If you’re a marketing advisor, having access to the company CEO is essential to creating long-term, successful engagements.
Sometimes, you’ll work closely with marketing managers to execute the plan you’re recommending. And that can mean less frequent contact with the CEO (the financial buyer) over time.
And that’s not inherently bad. The CEO doesn’t need to be on every call with you.
But they should be on some.
If they’re out of the loop, they won’t be able to see and understand the value you create nor the vision you’re trying to build.
And that’s a problem.
The CEO’s job is to help champion your ideas and move roadblocks out of the way. Only the CEO can make true long-term value decisions. It’s your job to discuss these things with them.
And that means complete buy-in and understanding of what’s going on—heard directly from you.
When they only hear second-hand updates from the marketing manager, they only hear one perspective on the progress you’re making.
It may not be the whole picture, either.
If you want to get great results and continue adding value over time, you need to have a direct line of communication open with CEO at all times.
Schedule regular 1:1 calls and tell them to join one of your other calls at least once a month. Don’t let this slide.
Otherwise, your work will not make the impact it needs to and you’re engagement will end sooner than it should.