Inside Iron Horse is an employee spotlight blog series that takes a look at the people that keep this agency and our clients moving and growing. Join us in celebrating these remarkable people as we dive into their passions, talents, and motivations.
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: We’ve added Monica Behncke to our Iron Horse Executive team! Monica is our Chief Growth Officer and is responsible for our clients’ growth and alignment strategies. We’re extremely excited to welcome her to Iron Horse, where she’ll bring her experience as a go-to-market expert to provide our clients with the perspective and courage to be innovative. We’d love for you all to get to know her better, so we figured this was the perfect opportunity to make her this month’s spotlight. Get to know Monica, from her love of craft cocktails to the causes she holds near and dear.
Read on to learn about Monica!
What is your career background?
I started my career in sales at IBM, then eventually moved into product management and product marketing while there. I had my own business for 5 years and then I went to work for AMD as Head of Revenue Marketing. I was really fortunate to be there during one of the first big transitional waves of marketing—when marketing started to be recognized as part of the revenue engine and the ‘science’ of marketing began to evolve. I was given a lot of support to really do great marketing at AMD and eventually wanted to help other clients with those best practices, so I joined the team at Sirius Decisions. After we were acquired by Forrester, I took over running all of the B2B practices there. I think of myself as a go-to-market expert who has an extremely client-centric focus, which paves the way to a great foundation for growth.
What 3 words would you use to describe Iron Horse?
Trustworthy, Adaptive, and Audience Centric. I think those words are at the foundation of great customer service.
What’s your favorite part about working at Iron Horse?
The energy of the team. There is an infectious optimism and enthusiasm throughout the team that’s really hard to resist. It permeates internally and spills into the client relationships.
What do you bring into every client relationship?
Perspective, empathy, and courage. I believe that perspective is a gift. Since I’ve been in the services industry for the last 10 years, I’ve been able to ‘collect’ a lot of perspectives. Bringing value to clients takes the ability to empathize with a client’s perspective but also have the courage to offer the client a different perspective.
What’s your favorite new marketing trend?
The move away from MQLs (marketing qualified leads). Fifteen to twenty years ago measuring MQLs was a major pivot point for B2B marketing. It was an objective measure and a way to attach marketing activity to revenue, but we have realized over the years (and with the help of new technology) that it is actually a deeply flawed measure. A handoff of a single individual representing a lead typically does not reflect the reality of a buying journey. We now see how sales and marketing must align to help a buying group progress through their journey and measurements must better reflect the full value that marketing brings to the table.
What causes do you care about?
I care a lot about women’s issues, gender equality and equal access to resources. I enjoy mentoring young women and I’m proud of many women I’ve had the privilege of working with who have gone on to do amazing things.
What book did you last read?
I just finished a book called The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner. With a dual timeline of the early 1800’s and present day, it tells the story of women helping women – in some unusual ways!
If you had to eat one meal, every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Something that can be made in a million different ways like paella.
Most important question – does pineapple belong on pizza?
You bet.
Want to add your talents to our inspiring team at Iron Horse? Visit our careers page to check out all of our open roles.
