MarTech Interview with Allison Metcalfe, Chief Revenue Officer, Demandbase

Hi Allison, congratulations on joining the Demandbase team as its new CRO. Tell us about your journey in tech and how your professional milestones.

I started in tech in earnest in 2007 doing account management for an executive compensation firm. In that role, I learned the ins and outs of the customer journey and Customer Success before I later joined Jigsaw to build out an Enterprise Customer Success function. I grew at Jigsaw to lead all Customer Success, and was privileged to experience a master class after we were acquired by Salesforce.

In 2011, I took my building skills to Demandbase and built out all Customer Success from scratch. Next, I joined LiveRamp where I again built out Customer Success. While there, I led the $150M acquisition of Data+Math, as well as the launching of LiveRamp TV, where I really cut my teeth on executive leadership beyond Customer Success. My major milestones would definitely be the Salesforce acquisition, LiveRamp being acquired by Acxiom, emerging as a solo public company (I got to ring the NYSE bell!) and leading the acquisition of Data + Math.

It’s been an insane ride!

From Adtech to ABM — what’s -the most exciting part about being a woman in technology?

The most exciting part of being a woman in tech these days is talking a lot less about being a woman in tech! I recognize that it is a privilege that comes with a certain level of seniority I have achieved, but I think far less about my gender. I feel like we have come a LONG way since I started out and while we certainly have not reached parity, we aren’t debating if women CAN be executives anymore – it feels like there is less debate about if it should be something that is focused on at all.

What’s really exciting to me about growing as an executive in technology, in general, is fostering new talent, paying it forward and helping folks grow. I am proud of a lot of things (see milestones in question one)! But what has given me the most energy working in this field has easily been watching the people I have worked with grow and become executives themselves. I am super excited to help grow some careers in a major way at Demandbase.

You bring in a sea of experience and wisdom from Marketing, Sales and Operations. What galvanized you to join Demandbase as a CRO?

The customer journey and Customer Success are not (or should not) be the sole responsibility of one executive or one group anymore.

Everyone should feel very invested in customer success. I think in the past it was more about different executives thinking about them in silos. Such as, “this is how we sell, this is how we service.” It was really doing a disservice to the customer.

Having grown up in Customer Success, THEN moved to net new logo sales and field strategy and operations, I bring a very natural customer-centric mindset that I feel will position us well for success. Further, I am super bullish on B2B and the full stack, Demandbase vision.

Go to marketing strategies have changed overnight during the COVID-19 crisis. As a CRO, would you stick to your gut feeling, or explore new synergies floating in the ecosystem.

This is the time to embrace new ideas, be experimental and be very human-first and empathetic. Our customers are struggling just as much as we are – they are trying to figure all of this out too. We have to be nimble, thoughtful and creative to help them.

Please tell our audience about your remote workplace technology suite : 

I set up an office space in an unused sunroom part of my 100-year old house that never had a great purpose. However, more often than not, find myself rotating around the house depending on the type of work I need to do, what my distance learning kids are doing, or the temperature (or if my community is on fire). I can often be found on Zoom, sitting on the floor with my dogs lounging on the sofa behind me.

How hard / easy is it going to be for a B2B Marketing Technology company to achieve Revenue goals as customers have no choice but to shrink budgets?

Demandbase makes every dollar you spend on B2B Marketing more targeted, more precise, more actionable and more measurable – that resonates quite well with marketers who have to do more with less. If we can help make our customers heroes – truly make THEM win and overachieve their goals, our goals will also be achievable.

Tag a person from the industry whose answers you would like to see here:

Pieter De Temmerman, COO at LiveRamp

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