Ep #136: How this CMO Manages Change in a High-Growth Company w/ Latané Conant, CMO at 6sense
Feb 21, 2023
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Latané Conant, CMO at 6sense, discusses the challenges of managing change in a high-growth company, emphasizing the importance of staying ahead of the wave. She shares insights on hiring well and effectively communicating the company's value proposition. The podcast also dives into finding individuals with a hunger for teaching and innovation, the importance of communication in scaling a marketing team, and prioritizing personal life.
Maintaining momentum during high-growth is crucial for companies to stay afloat and hiring should be a top priority to keep pace.
Communicating the company's value proposition clearly to candidates is essential for successful hiring and attracting individuals eager to learn and grow.
Deep dives
Managing Growth and Market Conditions
Latne Conan, CMO of 6 cents, discusses the significant growth of her marketing team over the past three years, going from a scrappy team of seven to over 40 marketers. Despite the challenging market conditions, Conan emphasizes the importance of maintaining a culture of hustle within the organization. She highlights the need to effectively manage growth and prioritize hiring the right people to sustain the company's trajectory.
The Importance of Being Scrappy
Conan emphasizes the importance of maintaining a scrappy mindset within the marketing team, regardless of its size. Whether it's a team of seven or 40, she believes in the constant drive to be resourceful and innovative. Conan acknowledges the challenges of managing growth and the need to balance scalability with maintaining a scrappy culture. She highlights the importance of rethinking the way they work while staying focused on high-value activities.
Hiring for a Growth-Oriented Marketing Team
To build a high-growth marketing team, Conan stresses the need to identify individuals who are hungry for growth and willing to work with a high level of hustle. She believes in hiring those who are eager to innovate, adapt, and teach. Conan emphasizes clear communication of the employee value proposition, making it known that the team offers a high-growth experience while requiring dedication and a willingness to experiment. She also emphasizes the importance of teaching and giving employees the opportunity to take on additional responsibilities beyond their roles.
On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Latané Conant, CMO at 6sense, who I previously interviewed more than three years ago at the tail-end of 2019. Of course, a lot has changed since we last spoke, so I was eager to hear her exciting updates about how much her team has grown over the years. We discuss how buyer expectations have shifted, how she’s managing those changes alongside her colleagues, and how she encourages everyone on her team to help move the needle.
Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!
Key takeaways from this episode:
Don’t fall too far behind the wave. Latané uses an imaginative analogy to explain the importance of keeping up the momentum during stages of high-growth. When wake-surfing, it’s important that you avoid falling too far back behind the wave—otherwise, no amount of movement will help you stay afloat. The same goes for companies that are growing fast: hiring should be a top priority if you hope to keep pace.
Understand your employee value proposition. Latané believes that learning to hire well is one of the most important aspects of the CMO role. Part of this includes communicating your company’s value proposition clearly to candidates. For example, she mentioned that at 6sense, work/life balance isn’t a major draw for the organization, but since it offers such a high-growth experience, they can guarantee that employees will learn a lot on the job—and fast.
Take the time to communicate effectively. Latané also reminds us of the importance of clear communication, especially as we scale. Regardless of the size of your marketing team, we live in a world that’s changing rapidly. It’s essential that leaders take the time to sit down with their teams and explain the things that people may not see on the surface.