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Kexin Chen

AMA: Salesforce Vice President, C-Suite Marketing, Kexin Chen on Developing your Demand Generation Career

February 13 @ 10:00AM PST
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Salesforce Vice President, C-Suite Marketing, Kexin Chen on Developing your Demand Generation Career
Top Questions
What are the biggest frustrations you have as a Demand Generation manager?
Kexin Chen
Kexin Chen
Salesforce Vice President, C-Suite Marketing • February 13

Data quality issues. From duplicate records, invalid contact info, and missing fields. The lack of and inaccurate data can create a ton of manual work for the team.

382 Views
2 requests
What framework do you use when assessing a new opportunity at a different company?
Kexin Chen
Kexin Chen
Salesforce Vice President, C-Suite Marketing • February 13
I'm pretty loyal and like to spend a few years at a company since I believe it takes at least 3 years to settle and see your impact to fruition. I'm at a Fortune 500 and still the fruits of my labor are finally unfolding from work I put in place 6 years ago. For this reason, my general framework ......Read More
411 Views
1 request
Where do you see the future of Demand Generation heading? What skills will a future Demand Generation manager need that he/she doesn't have today?
Kexin Chen
Kexin Chen
Salesforce Vice President, C-Suite Marketing • February 13
GenAI is advancing quickly and for those who are playing and experimenting, they'll have an advantage over those who aren't. Being able to learn how to prompt will be a critical skill so finding ways to explore with ChatGPT in your personal life is a good way to test if your company hasn't provid......Read More
391 Views
1 request
When joining a new team, is it better to have the right soft skills and have to learn the hard skills of the job? Or vice versa?
Kexin Chen
Kexin Chen
Salesforce Vice President, C-Suite Marketing • February 13
I think it depends on what level you're coming into the role and the expectations set by the company. For the foundation of any hire, I believe effective communicator, growth mindset, and curiosity are critical traits. For a company looking for an SEM expert with high growth YoY, it'll be i......Read More
379 Views
1 request
How do you retain good talent, especially when Demand Generation roles are in such high demand across the industry?
Kexin Chen
Kexin Chen
Salesforce Vice President, C-Suite Marketing • February 13
It's fantastic that in these times of efficient, sustainable growth, demand generation marketers are highly sought after! Ultimately I think it comes down to what the business needs aligned to the top talent's expectations of where they want to grow. Gratitude and reward can come in multiple f......Read More
376 Views
1 request
What advice do you have for recent graduates that want to go straight into Demand Generation?
Kexin Chen
Kexin Chen
Salesforce Vice President, C-Suite Marketing • February 13
There are so many great paths into demand gen. I actually think spending 1-2 years (at most) in a Sales Development or Business Development Representative role is an interesting path into demand gen vs going directly into marketing. It provides a strong foundation and understanding of how to tap ......Read More
371 Views
2 requests
What are the most important soft and hard skills Demand Generation managers can build to become successful in their field going forward?
Kexin Chen
Kexin Chen
Salesforce Vice President, C-Suite Marketing • February 13
If "manager" is reference people management, I believe the most important skill sets are primarily soft skills. It's a focus on empowering your team and knowing when to lead from the front vs leading from the back. Highly recommend taking a "situational leadership" course. However if you're refer......Read More
403 Views
1 request
Is there a single career path for demand gen? Or what are some good career paths that can lead to a demand generation leadership role like yours?
Kexin Chen
Kexin Chen
Salesforce Vice President, C-Suite Marketing • February 13
I don't think there is a single career path for demand gen. I have members across team who have come up via martech, digital marketing, sales, product marketing, field marketing, content, sales strategy. You name it! Regardless of the path, I think it's the ability to focus on understanding th......Read More
385 Views
1 request
What have been some of the biggest things that have helped you get to a demand gen leadership role? (This can be skills, team members, career development opportunities?)
Kexin Chen
Kexin Chen
Salesforce Vice President, C-Suite Marketing • February 13
When I interview, I like to ask two questions: 1) Do you like to ask for permission or do you like to ask for forgiveness? 2) What is a childhood trait you have maintained through adulthood? There have been a variety of answers - none are wrong. However I am trying to gauge for whether the......Read More
399 Views
1 request
What are the most important demand generation skills or perspectives that others inside an organization could benefit from that would improve their day to day work?
Kexin Chen
Kexin Chen
Salesforce Vice President, C-Suite Marketing • February 13
For anyone who wants to understand demand gen, I think about these two areas: 1) Customer Segmentation and Personalization. 2) Reporting, Analytics and Measurement. 1) With the pace of emerging technology particularly GenAI, it is more important than ever to experiment and understand the strat......Read More
397 Views
2 requests
What made you decide to choose demand generation over sales?
Kexin Chen
Kexin Chen
Salesforce Vice President, C-Suite Marketing • February 13
My first job out of college was an account executive role selling advertisement to SMB. Ultimately I leaned towards marketing because I liked that 1) it was an at scale play. Instead of 1:1 conversations, you're engaging your market in a broader motion. 2) I liked the creativity and psychology be......Read More
378 Views
2 requests
What can someone who has an extensive sales background do to prove themselves competent for an entry-level demand generation role?
Kexin Chen
Kexin Chen
Salesforce Vice President, C-Suite Marketing • February 13
Ultimately the challenge is going to be the hard skills and translating a 1:1 customer engagement strategy to 1:many. Often times, having a long history in sales won't translate to being able to analyze for a key goal or KPI and then know how to optimize via marketing tactics. A way to get starte......Read More
388 Views
2 requests