Agency needs to please the CFO

[shukla7789]

One thing I have learned throughout my life is that more than the CMO, it is necessary to please the CFO. The CMO is responsible for the company's marketing, which can be the marketing director or the vice president. Each company, depending on its size, has a different organizational chart and names, but in the end, there is always one person responsible for marketing and another for the financial area, the CFO, financial director or vice president.

I won't go into the basics here: marketing is the department that directs brand communication. To do this, this department hires agencies and consultants. It is the marketing team that looks at communication as a whole, assesses what the brand needs and how to achieve the results, the goals that the company sets for the department.

Marketing is not solely responsible for revenue, the sales self employed database is responsible for that, but marketing is responsible for building the brand, strengthening it and, consequently, for the campaigns that are generated so that the sales team can have a base of people, called leads , to sell and meet the company's goals. It has always worked this way and will continue to do so for many years to come.

Goals come from the CFO
The word “goals” gives me goosebumps when I hear it, but a company without goals is a lost company. When I worked with Korean bosses in an e-commerce operation, I learned a lot from them about the importance of well-defined goals. Life is a constant learning process, isn’t it?

The goals are usually set by the finance department. This department is responsible for the company's financial health, something that everyone knows, but it's worth reinforcing. This department is where the company knows its accounts payable and receivable, and therefore it is the department that controls every penny of all expenses, including marketing. From the promotional pen to the TV campaign, it is also the department that looks at the investment made in the agency or consultancy on a monthly basis and analyzes the results to determine whether the agency is profitable or not.

If the answer is no, this is the first department to ask for changes, even before marketing thinks about this possibility. It is the department that will pressure marketing to replace those who are not delivering results on a daily basis. At board meetings, this is the department that will bring up the graphs showing the high investments versus the results. It is the department's role to do this, and it will have the support of sales, saying that sales are low because marketing is not bringing in hot and qualified leads. This fight is eternal, with each one always blaming the other. However, if the target is 0.001% above expectations, don't even expect a "thank you", but rather a "your department has the greatest resources, it is your obligation" .