I had a recent conversation with Sean Geehan (Geehan Group, customer advisory board experts) on the topic of how CMOs think about customer reference programs. He spoke of a disconnect between CEOs and CMOs he’s seen in the advisory board work he does, which helps explain the high turnover of CMOs. Sean pointed me to a 2011 blog post from Laura Ramos of Xerox (many will remember Laura from her days with Forrester). It was terrific, be sure to read it!

In a post here on our blog related to how to gain executive support for a Customer Reference Program, part of our prescription was to align program goals with your marketing executive’s goals. That task may not be so straightforward if the CEO and CMO aren’t in alignment!

There isn’t much to add to Laura’s insightful digest of Fournaise Marketing Group’s study that put an exclamation mark on the potential CEO/CMO disconnect. But here are some take-aways for savvy leaders of customer reference programs:

• Get very familiar with your CEO’s goals and hot buttons and design your program’s goals to align with her if your CMO’s goals are different. When you communicate your goals to your CMO be sure to relate your efforts to the CEO’s goals. This demonstrates an awareness many of your marketing colleagues may not have, which ultimately makes the CMO look better in the eyes of the CEO.
• Be sure to measure and report on impact on sales and other tangible business outcomes. We’ve said this many times in many ways, but this study and the advice from CMOs really drove it home…again.

This approach will establish your program’s value to the organization from day one, and ensure the kind of support needed to really make the program soar. Enjoy!