Hello, Hello!
Thought I’d write a special post due to recent lay offs in B2B SaaS. I wanted to give everyone my 30, 60, 90 Day CMA planning deck in case anyone is interviewing.
This is also helpful if you are switching up companies or have inherited the CMA role at your organization.
Assuming these are the types of things that the company wants from Customer Marketing, here is what you will be able to convey by the the end of your presentation to the hiring manager:
Clearly defined Customer Marketing Strategy for the first 3 months
Alignment of Sales, Marketing, Customer Success through collaboration and process
Helping Sales and Customer Success hit revenue metrics from marketing content and advocacy acts
The design, launch and management of a successful Customer Lifecycle Program that leads to greater adoption and retention
Creation of Customer Marketing metrics to make sure we are tracking the right KPIs to measure success
Let’s dig in…
When you are interviewing, it is important to ask the hiring manager key questions that help you build this out. Such as:
What are your companies OKRs?
Department OKRs?
Top objectives for this role?
Quantitative vs Anecdotal Success Metrics?
In this presentation, I outline 4 examples of Customer Marketing initiatives that I like to dig into in the first 90 days. These will vary based on the information you get from the questions above but chances are if they have never had this role, it’s a good place to start.
Advocacy
Adoption
Retention
Expansion
The first 30 days are all about training to become familiar with the platform, vision, services, procedures and best practices.
Next, I think it’s imperative to establish a regular cadence of communication with cross-functional team members.
You should expect a few differences from when you were interviewing so understanding the REAL customer marketing challenges and priorities.
Then you can start to build out the pillars of Customer Marketing.
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In 60 days, you should start building the foundation of your programs. If you are building an Advocacy program then start customers interviews. Ask them things like “What motivates you to be an advocate? What sort of information do you need at this stage of your customer journey? How would you like to receive that info? How would you like to participate in an advocacy program?”
A couple more things I like to get in place in the first 60 days are NPS (bring it over to CM if it lives with CS or Product) and the Reference Program (tracking the influenced revenue is so easy).
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In 90 days, you should have a solid understanding with internal stakeholders about what your CMA priorities and goals are. Having this plan or OKRs in place, really helps when tasks outside of your scope hit your desk. Now you can simply say “This falls outside my scope and my initiatives for this quarter have been documented with my manager. I’m happy to help you find another resource.” Doesn’t always work but it’s worth a try.
Final Thoughts:
Protect yourself and your department. There is a TON to be done & this wonderful job never ends. The majority of people reading this are alone in this role. This isn’t a one man or women show, though it is perceived that way to upper management. Continue reading this newsletter for more posts on scaling a team and getting the promotion you deserve!
Good luck out there! Enjoy the template 👇
Thanks for this template!! Just curious - at what point in the interview process do you usually present this plan? After your recruiter screen and before/during the meeting with the hiring manager? Or after meeting with hiring manager and before/during the panel or final interview?