Catrina Clulow Of Cut Through Marketing On Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Uncertain & Turbulent Times
…it is all too easy to become downbeat when listening to or reading mainstream media, but that way a downward spiral exists. Instead concentrate on the things you can control and control them. Concentrate and celebrate each and very small positive and that positivity becomes contagious, the good results grow. An internal marketing campaign called Success Breeds Success cost a few bottles of wine and was a friendly competition for the sales guys. But seeing someone succeed in Greece gave hope and confidence to the sales guys in Spain and so on. The announcement of the leaderboard each Friday afternoon gave everyone else in the company knowledge of the sales and successes coming in keeping their heads up too…
As part of our series about the “Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Catrina Clulow
Catrina Clulow has 30 years’ experience in international B2B marketing in the tech sector for companies ranging from start-up to multi-national enterprises. She left her corporate job in December 2015 and set up her strategic marketing consultancy, Cut Through Marketing, concentrating on helping small companies be as successful as they can be. Fluent in German as well as English, she has worked on complex and large projects in Germany since founding CTM, but has had clients from West Coast USA to Thailand, from Finland to South Africa. She is known for her knowledge but straight forward manner.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
I always wanted to be a teacher while I was growing up. BUT as part of my German degree, I taught for a year, and I realized that I never wanted to teach again. When at school I had been interested in computers, BUT my headteacher told me that it was a subject for boys (it was the mid-1980s) and only available as a CSE (a lower qualification at age 16 in the UK back then) and I should take another O-level (the higher qualification at age 16 back then). I was the only girl in the computing club, so when I graduated in 1991 during a recession, I took a conversion MSc in Computing Science. I thrived on the analysis and decision and found programming boring (it’s translating into computer speak). So, I took my IT knowledge with my language skills and moved into marketing in the tech sector. I set up a “CRM” when the term CRM was still unknown at the first company I worked at — moving them from index cards to a customer database — where I was also their first ever marketing person. I took my Chartered Institute of Marketing professional qualifications in the evenings and implemented them during the day. It was a birth by fire, but I discovered my niche and passion.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
When I was working as a summer intern at Software AG, at about 7:30 one morning I checked the contents of a floppy disk — Dir B: was the command in the DOS prompt. I decided I didn’t need what was on that drive. So, I typed del *.* to clear the floppy disk. It asked was I sure? Y I replied but as soon as my finger had hit the return key, I realized I’d not changed the DOS prompt to the B drive. I had just deleted 6 months work from my C drive. Luckily, I’d not been in the root directory! I felt very sick.
I sent a message to a colleague in another building “Do not laugh, but…” My phone rang instantly. He was laughing, but he asked me what had I done last thing the previous night. “I took a back-up” In my panic I had completely forgotten that I had done that. I hung up and reinstalled the “lost” 6 months’ work.
My boss walked in, saw I was very pale and shaky, so she asked, “What’s wrong?” I told her. She decided that the hours we were working to hit a deadline were not healthy. We had a long lunch that day.
I learnt to (a) always double and triple check before deleting or throwing anything away, (b) to take regular back-ups, © not to panic — we all make mistakes or we are not learning and (d) being kind to yourself is ok.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
It is not necessarily one person, but a group of people who told me things were not possible. My headmaster telling me I couldn’t study computing led to a MSc in Computing. My career’s coach at university who told me women aren’t successful in business, so if I had decided against teaching to concentrate on interpreting and translation instead. My first post-uni boss who told me “I can’t promote you to Marketing Manager because women don’t have respect in this industry, so I’m bringing someone in, and I’d like you to train him”. (As an aside to that last one, I left that job and had a 72% salary increase over the weekend when moving jobs. My previous boss phoned me, admitted his error, and offered me the promotion, but he couldn’t afford the salary I was then earning).
Whenever someone has told me something is not possible, well I like to prove them wrong. So now I have my own business, I have written a book, I have spoken at various events, and I’ve done it all to prove others wrong.
Extensive research suggests that “purpose-driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. When your organization started, what was its vision, what was its purpose?
My vision is to bring corporate level understanding and knowledge to the SME sector. Many SMEs can’t afford a CMO, but they need that strategic input. I work as a short term consultant or fractional CMO so that they can have the insights, experience and knowledge without the multi-six figure outlay.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
I’ve lived and worked through various uncertain and difficult times. The first time was in the mid-90s I was at a start-up company targeting the semiconductor sector, we had built our order book up, but then there was a financial crisis in South Korea and the market was flooded with silicon chips, our order book dropped from six figures to four figures in a flash. Our customers in Silicon Valley laid off huge percentages of their workforces. It was industry specific, but it caused our business to have to lay people off (we were 11 individuals).
We looked at speeding up the work we were doing in other industries and launching the next product. We then entered a period where the four companies which produced our main product all tried to buy one or more of the competitors. The market consolidated into two companies. It was good training for the financial crash. The flexibility and out of the box thinking that allowed companies to survive and thrive.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
By nature, I am an optimist. When the financial crash happened, the company I was working for was in a sector that dropped by 40%. We concentrated our efforts on the 60%, in the end we dropped by 20% outperforming the market by 20%.
It is human nature to concentrate on the negatives, especially if the mainstream media are doing so, but celebrating little wins across the company in an internal marketing campaign entitled success breeds success meant that wins were seen as possible and therefore we had more of them. If you believe something to be possible, it is more likely that it will be. If you believe something is impossible, then you will never achieve it.
I suppose it comes back to always wanting to prove people wrong.
I’m an author and I believe that books have the power to change lives. Do you have a book in your life that impacted you and inspired you to be an effective leader? Can you share a story?
I have read hundreds of books during my life. It is the simple ideas that make the best impact. The One Thing by Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan means that you get to where you are going quicker when you give all your attention to the one thing that makes the biggest difference. We are all guilty of trying to multi-task (and failing) or suffering from shiny object syndrome, but if we identify the critical path tasks and deliver on those, we’ll get to the success point so much easier.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
To be the level-headed voice. The safe harbor of information in the turbulent seas. If the leader is calm under pressure, then that lack of panic removes panic from others. No one delivers their best when in a state of panic. Burnout happens quicker when anxious about job security. So, the leader being calm and communicating that to the team helps the focus to be on the areas where it makes a difference.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
At the start of the financial crash, the company I was working for put out a memo to all staff, we didn’t need to sell a single product, and we had enough money in the bank to pay all salaries for a year. That transparency took away a huge sense of worry. We could all concentrate on our roles without the worry of losing our jobs. Of course, we did make sales.
The board knew that worry was going to be rife, and they had the foresight to recognize that, empathize with that, and to remove that worry from 5000 employees globally.
Above I mentioned about concentrating on the positive — if there is a recession with a 5% decrease in the market, then there is still 95% available. Moving the mindset to the positive away from the negative achieves great things.
Let every person in the company know that they matter; that their contribution matters. I have run internal marketing campaigns that concentrate on the gross margin for example and inform everyone from the cleaner to the CEO that they can make an impact on that gross margin line. Ideas flow from unexpected sources, after all no-one has all the answers, no-one even has all the questions!
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
With empathy, with understanding. Know that difficult news also means that other concerns are going to be raised up whether or not they are going to come to fruition. Stop the rumor mill gaining ground by being open, by being transparent, by being honest. Explain decisions, reinforce what the future end stage is going to be for any not being laid off.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
Know what success looks like. Know your customers inside and out. Build your plans to hit your success targets, but don’t leave the business plan as a document gathering dust, make it a living breathing document. Don’t ignore the external analysis (PESTLE: political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, legal and environmental) as that will give new opportunities which you may be able to grab. Keep the targets the same, change the tactics to get there as the market changes.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
Know your numbers. Share the numbers. Have a screen showing the sales figures so all can see it — if sales aren’t hitting the right levels listen to ideas that may help you get there. It all comes from knowing the numbers.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
Not sharing information until it is too late and lay offs are made. Transparency always.
Lose their direction. Panic sets in and instead of following the course set, they start to change course, they aren’t prepared, they don’t have all the knowledge that they need, and they fail quicker.
Not being agile enough. This was seen a lot during the pandemic. Companies needed to find new ways of working. Modify to new products (gin distilleries pivoted to hand cleansers; Burberry pivoted from fashion clothing to masks and PPE clothing).
Not supporting customers enough during their tough times. During the financial crisis some of our distributors had major cashflow issues. We offered a stocking order which was only paid a year later, any restocking orders were on normal terms. Our sales went up as our products were in stock, their sales went up as they had the products their customers needed. Everyone in a supply chain can help that chain be as successful as it can be.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
I don’t think these will come as a shock to anyone reading this interview, but the most important five things I see are: transparency, empathy, being level-headed, concentrating on the positives and being inclusive of everyone in the company.
I’ve spoken about each of these, so recap:
Transparency — share the numbers, the thinking with the staff. Staff may have ideas that you’ve not had, for example, during the financial crisis a small firm in a small town had a company meeting. They were informed that the workforce had to reduce by 20%. A worker asked if they could all reduce their hours and salaries by 20% instead. The CEO put it to a vote. Everyone reduced their hours and salary by 20%, sharing the pain, but allowing the company to keep hold of skilled staff and be able to ramp up quicker and easier when the positive times came again.
Empathy — know that the decisions that you take are going to have an impact on others and their lives. See how you can minimize the negative impacts. If you hear rumors and concerns, then act and get rid of them. Rumors fester, they get a life of their own which is always worse than the reality (well in 99.9% of cases it is)
Being level-headed — a great leader must be the swan — sedate and elegant on the surface even if paddled like heck underneath. If a leader panics, then so do all the staff and that causes a demise so much quicker. Take decisions because they are the right ones for the long-term aims of the company.
Concentrating on the positives — it is all too easy to become downbeat when listening to or reading mainstream media, but that way a downward spiral exists. Instead concentrate on the things you can control and control them. Concentrate and celebrate each and very small positive and that positivity becomes contagious, the good results grow. An internal marketing campaign called Success Breeds Success cost a few bottles of wine and was a friendly competition for the sales guys. But seeing someone succeed in Greece gave hope and confidence to the sales guys in Spain and so on. The announcement of the leaderboard each Friday afternoon gave everyone else in the company knowledge of the sales and successes coming in keeping their heads up too.
Being inclusive of everyone in the company — if you are being transparent then this should flow seamlessly. Don’t assume that those on the factory floor or working in reception won’t have ideas that can help. Respect everyone, include everyone, and see the team pull together — something that will be there in the good times too and then you’ll succeed even quicker.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
So many companies have silos — sales v marketing, product development v operations, finance v everyone else at budget setting time. But remembering that you are One Team, One Mission encourages a stronger, more supportive company.
I have always fought to remove internal silos. Fought for a sales pipeline target for marketing, so that they knew we were on the same page. Handing back to the CFO unspent marketing budget so that he could hit his MBOs which were under threat due to exchange rate fluctuations.
Each company should have a clear Mission, and everyone should be working towards that.
How can our readers further follow your work?
Check out my website: https://www.cutthrough.marketing
Take a look at my book in paperback and Kindle on Amazon: Thrive, not Just Survive: How to Use Marketing to Survive and Thrive in Economically Turbulent Times — it is aimed at those with no or limited marketing knowledge and written in a conversational style with no jargon.
Follow me or engage on social media: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catrinaclulow; https://www.instagram.com/cutthroughmarketing/
https://www.facebook.com/CutThroughMktg
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
Catrina Clulow Of Cut Through Marketing On Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.