Mar 30, 2023
Buell Duncan is an anomaly having spent his entire career at one organization. Buell has held many executive roles throughout his tenure at IBM, starting in one of the unlikeliest places for a marketer: sales. In this episode, Buell shares valuable advice on how marketers can strengthen critical relationships with sales, IT, and finance teams. He also emphasizes the importance of understanding customer needs and implementing a data and measurement infrastructure to justify marketing spend, a critical initiative in today’s economy.
Key Takeaways:
[1:40] a reflection on Buell’s 40 year career and whether he could have predicted it to progress as it did.A little bit about Buell and his four decades of expertise.
[6:30] How do you advance in your career Want to achieve your goals? Focus on today.
[9:15] It’s not as important where you go to school., it’s important to stay connected after you’ve finished school.
[10:15] Buell started his career in sales. Why did he switch to marketing? Should all marketers start in sales?transitioned from sales to marketing. How did that happen?
[13:00] Buell didn’t know anything about marketing when he got put in a marketing position, but he did understand people and he understood he needed to build his team with industry experts to help the department succeed.
[18:00] How did Buell develop great relationships throughout his career?
[20:50] What are the most important relationships to develop as a CMO?
[26:15] How does IBM structure its meetings differently than other companies?
[27:40] How should marketers think about their relationship with IT departments?
[32:15] How should marketers approach their relationship with the finance department?
[36:35] Buell has mentored several generations; what has he liked the most out of the latestyounger generation of marketers?
[42:50] What keeps Buell up at night?
[47:10] Don’t assume the answer until you’ve really done the work.
[48:55] Buell answers some rapid-fire questions.
Mentioned in This Episode: