Letter from this Issue's Editor

A Seat at the Table

Jennifer Van Vleet

CPSM

Marketer editorial committee member Jennifer Van Vleet, CPSM, is vice president, marketing and communications, global, at Stantec in Denver, CO. She oversees a global team of marketers spanning five continents and multiple languages.

This issue is all about operations and finance. These two areas are essential to the existence of a business. Not all SMPS members have a background or education in business or finance but work alongside individuals in these disciplines every day. They are the partners you need to be successful in bringing best value to your firm. Our hope is to help you on your journey of education to understand these disciplines, why they are important and how you can work together well. We also encourage you to develop relationship with these colleagues to grow your knowledge about the business.

You’ll see that we have worked to tie the articles together throughout this issue. You can learn about how to monetarily value a client in reading Kimberly Robertson’s Client Lifetime Valuation (CLV) domain write-up and note that Andrew Wilson’s feature article on What the CFO Wished Marketers Considered references this same concept. Andrew’s article also mentions budgets, which Sarah Wortman explains how to approach making one and Jen McGovern shares how to tighten one up and make cuts. My article touches on the language that is used to discuss finance which is woven throughout the pieces.

Marketing desires a seat at the proverbial table of business and once there should know how to join in the conversation. This issue is designed to help you in this journey.

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