Clocks

Welcome to The Beat by Rockstar CMO. I’m Ian Truscott, not a rock star, but a CMO and trusted advisor, and in this newsletter, I’d like to share a mix of marketing street knowledge that I hope will help unlock the rockstar marketer in you.

Hello rock star!

In the UK, we changed our clocks and wound them back an hour, a week before my friends in the US, and it seems, regardless of this different legislated change, time moves at different speeds for different people.

An observation a chum of mine made when he was looking for a new role: he felt he was running fast while the prospective employers were moving at a different pace, seemingly in a world where time moved much more slowly. What seemed like a couple of days to them to respond was an agonizing week for my chum.

It’s the same for us in sales and marketing: our buyers do not always have the same sense of urgency as our sellers. And a sense of urgency is a strong driver for the buyer to overcome the friction of making a change, the risk of moving from the status quo, the workaround, or whatever they do now.

We are often very good at talking about “why us” in B2B marketing. And sometimes we do better than just banging on about the features and functions, we tell stories, we offer the promised land, and even the risks of doing nothing.

But what we often miss is - why now?

What’s in it for the prospective client if they choose you today and not tomorrow, next week, or next quarter?

I don’t just mean end-of-quarter discounts; I mean, how do we demonstrate the value of now, over later?

This week, the subject line clearly comes from Coldplay's "Clocks”, maybe a safe choice, but sometimes that what the buyer is looking for.

Have a splendid week!

Cheers!

Ian

Some things from me, my chums and what inspired me this week.

Be careful watching them live….