Kim McNeil-Downs’ Post

If you deliver great results for your clients - you'll get referrals. In fact, we've booked meetings with the likes of ANPG and Deloitte through referrals. But it's not enough to just deliver good results. That's the pre-requisite. To facilitate the process, you need the correct infrastructure in place to incentivise your clients to send you more clients. And because I'm against selling and gatekeeping information, I put together a resource breaking down how we structure our referral programmes at Scale Labs. For ourselves and for clients, of course. All you have to do is comment "access" and I'll send it

Over the past few years, I have received congratulatory messages from various domestic and international bodies, including some well-known names for having won an award or being selected for a prestigious council, only to find out later that these "awards" and "council selection" came with a fee. I have always believed that true recognition is earned through genuine contributions rather than bought. Unfortunately, it seems that some event companies and industry bodies are capitalizing on the innate human need for validation and turning it into a business model. Awards are meant to recognize, motivate and inspire and that can only happen when real contributions are recognized. To make this happen, we as members of the global workforce need to step up and collectively reject the notion of paid awards. It is disheartening to see the integrity of awards undermined by the commercialization of recognition. Recognition should mean more to you than what it signals to others. There is greater joy in earning recognition than buying it, so that when one does come along, no matter how big or small you feel great. In this context, I express my gratitude to #Transformance for being one of the few organizations that conduct recognition with honesty. I feel great to see that my efforts in the MarTech/AdTech space over the last decade were noticed. I hope that more organizations privileged with the responsibility of recognizing contributions does so in an honest and unbiased manner.

After seven years @ Deloitte, I joined the #samsales team last fall and have learned so much in such a short time! During my 1:1 with Samantha McKenna yesterday, I took away another awesome multithreading strategy that will hopefully help you as well. We have several tethers in to a company with north of 7,000 employees: AEs and SDRs who subscribe to our #samshorts, a VP of Sales who initially started the chats with us, and the Head of Enablement. As we've been nurturing these opps, enablement messaged us to say things are moving and they'll be in touch. And then... 🦗 🦗 🦗 🦗 🦗 🦗 🦗 🦗 🦗 What to do? Tons of ways we can play this, but Sam's move was, "Just ping the VP of Sales. Look to him as the ally he already is, but ask him for his advice as if you're now both in cahoots together to move the deal forward. You're not asking him for an update, you're sharing the details you got from enablement and effectively saying, "Psst, what's shaking, you hear anything? What's my best next move here?" A simple change in the lens you look at your buyers through can spark the conversation to partner up on the best next step to help their company...together! Bonus? Ditch the email and use your LinkedIn DMs to catch them when you see they're online or on a weekend when they have less work distractions. #samsales

When a #partnership feels just ‘right’. Not saying it has all been roses and sunshine. Not saying there isn’t still plenty of work before claiming the ‘job done’. But, yes it feels just right for now to move forward at pace, with shared commitment to execute and reach great heights, together. Over 18 months I’ve focused on preparing for smart strategic scale up of the #EY partnership across EMEA, where we have discovered the powerful potential of ingenuity and product excellence being focused on client outcomes. Yesterday I was a ‘proud onlooker’ at the #Pega partner #ecosystem summit in London, watching EY’s leadership receive the ‘Market Maker’ award. The achievement was almost overshadowed by meetings of minds and commitment to acceleration we experienced at meetings between the companies’ most senior executives, in the days preceding the event. 2024-2025 will see the EY-Pega go-to-market delivering massive growth and equally important, enormous positive impact on their clients. That means we’ve done good. These two companies stand juxtaposed at the top of the premier division. Not just in terms of true differentiation, shared commitment to #excellence and positive value creation at clients, but by virtue of how their corporate #values come to life in daily practices. At a time in life when I neither wish nor need to work in the rat race, I get to choose to work for the ‘good guys’. Being part of this shared #alliance success for EY and Pega and their extended partner ecosystems, makes this a time of great personal satisfaction. Special thanks for great contributions over this week go out to Jean-Marie Hunold Aymeric GAUJOUX Christian Drevenstedt Andreas Abati Suzanne Clayton John Higgins Jens Boegh-Nielsen Andy Fuller John Niblett Simon Inglis Tim Fairn Laura Atkinson Hanne Jesca Bax David Wells Joanne Taylor Judy Buchholz David Williams Sandy Lee Rupal Naidu Bharat Mathur Daniel K Österberg-Holm and for the persistent support during this year from Simon Haydn-Lee Simon Robinson Yann Akoum Ophélie Oberst Rik Meijer Rebecca Norman-Kime Edward Mitchell Neil Richards Jacqueline van Wees Kris Leunis Jacqueline Quinn Pooja Sarin Golechha (she/her) Doug McCourt Stephan Whelan Jeeva Pradeep Kumar Moni Souvik Bonnerjee Rajib Chakrabarty Diederick Theunissen Zoltán Cseperkáló AND ALL OTHERS WHO LINKEDIN EXCLUDED BY LIMITING NUMBER OF @links AND I NOW REALISE HOW MANY PEOPLE IT TAKES TO MOBILISE AN ALLIANCE

🌟 Weekly Highlights 🌟Happy Friday, everyone! 🎉 Let's take a look back at this week's accomplishments: 🎈 Organising Unforgettable Events: This week was all about turning visions into reality! Working tirelessly to bring together seamless and memorable events for clients. From concept to execution, ensuring every detail is perfected. 🥳 📈 Securing Quality Leads: Client's growth is a priority, and dedicating efforts in identifying, nurturing, and converting leads have shown exceptional results. It's great to see clients businesses connect and grow. 🏆 Crafting Award-Winning Nominations: Recognising excellence and telling businesses stories is our passion, and this week, we channeled that by preparing standout award nominations. We believe in our clients' brilliance, and it's an honour to help them receive the recognition they truly deserve! 🏅 Thank you to our incredible clients for entrusting Connected Links with these important tasks. Stay tuned for more updates and success stories as we venture into another week of supporting strong business growth! ✨ #ClientSuccess #EventPlanning #LeadGeneration #AwardNominations #MakingDreamsReality

Today, I had the pleasure of attending a fantastic discussion on the evolving landscape of sales and sales enablement within professional services. The speakers delved into some invaluable insights that deeply resonated with my role in sales and marketing at KPMG. Thank you for the invitation PM Forum, and a special thanks to Amit Champaneri, Lucy Rao, Matt Skipper and Amanda Afful for their contributions. 📌 Here are my 5 key takeaways that struck a chord with me: 1. Cross-selling: Clients increasingly seek comprehensive solutions across the firm, not just within a single service line, emphasising the importance of transparency and connecting the dots. 2. Sales engagement: The role of sales professionals extends beyond closing deals, it is about possessing commercial acumen and a genuine passion for fostering meaningful connections. 3. Target market: Understanding our target market and key buyers is essential for crafting tailored content that initiates meaningful conversations and drives engagement. 4. Authenticity & more passion: A successful sales culture thrives on authenticity and passion, creating genuine connections and driving results. (Absolutely agree!) - Just last week, I had the opportunity to present to 150 colleagues at KPMG Deutschland on the importance of personal branding, illustrating how it strengthens our sales and marketing culture. 5. Collaboration is key: Sales and marketing must work hand-in-hand, with insights and compelling content serving as powerful tools for client engagement and relationship building. Ultimately, everyone across the firm has a responsibility around selling the firm, not just individuals who are closing deals. For example, marketing/finance/HR teams all mix in networks with key targets (such an important point in my view!). #professionalservices #businessdevelopment #marketing #salesenablement #b2b

🌟 Hear From a Winner: The Transformative Power of CCA Excellence Awards 🌟 (Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/3si7BRD) We all crave recognition and validation in our professional journey. Winning an award, like a CCA Global Excellence Award, can be a game-changer. For those keen to learn more, Lauren Alexander, PRT Customer Service Manager at Legal & General, shared her insights with us. 🌟 Tackling imposter syndrome with confidence Lauren, a three-time individual award recipient, knows the struggle of 'imposter syndrome.' Her advice? Face those doubts head-on. "If your manager or peers believe in you, you should believe in yourself." 🌟 Embracing humanity in leadership Lauren's leadership is about being genuine, showing strength without hiding emotions. "You can be strong and still show emotion; it's okay to make mistakes," she says. 🌟 Taking pause for pride In our busy lives, we often forget to celebrate our achievements. Lauren found a moment to reflect on her impact, inspiring not just her team but her 17-year-old stepdaughter too. 🌟 Insights into the Award entry process Thinking about entering? Lead with passion; it becomes your guide. “The peer-to-peer judging not only gives you an opportunity to meet some fantastic people, but you can also get insights and connections that can go on way after the process.” Have you considered taking your career to the next level with CCA Excellence Awards? What's the passion that could inspire your entry? 🌟 CCA Excellence Awards is the stage where passion, dedication, and influence shine bright. Your moment in the spotlight awaits. Enter here: https://lnkd.in/ecgGxkSz #ExcellenceAwards ##CCAawards #customerserviceexcellence #CX #raisingthebar #stepintothespotlight

“I read Vogue with much more gusto than the FT or Economist,” and “My superpower is shaping a brief that allows a strategy and creative team to deliver their best work.” The same person? It certainly is! That person is the amazing and inspirational Sarah Thomas Ph.D., CMO of Capgemini. Sarah is also our #SocialCMO of the Month for May 🙌 Why do we think Sarah warrants this accolade? Well, just look at her recent LinkedIn output (and her excellent ‘About’ section, where the two quotes above are taken from) and you’ll get the idea. She shares engaging, deeply thoughtful posts and articles that discuss pressing issues, such as the negative effects of back-to-back meetings on employees, or the rapidly evolving role of the CMO. Then there’s a heart-rending post about losing a very dear friend recently – and some of the life-long lessons she learnt from him (such as choosing to see the positive in a situation and championing others was always the right thing to do). Hard to disagree with that, Sarah. We also love her mantras: ❤️ Pay attention to the details. If something is worth doing, it's worth doing well and that includes the proper use of the apostrophe – if you know, you know. (We know, Sarah 😉). ❤️ Adding value and exceeding expectations. As a fellow CMO reminded me recently, why give a badly wrapped gift when you have the option to give it beautifully wrapped and with a bow on top? ❤️ Everyone has a voice. Sometimes the best ideas come from the most unexpected places. ❤️ Listen more than you talk. Keep a parking lot of ideas that may be useful later down the line. Sarah is also active on X (@DrSarahT) and regularly appears as a speaker and panel member at marketing events. With a PhD in Molecular Biology over 25 years’ experience in CMO and senior strategic marketing roles, she is clearly a deeply thoughtful, forward-thinking and innovative marketer who knows and loves her profession. So, well done Sarah on being our Social CMO of the Month! 👏 👏 👏

Never Eat Alone: The power of connections (And No, It’s not a diet book!😉) In this book Keith Ferrazzi who became one of the youngest Chief Marketing Officer of a Fortune 500 company and also one of the youngest CMO of Deloitte, has written about the power of Networking and building Real relationships. When in one of our team event my colleague, Gonçalo, recommended it, saying it changed how he sees business relationships, I also put it in my order-list. And despite a two-week wait for international shipping from Amazon🙄, I would say that it was time well spent. Although I'm only halfway through, but here's what I've learned: ✔Real relationships: It’s more than just collecting names, it's about making real friends in business. ✔Being real, be yourself: It’s okay to show you're human. It helps make stronger connections. ✔Old contacts matter: Sometimes, people you haven't talked to in a while can help in surprising ways. ✔Help first: The best way to network? Offer help before you ask for it. ✔Eat Together: There’s something special about sharing a meal, try it often!😉 What do you think? How do you make real networking? #bookofthemonth #deloitte #data #womeninbusiness #networking