Aug 11, 2017 By Sharon Gillenwater

Leveraging Your Own CXOs for Better Event ROI

If you’re a technology marketer, you’re likely looking at the calendar, anticipating a fall season packed with industry events and executive summits. In addition, your sales leadership probably expects you to create compelling sponsorships and touch points at these events that will help them get... Read More

Marketing, Events

Jul 11, 2017 By Sharon Gillenwater

How Customer Service Became Customer Success

When we hear the term “customer service,” B2C scenarios tend to come to mind. For most of us, this might involve an online chat session with a bank, a call into airline reservations or troubleshooting a problem with your mobile carrier. For those of us who operate in a B2B world, customer service... Read More

Customer Service, Customer Success

Jun 23, 2017 By Sharon Gillenwater

Top Five Best Things About Being My Own Boss

After working as a marketing consultant in Silicon Valley for many years, I founded my company Boardroom Insiders in 2009. Here's what I love about being my own boss. 5. My business goes wherever I go. Over the years I have run my business from Amsterdam, Paris, London, Mexico City, Bangalore,... Read More

Small Business

Jun 16, 2017 By Sharon Gillenwater

Today’s Immigrant CEOs: Bringing a Global Sensibility to American Business

Stories of successful immigrants abound in American business lore. It’s a phenomenon firmly rooted in our country’s history. Alexander Graham Bell, the Scotland-born inventor and entrepreneur, founded Bell Telephone, which eventually became AT&T, in 1875. Other well-known Fortune 500 companies... Read More

Cloud, Leadership

Apr 12, 2017 By Sharon Gillenwater

If Digital is a “Business Thing,” Vendors Must Be in the C-Suite

In recent years CEOs have commonly handed off digital to CIOs or have hired Chief Digital Officers to own the digital realm. But as veteran CIO Larry Bonfante wrote in a recent piece for Heller Search Associates, they’ve got it all wrong. For every company trying to transform into a digital... Read More

IT, Leadership, Sales

Mar 15, 2017 By Sharon Gillenwater

Why Salespeople Need to be Generous Know-It-Alls

If you’re like most people, a networking event or cocktail party filled with unfamiliar faces does not top of your list of favorite activities. Have you ever skipped a conference networking reception in favor of room service and a movie? I have. Most of us dread these gatherings because... Read More

Sales

Feb 18, 2017 By Sharon Gillenwater

What is Pursuit Marketing: An Interview With CSC’s Dorothea Gosling

Every sales and marketing organization is on a quest for the most effective strategy that satisfies the larger business’ goals. One of the most often discussed processes is Account Based Marketing (ABM), of course. But there’s also the less prominent approach of Pursuit Marketing, which is a... Read More

Marketing

Jan 12, 2017 By Sharon Gillenwater

Nailing the First Five Minutes of a Business Conversation

It's 2017 and IDC sees a future where CXOs are going to be more central than ever to critical technology buying decisions. According to IDC FutureScape: Worldwide IT Industry 2017 Predictions: Over the next three to four years, DX [digital transformation] efforts will no longer be... Read More

Sales

Dec 27, 2016 By Sharon Gillenwater

Don’t Let Spinoffs Spin Out Your Customer Relationships

Are any of your customers involved in corporate spinoffs? Sales and marketing people are always advised to keep an eye on potential mergers and acquisitions among their customers, but we don’t usually talk about spinoffs. A spinoff is the creation of a new, independent company through the sale or... Read More

Sales