I’m excited to share my interview with Sam Shepler, founder and CEO of TestimonialHero. I got to work with Sam last year to support his company’s growth efforts and was impressed with Sam’s laser focus on the customer and his methodical way of thinking and executing. Because his business is a tech-enabled service but nearly all his customers are SaaS I thought he would have unique insights on the differences between the two. We also talk about the importance of video, customer storytelling, and finding the right acquisition channels for your business. I really enjoyed this conversation and I think you will too.
If you're interested in diving further into the topic of customer storytelling, check out the episode where I was on Sam's podcast The State of Customer Storytelling:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0RZe135vMlT08k9GHEflYG?si=MvYWP8bGQyuHFlORr1J19A
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mosheh-poltorak-simplifying-the-customer-marketing/id1599120117?i=1000567612235
Timestamps:
(0:00) Introduction
(2:02) What is TestimonialHero?
(3:42) Coming up with the idea for TestimonialHero
(6:14) "Pivoting" during COVID
(7:10) Tech-enabled services vs. SaaS
(8:35) Finding the right customer acquisition channels
(12:21) Customer activation in a service business ("the magic moment")
(13:59) Product Market Fit is a moving target
(16:43) Getting your first 20 customers
(18:51) What is customer storytelling and why is it important?
(22:09) What's the grand vision for TestimonialHero?
(23:14) Launching secondary product offerings
(24:42) Which growth channels worked?
(26:51) Leveraging podcasting as a marketing channel
(28:11) Lightning round and final thoughts
Guest contact info:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/samshepler/
https://twitter.com/SamShepler
www.testimonialhero.com
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/moshehp/
https://twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Product Market Fit