the 63 private companies studied, only 17 had the same VP of marketing one year later. We noted the reason for the high churn rate may have been a combination of factors, including the economy, overly optimistic growth plans, and companies rethinking their entire marketing function.
But the report also made us wonder what the future holds for marketing executives in the IT industry, both for those who have jobs and for those who do not. Lamont was able to offer some advice in this area as well.
Executives that are already in marketing positions must remember that all marketing has to eventually lead to sales. Even with the sluggish economy, this is not the time to stop promoting. “Any good marketing executive knows that there are four steps to every sale: awareness, interest, desire, and action. A customer cannot buy from you if they do not know what you are selling. A lot of companies have cut back marketing budgets (promotions, ads, and direct mail) to the point that word of their products is no longer getting out. They have essentially locked the doors, but still expect to be able to sell.” This is clearly not an effective strategy to take in a down market.
However, every sales and marketing person can only talk to a limited number of potential customers on any given day or week. If these individuals do not have marketing support in terms of getting the message out to a wider audience, they won’t make their numbers. The only way to do that is with sales-centric promotions. This can take the form of limited advertising, direct mail, or press activity. If the job of the marketing function is to help the sales team sell, it has to get the word out about the products it is selling. No customer can buy a product that they don’t know exists.
Get To Know The Technology And The Customer
Deborah Johnson, president and CEO of storage training and certification firm Infinity I/O and an Advisory Board member of Jobstor.com, works with many sales and marketing people, and has experienced the marketing churn firsthand. She believes the IT market now requires marketing and sales people to have a higher level of technical knowledge than was needed in the past. “Vendors are putting additional requirements on all of their employees,” she says. “Sales and marketing people used to have to know their products. Today they have to have a good understanding of the technology and the customer as well. You are not just selling a box. To be successful you have to understand what your customer requires and how the solution is going to fit into their environment. You have to assist customers with building a system and an architecture that is going to help them meet their future needs.”
Of course, this will require rethinking the entire training structure for marketing and sales professionals. Training these folks used to be simple: show them the product; teach them the features, functions, and benefits; and explain why it is better than competing products. Simply put, the training was all product focused. With every company in a much tougher selling environment, sales have become more complex, requiring sales and marketing executives to understand the technology and the business requirements as well.
For many, business training will be required. Johnson notes this is especially true of technical professionals who make the move into sales or marketing. These individuals normally understand the product and the technology, but not the business side of buying and selling. They do not understand the economics of the deal, and the ROI analysis that every administrator has to perform. Today, that knowledge is as important as understanding the product.
Johnson also notes that with many new technologies, the hype surrounding them will often get ahead of the products. “You can’t just tell customers that something is faster or better,” she says. “That strategy no longer works. You need to do consultative-type selling. You need to know what the IT executives are looking for and what they are trying to solve. Then you have to help them sell the solution to their superiors. IT administrators need someone to help them justify what they already know from a technical standpoint. They know the technical justification for buying a solution, but they still need to sell it internally. It’s a very different selling game out there.”
Looking For A Job? Show You Can Get It Done!
No matter how much experience you have, you have to show that you can put pen to paper, roll up your sleeves, and get the job done. In terms of outbound marketing, Johnson believes communication skills will be critical for sales and marketing professionals. “Sales and marketing folks need to be able to focus on who the customers are and how to best get to them,” she says. “They also have to understand a variety of ways to go to market. One skill that will be valuable going forward is channel experience. Those with a channel background can look into companies that have aggressive channel programs, and today most companies do. That experience will allow you to look into marketing positions at some of those channel partners.”
With the additional demands being placed on the marketing function, there always seems to be less time to plan and execute things. Johnson notes that vendors are always going after new markets, and the sales and marketing people need to be able to turn on a dime and address those markets. “They need to act fast,” she says. “Certainly, the more kinds of programs you have had experience with, the better. Companies are always looking for ways to do things differently. You can make yourself more valuable by always coming up with new ways to reach different markets, and not simply doing the same old thing.”
Establish A Sales-Centric Approach
For those professionals that are looking for a job, Lamont recommends they develop a sales-centric approach. “Marketing is all about selling,” he says. “Marketing and promotions are a means to an end, but at the end of the day you have to sell something. Right now, IT companies are hiring people who are sales centric. They are hiring people who can go out and sell and help drive revenue. If you are currently looking for a marketing position, you have to position yourself as somebody who can help drive those sales.”
Of course, most marketing executives understand sales and the sales process. But when selling themselves to companies, they often do not clearly explain how marketing will impact sales, thereby short-changing themselves. Many will talk about promotions and how to generate awareness, but will not translate how that awareness leads to sales.
The lead generation may not be as important in larger companies, but it is critical to smaller companies in the industry. Marketing executives in companies like EMC and IBM can exist on the bubble for quite a long time, but if the VP of marketing in a smaller company is not generating sales, they will most certainly be shown the door.
This brings us back to the sales-centric approach. “Employers need to know that you have the experience necessary to develop marketing plans that will drive sales, not just make the product look good,” states Lamont. “A thorough marketing plan that will promote the product, generate interest, and produce leads is the goal of every company. Companies want to hire marketers who will be an integral part of the sales force, not just the person who decides where marketing dollars will be spent.”
Finally, building close industry relationships cannot be under-emphasized. Putting out a new press release every week does not accomplish much. Oftentimes they are simply lost in the shuffle. Johnson recommends building really good relationships with editors so as to get the good articles and establish the company. “For individuals that are good at relationship building, there are great opportunities out there, especially with the smaller companies,” she says.
