How would you like to be able to drive upwards of 90% of your direct net new logo pipeline via your BDR function?

If that sounds like something you would be interested in, then this is a must listen episode for you. Bryan Urioste, CMO of cybersecurity firm Alert Logic, tells us all about how he creates alignment between the sales and marketing teams to achieve that result.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Does it matter who owns the BDR function in your organization?
• How to build and reconcile top-down and bottom-up forecasts
• What the handoff from marketing to sales should look like
• How to leverage webinars to drive pipeline
• How “pipeline is the great equalizer”
• How to build feedback loops between sales and marketing

Bryan’s recommendations:

1. Marketing should own pipeline. While marketers and BDRs don’t control closed-won deals, they do control pipeline being driven to the sellers.

2. You need to build your bottom up plan from a program/channel perspective, which needs to marry up to a budget plan, which can be used to justify (or argue against) the top down plan.

3. Create prioritization buckets based on intent and engagement. The more intent, the more personalized and 1:1 motion you drive.

4. To create credibility within the organization, marketing needs to be accountable for a pipeline number.

5. For large BDR organizations, create very structured team schedules - Bryan’s team has a schedule for every 30 minutes of the day. Everyone should be doing the same thing for every chuck of the day.

6. Maximize your tool stack. Don’t bring in any new tools/technology until your existing stack is slowing you down. Here is the tool stack the team at Alert Logic uses:
   1. Salesforce
   2. Marketo
   3. Outreach
   4. Drift
   5. Smartsheet
   6. 6Sense
   7. Power BI

You’ll need to listen to the full episode if you want to hear the Lightning Round, but here are a few highlights:

• Bryan is looking forward to leveraging podcasts for both demand generation and ABM
• Bryan can’t live without Power BI

Proofpoint’s POV:

We are revenue marketers here at Proofpoint, and just like Bryan, we are big proponents of strong integration between Sales and Marketing. There were three critical things Bryan mentioned during our conversation that stuck out and deserve some more color and attention:

1. For marketing to have credibility, they need to own a pipeline number. While we generally agree with this sentiment, and always look to take ownership of marketing sourced pipeline for our clients, there does also need to be room for marketing to test, and operate against other objectives, without being constrained by short-term quarterly pipeline numbers.

   For example, you may find that the organization needs to reposition itself in the market. While that will have long-term impacts on pipeline and revenue, short-term it likely won’t and will potentially take away from budget that could be spent on short-term objectives.

   There is also tremendous value in keeping your marketing team’s creative juices flowing. Marketing is part art and part science, and if we only focus on short-term pipeline targets, that can stifle creativity which will hurt your organization in the long-run. Not least of which because you will end up with churn on your marketing team. 

   There should always be some percentage of marketing budget that is allocated to tests and pie in the sky ideas. 

2. Reconciling top-down and bottom-up plans. This can’t be stressed enough. It is critical for marketing leaders to have a good working relationship with the CEO and the board, to ensure that a logical discussion can be had about top-down plans and targets. Because unrealistic targets often just end up hurting marketing performance in the long-run because the pressure to scale incentivizes (P.S. this is one of Bryan’s least favorite business words 😁… Sorry Bryan!) poor decisions and bad behaviors.
3. Carefully Manage your tool stack. This is a constant battle, as SaaS proliferates and companies spend more and more on niche tech tools. Most organizations significantly underutilize the tools that they have and then often bring in new tools which only tends to complicate matters.

   What we need to remember, is that tools are only as good as the people that are using them and the strategy that they are executing against.

A bit more about Bryan:

Bryan is a 2-time CMO, with a focus on technology companies. If you didn’t catch it from this conversation, Bryan is a revenue marketer at heart and is a big believer in integrating Sales and Marketing. Bryan is a huge proponent of the Strengths Finder. Here are his strengths: Positivity, Activator, Futuristic, Self-Assurance, WOO (Winning Others Over). Last, but not least, Bryan’s heritage is Basque, and while he isn’t a historian, he loves to share about Basque history.

Helpful Links & Resources:

• Connect with Bryan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/b2bonlinemarketing/
• Follow Alert Logic on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alert-logic/

Connect with Mike & Gaby at Proofpoint:

• Mike’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikegrinberg/
• Gaby’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriellaisrael/
• LinkedIn Company Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/proofpoint-marketing-llc
• Proofpoint YouTube Channel: http://bit.ly/ProofpointonYouTube
• Proofpoint Website: www.proofpoint.marketing