I just returned from SMPS Build Business 2019 – an annual business development, marketing, and management conference for design and building industry professionals hosted by the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS). With over 1000 A/E/C marketing and business development professionals coming together from all over the country for three days of networking, learning and celebrating, the conference is always an unforgettable experience.
Interestingly, the topic of my 2019 Build Business presentation was focused on the experience – “Connecting the Dots: Marketing’s Role in Brand Experience (BX), Customer Experience (CX) and Employee Experience (EX).” A fully packed – standing-room-only –session called for A/E/C marketers to think holistically about their firm’s experiences and to step up and lead the charge in aligning their firm’s brand, CX and EX.
Today’s leading companies are beginning to recognize the powerful connection between their brand, Customer Experience and Employee Experience. However, connecting the dots requires an alignment of business and marketing; strategy and technology; brand and culture; and client and employee. The design and implementation of Experience must be fully integrated into a company’s corporate DNA – from its long-term strategy to daily actions and across all functions, departments and communications.
And every company needs an Experience leader, champion and change-maker. This creates an opportunity for marketing to be that leader. It’s a tall order, but if we believe in SMPS’ vision of Business Transformed Through Marketing Leadership and want to see A/E/C firms truly marketing-led, the opportunity is now.
Experience is hot! And given the importance that today’s business leaders place on CX and EX as related to the bottom line, taking charge not only earns Marketing a seat at the strategic table but also future-proofs marketers’ jobs. Today, faced with the need to prove value, A/E/C marketers are already forced to transcend traditional boundaries of the marketing function. Leading the Experience charge is how you create measurable value – for your firm and for the marketing function within the firm.