For marketers, the struggle for resources is real. In this week’s WWCD I explain how trust, influence, and alignment come into play when getting what you need from within the company structure. Because, while we are all driving towards one goal (at least that’s the concept), we all have our own priorities.
There are many steps to building trust and influence internally, and there are no shortcuts. But once you have established trust and gained influence, your team’s ideas will be taken seriously and considered with the appropriate weight. This week we’ll start with baby steps for building influence and next week I’ll explain how to build what I call your Map of Influence. It’s all about marketing the marketer. And I know you know how to market.
Here’s a question I get a lot…
I know I need to build more trust and influence inside my organization. Especially with the company leaders, and even with my peers in other departments. What are some of the initial steps my team, and the individuals on my team, should take to improve trust levels at our company?
Here’s what I would do…
The key thing to remember is to always know what the overall corporate and revenue goals are, what the go-to-market strategy is, and ensure that you are aligned with those. You need to understand what is truly essential about your role. Stop doing things that are not helping you, your organization and the company reach its goals.
Then work with your peers and colleagues in other organizations to see how you and your team can work more collaboratively together to meet these goals and objectives. For example, let’s say a major goal this year is to reduce customer churn, thereby increasing renewals and revenue. Are there things you and the marketing team can do working together with Product to make sure the product is being used the way it was intended and is easy to use? Can you work with Sales to make sure expectations are being properly set during the buying process? Can you work with Customer Success to make sure they and customers have the content they need to successfully onboard, adopt, and use the product, let alone expand into other modules and add more users.
I always ask my team when they come to me with an idea or request: how will this help us reach our goals and company revenue goals? If it’s not, don’t do it. By doing this you will be seen as someone who understands the goals of the company, is working collaboratively with everyone to not just make you successful but them, building trust, and you are being strategic about where you spend your efforts.
So there you have it — what Christina would do to build trust and gain influence.
If you want to learn more, you can pre-order my book Sway – Implement the G.R.I.T. Marketing Method to Gain Influence and Drive Corporate Strategy
