Episode 11: “From Sales to CX: The Important Voice of Marketing” with Deborah Bussière, Chief Marketing Officer at Broadridge

For the Love of Sales: Our marketing leadership team tried something different this year during our fiscal planning. As a starting point, we collaborated with our sales colleagues; we then met with other groups per our traditional approach. We asked sales, “What issues are top of mind for our clients and prospects? What Broadridge solutions are helping them overcome their challenges?” This really started a tight alignment between sales and marketing; it also informed our subsequent conversations with other internal stakeholders. 

Come Together, Right Now: Marketing is everything: (link to video) it’s the full experience of how customers and prospects perceive your brand. Relationships are critical today; they are established by understanding client needs, customizing and personalizing solutions, solving their challenges, and meeting their objectives. Once you understand the customer experience and journey, you can map the various touchpoints that influence buying behavior. Typically, many business units, departments, and functions play a role – marketing, operations, technology and more. Despite multiple touchpoints within organizations, all groups can come together to make the customer experience stronger and better.

The Double-edged Sword of Personalization and Privacy: We’re living in such an interesting time with personalization and privacy as double-edged swords. We’re posting our most personal, innermost photos and thoughts for the world to see and yet we're nervous that it's out there, what it says about us, and how that data may be used to market to us. With that in mind, it's fascinating to me that Broadridge’s recent CX and communications survey showed that one in four consumers have left a company due to a lack of personalization. Our study reveals that consumers will take their business elsewhere if they do NOT receive customized content. 

Attention All Marketers: Our survey also shows that 20% of consumers have bought a new product or service based on a marketing message that appeared on the bill or statement. That's really strong ROI and a reminder to marketers that leveraging traditional “non-marketing” communications, like bills and statements, has a value (link to video) – not only to the brand but to the bottom-line as well. Some marketing groups are viewed as back office and so anything we can do to be seen as front office and driving revenue is music to my ears.

A Very Important Voice: It is critically important for a brand to be authentic. (link to video) Consumers see right away if it isn’t; this reflects on sales, brand perception, and interactions. Make sure you and your associates are walking the walk and talking the talk. If we are helping clients be Ready for Next, we should be using next-gen technology, right?  So being authentic is critical and continues to evolve. The role of the chief marketing officer also continues to expand. It’s important that the entire marketing team is well versed in technology and measures results to demonstrate ROI. Since many marketing leaders are now responsible for the customer journey and experience, dive deep and understand your business from your customers’ vantage point. Find out, “How do customers perceive my brand? Is their experience positive, negative, neutral? What will entice them to buy more?” By owning the journey, you amplify the important voice of marketing.  

To dive into these topics and more, check out our podcast, Reimagining Communications.