Lauren Flaherty, CMO of Nortel and former IBM marketing executive shared her thoughts on what it takes to be a “21st Century CMO” at this week’s Red Herring CMO 2007 Conference:
1. Lives by fact-based decisions. Measure whatever you can. Benchmark to know who is best in class. Shift from historic to predictive insight.
2. Creates organizational excellence. First the who, then the what. Know where ball is moving and what skills you’ll need for what’s coming. Talent is a top priority. Get organizational hygiene in place.
3. Is a partner to sales. Does sales have the right tools for an engagement and dialog model with customers?
4. Drives business and growth. CMOs must be oriented to revenue. Identifying new sources of revenue. Forging alliances to fuel momentum. Being at the door of business units, pushing and driving ideas forward.
5. Is a chief architect of the business. Create agenda for CEOs internally and externally. Champion the voice of the customer. Help the organization stay centered on the customer and on the future.