Interview with Nicolette Cieslak, Director, Demand Generation, Showpad

Tell us a little bit about your role at Showpad and the team you handle?

I lead the demand generation team globally, which includes digital marketing, programs, marketing automation, field marketing and events. My team of 10 demand marketing all-stars is spread across Europe and the US.

What draws you to the Revenue Summit 2018?

As a demand gen leader, I’ve always measured my marketing success against the same metrics as sales – pipeline and revenue contribution – and believe that alignment has been key to building effective demand engines. But as the marketing funnel evolves it has become increasingly important for marketing to focus their efforts on the bottom of the funnel and helping sales bring the deal across the line.

And as a company, Showpad is driven to bridge the gap between sales and marketing teams, which is why Revenue Summit is such a great event. The folks at Sales Hacker embody our belief that sales and marketing alignment is key to driving more revenue faster and ultimately realizing sales and marketing success.

Which sessions at the Revenue Summit 2018 would you recommend and why?

Marketing and Sales Orchestration and Full Funnel Forecasting back to back sessions on sales and marketing alignment from a qualitative and quantitative perspective.

Which verticals is Showpad looking to target to grow its revenues in 2018?

One of the best things about Showpad is that we’re intensely focused on empowering our customers to deliver a better buyer experience – and that message and belief translates across verticals. We’ve established a strong foothold in a wide range of industries – from chemical and construction to medical devices and manufacturing – and will continue to keep expanding into other verticals that value a better buyer experience as a key differentiator.

At Showpad, how is technology leveraged to help Sales and Marketing align?

We use analytics and engagement data at every stage of the funnel to garner actionable insights and have a closed loop feedback cycle established with our sales teams.

What tools does your marketing stack consist of?

WordPress, Google, GoToWebinar, Wistia, Marketo, Showpad, and Salesforce

How do you prepare for an AI-centric world as a sales leader?

The first step is to recognize that AI holds incredible potential to supercharge buyer alignment. We all know that a one-size-fits-all approach is no longer adequate for today’s sales situations. Reps need to be trusted advisors and actively bring value to sales conversations. So instead of guessing at which content works best for each customer, AI empowers them to make data-based decisions to drive prospects through the funnel.

This Is How I Work

One word that best describes how you work.

Iterative.

What apps/software/tools can’t you live without?

Google Calendar, Marketo, Salesforce.

What’s your smartest work related shortcut or productivity hack?

Hire well!

What are you currently reading?

Currently reading Originals by Adam Grant and generally, I’m an avid podcast consumer especially for professional learning, masters of scale and sales benchmark index are both good ones.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Setting boundaries helps others as much as it helps you, because then people know how best to work with you and eliminates ambiguity.

Tag the one person in the industry whose answers to these questions you would love to read:

Dave Gerhardt, Director of Marketing at Drift

Thank you Nicolette! That was fun and hope to see you back on MarTech Series soon.