OnBase: Smashing Sales and Marketing Misalignments

Episode Summary In this episode of Sunny Side Up, host Brian Hopper interviews Derek Hall, Senior Director of Solutions Engineering at ServiceTitan. They delve into the evolving dynamics between account executives and solutions engineers, highlighting the need for a value-focused approach. Derek explains the significance of adopting the Challenger Sale methodology, emphasizing the importance of teaching, tailoring, and taking control during the sales process. He emphasizes that prospects have limited time and attention, making it crucial to provide value and relevance to engage them effectively. The conversation underscores the balance between meeting customer needs and maintaining control over the sales process to convey the value story successfully. Derek also shares valuable advice he would give to his younger self, stressing the importance of embracing intellectual curiosity and continuous learning. About the Guest Derek Hall is the Sr. Director of Solutions Engineering at ServiceTitan. Over the last 11 years, he's worked his way from professional football player to entry-level sales development role to Sales Engineer, eventually building out the Sales Engineering org at ServiceTitan. Over the past 7 years, he's built a diverse team of 26 ICs and managers. He's also an advisor with Us In Technology, whose mission is to diversify the Tech C-Suite through mentorship and facilitating the hiring of underrepresented talent. Connect with Derek Hall  Key Takeaways - The relationship between account executives and solutions engineers is evolving towards a focus on value and problem-solving. -The Challenger Sale methodology is influential in today's sales landscape, emphasizing teaching, tailoring, and taking control. - Prospects have limited time and attention, so providing value and relevance is crucial during interactions. - Tailoring the message and demo content to the prospect's needs is essential for engagement and interest. - Balancing customer needs with maintaining control over the sales process is a challenge but necessary for conveying the value story effectively. - The Challenger Sale methodology arose from the changing sales landscape post-2008 crisis, with more stakeholders involved in the buying process. - Successful salespeople in the new buying climate challenge prospects and provide valuable insights and tailored solutions. - Derek recommends embracing intellectual curiosity and continuously seeking knowledge and personal growth. - Taking statistics and science classes seriously early on can shorten the learning curve in a tech career. - Maintaining control over the sales process while being receptive to the prospect's needs ensures a coherent and impactful value story. - Embracing a growth mindset and continuously seeking knowledge and personal development can accelerate professional success. - Finding inspiration from diverse sources, such as sports, can provide valuable insights into leadership, mindset, and perseverance. Quote “Prospects have limited time and attention. If you're not making them feel like they're getting value out of their time, they're going to disconnect.” – Derek Hall Recommended Resources Newsletters The Daily Coach by Michael Lombardi Not Boring by Packy McCormick Books Infinite Game by Simon Sinek The Challenger Sale by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson Shout-outs Simon Sinek – Founder at The Curve and Simon Sinek, Inc.  Ross Biestman – Chief Revenue Officer at ServiceTitan Daymond John – CEO at The Shark Group⁠⁠⁠Connect with Derek Hall | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on LinkedIn ⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Website

Episode Summary In today's rapidly evolving marketing landscape, the need for digital transformation in the financial services industry has become crucial. As customers increasingly expect seamless experiences, striking the right balance between digital and in-person services can be a challenge. In this episode, we discuss how Fifth Third Bank embraces digital transformations while prioritizing customer support and human interaction. Explore the role of marketing in driving successful digital transformations and creating impactful customer experiences. About the Guest Melissa is an executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Fifth Third Bancorp. She is responsible for ensuring a client-centered, digital-first approach to all areas of the Bank. She also oversees the Bank’s Enterprise Workplace Services and Corporate Communications organizations. Melissa joined Fifth Third in May 2016 and has been integral to the Bank’s transformation to thrive in the digital world. She has designed an integrated and seamless customer experience across the organization. Connect with Melissa Stevens Key Takeaways - A key part of balancing digital and in-person services is to ensure that customers feel supported throughout their journey without overly relying on digital or automated solutions. - It’s important to combine meaningful conversations with quality data, insights, and integrations to help solve customer problems more effectively and point them to the right tools and solutions.  - Success in digital transformations requires understanding the "why," "how," and the people involved. Evaluate technology, processes, and people to make necessary adjustments and raise expectations based on customer experiences and the competitive landscape. Quote “It's not about marketing a product or hacking a product or service, it's about understanding those business’ needs, understanding those institutions’ needs and bringing them thought leadership, bringing them a great partnership.” – Melissa Stevens Recommended Resources Books:  The Best Interface Is No Interface by Golden Krishna  Start with WHY by Simon Sinek Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life by Martin E. P. Seligman Shout-out Devika Mathrani - Chief Marketing & Communications Officer (CMO) at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital  ⁠⁠Connect with Melissa Stevens⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on LinkedIn ⁠⁠⁠ | Website

Episode Summary In this episode of Sunny Side Up, host Chris Moody interviews Jeff White and Carman Pirie from Kula Partners, a B2B marketing agency specializing in the manufacturing industry. They delve into the unique challenges and opportunities that arise in manufacturing marketing, offering valuable insights for marketers looking to succeed in this space. Jeff and Carman discuss the varying levels of ABM maturity in manufacturing organizations, ranging from traditional inside sales setups to highly integrated CRM and ABX platforms. They emphasize the importance of brand-building activities and the need to balance them with demand-oriented campaigns for long-term success. The conversation explores the concept of intent signals and how they differ in the context of longer sales cycles, prompting the exploration of experimentation and the pitfalls of pursuing perfect attribution. The guests also touch on the coin-operated model prevalent in B2B marketing and the significance of the polarity of the sale, highlighting the need to adapt marketing and sales strategies based on buying intent. Additionally, they address the current economic landscape and discuss how manufacturing companies are navigating supply chain shifts and making investments to stay competitive. About the Guests Jeff White Jeff is the co-founder of Kula Partners, an agency designed to help leading manufacturers digitally transform their marketing and sales. A User Experience (UX) and usability expert, Jeff began building sites for the web over 25 years ago. He leads the design and development practice at Kula Partners. Several years ago, Jeff returned to NSCAD University as a sessional professor, bringing his understanding of web standards to a new generation of design students. Connect with Jeff White Carman Pirie Carman Pirie is the co-founder of Kula Partners, an agency built to help leading manufacturers digitally transform marketing and sales to deliver more leads, close more prospects, and grow their competitive edge. Over his nearly three decades in marketing and communications, Carman’s career has taken him from the halls of Canada’s Parliament to various client-side and agency-side marketing leadership roles. Along the way, he has advised Fortune 100 clients, governments, and non-profit organizations. At Kula Partners, Carman serves as lead marketing and sales counsel to the firm’s diverse range of North American manufacturing clients.  Connect with Carman Pirie Key Takeaways The manufacturing industry faces varying levels of ABM maturity, from traditional inside sales organizations to highly integrated CRM and ABX platforms. Longer sales cycles in manufacturing require a different approach to identifying and interpreting intent signals. Experimentation is crucial in understanding what works and what doesn't, and perfect attribution should not be the sole focus. Balancing brand-building activities with demand-oriented campaigns is essential for long-term success. Quotes "Don't think that short-term experiments alone can revolutionize your brand or leapfrog your competition. Longer-term bets on creative platforms and content have a more significant impact." - Carman Pirie "The polarity of the sale is not always in our favor. It's important to measure activities, adapt approaches, and create engagement even when the buying intent hasn't flipped." - Jeff White Recommended Resources Podcasts How I Built This podcast by Guy Raz Books Any of Dave Trott’s Books Shout-outs Kristin Thompson Fallon – Founding Member at Chief Mike Nager – Business Development / Program Management at Festo Didactic Jessica Woodside – Director of Marketing at WIKA USA Monique Eliott – SVP, Global Brand & Communications at Schneider Electric ⁠⁠Connect with Jeff White⁠ | Connect with Carman Pirie | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on LinkedIn ⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠Website⁠⁠

Episode Summary In this episode of Sunny Side Up, host Katherine Noonan interviews Mike Head, the Chief Revenue Officer at impact.com, discussing the revolutionization of sales strategies and best practices for modernizing the sales process. The conversation highlights several key takeaways, including the importance of delivering a delightful customer experience and meeting buyers where they are in the information-rich landscape. They emphasize the value of transparency in sales, being open about both strengths and limitations and leveraging unbiased third-party information to guide buyers. The discussion also explores strategies for navigating risk-averse buyers, aligning solutions with strategic priorities, and adapting to the current economic environment. Mike also discusses adapting messaging and positioning in uncertain times, including CFOs in the process by speaking their language, understanding customers' persona, and aligning products or solutions to their problems. About the Guest Mike Head is an accomplished executive with a strong background in revenue generation and strategic partnerships. Currently serving as the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) at impact.com, he is responsible for driving overall global revenue growth for the organization. During his tenure as the Chief Partnerships Officer at impact.com, Mike played a vital role in the company's growth journey, starting as an Account Executive and progressing to the Senior Leadership team. He worked across all go-to-market functions, building teams and partnerships, shaping strategies, and contributing to exceeding $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). Connect with Mike Head Key Takeaways  Emphasizing the customer experience and adapting to the evolving buyer landscape. Leveraging transparency and openness to build trust and credibility. Utilizing third-party information and unbiased reviews to guide buyers. Adapting sales strategies to address the challenges posed by risk-averse buyers. Aligning solutions with the strategic priorities of the company and its executives. Navigating the current economic downturn by refining messaging and focusing on key metrics. Incorporating CFOs into sales processes and speaking their language. Highlighting the importance of understanding company strategic priorities. Leveling up conversations to tie persona priorities with strategic objectives. Aligning solutions with top-line initiatives for increased success. Increasing CFO involvement in vendor contracts and scrutiny on single vendor line items. Adapting sales approaches to address evolving CFO engagement. Recognizing the value of strategic partnerships in driving revenue growth. Focusing on revenue generation, building teams, and shaping sales strategies for success. Taking risks to drive growth is no longer the primary focus in the current economic climate.  The sales process should uncover pain points and make sure recommendations are specific and actionable.  Multi-threading is important to understand the concerns and priorities of any given company.  Messaging and positioning must be adapted to the times, with an emphasis on profitability, payback periods, customer acquisition costs, etc.  CFOs are more involved in decision-making, so communication must be leveled up. Quote   “It's all about the buyer. It's all about the customer experience. If you can deliver a delightful experience for the customer that both get some of the information that they need and helps them see a new way of doing business, you create wins for everyone involved.”  – Mike Head  Recommended Resources The Transparency Sale by Todd Caponi The JOLT Effect by Mathew Dixon and Ted McKenna The Challenger Sale by Brent Adamson and Mathew Dixon Shout-outs Matthew Dixon – Author and Founding Partner at DCM Insights Chris Orlob – CEO at pclub.io ⁠Connect with Mike Head |  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on LinkedIn ⁠ | ⁠Website⁠

Episode Summary In this episode of Sunny Side Up, host Chris Moody interviews Graceanne MacDonald and Liam Moroney, co-founders of Storybook Marketing, to discuss the complexities of demand generation. They share insights and strategies for marketers to understand their buyers and create successful demand-gen campaigns. They emphasize the importance of convincing people that your product is valuable and educating them about your offerings. Outbound efforts build trust, and text messaging, and reach potential customers on a limited budget. They also discuss internal partnerships, understanding customer problems through sales conversations, content creation, conversion tracking, and storytelling for attribution. The conversation highlights the need for sales and marketing alignment, B2B marketing tactics, product maturity curves, and navigating the buying process. About the Guests Graceanne (Domino) MacDonald Graceanne began her startup career in the sales world, first leading SDR/BDR teams, followed by a side-step into RevOps before formally landing in demand gen. And she brings that dual sales/marketing perspective into all of the programs she builds.  Connect with Graceanne (Domino) MacDonald Liam Moroney Liam may be in the marketing minority; in that, he went to school for marketing. He has grown his career as a demand generation leader in the startup space and developed unique perspectives coming up through marketing ops and content marketing. Connect with Liam Moroney Both together and as individual marketing leaders, they’ve built teams and programs from scratch across a range of industries. You name it, they’ve seen it. Now, as Storybook, they use their combined experiences to support clients in building their best demand gen programs. Key Takeaways Demand generation is no longer just about capturing leads, but convincing people to take action.  Demand creation is less glamorous than it seems and requires an infinite war chest of VC money.  On-ramps and off-ramps are essential for generating awareness.  B2B buying is more pragmatic than emotional, so creating super fans is unrealistic. Attribution is proof that you did your job, not necessarily informing whether things work.  Brand awareness is a spectrum starting from recognizing the brand to understanding what it does and eventually leading to preference.  Channels should not be treated as having to start and end the entire experience for someone.  Marketing's job is to make all channels work better and increase the efficacy of programs.  Content creates trust, not awareness. Most purchases in tech are pragmatic, not emotional. Outbound is an effective on-ramp and off-ramp for demand creation. Outbound can be used to road-test messaging before investing in advertising. SDR teams should be part of demand gen teams to remove competition for attribution. Outbound and Inbound should work together in a symbiotic relationship. Quotes  “Most of DemandGen is convincing people that you're worth listening to, and telling them what you do as effectively as you possibly can.” – Liam Moroney “And I think all too often the competition for attribution leads us to get in our way and cause these sorts of off-ramps to be siloed from one another rather than pulling them all into the same umbrella.” – Graceanne (Domino) MacDonald  Recommended Resources  Books Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This by Luke Sullivan and Edward Boches Everybody Writes by Ann Handley Newsletters Emily Kramer’s MKT1 Newsletter SparkToro’s Audience Research Newsletter Shout-outs Amanda Natividad - VP of Marketing at SparkToro Rand Fishkin – CEO of SparkToro Katelyn Bourgoin – CEO & Lead Trainer at Customer Camp  Connect with Graceanne (Domino) MacDonald | Connect with Liam Moroney | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on LinkedIn | Website | LinkedIn

In this episode of Sunny Side Up, host Brian Horvath engages in an enlightening conversation with Karen Stephens, Chief Revenue Officer at Revinate, about the role of AI and first-party data in the hospitality industry. They explore how AI is being embraced in the industry, its benefits in terms of automation and improved guest experience, and the importance of integrating AI technologies with first-party data. They also discuss the challenges hoteliers face in aggregating and leveraging data effectively, ensuring data privacy and compliance, and offering valuable recommendations for industry resources. Karen emphasizes the necessity for hoteliers to align with evolving technology, compliance laws, and data privacy standards like GDPR. The conversation also touches on the benefits of industry partnerships for better data handling, using Revinate’s collaboration with Amazon Web Services as an example. To conclude, Karen advocates for the organization and effective utilization of data at different levels within the hospitality industry. This insightful episode offers a deep dive into the intersection of hospitality, technology, and data privacy. Connect with Karen Stephens | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on LinkedIn

In this episode of Sunny Side Up, host Erik Blaze interviews Jay Hinman, the VP of Marketing at Vibes, a trusted mobile engagement platform for enterprise brands. They discuss the evolution of Demand Generation (Demand Gen), highlighting how it has transitioned from being seen as a cost center to a revenue center, largely due to advancements in cloud-based marketing automation platforms and the rise of Account-Based Marketing (ABM). He delves into the shift in success metrics in the field and how Vibes helps brands nurture customer relationships on mobile platforms. Jay further explores the engagement gap between email marketing and mobile app marketing and the future of mobile marketing technology. Finally, they discuss navigating economic downturns and the power of testing and learning from small successes. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Connect with Jay Hinman⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on LinkedIn

In this episode of Sunny Side Up, host Jordan Saucedo interviews Clint Buechler, a demand generation manager with experience in SaaS, FinTech, payments, and real estate. They discuss the importance of combining product marketing and demand generation roles to create a successful ABM program. Clint shares his insights on setting up the data structure, analytics, and testing for success. He also provides segmentation tips, leveraging tools such as chatbots for audience list building and competition monitoring, using firmographic, demographic, and technographic data, and integration partners to segment accounts. Additionally, he suggests looking at LinkedIn ads impressions and job titles when setting up campaigns to capture demand. Finally, they discuss the need for sales engagement and getting buy-in from sales and marketing teams as well as finding product-market fit and having the right message for the right audience at the right time.  ⁠⁠⁠⁠Connect with Clint Buechler⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on LinkedIn

In this episode of Sunny Side Up, host Katharine Noonan interviews Cristy Garcia, Chief Marketing Officer at impact.com. Cristy explores the skills and qualities a modern CMO needs to be successful in their business and career. She discusses the importance of being data-driven, understanding digital marketing channels, and having a creative mindset. She also explains why it’s important to invest in relationships and stay up-to-date with trends in the rapidly evolving marketing industry. Cristy then touches on advice for leveraging partnerships as a more efficient way to drive growth and revenue in challenging times. Finally, she talks about how CMOs can stay ahead by understanding Gen Z and the latest technologies. ⁠⁠⁠Connect with Cristy Garcia⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on LinkedIn

In this episode of Sunny Side Up, host Rory Costello interviews Michael McCunney, VP of Marketing at Revenue Analytics and winner of the 2022 CMO Club Marketing Award for Creativity and Storytelling. He shares his experience of applying to the CMO Club and getting rejected before reapplying with a larger company. He discusses the importance of investing in communities to build relationships, gain knowledge, and strengthen self-confidence. He encourages junior marketers to speak in terms of revenue, sales, and costs to earn respect from C-Suite peers. Michael also talks about his upcoming book, Marketer One, aimed at marketers who are a team of one or entrepreneurs who need to do their marketing. The book will offer practical advice on how to build and scale a MarTech stack, build a W2 team, and avoid landmines along the way. ⁠⁠⁠Connect with Michael McCunney | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on LinkedIn