Interview With a SiriusStar: Regan Yeldell, Comcast Business (Part Two)

SiriusStars is an exclusive community of high-performing and highly influential clients selected for their exceptional work leveraging and implementing SiriusDecisions research and advice. The SiriusStars blog series is designed to share the personal and professional world of your b-to-b peers. In this post, we continue or conversation with Regan Yeldell, senior marketing director of demand generation at Comcast Business. Read the first part of our conversation here.

SiriusDecisions: If you weren’t a marketer, what would your dream job be?

Regan Yeldell: I can answer this very easily: travel agent. I love to travel and I love to experience different cultures, sights, sounds and smells. I love the planning and research that goes into that – when I plan trips, everything is 100 percent self-guided. I love learning about geographies, the people, the language, what there is to see and do, and the itineraries, and then making it happen. I just got back from Iceland and Norway. Every year I spin the globe and visit three countries per year – I look at the world and ask myself, “Where haven’t I been?” Then I make it happen.

SD: Comcast has a big culture of crawl, walk, run. What does “run” look like to you?

Regan: That’s a good question. We’re always going to be crawling, walking and running with something. The hope is that we never finish the race – that we’re always striving for the next thing. In the short term, “run” to me looks like when we have the Demand Generation Center of Excellence truly built out; when we have martech capabilities and infrastructure in place to support them, and our engine is firing on all cylinders; and when marketing and sales are truly aligned and trust the leads being passed. When we have full automation that we’re able to run, and thus can execute campaigns faster than we do today. When we’re able to increase the speed and velocity significantly, get results quickly, and run faster when it comes to failing. When we have prestige as the Center of Excellence, the relationship with sales, and the volume and efficiency of what we’re able to execute.

SD: Keeping in mind the complexities of cable and telecom – and your business – how do you ensure sales, marketing and product stay aligned through major transformations?

Regan: By keeping the lines of communication open. We’re all moving so fast – this is a fast-paced industry. Sometimes product is looking at things three, six and nine months out, but also two, three and five years out. We need to be more in lockstep with product on all the innovative things coming down the pipe so that we can be prepared to create awareness. It’s the same thing with sales, which has long-range goals as well. We need to communicate openly about their plans and our plans and how we can best work together so that the pace of change benefits us and is not a hindrance.

SD: What differentiates SiriusDecisions from any other company you’ve worked with?

Regan: Your in-depth understanding of what marketing does is what impressed me. I can talk to other consultants, but because your analysts either sat where I sat or in other companies such as Eloqua, SiriusDecisions brings a level of understanding that is not just theoretical – you understand my day-to-day challenges. SiriusDecisions gets it – that’s one of the differentiators. And you have the street cred. When you throw out SiriusDecisions’ name, no one questions who that is. You’re seen as industry experts and well known in the marketing b-to-b space.

SD: Comcast is headquartered in Philadelphia. What are your recommendations for first-time visitors to the city?

Regan: I’m a newbie to Philadelphia myself. Philadelphia is such a foodie town, so I would definitely recommend hitting all of the cool places to eat in Center City, Old City and all the different neighborhoods I’m trying to learn. Also, Philadelphia has so much to see from a historical perspective. Visit the Liberty Bell and the Philadelphia Museum of Art – of course you have to see the Rocky statue and run up the Rocky steps!

SD: What advice or recommendations would you give to new clients of SiriusDecisions to help them get the most out of their relationship? What have you learned over the years?

Regan: Use your client success manager and account manager – they have been great! I’m sure this is not unique to me. We’re so time strapped. SiriusDecisions has so much information and a wealth of things that can help, but it can be overwhelming, and we don’t know what we don’t know. I don’t know how to get started or what to ask for. I have asked my client success manager, Samara, and my account manager, Kelly, to send me things proactively that would be helpful to me. That’s how we’ve gotten the best out of our relationship. The true value has come from dialogue and the account team proactively knowing what I’m trying to accomplish. Kristin Farwell has also been great about letting us know about different workshops and tying in additional programs we need. My relationship with SiriusDecisions helps me leverage what works well for me, my organization and my role.

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