Cisco Systems implemented bold ideas to drive functional alignment and scale growth

SINGAPORE, September 29, 2021 — Forrester (Nasdaq: FORR) recognised Cisco Systems, a global leader in IT and networking, as its 2021 Return on Integration (ROI) Honours winner at the recently concluded B2B Summit APAC. The firm was honoured for driving growth and profitability by making bold decisions, aligning its revenue engine, and driving transformative initiatives using Forrester’s models, frameworks, and methodologies.

According to Forrester, organisations that successfully align product, marketing, and sales grow 19% faster and are 15% more profitable. At B2B Summit APAC 2021, senior executives from Cisco Systems shared their success story of how their sales and marketing teams collaborated closely to increase their market share in the small business segment in Japan.

“Forrester’s models and frameworks helped us shape our solution and identify the right targets and channels for a low-touch, high-volume transaction approach, as well as develop messaging and content to aid our partners in demand generation,” said Mark Phibbs, vice president, APJC marketing at Cisco Systems. “The validation gave us the confidence that we were approaching this new segment correctly and allowed us to craft this bold new approach for our go-to-market strategy. Guidance from Forrester also helped both our sales and marketing organisation design the best sales structure and coverage to deliver a compelling buyer experience for the SMB market. By doing so, we were able to design the right product offering and prioritise digital marketing activities and new channels and partnership models, resulting in Japan achieving one of the highest growth rates within Cisco globally.”

“Cisco’s success story personifies behaviours that we like to call being bold at work,” said Meta Karagianni, Forrester VP and research director. “It is also a testament to the importance of sales, marketing, and product alignment, as well as the need to define a clear marketing strategy that aligns with and supports the overall business strategy and growth objectives. We are glad that we were able to work with our clients to help them chart new paths with confidence and drive profitable growth. I hope Cisco’s journey serves as a true inspiration to many other B2B organisations looking to accelerate revenue growth and drive positive change.”

Resources:

  • Learn more about Forrester Decisions for B2B Marketing Executives.
  • Check out insights for B2B marketing leaders.

About Forrester

Forrester (Nasdaq: FORR) is one of the most influential research and advisory firms in the world. We help leaders across technology, marketing, customer experience, product, and sales functions use customer obsession to accelerate growth. Through Forrester’s proprietary research, consulting, and events, leaders from around the globe are empowered to be bold at work — to navigate change and put their customers at the centre of their leadership, strategy, and operations. Our unique insights are grounded in annual surveys of more than 675,000 consumers, business leaders, and technology leaders worldwide; rigorous and objective research methodologies, including Forrester Wave™ evaluations; over 52 million real-time feedback votes; and the shared wisdom of our clients. To learn more, visit Forrester.com.