Thank you Alan Gonsenhauser, (Interim Chief Marketing Officer | CMO Advisor | Keynote speaker) for contributing this article to our blog.
If you’re leading marketing in today’s high-pressure B2B world, the demands placed on marketing leaders, especially those in or aiming for the CMO role, have never been greater. Whether you’re a current CMO or a senior marketing professional preparing to step into that seat, you’re expected to be part: strategist, data analyst, growth architect, customer advocate, and executive leader. You must drive revenue, align cross-functional teams, manage sprawling MarTech stacks, and influence key business strategy decisions at the highest levels.
That’s why more CMOs—and aspiring CMOs—are turning to coaches. Not just for support, but for transformation. The right CMO Coach doesn’t simply offer advice. They enhance leadership capacity, sharpen strategic focus, and turn pressure into performance. Whether you’re leading a mature organization, climbing the ladder to the CMO role, or running the show in a fast-growing startup, a strong coach becomes a force multiplier.
“Alan has been a trusted source of best practices and coaching for me for almost ten years. In my marketing transformation journey, Alan has helped me establish investment priorities, assess organizational alignment, implement a campaign framework and systematize marketing strategy. His partnership has been invaluable.”
– Melanie Marcus, CMO Surescripts
But not all coaches are created equal. So what should you look for?
Here are 10 essential qualities that differentiate high-impact CMO Coaches:
Authentic CMO Experience
Anyone can study marketing. Few have lived it at the executive level.
The best CMO Coaches have been CMOs. They’ve sat in the hot seat, built the plans, faced the board, missed the targets, fixed the misses, and repeated the process under pressure.
Ask:
- Have they held the CMO title? How many times and in what situations?
- In what industries and company sizes?
- What hard-earned lessons do they bring to the table?
I’ve held 11 CMO roles and served as a P&L general manager three times. I understand not just the theory, but the tradeoffs CMOs need to make under real conditions. From high-growth startups to PE-backed firms to global enterprises, I’ve seen and worked through it all.
Proven Coaching Success
Being a great CMO doesn’t automatically make someone a great coach.
Effective CMO coaching is a skill set all of its own—one built on listening, guiding, pattern recognition, and helping others step into more prominent roles with clarity and confidence.
Ask:
- How many CMOs or future CMOs have they coached?
- What measurable outcomes came from those relationships?
- Do they have references who are still benefiting from the work?
I’ve coached over 150 CMOs and marketing executives, with more than 30 stepping into CMO roles under my guidance. My approach combines strategic development with practical execution support, creating transformation that lasts. Many of my clients have experienced career advancement, improved influence, heightened longevity in the role, stronger team performance, and more confidence in the boardroom.
Business Alignment Expertise
Marketing leaders rise when they stop speaking only in “marketing speak”.
A strong CMO Coach helps you align with what CEOs, CFOs, and boards actually care about: business results and impact.
Ask:
- Can they help translate marketing activities into real results and business impacts, including sales pipeline, revenue, market share, and customer lifetime value?
- Do they understand the priorities of finance, operations, and your board?
I bring finance, board, and private equity business acumen to my coaching relationships. I help CMOs—and those preparing for the role connect the dots from campaigns to pipeline to revenue and shareholder value. My coaching helps marketers become indispensable strategic business leaders. Many of my clients use coaching time to prepare board decks, investor updates, or budget justification meetings, and they arrive well-prepared.
Cross-Functional Leadership Skills
Alignment is more than a buzzword.
Great CMOs don’t just lead marketing—they unify sales, product, and customer success.
Ask:
- Can they help you build joint accountability with the sales team? Have they carried a bag?
- Do they provide strategies to integrate Product Management and Marketing around shared outcomes?
Building on my experience as a P&L general manager I help current and future CMOs break silos, drive collaboration, and unlock decision-making speed across teams.
Frameworks That Work in the Real World
You don’t need more theory—you need tools, models, and frameworks to speed up operational efficiency.
Ask:
- What models, frameworks and systems do they use to help clients develop strategies, drive annual planning linked to the 3-year strategies, structure teams, pitch budgets, and align stakeholders?
- Are their tools field-tested or academic?
My playbooks are practical, proven, and easy to put into practice. From strategic campaigns to messaging architecture to annual planning templates, I help bring structure to the chaos. Clients reuse these frameworks in team workshops, budget justifications, and strategic planning sessions.
“Alan was instrumental in helping to shape my marketing strategy as a ‘first time’ CMO. He brings both a pragmatic framework to marketing through his experience and a vast network across many industry segments as well all as an innovative mindset to compete in a digital world. Alan’s professionalism and ability to translate obscure marketing language to the c-suite was a huge contributor to the success of our marketing organization. Pleasure to work with and hope to have the opportunity to do so again.”
– Jeff Petry, CMO Premier; Now Managing Director at Deloitte Consulting
Data-Driven Thinking
Modern marketing leadership means knowing your numbers—and making them mean something.
You need someone who can connect KPIs and dashboards to decisions, make the numbers talk, and help you define what good looks like cross-functionally.
Ask Yourself:
- Can they help tie marketing activity to outputs/results, and ultimately financial and customer impacts?
- Do they translate metrics into executive-ready narratives?
- Are they fluent in the metrics that matter most to your CFO?
Drawing on my finance, marketing, and sales experience, I teach CMOs to speak in metrics that matter—pipeline influence, LTV/CAC, NRR, CAC payback, ARR efficiency, brand reputation health, and Net Promoter Score 3.0. I help you craft narratives that translate to the language your CFO will appreciate.
MarTech Perspective (Without the Bloat)
Today’s CMOs are surrounded by tools, but rarely supported by them.
Your stack should serve your strategy, not hijack it.
Ask:
- Can this coach help you simplify and focus your MarTech?
- Do they understand what drives ROI beyond the hype?
Drawing on a broad network of experts and vendors, I help clients audit, streamline, and focus their martech stacks. I ensure tech serves your strategy, not the other way around. Many clients have eliminated redundant platforms and reinvested in more intelligent workflows. I also help CMOs evaluate the ROI of new tech requests with CFO-ready logic.
Talent Development Focus
Great CMOs don’t scale alone.
If you want your organization to grow, your people need to grow with you.
Ask:
- How do they help you identify skill gaps and build team capacity?
- Can they help with organizational design and talent development? Do they have maturity assessments, competency maps, roles & responsibilities templates, and even job descriptions to speed up organization design activities more productively?
- Can they coach you on coaching others?
My frameworks support org design, role clarity, talent pipelines, and internal coaching. I equip leaders to build marketing organizations and centers of excellence that scale. Clients use these frameworks to navigate restructures, growth-phase hiring, and leadership transitions, avoiding costly turnover and building a stronger bench.
Executive Presence Training
The best ideas fall flat if they’re poorly delivered.
Ask:
- Can they help you build your presence in the boardroom?
- Do they offer coaching around communication, tone, and executive-level storytelling?
I help you show up as a peer to the C-suite, not a department head waiting for approval. We refine how you present yourself—sharpening your board narrative, adjusting tone for executive briefings, and translating your vision into language that moves decision-makers. The result is presence that lands with precision, confidence, and strategic weight.
Anticipating What’s Next
The best CMO Coaches help you prepare for what’s next.
Ask:
- How do they track market trends and emerging shifts?
- Do they push you to anticipate change or just react to it?
I bring the pattern recognition from 11 CMO roles and decades of advisory work to help you see around corners. I help CMOs adapt to evolving buyer behavior and broader market changes before they become problems.
“As a global software leader transforming rapidly under private equity ownership, Precisely must operate with great speed and agility to stay out in front of market trends. One of the ways we’ve done this within the Precisely Marketing organization is to engage Alan and Demand Revenue to apply focus and industry best practices to key initiatives”
-Kevin Ruane, CMO Precisely
When Should You Hire a CMO Coach?
- New in role? The first 90–100 days define your trajectory. Coaching helps you land early wins and set long-term direction.
- Facing change management and transformation? Whether you’re shifting to a customer-led model or integrating AI into your marketing operations, outside guidance creates clarity.
- Prepping for the CMO leap? Coaching accelerates your readiness and helps you avoid common leadership landmines. It’s not just what you know – you need to create cross-C-suite relationships early.
- Feeling stuck? If alignment is off, goals are unclear, or credibility is fading, coaching can restore clarity and rebuild momentum.
- Be Proactive. The best time to start working with a CMO coach is prior to feeling an acute need.
One of the most common coaching entry points is the “quiet panic” phase—when a marketing leader knows something is off but can’t quite put their finger on it. That’s when structured guidance makes all the difference.
“Alan played a key role on our executive leadership team… to develop 3-year winning moves and annual business strategies, placing critical emphasis on growth strategies and creating a remarkable customer experience…”
– Kevin Kemmerer, CEO Brightly Software, a Siemens company
Questions to Ask Any CMO Coach
If you’re evaluating coaching support during a high-stakes phase of your leadership, ask:
- What frameworks do you rely on most often?
- How do you help CMOs build influence across departments?
- What’s your approach to coaching during high-stakes transitions?
- How do you measure coaching success?
- How do your methods differ from those of other coaches and consultants?
- Do you have experience with companies like mine?
- Say a CEO or board isn’t sold on marketing’s value—how do you help a CMO shift that dynamic?
- When a new CMO steps in, what do you help them get right first, and how do you build out their 90-day plan from there?
- For someone stepping up from VP to CMO, what changes most in the way you coach them?
- What advice do you have for aspiring CMOs who want to accelerate their readiness without burning out?
- Do you have experience with PE-owned companies? If so, how many?
Red Flags to Watch For
Avoid coaches who:
- Have never held the CMO title
- Are leadership coaches only, and not adept at the intricacies of marketing.
- Talk tactics but ignore leadership
- Can’t articulate a measurable coaching process
- Offer vague, one-size-fits-all advice
- May have held the CMO title, but can’t teach—doing and coaching are different skill sets
- Or conversely, teach theory well but have never executed under pressure
- Don’t understand your industry or business stage
What a Great CMO Coaching Engagement Looks Like
Expect:
- 1:1 strategic sessions tailored to your challenges
- Clear, customized development plans
- Playbooks and templates that save time
- Ongoing guidance through high-stakes decisions
- Confidential space to think, grow, and evolve
My coaching is built around structure, momentum, and growth, with over 150 marketing leaders supported and more than 30 who’ve stepped confidently into CMO roles. Each engagement is tailored to your challenges and evolves as your role expands, scaling with your responsibilities and always focused on meaningful outcomes.
Many clients describe their coaching journey as a strategic inflection point—not just professionally, but personally. It’s a place to get perspective, reset, and show up as a stronger version of yourself every quarter.
Final Thought
You don’t need more information. You need elevation and focus.
A great CMO Coach won’t just help you lead marketing. They’ll help you lead differently and cross-functionally.
With clarity.
With confidence.
With influence.
And with a game plan that has been stress-tested across various industries, growth stages, and market conditions.
The best marketing leaders don’t go at it alone. If you’re ready to stand out in your marketing role and lead differently – with more clarity, confidence, and influence – let’s talk.
Book a 15-minute strategy call here
Connect with Alan here: www.demandrevenue.com | https://www.linkedin.com/in/alangonsenhauser