How to go about influencing people across different functions and teams?
2 Answers
Tamara Niesen
WooCommerce CMO | Formerly Shopify, D2L, BlackBerry • December 5
- Build relationships and build trust- get to know the people you want to influence- we are all human and want to do great work with people we know, like and trust- invest in this.
- Listen- you may not agree with your stakeholders, but understand their perspectives, what drives them- incentives, how they are compensated, goals, career aspirations, super powers.
- Communicate- clearly, often and transparently. Oh, and don’t use fancy language, $1000 words or tech jargon (sorry if any of my responses do this, I might not even notice when I do sometimes, but always ask to be called out on it).
- Back everything with data and/or proof points. Math doesn’t lie (quoting my data science partner).
- Persistence Pays- sometimes you have to be able to sell internally- winning hearts and minds takes time and effort.
667 Views
Erika Barbosa
Counterpart Marketing Lead | Formerly Issuu, OpenText, Webroot • February 22
To influence people across different functions and teams you need to focus on our common denominator of being human with our individual perspectives. Here are my five tips to accomplish this:
- Lead by example. Embody the type of person that people respect even if they do not agree with you. Show up in the way that you would like others to show up for you.
- Empathy. Put yourself in their shoes and approach interactions from this lens. It’s important to be respectful even if you have to agree to disagree.
- Clear communication. It’s important not to only communicate, but to ensure it is transparent, clear and ongoing. Clear communication should be the norm.
- Data-informed. Ensure your information is backed up by data. While perspectives are important, influence is better driven when it’s not just an opinion.
- Adaptable. When trying to influence stakeholders, it’s critical to be adaptable and flexible. This will help you build rapport.
446 Views
Top Demand Generation Mentors
Liz Bernardo
Snow Software Director of Demand Generation & Partner Marketing - Americas
Erika Barbosa
Counterpart Marketing Lead
Nicolette Konkol
Morningstar Global Head of Demand Generation
Matt Hummel
Pipeline360 Vice President of Marketing
Joann Guo
Spotify Associate Director, Growth Marketing
Andy Ramirez ✪
Docker SVP, Growth Marketing (CMO Role)
Sheridan Gaenger
Own VP of Growth Marketing
Keara Cho
Salesforce Sr. Director, Field Marketing
Micha Hershman
JumpCloud Chief Marketing Officer
Kayla Rockwell
Databricks Senior Group Manager, Demand Generation
Related Questions
What are some of the best ways to begin becoming a more influential Demand Generation Manager?How do you prioritize your Demand Generation projects and still make time for ad-hoc requests?Do you approach stakeholder management differently based on the team you're talking to? And if so, how?What's a good way to approach decisions that other teams feel they should own vs. Demand Gen feels they should own?How do you structure your demand gen team? How big is it, what does everyone do? How do you measure success of each function/person?
How to establish credibility and trust in people around you?