As CMO of SocialChorus, Alison Murdock leverages her wealth of experience to consistently overdeliver. It’s through having worked in all types of challenging situations and her philosophy of never shying away that has propelled her to the executive ranks of the fast-paced technology world. Her company, SocialChorus, is the leading workforce communications platform for the global enterprise. It helps companies such as Dow, AB InBev, Vodafone and hundreds of other large corporations better communicate with their workforces regardless of who those employees are or where they work.
Alison maintains a high degree of discipline with her approach to marketing. “Marketing has to be clear about how initiatives ladder up to the company strategy and are making an impact on the business. I help my team work through those challenges and how to evaluate others’ points of view and motivations, handle feedback and use data to support a counterpoint,” says Alison.
Moreover, “In marketing, you have to not only study what might happen next in your industry, but also to anticipate pitfalls and mind the details.”
Her discipline also extends into ensuring her team adequately leverages technology recognizing the incredible amount of technology at their disposal that can show how they’re doing, what’s working and where they are impacting the funnel.
As for how she gets the most out of her team, Alison does her best to support and coach while staying out of the way. And after years of building and managing teams, she can safely say that she learns as much from her teams as they do from her.
Earlier in her career she learned the value of stepping up to challenges and taking on responsibility. She took over when she saw that a major conference her company was orchestrating was suffering from severe lack of attention and oversight. Through her efforts, the conference ended up being a great success. Her CEO and direct boss took notice and rewarded her with a significant raise and promotion.
“As a leader, I believe that you will get nowhere if you don’t take risks and take action. If you care, you will be rewarded… even if it’s not right away. And if it’s not a raise or a promotion, then it’s knowledge, and that’s just as valuable,” Alison reflects.
Through her years of experience helping to build businesses while rising through the ranks, Alison appreciates the value of having a support network and strongly believes in supporting other women in achieving their professional goals. When dealt a devastating career blow getting laid off while she was her family’s breadwinner, Alison recalls “I called a friend and former co-worker who asked if I would be interested in helping her with a project. That project turned into a very lucrative business that gave me an opportunity to be an entrepreneur and run and grow a company. As they say, when one door closes, another opens.”
