This sounds sadly familiar. As odd as it sounds, I feel like Jessica and myself have a lot in common. I left my first corporate job for some similar reasons, and although I had a greater impact at an agency startup, the client goals were the same as the internal corporation.
More signups. More customers. Higher conversion. Higher UPT.
Bring up the word 'retention' and you'd get a uncomfortable silence and maybe a: "oh right... well... that's important but we need more customers to retain".
What a joke. Sometimes I just have to laugh now that I'm back inside other corporate beasts (as a consultant this time). The names on the security gate out front and the names on the leadership masthead will change, but the illogical business objectives never seem to.
Such a sad but familiar cycle - watching companies push out their best advocates for quick metrics wins, then act surprised when it all crashes without real user focus. Thanks for capturing how these short-term plays always backfire. Hoping more leaders start seeing beyond next quarter's numbers to build sustainable value that actually serves customers.
Thanks for the wonderful comment, Rohan. I hope in the near future that corporations shift from chasing short-term profits to more sustainable growth. Connecting with and pleasing customers is the way. It always has been.
This was an interesting piece and touched on something I have thought a lot about lately. As the world is changing I believe companies need to adapt in order to survive. I don’t think companies who put themselves first at the expense of customers and clients will be able to thrive and perhaps not even survive. I believe companies that strive for having an impact and make a positive contribution are those that will shine. I sure hope so. We’ve had enough of ego driven corporations and they ultimately cause their own demise. Conscious sales and marketing is the answer.
Mack, even as a freelancer in marketing, I felt the same frustration that Jessica did. And after a hiatus of several years to focus on family, I didn’t and likely won’t go back into marketing.
What was great about social media for marketing, the “age of the empowered consumer “ we called it, has largely gone the way of fax and email marketing: corrupted by the quantity-minded fast-money-focused crowd who sell their quick-return pitches to short-sighted CEOs and CMOS like those in your story.
By the way, that 2011 SxSW is, I believe, where Victor and I first met you in person. We enjoyed those conversations and that fellowship so much. It was a highlight for us before encountering a very difficult season. We appreciated you and the work you did with Blogchat more than you could know.
Thank you Amy, #Blogchat was a wonderful community, glad you and Vic were a part of it. It’s amazing how quickly we went from social media being ‘now the customer has a voice!’ to ‘now we have a new way to sell stuff to the customer!’ Ah well, marketers will always be marketers, I suppose.
This sounds sadly familiar. As odd as it sounds, I feel like Jessica and myself have a lot in common. I left my first corporate job for some similar reasons, and although I had a greater impact at an agency startup, the client goals were the same as the internal corporation.
More signups. More customers. Higher conversion. Higher UPT.
Bring up the word 'retention' and you'd get a uncomfortable silence and maybe a: "oh right... well... that's important but we need more customers to retain".
What a joke. Sometimes I just have to laugh now that I'm back inside other corporate beasts (as a consultant this time). The names on the security gate out front and the names on the leadership masthead will change, but the illogical business objectives never seem to.
I can totally hear most CMOS making that comment about customers and retention. You nailed it, until the culture changes, nothing does.
Such a sad but familiar cycle - watching companies push out their best advocates for quick metrics wins, then act surprised when it all crashes without real user focus. Thanks for capturing how these short-term plays always backfire. Hoping more leaders start seeing beyond next quarter's numbers to build sustainable value that actually serves customers.
Thanks for the wonderful comment, Rohan. I hope in the near future that corporations shift from chasing short-term profits to more sustainable growth. Connecting with and pleasing customers is the way. It always has been.
This was an interesting piece and touched on something I have thought a lot about lately. As the world is changing I believe companies need to adapt in order to survive. I don’t think companies who put themselves first at the expense of customers and clients will be able to thrive and perhaps not even survive. I believe companies that strive for having an impact and make a positive contribution are those that will shine. I sure hope so. We’ve had enough of ego driven corporations and they ultimately cause their own demise. Conscious sales and marketing is the answer.
Hege I love the way you framed it as being ‘conscious sales and marketing’. That’s exactly what we need.
Mack, even as a freelancer in marketing, I felt the same frustration that Jessica did. And after a hiatus of several years to focus on family, I didn’t and likely won’t go back into marketing.
What was great about social media for marketing, the “age of the empowered consumer “ we called it, has largely gone the way of fax and email marketing: corrupted by the quantity-minded fast-money-focused crowd who sell their quick-return pitches to short-sighted CEOs and CMOS like those in your story.
By the way, that 2011 SxSW is, I believe, where Victor and I first met you in person. We enjoyed those conversations and that fellowship so much. It was a highlight for us before encountering a very difficult season. We appreciated you and the work you did with Blogchat more than you could know.
Take care and God bless you,
Amy C (artsey)
X
Thank you Amy, #Blogchat was a wonderful community, glad you and Vic were a part of it. It’s amazing how quickly we went from social media being ‘now the customer has a voice!’ to ‘now we have a new way to sell stuff to the customer!’ Ah well, marketers will always be marketers, I suppose.