A recent Heidrick & Struggles study found that 62 percent of CMOs view relationships with peers on the senior executive team as vital to their success. It should have been closer to 100 percent. Why? Because without holistic commitment from the entire executive team to change marketing’s role in the customer experience — the CMO’s ability to truly impact long-term business performance will be hindered. That’s why it’s critical that the CMO and executive team are fully aligned and committed to doing what is required for the company to deliver a clear, compelling and consistent customer experience.
The process starts with strategic alignment.
To capture the customer experience opportunity, CMOs and executives must be on the same page. They must buy into two simple facts:
- Now, more than ever, the corporate story your target audience consumes throughout their journey determines the degree of success your company will achieve.
- The process by which your corporate story is developed, delivered and managed throughout the customer experience must fundamentally change to meet the needs of today’s B2B buyer and the new customer experience.
This means the CMO and the entire executive team must commit to developing a customer-centric culture and an intentional process for infusing clear, compelling and consistent corporate messaging throughout the customer experience.
It continues with visible and unwavering commitment.
To be successful, CMOs must have unwavering courage and commitment. They will have to remind themselves and the executive team that this is a journey, not a destination. It is transformational, not transactional in nature. Leaders across the company must remain committed to institutionalizing the process, culture, mindset and behavioral changes that are required to deliver a clear, compelling and consistent message throughout the customer experience.
It ends with … well, it never really ends.
CMOs and executive teams must understand this is not a “quick fix” and must be executed one brick at a time. It will require commitment to a multi-year planning, process re-engineering, implementation and measurement process — specifically designed to extend the influence marketing has on the customer experience and transform the way the company brings its story to life.
The good news is, when the entire executive team gets behind these changes, lasting change in the customer experience can be realized — and competitive differentiation, audience engagement, customer acquisition, retention and loyalty can be fully achieved.
