Planning Assumptions 2021

B2B CMO
B2B CSO
Sales
Operations
Marketing
Operations
Demand
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Even in the best of times, planning for a new fiscal year can be daunting. In this climate of unprecedented uncertainty, it can feel particularly overwhelming.

Forrester’s Planning Assumptions can help you meet this challenge. Based on comprehensive research and market insights, our role-based guides uncover the key trends that will help you capitalize on opportunities and direct your planning efforts for 2021. Each guide also provides recommended steps to help you make the right decisions and investments to reach your objectives.

Blog

Introducing Planning Assumptions 2021: Seizing Opportunity Amid Disruption

Amid unprecedented uncertainty lies vast opportunity for B2B leaders. Monica Behncke, Vice President, Group Research Director, explains in her introduction to Forrester’s 2021 Planning Assumptions.

B2B CMO

Vice President and Research Director Jennifer Ross explains why agility and resilience are the keys to success in an uncertain climate.

Now more than ever, B2B marketing leaders must be agents of change — not advocates for a comfortable status quo. Explore the trends that will shape CMO priorities in 2021 and get clear advice to navigate uncertainty.

Download The Guide

Blog

Is It 2021 Yet? Five Things B2B CMOs Must Do To Prepare For The Year Ahead

B2B marketing leaders should continue to expect the unexpected and embrace change as a constant. These five actions can help you build a path forward through the unknown.

Podcast

How B2B Marketing Leaders Can Plan For The Unpredictable

How do you proactively plan at a time when so little is certain? On this week’s What It Means, Vice President and Research Director Jennifer Ross and Principal Analyst Adele Sweetwood explain how B2B marketing leaders can guide their organizations through an unpredictable year ahead.

Listen Now

B2B CSO

Vice President and Research Director Mike Pregler discusses how sales leaders can navigate change and uncertainty and succeed in the year ahead.

The events of 2020 have revealed the need to transform familiar sales models and approaches. Learn how sales leaders can equip their organizations to win with today’s savvy B2B buyers while driving cost efficiency.

Download The Guide

Blog

Is Your Sales Organization Ready To Emerge Its Fittest Self?

Looking ahead to 2021, sales leaders mush shift from adapting to the “new normal” to proactively planning for the recovery and their “next normal.”

Podcast

The “Next Normal” For Sales Will Be Data-Driven

As sales leaders plan for 2021, leaning into data and insights will be key to success. Vice President and Research Director Mike Pregler explains why and dives into other action items for sales leaders in this week’s episode.

Listen Now

Sales Operations

The balance of power has shifted toward buyers, changing the mandate for B2B sales operations leaders. Explore the actions to take to deepen buyer insights and deliver on the promise of data-driven selling.

Download the guide

Blog

A Look Ahead: What Sales Operations Leaders Must Prepare For In 2021

Change will be constant in the year ahead. Learn the steps that sales operations leaders can take to put their organizations on a path to success.

Marketing Operations

Succeeding in an unpredictable business environment requires extraordinary agility. For marketing operations leaders, the challenge is to build a stable infrastructure that supports quick action and data-driven decision-making.

Download the guide

Blog

Navigating A New Wilderness: Five Steps Marketing Operations Must Take To Provide Leadership

B2B organizations are depending on marketing operations to lead them out of the crises of 2020. Here are five steps marketing operations leaders must take in 2021 to drive their organization’s success.

Demand And Account-Based Marketing

Disruptions to the B2B buying process present an opportunity for demand and account-based marketing (ABM) leaders. Learn how to bring this potential to life and drive growth for your organization.

Download the guide

Blog

Six Opportunities For Demand And Account-Based Marketing Leaders In 2021

Account-based marketing and demand marketing leaders starting to plan for 2021 have a unique opportunity. Seize the moment by focusing on these six areas.

Additional Insights

Blog

How To Create A Sales Plan While Dodging The Curveballs The World Keeps Throwing

For sales leaders at emerging companies, coupling a clear purpose with agile approaches is crucial for 2021 planning.

Blog

Product Management Leadership For This New Era

Discover three key ways product leaders can use customer input and feedback to drive growth in the coming year.

Blog

The Show Must Go On For Portfolio Marketers In 2021

Portfolio marketers today are being asked to lead. They must help their organizations find the new opportunities, identify the trends that can give their organizations lasting success, and ensure that buyers are kept top of mind.

Blog

Welcome To The Year Of The Customer Marketer

One major trend we see is an amped-up focus on retention — keeping customers and ensuring they achieve value.

Blog

Time to Shift! The Top Priorities For Emerging-Company Marketing Leaders

For emerging-company marketers, too much of a good thing can be just as difficult to deal with as too little. Focusing all components of the revenue engine on the primary growth strategy with shared goals is critical in good and difficult times.