Yadhu Krishnan considers himself more logical than creative. That’s what gives him an advantage as a retention marketing manager—the first role he’s had that is involved with the customer side instead of the go-to-market (GTM) side.
Read about his journey to this position, how his background is building his creativity, and what he thought of the grand opening of the new Planview Global Capability & Innovation Center in Bangalore, India.
Explain your role as a retention marketing manager and a few of your responsibilities.
Most of my experience has been on the GTM side and has had a lot more to do with demand generation. My current role is my first experience on the customer side.
My role has an emphasis on user experience and how much a user is able to take home from the Planview Platform.
We show customers how to use the software in their daily life and help them become proficient in it. We do this through nurture emails, webinars, and programs. We don’t create the content—we help position it for the customers.
Somebody who’s never used Planview solutions before will need different content than someone who has 10 years of experience. It is our job to make sure the communications that come from Planview are catering to the whole gamut of client experiences and that it’s specific and useful for the people who receive it.
Tell us about your career journey to date.
I started as a developer. involved myself in a lot of mentorship and leadership programs. At one of the companies I worked for, I started as an enabler for one of their courses for the senior leadership team.
One of the leadership team told me I could consider marketing. I did, and I earned my MBA in marketing and my master’s in business analytics.
Next, I took a role as a market researcher at a firm here in Bangalore. From there, the VP wanted me to try out account-based marketing. That gave me a lot of freedom to experiment.
Then, I became a strategic marketing planner. That was a completely different thing than anything else I’d done up to that point. Now I’m at Planview in retention marketing.
What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned as you’ve moved up in your career?
I learned a lot of lessons about myself. First of all, I learned I am logical and strategic, not creative. I’ve also figured out time management. I learned I’m not a multi-tasker; I’m a serial tasker. I order out my tasks at the beginning of the day and move through them one by one. I don’t do well doing multiple things at once. My manager at Planview understands that and works with me accordingly.
Are there any experiences in your life that you feel contributed to your professional success?
Back in college, I started my undergrad in a closed campus. Once students go in, they have to stay in until the end of the week. Most of the time, we were stuck there with nothing to do.
After a while, we found some musical instruments. Someone decided to pick up the guitar, someone else learned to play the drums. That experience was a huge learning experience for me. I learned to play the guitar, and now I can compose music on the guitar as well. It taught me how to learn new skills.
The impact music has on memory is incredible, and it inspires my marketing today.
What type of meetings do you prepare for? Who do you typically collaborate with?
When I prepare for a meeting, I have a general framework I set up, based on my level of confidence with the people I’m talking to. Meetings are generally very structured and prioritized according to the agenda. In terms of collaboration, I plan with a wide variety of people: content marketers, product marketers, content creators, people from customer success, and people from creative.
What makes your team so effective?
We have good direction in terms of where we are right now, where we want to be in six months, and where we want to be twelve months down the line. We also use our own Planview solutions, so there’s a lot of visibility for leadership so they can see their vision taking shape.
At any stage, I can go back to our AgilePlace board and see if there have been any changes to the original idea we had. That helps us measure our progress against our goals and make sure we stay focused.
Tell us about working from home – what are your tips for success?
I have a lot of tools that help me work from home successfully, ranging from a pen and paper to OneNote to Slack. Most of the things I want to do in a single day are in my notebook and I categorize my tasks at the beginning of the morning. The things I want to look for throughout the week are in OneNote.
It’s also helpful to move around. It’s hard for me to sit in one place for a long time. If I’m working in the office, I’ll go sit at a different desk, or sit at the canteen. At home, I just try to move around to different rooms.
How do you manage your work/life balance?
I don’t believe in separation of work and life. They are combined. I just plan out as much as possible. If there’s something personal I need to do during the day, I just inform my manager and do what I need to do.
If it’s after hours, and I have some time and I need to get some work done, I go ahead and complete it. Sometimes I start work at 6:00 a.m. , sometimes I take a break in the afternoon. It’s more about achieving balance throughout the day with what I have to do, whether that’s on the work side or the personal side.
What motivates you while working?
User experience! That’s been a huge love and motivator for me. Every time a challenge pops up that links to customer experience, I start thinking about how to perfect it.
Marketing is all about being at the right place at the right time with the right person.
In user experience specifically, we have to consider the impact our marketing is making on customers. For every marketing challenge, user experience has been a beautiful journey that I’ve enjoyed doing every step of the way.
How is Planview different from other companies you’ve worked for?
I’ve worked at companies that run fast, and I’ve worked at companies that work at a slower pace. I like the pace at Planview. It’s just right for me. I also like the people I work with here —especially my manager, who has really been a mentor for me. I believe that’s one of the luckiest things an individual can ask for at work. If you have a good manager, the rest will sort itself out.
Planview has a set of five “Core Values.” Is there one that really speaks to your experience?
My favorite value is “We build together.” It always takes a village to accomplish something great. Even small efforts, when building together, amount to something huge.
For fun, how do you unwind when you are off the clock?
During the work week, I enjoy going to the gym and playing badminton. On the weekends, I enjoy playing soccer, playing and composing music on my guitar, and watching cricket.
How do you stay connected to the global team?
Planview employees are spread across the world. Because we’re in so many locations, there’s always a good amount of collaboration on projects to make sure we’re all on the same page. So far, I’m the only member of our retention marketing team located in Bangalore, but I’m not the only one working remotely.
Everyone is working on global projects, so we’re always collaborating.
We recently launched the Planview Global Capability & Innovation Center in Bangalore. Can you share some highlights from the opening?
When I think of the opening launch, the first thing I think of was the dance. I was sitting in the auditorium, filled with people, waiting for something to happen onstage. Then, we suddenly realized the dancers were sitting among the audience!
On the marketing front, we had this idea to make a lot of social buzz around the launch. The marketing team created cute, quirky announcements about the launch that tied back to our values. We used our team members as the brand ambassadors for the campaign, and it was a huge success. It got a ton of impressions, and that, along with the customer event, made the Center’s launch amazing.
Does Planview sound like a good fit for you? Now is a great time to join our team. Check out Planview’s current job openings across the globe here.