By Toni Clayton-Hine, Xerox – In the B2B world, most organizations do not start off with a proper marketing department. In the beginning sales, operations and service are keeping the lights on whilst simultaneously executing ad hoc marketing tactics. For example, the owner manages advertising in-between calls while the admin assistant is posting on social media and the salespeople are doubling as content creators.
Stepping up with marketing
What happens when an organization decides it is time to make the leap to add a marketing department? That exact question was answered three years ago when Benchmark Business Solutions, a Xerox Agent on a mission to grow, hired their first Director of Marketing, Constance Barbian.
With seven locations, a seasoned sales staff and a CEO who understands the importance of marketing, they were poised to achieve their goals. But even when there’s promise of growth, not everyone jumps for joy when the marketing department shows up. They want the growth and help in getting new leads, and they like being busy in the field, but many have the “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” mentality.
If it aint broke…
Constance was hired to help fuel growth, not fix something that wasn’t broken which can be a challenging message for a new person to convey. Three years later, Benchmark Business Solutions has grown by five new locations, and in the process, learned lessons about working with other departments and using analytics to drive acceptance of marketing as an asset.
I recently spoke with Constance at the Xerox Digital Mastery Workshop in New Orleans and discovered some advice worth sharing…
