Cecile Thirion, Marketing Director – Government and Transportation, Xerox Transportation
Thirion is an exemplary leader inside of Xerox, helping this legendary company to experiment, iterate, and expand innovative programs. She manages a global team, successfully driving marketing transformation toward digital, social, and agile. Thirion is among the 20-plus leaders across 700 global marketing resources at Xerox who help shape the company’s marketing vision, working on strategic projects directly with Xerox CMO John Kennedy.
Her ingenuity and bold experimentation have delivered exceptional results, including increasing marketing qualified leads by 66%, sales accepted leads by 53%, and sales qualified leads by a factor of eight—all while completing her Lean Six Sigma Certification on Optimizing the Lead Management Process, which was an eight-month project in partnership with sales.
Defining moment: The moment I started as a tech mentor four years ago; it changed the way I worked with people and how I coach them. Being a mentor means taking on more leadership responsibilities.
Words to live by: It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. –Seneca
Strategy shift: I was working at a large company, doing traditional marketing, but learned we needed to shift more toward digital marketing. And in digital marketing you have to be much more agile and able to adapt.
Up next: With the technology we have today it’s much easier to use data to help build customer relationships. We live in the age of customer experience. At every touchpoint you have a wonderful opportunity to create customer loyalty.
Advice to young marketers: Get out of the office, be curious, and have an explorer mind-set because you never know what you can learn, who you can meet, or where a good opportunity may come from.
–Phil Britt
