How I Made it in Marketing Scaling to a $15 million company in 18 months by transparently serving an ideal customer (and saying “no” to other business) – Episode #1
In the debut episode of the How I Made It In Marketing podcast, Daniel Burstein talks to Whitney Hill, Co-Founder and Head of Business Operations & Development, Snap ADU (https://snapadu.com/).
Whitney shares key lessons from what she’s made – ranging from Excel data tools to a transparent website to a memorable brand name – in a career that has spanned Yale, an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business, Seamless.com, Bain & Company, and more. We discussed:
- Winning on execution: using real-time data to intrinsically motivate a warehouse fulfillment team (and reduce headcount by 20 percent)
- Scaling to a $15 million company in 18 months with the help of Excel tools, pricing transparency, focusing on the ideal customer, and more
- Promoting transparency to gain trust: being an information source for an industry (whether or not people buy from you) – including clear, upfront pricing – to help attract 75% of the company’s business through organic search
- Being memorable and pithy: rebranding from a traditional construction company name (Moore Construction) to a name that better communicates the value proposition and helps with SEO (Snap ADU)
She also shares lessons she gained from influential mentors and managers in her career:
- Wiley Cierlli, CEO and Founder, Good Uncle – honing an elevator pitch
- Andrew Benoit, Founder & CEO, ZoneJump – building a legacy
- Paul Cichocki, EVP & Chief Commercial Officer, BJ's Wholesale Club – managing a data team
- Mike Moore, Co-Founder & Head of Production, SnapADU – nurturing business relationships
Articles mentioned in this episode:
Sales Funnel: 3 case studies with tips on how to say “no” to customers and improve marketing results – https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/sales-funnel-3-case-studies-with-tips-on-how-to-say-no-to-customers-and-improve-marketing-results (Quick Case Study #1 in this article shows how Whitney helped improve proposal close rate by 55 percent)
14 Strategies for Hiring and Retaining Marketing Professionals – https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/marketing-hiring
How to Win Friends and Influence People (book by Dale Carnegie) – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-to-win-friends-and-influence-people-dale-carnegie/1100370318
Hospitals Hide Prices on Web, Undermining Disclosure Rule. – https://www.wsj.com/articles/hospitals-hide-pricing-data-from-search-results-11616405402
Is Your Company Embracing ‘Fear-Based’ or ‘Fear-Less’ Marketing in 2012 and Beyond? – https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/marketing/fear-less-marketing/ (Marcus Sheridan shares how transparent pricing information on River Pools & Spas website helped generate 124,000 page views over two years)
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