Building a PMM A-team: More than just hiring

Hi there! I'm Eyal, the VP of Product Marketing and Strategic Alliances at Cato Networks. Today, I’m going to share my tried-and-tested strategies and KPIs for building a top-notch product marketing team.

KPIA bit about Cato networks

First, for context, let me give you a brief intro to Cato Networks.

Founded in 2015, we've grown rapidly and now boast close to 800 employees. Despite our startup label, we're no small operation. We have robust financial backing, a high valuation, and already sell at over $100 million in annual run rate to more than 1,600 customers. This kind of growth and scale has influenced how we’ve structured our product marketing team.

PMM roles and responsibilities

Now, about my team. It's more diverse than just product marketing. Half are dedicated to that, while the other half focuses on security strategy, which encompasses thought leadership, PR, and media.

I also manage pricing – a fun aspect that, interestingly, falls under marketing here rather than product management.

My approach to building the PMM team has been somewhat unconventional. It's tailored to Cato's unique selling domain, competitive landscape, and our specific buyer persona. I wouldn’t say it’s better or worse than others; it's just what works for us.

The “split-brain” concept

Each PMM team member operates with what I call a "split brain." They champion our brand in their respective regions, spanning North America, Europe, and APAC. They also support sales with objection handling, competitive scenarios, and requests for proposals (RFPs). However, we're strict about only contributing a maximum of 10% to any RFP. It's a slippery slope, and we've set boundaries.

On the global side, everyone's responsible for the content that drives our global success. Think webinars, blogs, white papers, and eBooks.

Additionally, each member holds a personal global responsibility. For instance, one person owns product launches; another owns our product demo platform, Walnut (which, by the way, is fantastic, so give it a whirl if you haven’t already).

Plus, everyone keeps an eye on the competition. Each person is tasked with maintaining current knowledge of three or four of our competitors, ensuring we always have up-to-date battlecards.

In short, everyone on our team operates with a 50-50 local-global mindset, making us both grounded in our communities and aligned with our global mission.

How to support PMMs in their regional responsibilities

Building a PMM team that operates in this way requires a keen strategy not just in hiring, but also in training and fostering authority. Let me break it down for you, starting with the regional side.

Investment in training

I invest heavily in training. A new recruit on my team undergoes two to three months of intensive training before they begin contributing.

Given the technical nature of our sales and products, it's crucial they become subject matter experts. Jumping straight into content creation or deal negotiations without this deep knowledge is a recipe for trouble down the line. Trust me – I've learned this the hard way.

Creating opportunities

As a manager, it’s up to me to set my team up for success. Once I see them getting their bearings, I create opportunities for them to shine. This means setting up events for them to speak at or putting them in front of sales meetings. The goal is to showcase their expertise to their regional sales peers.

Behind-the-scenes support

Support also happens behind the scenes. If a question comes up that a PMM might not be able to answer, I'll feed them the answer discreetly. That way, the spotlight stays on them, bolstering their authority in the region. Ultimately, my aim is to establish them as regional authorities – genuine subject matter experts (SMEs).

My expectations of PMMs

I set clear expectations for my team's engagement. For instance, in North America, where there are three sub-regions, my team members must attend each regional sales call weekly. They're not just there as bystanders. They should actively listen and jump in when they spot an opportunity to contribute. If a salesperson voices a challenge, my PMM should be the first to offer help.

It's crucial for PMMs to always be approachable and say “yes” to everything. Even though we typically wouldn't handle more than 10% of an RFP, I want my new hires to take on more. It might slow their initial progression, but it's invaluable for establishing their authority and presence in the region, which pays huge dividends later on.

How to support PMMs in their global responsibilities

The global aspect of the PMM role requires its own unique strategy. I place a lot of emphasis on ensuring each team member's contributions are recognized by the global sales organization.

Training

The initial training phase is key. When a newbie asks about my expectations for their first 30, 60, or 90 days, my answer is always the same: watch videos and learn. I don’t want them to produce anything until they’re ready. By holding bi-weekly Q&A sessions with new hires, I can gauge their progress and steer their learning journey as needed.

Global stage opportunities

But it doesn’t stop at training. We create global-stage opportunities. At our annual sales kick-off, for example, every team member has a turn in the limelight – no one remains a mere spectator.

Promotion of ownership and responsibilities

It's also essential to clarify ownership of responsibilities. For instance, if one person is the go-to expert for a particular tool or service, the entire sales organization should be aware of that. This clarity is reinforced during our monthly sales training.

Content support

I also guide team members in content creation. Their work isn't just about producing content – it's about crafting content that effectively drives leads and conversions.

Sharing wins

Recognizing success is crucial too. When a team member excels, I ensure their accomplishments are acknowledged by the company's senior management.

The dynamic tension of dual roles

Imagine two angels on your shoulders. One represents the regional role – tactical, hands-on, always in the trenches with sales, directly interacting with the market and customers, and gathering real-time feedback, both positive and negative.

The other angel embodies the global role – strategically oriented, focusing on messaging, long-term planning, and often serving as the mouthpiece for headquarters.

Balancing time between these two roles is tricky. While I propose a 50-50 split, in reality, it's challenging to measure and manage. The secret lies in knowing when to decline certain tasks and when to embrace others. This dynamic creates a healthy professional tension that, while often tough to balance, is highly rewarding.

Soft measurement of regional responsibilities

In the world of product marketing, we hear a lot of talk about KPIs and data-driven decisions. My background might be in engineering, but I tend to trust my gut feeling – until my gut tells me I can't trust it anymore. Similarly, I tend to “soft measure" my PMMs’ performance, until I sense it's time to start using more concrete metrics.

So, what do I mean by "soft measuring" regional responsibilities? It's about keeping an eye on how in demand they are within the region.

Here's what I'm looking at:

• Speaking invitations: How many do they receive? Are they becoming sought-after thought leaders in their region?
• Customer and channel meetings: If they're pulled into a lot of these, that's a great indicator of their regional influence.
• Feedback: What kind of feedback are they receiving? Are they seen as subject matter experts, or do people bypass them and ask me the tricky questions instead? Are there more appreciations or escalations?
• Opportunities supported: Sometimes a salesperson's ego blocks us from helping, but in most cases, we can assist with a slide, a five-minute call, or even drafting an email.

For all of these facets of our PMMs’ performance, I pay close attention to their contribution level, their independence, and most importantly the quality of their execution – especially in content creation. Whether they’re working on top-of-funnel or deal-specific content, it's essential that they adhere to company standards.

Soft measurement of global responsibilities

Now, switching to the global side of the role, there's an even stronger focus on content quality. Writing a 10-page white paper? They need to focus on the most essential points, maintain pace and not fluctuate wildly between a bird's eye view and super technical details.

I'm also looking for a decrease in content review cycles over time. Believe me, I hate reviewing and correcting – I remember how painful it was for me early on in my career to send documents to my manager and have them come back covered in comments and corrections – but it's a necessary step in building new PMMs’ independence and professionalism.

It’s worth mentioning that most of my PMMs don't come from a PMM background, and many are successful pre-sales professionals with marketing orientations. This means a big part of my role is mentoring them into the product marketing profession.

Content success is another key area. This is maybe the only area where I use dashboards to see how many downloads, hits, leads, and opportunities are generated. I track this not only because I care about those numbers but also because high numbers allow me to showcase individual contributions to our executive team.

Measuring PMMs’ growth and progress

Every quarter, I ask myself certain questions about my team members. These aren’t just introspective musings. We address these annually in our "time to talk" sessions. Let’s take a look:

How involved am I in their day-to-day?

If I notice my involvement decreasing, that’s a win because it shows their growth towards independence. The goal is to mold them into stellar PMMs who can lead their own teams, and I need them to be up to the challenge. This means they have to be committed to self-improvement and receptive to feedback.

Is their content improving?

Are the review cycles getting shorter? Is my feedback shifting from major issues to minor ones? These nuances are important. I make a point to reflect on these aspects quarterly, sometimes even pulling in team members to gauge their progress.

What’s their professional popularity?

This might be my favorite metric. The true mark of a PMM's success in their region? When every salesperson there knows their full name. Globally? If everyone in the global sales organization knows their first name.

I'm proud to say my current team is nailing this. Regional teams recognize them by both names, while the global team knows them on a first-name basis.

This recognition isn’t just about familiarity. It shows they’re the go-to for support on regional and global topics. And trust me, this level of recognition can't be reached unless everything I've mentioned before falls into place perfectly.

How many kudos opportunities are they creating?

Lastly, there's the fun part – counting kudos opportunities. During our annual "time to talk", we all give kudos to a colleague. I’m super proud right now because one of my PMMs in North America just set a new record, receiving a whopping 12 kudos from various colleagues across the sales organization.

These kudos didn’t come just because he's a nice guy; they’re a testament to his meaningful contributions. It’s gotten to the point where people are vying for his time, and that’s a tremendous achievement in my book.

Risks and challenges

Implementing these strategies doesn’t come without its challenges and risks. Hiring, for instance, is a gamble. You never truly know if you’ve picked the right candidate until they’re knee-deep in their role.

Before I see the results of a hire, I’ve already invested heaps of time and effort. There's mentoring, Q&A sessions, and a rigorous three-month training period. And for the subsequent six months, they’re diving deep into regional tasks. This often means dialing back global contributions. So, it's a considerable risk before I can confidently say, "Yes, that was a good hire."

Like many Israeli startups, Cato is moving fast. We skyrocketed from $1 million to $100 million in sales in just five years. For a network security startup, that's unheard of. And managing product marketing in such a high-octane environment? It’s a challenge.

And then there are all the feature releases – Cato rolled out 3,420 features in 2022 alone! That’s a whirlwind. It means figuring out which features to train sales on and which to set aside.

But, here's the twist: when I do make a great hire, competitors take notice. Having a PMM who's thriving, showing up at conferences, and making waves online? It's a double-edged sword. Competitors go after them, and I'm left with the task of ensuring my star performers stay put. Retaining talent while balancing visibility across an expanding team becomes crucial.

On top of all this, I've got to think about their growth, too. Ideally, today’s regional hire will be tomorrow’s manager and I need to set them up for success in leading a team of their own.

Honestly, with so many variables at play, a dashboard just doesn’t capture it all. That's why I generally lean more on my instincts than on hard-and-fast KPIs.

How do we grow from here?

So, we’ve covered what our product marketing team looks like today. Now, let’s cast an eye to the future. Here are the key areas I’m focusing on:

• Growing regional teams under veteran PMMs: We’re looking to expand our regional reach. Our sights are set on North America, and I'm on the hunt for a veteran PMM out there.
• Adding SME PMMs in HQ: Here in Tel Aviv, we've got another PMM position up for grabs. What’s special about this role? Unlike the typical regional-global roles we've had, this PMM will hone in on a rapidly advancing product line. Their focus? Keeping up with the frenetic pace of its launches. Think of them as the guardian of all content around this product.
• Adding a full-time project manager: As we're evolving, our approach to managing tasks is too. Gone are the days of sticky notes cluttering our desks. We're gearing up for company-wide processes. This transition calls for expert navigation, so I’ve decided to bring aboard a full-time project manager.

However, hiring isn’t about numbers. It's about finding that sweet spot between scaling, maintaining quality, and boosting productivity.

Summary

As I wrap up, let me leave you with this food for thought:

• Every company is different and so is every PMM team: What works for me may or may not work in your company, so I'd encourage you to cherry-pick the elements of my strategy that resonate and give them a try.
• How you measure must align with how you build: If I train someone a certain way, their performance metrics should mirror that training. For example, I don’t measure PMMs on the leads they generate. Yes, they contribute to that metric, but that's not their primary role. They’re here for a bigger picture.
• Setting clear expectations and KPIs is a must: This is especially important when it comes to those “soft” areas. Take the professional popularity metric I mentioned earlier – everyone I onboard knows it'll be a key yardstick for their evaluation. This establishes right off the bat the kind of value they need to generate both regionally and globally.
• Mentoring is an investment: Onboarding new members, especially when they’re transitioning from different professions, can be a marathon of one-on-ones. Sure, it's time-consuming and can be exhausting, especially in a high-speed environment. But believe me, the returns, when done right, are invaluable.
• Pay attention to nuance and trust your gut: I’ve found that as you rack up experience in a profession, your intuition becomes sharper. I rely heavily on mine, especially when hiring and building my team.
• The work is never done: Companies are ever-evolving entities, always aiming for the next peak. And honestly, that’s a delightful challenge to embrace.

This article is based on Eyal’s brilliant talk at the Product Marketing Summit in Tel Aviv, 2023. PMA members can watch the talk in its entirety here, and head to their membership dashboards to check out even more amazing OnDemand content.