Building a Marketing Organization from Scratch

About the Guest

Ben is a results-oriented, people-focused leader with a proven track record in building high-performing, highly motivated teams to challenge current thinking and drive maximum business value against a clear vision. After 14 years at Stanley Black and Decker, he is currently the Global VP of Marketing for the Industrial platform of businesses, responsible for driving revenue growth by bringing innovation to market and building meaningful customer relationships.

Connect with Benjamin Richardson

Key Takeaways

• To unite teams, it is essential to have a shared goal, a sense of ownership and responsibility, a willingness to collaborate, and effective communication.
• Be mindful of the metrics used – they must match the goals the team is aiming to achieve.
• Revenue must not only be the main focal point of achievement. Other areas such as increased engagement, leads, and opportunities must be accounted for.

Quote

“It [ABM] starts fundamentally by understanding what the customer needs and understanding how we can provide a unique value to that customer. Find different ways to enable that customer before ultimately making eye contact to them, reach out to the timely occasion, and make sure that our product is front of mind.” – Benjamin Richardson

Highlights from the Episode

Can you tell us a bit about your role & journey at Stanley Black & Decker

Stanley Black & Decker has two main business units – tools & outdoors and industrial solutions. Currently, Ben is the VP of Marketing for the industrial platform.

What are some key ingredients that go into building a great team?

The company Stanley Black & Decker started by having a variety of business units with no collaboration to build a marketing organization to serve all businesses. Some key ingredients for enabling this transition are having a shared goal, a sense of ownership and responsibility, a willingness to collaborate, and effective communication.

How do you go about defining success for your team? How does that impact selecting the right metrics to measure success?

To create a successful team, you must first define what success looks like. This will help you to select the right metrics to measure success. For example, if you want your team to be results-driven, you will need to establish a benchmark metric, such as return on investment. Additionally, you will need to make sure that your team has the necessary skills to be successful. Finally, you will need to ensure that your team is customer-centric.

Can you share some of the metrics that you and your team are using to measure success?

Measuring success is not only done by looking into the revenue. The team is using a variety of metrics to measure success, including awareness, engagement, lead generation, and opportunity creation.

What goes into selecting technology to enable success for your team?

The team looks for a technology that will help them succeed in their account-based marketing campaigns. The tools are varied depending on the set goals. Because of the extensity of Stanley Black & Decker, onboarding new technology is a challenge and thus would require 100% commitment and involvement among stakeholders.

Tell us what you think about the account-based journey specifically for an industrial buyer.

The account-based journey for an industrial buyer is one where safety is the main concern, and facing zero defects is the goal. The vendor must understand the customer’s challenges and needs to add value to the customer throughout the buying process.

How are you and your organization adapting to the current economic downturn?

Stanley Black & Decker is weathering the storm well because they are a diversified organization. They are seeing more difficulty and volatility in the market when it comes to purchasing raw materials, but they are working to address this as a wider organization.

Shout-outs

Waseem Kawaf – Global Vice President Of Digital Experience at STANLEY Security