The shocking surprises I learned from the CMO of a $3B company
A few weeks ago, I was having a casual conversation with a family member at dinner—who happens to be the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of a massive $3 billion company.
I love to chat about business, marketing, and growth strategy at any chance I can so that I can learn from people who are a few steps more advanced than me. As we're chatting about how things are going, I start to notice something super interesting—her headaches sound a lot like the ones my smaller-scale clients have.
In fact, what I learned during that 2-hour conversation was:
the billion-dollar companies mirror the same exact challenges of those of us entrepreneurs operating earlier stage 6, 7, or 8-figure ventures.
There were a handful of distinct issues that I found fascinatingly similar!
Core KPIs Drive Real Business Growth
Here’s the inside secret scoop: despite having entire departments dedicated to finance and an arsenal of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) at their disposal, billion-dollar corporations can still lose sight of the fundamental metrics crucial for growth. It’s a case of drowning in data but starving for insights. As it turns out, knowing your numbers isn’t about quantity; it’s about identifying and focusing on the core few KPIs that truly drive real progress.
Key Takeaway: Identify your core KPIs—those few vital metrics that directly impact your business's growth—and make them your north star. Don't get lost in a sea of data; hone in on what truly matters especially related to your client acquisition and retention.
With businesses at 6, 7, or approaching 8 figures I like to keep it simple and focus efforts on monitoring marketing metrics related to awareness activities (aka lead generating), conversion percentages (leads that become clients), and retention rates (clients that continue for a long time). I like to monitor marketing and sales expenses and begin to get a sense of the true client acquisition costs as well as the lifetime client value as the business matures over the first few years.
Be Decisive When Making Tough Business Decisions
In addition to struggles with KPI overload and how to best use data to grow, the dilemma of delaying tough decisions, such as letting go of underperforming employees, isn’t confined to startups navigating the early stages of growth. Even C-suite executives in billion-dollar behemoth companies can fall prey to this pitfall, despite their experience and resources even when deep down they know that the delayed staff change may be holding back the business growth.
The lesson?
Fire fast and fearlessly when necessary, regardless of the company’s size.
Key Takeaway: Embrace decisiveness. Don't hesitate to make tough decisions, especially when it comes to personnel. Trust your instincts and act swiftly to address issues before they escalate. Whether you're a startup founder or a corporate titan, prompt action can prevent small problems from snowballing into larger ones.
Kasey’s Tips: If I notice something “off” with a team member, I will schedule a meeting to clarify goals and ask “How can I help?”. Oftentimes this will lead to team members revealing personal issues or professional roadblocks that might explain underperformance. I will brainstorm some time management solutions and provide 1-2 other resources to help support the team members, help them with their mindset, and provide updated deadlines on the deliverables. If under-performance continues without any sign of improvement, the next conversation will be more of a probationary conversation with a few clear goals and updated deadlines and during that time I will typically start to preliminarily screen replacement candidates so that I am prepared in the event the under-performance continues.
Clarity and Effectiveness in Your Marketing Messaging
It doesn't end there. My family member's anecdotes shed light on another familiar struggle- the battle for clarity and effectiveness with marketing messaging. Take their website, for instance—a labyrinth of verbose content lacking in visual appeal and clear directives for visitors.
Key Takeaway: Audit your website regularly to ensure it's clear, concise, and compelling. Simplify your messaging, incorporate eye-catching visuals, and include clear calls to action to guide visitors toward conversion.
Is the problem you solve clear on the home page?
Are there clear action steps for people to learn more or contact you?
Is the process clear and written in short simple bullet points, rather than long verbose paragraphs?
Do the images reflect you and your clients having success and feeling good about it?
Demonstrate ROI Rigorously
In addition to messaging hurdles, there's the ongoing challenge of justifying marketing spend on various campaigns. Even with hefty budgets, the demand for tangible ROI remains constant even in billion-dollar businesses. It underscores the importance of meticulously tracking and differentiating between measurable and non-measurable marketing efforts.
Key Takeaway: Demonstrate ROI rigorously. Categorize marketing initiatives into trackable and non-trackable activities, and leverage data to showcase the impact of your campaigns on the bottom line.
That can look like separate marketing on financial reports. Divide marketing into 2 categories because the budget for business cards, logos, or even websites is very different than marketing campaigns like sponsoring an event, investing in a booth at a conference, or budgeting for digital advertising, all of which have clearly measurable outcomes compared to budgets for logos or websites or promotional items.
Embrace Adaptability and Perseverance For Business Success
The parallels between the challenges faced by startups and billion-dollar corporations serve as a sobering reminder of the shared realities of business ownership. Whether you’re navigating the unpredictable terrain of a burgeoning startup or steering the ship of a corporate giant, the journey is marked by common hurdles and timeless lessons that we can all learn from.
Key Takeaway: Embrace the challenges of business ownership as part of the journey. Adaptability and perseverance are the ultimate keys to success, regardless of your company's size.
If you aren’t enjoying the ride you aren’t doing it right.
The secret to all business success, at any size, is the perfect combination of vision and passion, data tracking, and team building.
If something is not working, look back at one of those areas, identify the issue, work to solve it with your team, and focus your energy on future innovation and team leadership and you will set yourself up for massive success no matter what stage your business is in!