Why Global Sales and Marketing Alignment are Key to IBM’s Success with Corinne Sklar, CMO of IBM iX

Corinne Sklar, CMO of IBM, shares how demand gen influences their marketing strategies, and vice versa. She dives into the partnership her team shares with sales to ensure seamless execution of their acquisition strategy. On this episode of Demand Gen Visionaries, Corinne talks about growth at IBM and how companies, big and small, can implement consistent marketing strategies to generate a successful sales experience.

Key Takeaways

• When brand marketing and demand gen work closely together to bring awareness to prospects, revenue follows
• Timeless content is the key to providing a seamless and reliable customer experience that continues to deliver value — even years down the road
• Transparency and clear communication with teammates is the secret to a healthy, productive, and conflict-free work environment

Quotes

• “Content marketing has to stand out. It either has to be provocative, or it has to be super detailed in regards to a problem we know needs to be solved.”
• “People are people. I have resolved conflicts more by simply picking up the phone and calling someone than any other tactic that I've ever used.”
• “The company needs to be thought of as a marketing- and sales-driven organization, not just sales.”
• “Look for digital clues around what products and services customers are interested in — what engagement they're having across your business to be able to tailor outreach to them. Marketing plays a huge role in providing those digital footprints right into the place that sellers work every day. And that should be their CRM or on their mobile device. I think that's a critical aspect of driving demand gen in a B2B world.”
• “We’d look at the integrated needs of our sellers — whether it was about tools, whether it was about training, whether it was about compensation — and really develop programs together as a team. All of those things are so important for a marketing organization.”

Sponsor

Demand Gen Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for Demand Gen pros. The world's leading enterprise brands trust Qualified to instantly meet with buyers, right on their website, and maximize sales pipeline. Visit Qualified.com to learn more.