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Kanchan Belavadi

AMA: Snowflake Head of GCC Marketing, Kanchan Belavadi on Demand Generation Interviews

November 13 @ 9:00AM PT

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  1. What are the most important skills (both tactical and intangible) that are must-have for Demand Generation managers?

    Kanchan Belavadi
    Kanchan Belavadi

    Snowflake Director Field Marketing - GCC, India • 6mo

    • Analytical skills are a must have, as the ability to read and interpret campaign performance data is crucial

    • Adaptability is another must have, as they need to pivot quickly based on market changes, customer response, etc.

    • Communication and Collaboration help demand generation teams, as they need to be able to articulate the value prop in clear terms for the outside world, while collaborating with various internal stakeholders from sales to product.

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  2. What are some of the most common red flags you've come across either on a candidate's resume or initial interview that you'd advise future demand generation managers to avoid?

    Kanchan Belavadi
    Kanchan Belavadi

    Snowflake Director Field Marketing - GCC, India • 6mo

    • Metrics: Focusing only on top of the funnel metrics, website visits, page views, asset download etc. without showing how they move down the funnel is a red flag.

    • Volume and Quantity: Emphasizing on the volume or quantity of leads instead of quality is a serious concern.

    • Ownership: Lack of end to end ownership of the campaign shows an inability to deliver relevant results

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  3. How do you test creative and messaging skills without turning the interview into free spec work?

    Kanchan Belavadi
    Kanchan Belavadi

    Snowflake Director Field Marketing - GCC, India • 6mo

    The best way to test for creativity is using scenario based and behavioural questions, which can elicit responses for specific scenarios. While there is a risk of doubt, diving into the details of the past projects starting from the what, to the how, when, where, why, with whom, helps paint a picture of whether the person owned this or is just showcasing something they had seen from afar.

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  4. How do you reduce bias and ensure structured, consistent scoring across interviewers for demand gen candidates?

    Kanchan Belavadi
    Kanchan Belavadi

    Snowflake Director Field Marketing - GCC, India • 6mo

    There are a variety of measures that can help reduce bias in any interview, not only a demand gen one. Setting proper expectations on the job role and providing all interviewers relevant background, examples of good candidates within the organization on whom the role is modelled, all help drive towards a best hire Engaging a diverse panel and providing them clear guidelines on the expected skills of the candidates, so they can focus on those aspects during the interview process. Providing the pa ...Read More

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  5. What reference-check questions have been most revealing for validating pipeline claims and team leadership?

    Kanchan Belavadi
    Kanchan Belavadi

    Snowflake Director Field Marketing - GCC, India • 6mo

    • Checking the size of the business led and cross verifying it with the customer segment and deal sizes

    • Requesting for specific examples from Sales Leader references, on the deals that were generated via demand gen campaigns, cross verifying sales cycle

    • Verifying if individuals have experienced career growth under the candidate’s leadership (SDR to AE/Marketing roles)

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  6. What questions help you assess the ability to lead cross-functional launches with product marketing, RevOps, and Sales?

    Kanchan Belavadi
    Kanchan Belavadi

    Snowflake Director Field Marketing - GCC, India • 6mo

    Cross functional collaboration can be tested via some of the following questions:

    • Give an example of a time when you led a launch involving different departments, and how did you go about it?

    • What is your understanding of the objectives of “product marketing”/”sales”?

    • What are the biggest challenges in Sales?

    • How do you assign accountability to different stakeholders in a joint launch?

    • Share an example where you were in a conflict situation with “Product/Sales”, and how did you resolve it?

    451 Views
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  7. How do you probe budget management skills, including scenario planning and reallocating spend mid-quarter?

    Kanchan Belavadi
    Kanchan Belavadi

    Snowflake Director Field Marketing - GCC, India • 6mo

    First step is to understand whether they have really managed budget themselves – that implies talking about specifics of the budget involved in a particular campaign. Money allocated, utilized, outcomes committed and delivered. Types of agencies/vendors involved can give you a sense of efficiency and reliability. Scenario related questions on pivoting last minute based on market changes can give an insight on adaptability. E.g. During Covid, a lot of physical programs got converted to virtual – ...Read More

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