Do You Need To Change Your Mindset When Working For A Global Company?

Time flies. I have been with Five9 now for 3.5 years and can say I have never had a boring moment. Helping the company grow from a US-centric business to a global player is a lot of fun, requires a lot of persistence when it comes to building awareness and at times has a learning curve.

Today, to help my fellow global marketeers, I am sharing my top six tips for working for a worldwide company:

Think Global

This might seem like a no-brainer, but first of all, businesses need to change their mindset when going global. Would a program that is very successful in the US work globally? How often are you allowed to email contacts? How do data protection laws affect a company around the world? 

Messaging is Key –Don’t be lost in translation! 

Not everything that works well in the US would work globally. A piece of content created for the US market might be a great asset there, however, it might be totally out of scope in other regions. Why? Well, based on different cultures around the world, and tons of different languages and dialects, content created in the US might mean something different in other languages or might lose the meaning in other languages.

Plan Ahead

There are more than 35 time zones globally and, yes, you cannot do it right for all of them. However, you should always keep your main target countries in mind when you plan activities, like sending out a press release or scheduling a webinar. 

Change the Team Mindset

Marketing is always a team effort and having a globally distributed team in place can be a challenge. Having a great leader who is always aware of time differences is key to keeping a team close together. Meetings might be set as early morning meetings in one region and that might mean a late afternoon meeting for another team member. Luckily, video conferencing enables team members to see each other and build close relationships – even when thousands of miles apart.

One Team – One Goal

If a team is working towards the same goal, miles and time differences are not an issue at all. Like the musketeers said, “One for all, all for one.” Supporting each other no matter where everyone is located is one of the most important things to create a successful, globally distributed team.

Have Fun

A team that works hard should find some time to have fun as well. This can be difficult during event and conference seasons, but it’s important to make time for the team to bond. Make an effort to bring the team together, be open and allow relationships to strengthen.

When I first started at Five9, I sometimes felt that the focus was very US-centric. Today, I am proud to have a leader who enables and mentors the team, and who makes sure that we are getting closer together. We work hard, we have a lot of fun, we speak often, and importantly, I have new friends. It is a joy to be part of the process and I look forward to watching Five9 continue to grow globally.

To learn about open job opportunities at Five9, click here.