Elizabeth Foughty
I’ve frequently referred to myself as a recovering project manager when discussing my history in software project management (I never met a Kanban board I didn’t like). But all jokes aside, my background in agile methodologies has been incredibly valuable in customer-facing roles. Drawing from my experience in running agile projects, I’ve observed that the principles and methodologies employed in software development can be incredibly beneficial in the sales realm. Here are a few things I found really valuable:
Agile practices, such as iteration, can bring immense value to marketing teams. By breaking down goals into smaller, achievable targets and continuously evaluating and iterating our strategies, you can foster a culture of continuous improvement. This fosters constant learning and adaptation. Adopting this mindset in market-facing organizations empowers teams to learn from successes and failures, adapt to market dynamics, and optimize strategies for long-term success. Most importantly, it builds in the idea up front that the tactics are going to continuously change. As you learn, you change, and this is OK!
Agile development also emphasizes data-driven decision-making. In both software development and go-to-market activities, data serves as a powerful guiding force. By leveraging analytics tools and sales data, we can gain deep insights into customer behavior, identify patterns, and make informed decisions that maximize revenue potential. Therefore, good data collection should be an underlying ethos from the outset. However, the number of go-to-market organizations I’ve worked with that do NOT capture and manage data well is very high. It’s also important to make this data accessible to those who need it, which can also be a surprisingly big obstacle! In one organization we closely tracked all our deployments in Salesforce. We reviewed this data on a weekly basis. By tracking this closely we were able to identify key leverage points to make improvements to the process and the customer experience, leading to rapid increases in deployment rates.
Lastly, what is the MVP (minimum viable product)? Sometimes it’s best just to get the refreshed sales deck/new website/updated messaging out the door rather than spend months perfecting it. After all, you are hoping and expecting it to change as you learn more!
By fostering a culture of continuous improvement and data-driven decision-making, and embracing the idea of evolving tactics, go-to-market organizations can harness the power of agile practices for their own success.
Elizabeth Foughty 