Demand Efficiency

Podcast outline[01:09] Alex’s background[02:42] What Alex does in his role as VP of Growth at Puppet[03:57] Lessons Alex has learned through his former positions that have influenced what he does at Puppet today[06:03] Focus on product market fit before instrumenting telemetry and funnels[07:00] How to know when you’ve over indexed and need to course correct[08:23] Time with customers is important in the early stages[13:22] Pros and cons to being somewhere small and being somewhere larger[16:44] Why it’s important to know what you want and why[19:00] How Alex unwindsAlex’s InspirationsDave HeschYvonne Wassenaar Connect with AlexLinkedInTwitter

Episode Outline[01:03] Michelle’s background[03:12] Why you should make sure you have the demand to support your sales team before investing in the head count[05:28] The importance of experimentation and stabilization[07:15] The importance of cross functional partnerships and financial acumen[09:21] How to make better decisions for your team and company.[11:50] How to create culture within your company[14:30] What’s next for Michelle[17:11] How Michelle unplugs and maintains her energyConnect with MichelleLinkedInWebsite

Episode Outline[01:25] The importance of mentorship and how to choose a mentor[02:57] The second type of mentor[04:56] Why you need to know how to ask for help and how asking for help will put you ahead[08:20] Mentorship for underprivileged and underrepresented populations[10:34] Prospecting and selling are two different skill sets[14:54] How to use SalesSource[17:20] Lars’s career, what he has learned, and his priorities nowLars’ InspirationsDennis LyandresSarah BrazierTom ReillyConnect with LarsLinkedinTwitter

Podcast outline[01:35] Aditya’s background[03:20] What consumers care about more than your product[05:35] Why companies need to identify the problems prospective customers are trying to solve[08:45] Why retention is more important than acquisition[10:48] The biggest lesson Aditya has learned in his career[12:00] How Aditya builds trust with consumers through “problem marketing”[13:35] Why building community is important and how Aditya builds community [14:24] What it was like for Aditya to go from a SaaS product to biotechnology[16:31] How Youtube will be leveraged more in a B2B perspectiveAditya’s InspirationsTiffany To Brian Balfour Connect with AdityaLinkedinTwitter

Podcast Outline[01:38] Mike’s background[04:55] The secret sauce that many leaders of Fortune 500 companies don’t know about[06:20] The one percenter mentality that takes companies to the next level[08:00] The qualities and mindset of successful leaders[09:27] Successful leaders understand the 3 elements: Mindset, language, and patterns [10:35] Marketing leaders vs sales leaders[11:00] What the most effective leaders across all niches have in common[11:45] The relationship between mindset and strategy[15:27] What you have to determine before you can talk strategy[16:30] The two most important elements leaders should haveMike’s InspirationsTony RobbinsDan LierChip MerlinConnect with MikeLinkedinTwitterMikeLindstrom.com

Episode Outline[04:39] John’s background[07:16] There's two types of companies and you can't have it both ways.[10:13] How you're either a growth company or you're a lifestyle company[11:18] What usually you going through your coaching process[12:04] How to create an engine that consistently fills the pipeline with enough opportunities to flow through [14:34] Segmenting roles and responsibilities and sales with kind of the inbound SDR[16:35] How dumping shitty leads over to the sales team from marketing[19:22] Why the sales and marketing divide for lead gen is where the biggest challenge[20:19] What really leveraging artificial intelligence and leveraging real insights is[21:30] How Google and Amazon and Facebook that know a lot about what the buyer's journey looks likeJohn's Inspirations:Jeff HoffmanConnect with John:https://jbarrows.comLinkedInTwitterMake it Happen Mondays PodcastInstagram

Episode Outline[04:39] Carol’s background[07:16] Why people have to make trade offs with what they have available and also what's available in their neighborhoods[10:13] How to wrap up with analytics as broad topics that might be the most productive[11:18] The hardest lesson learned in your career thus far[12:04] When you're small, usually marketing just kind of does whatever it wants[14:34] Discount marketing and getting disillusioned[16:35] Who's building their career and perhaps about to enter a big growth stage with the company[19:22] It’s little easier to go from, serving smaller companies up to larger, as long as you do it with your eyes wide open about what that means[20:19] Taking a product that's built for really large companies and trying to retrofit it to smaller companies is not easy.[21:30] How you can assemble a team that has the right qualitiesCarol's Inspirations:Woody BensonConnect with Carol:LinkedInTwitter

Episode Outline[04:39] David’s background[07:16] Why he decided to focus on sales and then to become a sales manager and help with strategy at a management level[10:13] How to wrap up with analytics as broad topics that might be the most productive[11:18] The way having a strategy of some kind is really important, even if it fails to understand that it did fail and why failed and that you need to move somewhere else is really important[12:04] Ask yourself, are you focusing on a certain industry and emphasizing a certain value proposition?[14:34] What to focus on when thinking strategically about your customer base and the first customers[16:35] On developing your strategy based on what you're seeing[19:22] Frustration around pricing because it's such a key to either unlocking sales or blocking sales and the same goes for how marketing can help support.[20:19] So many founders think they've got it but sometimes the right thing to do is actually to ask quite a bit more for what you're selling.[24:30] People are totally willing to be honest, especially if your products adding a lot of value.David's inspirations:Jared HansenChristy SerratoNikhil JhinganConnect with David:LinkedInTwitter

Episode Outline[04:39] Richard’s background[07:16] Understand that early customers are buying that CEO's passion, that founder's passion[10:13] Importance of getting a quote from the decision maker of the deployment[11:18] Realize that your customers aren't fortune companies with big legal team[12:04] “If you're a one to 10 million and you're going after a new customer, what's the first thing your potential customer is probably going to ask you about?”[14:34] So everybody wants a discount, know that's going to happen and get your leverage[16:35] Situation that they have a legal department they're just red lining for the sake of red line, they just know to eliminate everything. They don't really stop and read that.[17:04] Success depends on how, how strong the marketing leader is in understanding sales.[19:22] Importance to relearn and unlearn that process. Those who've taken that stronger leadership position accelerate faster. [20:19] Why it is crucial to redefine product market fit and to re-onboard our entire organization to work from home. Richard's inspirations:Blake HudsonDickie WalshLori RichardsonConnect with Richard:LinkedInTwitterThe Harrison Consulting Group

Episode Outline[04:39] Sean’s background[07:16] Operational issues and then the other one had to do with just the fundamental shift [10:13] Reason these companies were failing, had more to do with people and the behaviors of the people[11:18] Realize that affiliation with a company who's been successful in that industry[12:04] Hiring and supporting and developing and growing other humans[14:34] If you think about things from a red, yellow, green perspective, you put people in a stoplight bucket[16:35] Best fit based on their characteristics and attributes because the majority of the Academy students are adult learners. The true character of a person is not how you act in this life, but how you react.[17:04] If you don't like something, you already know it. It's probably not going to continue to enjoy it.[19:22] There's social responsibility, corporate responsibility, environmental responsibility, and personal responsibility.[20:19] Starting over with the concept of what problems do my customers have right now that can really solve, and growth mindset is going to be more important.Sean's Inspirations:His fatherConnect with Sean:LinkedInTwitter