Given the nature of their work, you might not expect finance and marketing leaders to be key allies in the C-suite. But according to two prominent executives, leveraging the CFO/CMO partnership—and learning how to collaborate effectively—is key to achieving common goals and driving business forward.
At the 2024 Marketing Summit, hosted by WSB and its Marketing Leadership Institute, Cynthia Chu (BBA ’99), CFO and growth officer at Audible, and Lynn Girotto (BBA ’90), CMO of Qualtrics, engaged in a lively discussion filled with diverse perspectives, career insights, and helpful advice for strengthening and leveraging this partnership.
It’s all about the consumer
Whether you’re the CFO or CMO, both Chu and Girotto—who have served together on WSB’s External Advisory Board—stressed that it’s crucial to understand the consumer and the marketplace. “Marketing’s role in the executive team is to bring the customer perspective and lead the organization on understanding where the market is going, what customer needs are, and making sure we know if we meet them,” said Girotto.
Chu echoed similar sentiments from the finance side, also noting how fast customer expectations are changing. “One of our core principles and values [at Audible] is to be customer obsessed,” she said. “Walking around in the customer’s shoes is going to be very important to understand what you’re trying to achieve.”
In addition to focusing on current consumers, the two also advised organizations to think about the markets yet to be discovered. While marketers might have easily accessible data for analyzing an existing customer base, both executives say that it’s vital for them to think about how the market is shifting and how they can tackle new prospects.
“One of our core principles and values [at Audible] is to be customer obsessed.”
—Cynthia Chu (BBA ’99)
Along those same lines, the executives also talked about finding incremental growth. Girotto said that a common trap for many organizations across finance and marketing teams is looking at what’s easy to measure versus what’s driving effective business growth. “One of the most important things is partnering directly with your finance team, understanding the business drivers, and then building the marketing model behind that,” she said.
A team effort
Similarly, Chu advises marketers to bring their finance partner along for the ride early on in whatever they’re trying to do. “You’d be surprised what they can do to help you solve problems and make sure that you get to your objective as a team,” she said.
She also encourages fellow finance partners to view marketing as an investment that provides valuable insights into the customer base. “Marketers can really, truly bring that outside influence point back into the process and ensure that those customer voices are being represented,” she said.
From a marketing perspective, Girotto shared some of her challenges with finance partners, including difficulties with justifying return on investment when it comes to brand and other marketing costs—which can often lead to conflict. However, she advises fellow marketers to approach this challenge with empathy and understanding. “The CFO is responsible for managing the profitability and the financial viability of the company,” Girotto said. “So, start with empathy … and bridge back to your role in helping them tell [the company’s] story, and connect to their perspective on it.”
Education and experimentation
Over the course of her career, Girotto has learned that marketers must be educators across their organization to show how investments in marketing can drive growth. “If you’re not willing to reach across the aisle, educate your product team, your finance team, or your CEO, then you don’t get very far,” she said.
Chu reinforced that every stakeholder on the team must understand the objective of what the business is trying to achieve. She adds: “It’s about making sure that you’re constantly educating, [working] cross-functionally … and aligning those objectives at the company level.”
“One of the most important things is partnering directly with your finance team, understanding the business drivers, and then building the marketing model behind that.”
—Lynn Girotto (BBA ’90)
The executives also discussed the role of experimentation in the collaborative partnership of CMO and CFO. Girotto said it’s the foundation of how marketers create trust and credibility with their finance team, product team, or any other partners they may be working with. She explained the importance of experimentation with one of business’ most pressing topics: artificial intelligence.
“AI is going to completely change our jobs, whether you’re ready for it or not,” she said. “You have to be experimenting with where the market is going, how things are changing, and set some dollars aside for it.”
Building on the importance of experimentation, Chu explained that it helps the team understand how they can pull the levers they do have—which allows the organization to improve and grow.