Influence your sales team like a Zoom PMM

As product marketers, we pride ourselves on being customer obsessed. We're tuned into their needs, their pain points, and what it takes to win their trust. But there's another audience we cannot afford to overlook—if you want your product to win in the market, you have to win over the people taking it to market.

Today we're diving into one of the most important and unfortunately often underappreciated audiences that product marketing serves: the sales team. Too many PMMs stop at handing off an enablement deck, but what if you could truly influence how your sales team operates? What if you could transform them from order-takers into strategic partners who genuinely understand and advocate for your product's value?

I'm thrilled to introduce Sharon Markowitz, one of those rare product marketers who brings together deep business acumen, sharp customer insight, and genuine care for people. She's led product and partner marketing at world-class brands like Atlassian, LinkedIn, Intuit, and most recently Zoom, building go-to-market strategies that don't just drive business growth—they unlock real value for customers. Named a top 100 product marketing mentor by ShareBird, Sharon's also a sought-after career coach and founder of Your Career Wings, where she helps marketers navigate upskilling and job searching.

At her core, Sharon believes that if you truly understand the customer, everything else falls into place. Today, she's sharing exactly how she moved beyond traditional sales enablement to create strategies that transformed how sales teams think, sell, and succeed.

Understanding the Nuances of Sales Influence

Sharon offers some eye-opening insights on the dynamics between product marketing and sales. It's not about handing over materials and walking away; it's about embedding oneself within the sales ecosystem, understanding their hurdles, and collaborating to clear them. At Zoom, Sharon encountered a classic challenge: the company was expanding rapidly, and the standard functionalities were not always meeting customer expectations. 

Sharon realized the crux wasn't a gap in demand generation but a challenge in conversion. With pivotal industries being bottlenecked, she didn't wait for roadmaps to catch up. Instead, she walked us through her extraordinary journey of crafting a scalable go-to-market strategy—engaging deeply with the sales team and leading unexpected partnerships to remove obstacles.

A Plot Twist in Product Marketing

Here's where things get interesting. Sharon didn't just stick to conventional PMM roles; she stepped out of her lane, innovating right where it was needed. Her intuition told her that sales required more than strategic insight—they needed tangible support. This realization led her to establish a sales incentive program, funded by the marketing budget. Yes, you heard that right! By listening to sales reps who craved simple perks like company swag, Sharon built a program that not only energized the sales force but also propelled deals forward.

Sharon's deep engagement wasn't just about participating in meetings or opening chat channels. It was about fostering genuine relationships, enabling direct conversations, and maintaining alignment with the sales objectives. Ultimately, her strategies yielded impressive results, driving millions in new customer value and accelerating stalled deals.

The Sharon Markowitz Playbook

If you're wondering how to replicate Sharon's success, here's her playbook in brief:

1. Listen Attentively: Engage both your external customers and internal teams. Recognize gaps in priorities and act on insights.

2. Embed Yourself in Sales: Join their calls, understand their needs, and build strategies that help them close deals

3. Build Together: Design initiatives in collaboration with the sales team, ensuring alignment and simplicity

4. Be Bold and Creative: Don't shy away from stepping outside the norm. Think outside your lane when the business calls for it.

As we chatted, we also delved into the significance of keeping things simple and intuitive. Sharon highlighted the importance of acting on real customer insights and creating a supportive brand culture that resonates internally. It's all about treating your sales team as internal customers who deserve your attention and resources.

Messaging Critique Segment 

Sharon and I also delved into a fascinating messaging critique of a B2C app called Time Left. The app connects strangers for midweek dinners, fostering real-world connections over shared meals. What Time Left does brilliantly is keeping their messaging simple and inviting: “Meet strangers for dinner every Wednesday.” Yet, Sharon noted room for improvement, particularly in sustaining connections post-dinner, a focus area ripe for enhancement through customer feedback and UX refinement.

Need some support in your career? Work with Sharon and book a free 15 minute consult at topmate.io/yourcareerwings

This is an incredibly insightful conversation with Sharon, and I hope you're inspired to transform your approach and break creative boundaries in your own career.


LINKS:

Time Left (messaging critique): https://timeleft.com/ 
Connect with Sharon Markowitz on LinkedIn

Connect with Elle:
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/elle3izabeth/

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