1136: How B2B Marketers Can Build Digital Trust to Level Up CX w/ Amanda Mountain

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:04.519 Want to expand the reach of your content, start a podcast, feature industry 2 00:00:04.519 --> 00:00:08.910 experts on your show and leverage the influence and reach of your guests to grow 3 00:00:08.990 --> 00:00:18.309 your brand. Learn more at sweet fish Mediacom. You're listening to be tob 4 00:00:18.429 --> 00:00:23.260 growth, a daily podcast for B TOB leaders. We've interviewed names you've probably 5 00:00:23.300 --> 00:00:27.059 heard before, like Gary Vander truck and Simon Senek, but you've probably never 6 00:00:27.179 --> 00:00:31.300 heard from the majority of our guests. That's because the bulk of our interviews 7 00:00:31.379 --> 00:00:35.810 aren't with professional speakers and authors. Most of our guests are in the trenches 8 00:00:35.929 --> 00:00:40.609 leading sales and marketing teams. They're implementing strategy, they're experimenting with tactics, 9 00:00:40.929 --> 00:00:45.250 they're building the fastest growing BTB companies in the world. My name is James 10 00:00:45.289 --> 00:00:48.890 Carberry. I'm the founder of sweet fish media, a podcast agency for BB 11 00:00:49.009 --> 00:00:52.320 brands, and I'm also one of the CO hosts of this show. When 12 00:00:52.359 --> 00:00:56.320 we're not interviewing sales and marketing leaders, you'll hear stories from behind the scenes 13 00:00:56.359 --> 00:01:00.039 of our own business. Will share the ups and downs of our journey as 14 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:04.310 we attempt to take over the world. Just getting well, maybe let's get 15 00:01:04.349 --> 00:01:12.709 into the show. Welcome back to BEDB growth, I am your host for 16 00:01:12.829 --> 00:01:17.709 today's episode, Nikki. I be with sweet fish media guys. I've got 17 00:01:17.790 --> 00:01:23.500 with me today Amanda Mountain, who is Vice President of marketing communications at SAP. 18 00:01:23.819 --> 00:01:26.340 Amanda, how you doing today? I'm doing great, Nikki. Good 19 00:01:26.379 --> 00:01:30.980 Morning. Hi, Hi, I'm so glad you came to talk to us 20 00:01:30.019 --> 00:01:34.129 today, as man is going to be talking with us about digital marketing. 21 00:01:34.290 --> 00:01:40.609 More specifically, we're going to be talking about the role of building customer journeys 22 00:01:40.650 --> 00:01:46.569 and Digital Trust through digital commerce channels and how you guys listening can use those 23 00:01:46.609 --> 00:01:52.359 channels to up your game when it comes to customer experience and the customer journey. 24 00:01:52.439 --> 00:01:55.519 But before we get to all of that, Amanda, I would love 25 00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:59.200 it if you would just give us all a little bit of background on yourself 26 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:02.109 and will you guys been up to over their sap all right. So so, 27 00:02:02.189 --> 00:02:06.750 Nikki, thank you for having me on today and I do hope that 28 00:02:06.870 --> 00:02:10.789 my voice holds up for our whole chat. I had the pleasure of attending 29 00:02:10.789 --> 00:02:15.590 our sap tech at event in Las Vegas last week and, as you can 30 00:02:15.629 --> 00:02:21.620 imagine, that's a hands on technical education and developer community event, and it 31 00:02:21.740 --> 00:02:24.379 was great to meet with so many of our customers and partners and developers, 32 00:02:24.699 --> 00:02:30.050 but the tradeoff seems to be that I lost my voice by Friday and I've 33 00:02:30.050 --> 00:02:34.849 been slowly gaining it back over the week and I have some water here with 34 00:02:35.009 --> 00:02:39.210 me. But if it fails, I apologize in advance and I will, 35 00:02:39.370 --> 00:02:43.650 I will resume talking as soon as I could. Oh Man, say no 36 00:02:43.810 --> 00:02:47.800 more. Nothing like a conference or a Vegas trip either one to have you 37 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:52.319 to have you lose your voice. So thank you for, if we're overcoming 38 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:54.639 that, to talk to us today, and so I'll make sure. Well, 39 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:58.590 I want you to talk, talk, but I'll try and keep it 40 00:02:58.750 --> 00:03:01.870 shortwinded on my end. So let's get into it. Yeah, how can 41 00:03:02.189 --> 00:03:07.189 I know? You guys are are leading by example over there at sap and 42 00:03:07.229 --> 00:03:10.990 I'm looking to hear a little bit of what your your thirteen years of experience 43 00:03:12.550 --> 00:03:16.340 has, you know, taught you with respected digital marketing and the relationship to 44 00:03:16.939 --> 00:03:23.020 customer experience. But just talk really broadly about how BEDB companies can use digital 45 00:03:23.500 --> 00:03:29.370 to build that customer centric enterprise. Great. So, maybe a little bit 46 00:03:29.370 --> 00:03:34.009 of background on Sap Digital Commerce, which is the the unit actually that I'm 47 00:03:34.169 --> 00:03:38.530 responsible for for marketing, for and we're all about making it simple for everyone 48 00:03:38.810 --> 00:03:44.159 to do business with sap. So this is an example, as you said, 49 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:50.080 of a Bob Company moving to digital and in my unit is actually responsible 50 00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:54.560 for that. So we look at the whole life cycle, from discovery to 51 00:03:54.639 --> 00:04:00.229 adoption, to purchase to renewal. And by everyone making it simple for everyone, 52 00:04:00.270 --> 00:04:05.110 I mean from our end users, at the customers, to their line 53 00:04:05.150 --> 00:04:12.300 of business executives to their procurement counterparts. I also refer to our partners who 54 00:04:12.300 --> 00:04:15.699 are able to offer their solutions digitally through the work that we do. So 55 00:04:15.939 --> 00:04:20.459 we try to make it an end to end digital customer experience, not just 56 00:04:21.100 --> 00:04:28.490 of a sap solutions but also the innovation from our ecosystem. And we even 57 00:04:28.569 --> 00:04:32.649 look at making it simpler for the traditional sap sales people, because we take 58 00:04:32.689 --> 00:04:40.079 an omnichannel approach, which means digital and traditional working in tandem. Not Digital 59 00:04:40.120 --> 00:04:45.959 as a replacement but but rather an augmentation. And maybe the most visible manifestation 60 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:49.319 of our work is on as a pcom and are as a pea store, 61 00:04:49.879 --> 00:04:55.829 where we have a growing portfolio of solutions available for purchase in a few clicks. 62 00:04:56.269 --> 00:04:59.629 And talk about simple. I mean to get to that, to get 63 00:04:59.709 --> 00:05:02.870 to to a few clicks, we had to collapse a process with sales, 64 00:05:03.029 --> 00:05:10.500 legal, taxation, procurement payment that previously could take weeks or months, and 65 00:05:10.620 --> 00:05:14.980 that's down two seconds. So every day we get up and we ask our 66 00:05:15.019 --> 00:05:17.899 customers, how can we make this even better for you? And so so 67 00:05:18.379 --> 00:05:21.970 that is, I think, the way that we really use it, you 68 00:05:23.050 --> 00:05:27.850 know, be to be commerce to help improve the customer experience. I love 69 00:05:27.930 --> 00:05:30.129 that you gave me a couple things that really really stood out. I like 70 00:05:30.290 --> 00:05:35.079 the way you talk about digital as, as you said, an augmentation and 71 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:42.720 not a replacement. I think that's so key and it's how you really remove 72 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:47.360 friction when you're looking to improve the customer experience, right as you make sure 73 00:05:47.480 --> 00:05:51.430 that you're serving, like you said, everyone, and yes, it makes 74 00:05:51.430 --> 00:05:56.189 sense, is to look to the future and make sure that you are future 75 00:05:56.189 --> 00:05:59.629 proof. Is As folks are are saying when it comes to what your digital 76 00:05:59.670 --> 00:06:02.110 strategy is. I love that you guys are, like you also said, 77 00:06:02.709 --> 00:06:08.300 looking at the entire ecosystem and not leaving anyone, anyone behind in that equation. 78 00:06:08.420 --> 00:06:14.339 It's a really smart strategy and it's it is truly customer centric. So 79 00:06:14.540 --> 00:06:18.329 tell the folks how. I know there are folks out there who could learn 80 00:06:18.329 --> 00:06:24.170 a lot from from what you guys did. So how have the changes in 81 00:06:24.290 --> 00:06:29.970 customer behavior affected be to be digital purchases and how do you guys specifically address 82 00:06:30.050 --> 00:06:35.040 that? So I think everybody is familiar with kind of the interchange or innerplay 83 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:40.079 be to see, to be to be and the fact that, you know, 84 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:46.079 consumer experiences are really setting the bar for what people now expect in and 85 00:06:46.189 --> 00:06:51.990 a business environment. But be tob sales is also a complex environment and you 86 00:06:53.149 --> 00:06:58.230 have to recognize that there are you need to let the customer lead a little 87 00:06:58.269 --> 00:07:00.660 bit. So you know, for example, one of the very first things 88 00:07:00.740 --> 00:07:06.420 that we rolled out for online purchasing was the ability to make a credit card 89 00:07:06.660 --> 00:07:12.459 payment, and that's something when we talk about future proofing, I truly believe 90 00:07:12.500 --> 00:07:15.089 in the future that that is that is going to be, you know, 91 00:07:15.209 --> 00:07:18.490 a must have on the Beeb Commerce side. You've got to be able to 92 00:07:18.610 --> 00:07:23.970 take credit card, but also a variety of other payment types. But what 93 00:07:24.129 --> 00:07:28.610 might be surprising, you know at first glance or you know from an outside 94 00:07:28.810 --> 00:07:33.639 perspective, is that the be to be consumers that we work with at sap 95 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:39.319 maybe weren't quite ready for just the credit card payments. They you know, 96 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:43.800 they have told us and we've just finished. We just finished doing a study 97 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:47.470 with a research firm, futurum research, and you know, one of the 98 00:07:47.629 --> 00:07:50.870 things we haven't released the results yet, but you get a sneak peek. 99 00:07:51.750 --> 00:07:58.509 One of the things we found is that be tob buyers still want to collaborate 100 00:07:58.579 --> 00:08:03.459 around a purchase. It's there's usually more than one person involved. That's very, 101 00:08:03.540 --> 00:08:07.180 very different from a consumer experience where, you know, it's one person 102 00:08:07.220 --> 00:08:11.980 in their pajamas on the couch on a Saturday afternoon. You know, we 103 00:08:11.220 --> 00:08:16.730 all know the stereotype of that. But the business purchase is is being done 104 00:08:16.730 --> 00:08:22.170 a little bit differently and it's usually not one person by themselves. It's usually 105 00:08:22.209 --> 00:08:28.000 a small group and there's some collaboration that needs to take place as part of 106 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:31.639 that and they tend to still collaborate the email, by the way. I 107 00:08:31.720 --> 00:08:37.120 mean it's not that there aren't other kind of workplace collaboration tools in use, 108 00:08:37.639 --> 00:08:41.240 but the the B to be buyers we talked to for this study are still 109 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:48.110 are still collaborating the email and so they want the ability to share, like 110 00:08:48.309 --> 00:08:52.269 share the shop shopping cart, share a proposal or a quote, you know, 111 00:08:52.389 --> 00:08:56.940 via via emails. So you know, we did a lot to make 112 00:08:58.100 --> 00:09:01.460 the credit card transactions happen, but what we've had to come back in and 113 00:09:01.620 --> 00:09:07.620 add is the ability to create a PDF and and send it to your your 114 00:09:07.740 --> 00:09:13.529 counterparts. So I think the real way that the customers are kind of driving 115 00:09:15.250 --> 00:09:22.450 this change is they definitely expect the simplicity and the flexibility and the transparency of 116 00:09:22.730 --> 00:09:30.120 a consumer transaction, but they also want some of the more complex and nuanced 117 00:09:30.200 --> 00:09:33.799 aspects of be to be to be digitized for them. So they don't want 118 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:39.590 to have to go in to a big meeting with twenty people and the salesperson 119 00:09:39.629 --> 00:09:43.269 and legal, but they do want to be able to pull other people into 120 00:09:43.350 --> 00:09:48.990 the decision and they want that collaboration and that flow kind of digitized and made 121 00:09:50.029 --> 00:09:54.779 simpler for them. I really like I don't want anybody to miss this right 122 00:09:54.820 --> 00:09:58.500 because I'm you're painting the picture in my mind of this experience that I'm having. 123 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:01.580 So I'm going on a vacation to Miami with it my best friend. 124 00:10:01.860 --> 00:10:05.620 We're trying to figure out what we're going to wear and there's a lot of 125 00:10:05.779 --> 00:10:11.610 sharing of shopping carts and and I take for granted that level of cool of 126 00:10:11.769 --> 00:10:16.690 facilitated, easily facilitated collaboration. I mean, look, I can, you 127 00:10:16.769 --> 00:10:18.970 know, share are it gives me the option to my can I share this 128 00:10:18.409 --> 00:10:22.360 cart to her on, you know, Facebook Messenger? I do. I 129 00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:24.600 want to share it. You know, there's the option to share it in 130 00:10:24.679 --> 00:10:26.879 a slack channel, sometimes even, and so I take that for granted. 131 00:10:26.919 --> 00:10:31.360 In the bus experience and, like you're talking about, we're thinking so forward 132 00:10:31.399 --> 00:10:33.559 a lot of the time that we're all the way at, you know, 133 00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:37.710 step three, which is make sure that they can't we can take the credit 134 00:10:37.750 --> 00:10:39.789 card. We skipped a couple steps. That sounds like. When it's like, 135 00:10:41.070 --> 00:10:43.350 can they Asian share their cart? How do we facilitate their the fact 136 00:10:43.389 --> 00:10:48.590 that they're still on email, because I've heard a lot of folks recently talk 137 00:10:48.710 --> 00:10:52.059 about, you know, this idea that we're looking at and bb we're looking 138 00:10:52.059 --> 00:10:56.100 at buying teams versus buying individuals, and this idea of the decisionmaker persona is 139 00:10:56.179 --> 00:11:00.500 going to give, has given way to these buyer teams and the more you 140 00:11:00.659 --> 00:11:03.809 remove friction from that. But what I is the salesperson sort of keyed in 141 00:11:03.929 --> 00:11:09.850 on at first was okay, well then the contact that I'm speaking with are 142 00:11:09.889 --> 00:11:13.289 you to arm them with the right information to be able to give to the 143 00:11:13.409 --> 00:11:18.720 rest of their team. What I missed was how do I make it, 144 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:22.840 make that information easily shareable and and and that's what you just you just talked 145 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:28.639 about and I think that's really smart and really key for folks listening who are 146 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:33.389 on this, on this journey to, you know, facilitating the customer experience 147 00:11:33.710 --> 00:11:37.269 and so to that end, right, what are some of the top three 148 00:11:37.950 --> 00:11:43.830 the things that you've mentioned facilitating their you know, sharing of carts and things 149 00:11:43.870 --> 00:11:46.029 like that, but what are some of the top three hit trends in digital 150 00:11:46.299 --> 00:11:50.019 sales at are most important to be to be brands right now? All right, 151 00:11:50.179 --> 00:11:54.340 so I think, if I have to narrow it down, two, 152 00:11:54.460 --> 00:11:58.220 three, because I do actually think a lot of things are converging in the 153 00:11:58.299 --> 00:12:01.769 industry. So, you know, there's probably like seven trends, but if 154 00:12:01.769 --> 00:12:05.370 I try to try to, you know, condense into three, I think 155 00:12:05.450 --> 00:12:11.250 we'll be talking about experience economy overall as the driver of sales. I think 156 00:12:11.330 --> 00:12:16.840 we'd be talking about you quitousness of commerce has happening everywhere, and then right 157 00:12:18.440 --> 00:12:24.240 and smart use of data. So I go to that first one, talking 158 00:12:24.279 --> 00:12:28.399 about the experience economy. With be to be transactions, you do really need 159 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:33.509 to understand the full customer journey in a constant, always on kind of way. 160 00:12:35.190 --> 00:12:37.789 So you need to think about roles and per saunas that you need to 161 00:12:37.909 --> 00:12:43.149 interact with and also the roles in Persaunas that they are interacting with. And 162 00:12:43.389 --> 00:12:46.139 we just talked about that collaboration aspect. But you need to be able to 163 00:12:46.220 --> 00:12:50.179 do that and then without without the customer having to tell you. You know 164 00:12:50.500 --> 00:12:56.179 that context over and over for digital commerce at Sake, that also means working 165 00:12:56.259 --> 00:13:01.169 in tandem with our as, as I mentioned, digital augments the traditional sales 166 00:13:01.250 --> 00:13:07.009 process so that everything happens in context of the overall relationships. So you know, 167 00:13:07.289 --> 00:13:13.399 as a as a customer, if I have interacted with one person at 168 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:18.519 your company, I expect that level of information to carry over to, you 169 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:22.320 know, to all the other channels I interact with. And in the case 170 00:13:22.440 --> 00:13:28.309 of something like enterprise software, there's a really special relationship often between the account 171 00:13:28.309 --> 00:13:35.230 executive or the account manager and that customer and there's a lot of information there 172 00:13:35.990 --> 00:13:39.669 that they expect that, you know, that that personal touch, that context 173 00:13:41.070 --> 00:13:46.299 to carry over to their whole relationship with with sap. But they also want 174 00:13:46.379 --> 00:13:50.539 the ease and simplicity of the digitalization. So there's a balance to be found 175 00:13:50.580 --> 00:13:54.460 and and you don't want to disconnect the channels. Is just as really important 176 00:13:54.580 --> 00:14:01.289 to make it seamless and one relationship, both analog and digital. On the 177 00:14:01.370 --> 00:14:07.370 commerce is happening everywhere front on the go on different devices, and so commerce 178 00:14:07.450 --> 00:14:13.080 capabilities need to be built in such a way that they're always available when the 179 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:18.519 customer needs them, and that universal element really bridges the gap between kind of 180 00:14:18.600 --> 00:14:22.559 brick and mortar and the digital world for consumers. So you need your tablet 181 00:14:22.679 --> 00:14:26.309 needs works as well as your laptop. You know, if you pick up 182 00:14:26.309 --> 00:14:31.070 the phone and talk to somebody, that needs to be reflected, you know 183 00:14:31.190 --> 00:14:35.269 the the next time and the next way you encounter that company, and then 184 00:14:35.309 --> 00:14:39.899 DA needs to be harnessed for that context. So you know, you can 185 00:14:39.940 --> 00:14:45.539 have a bunch of disconnected data about a customer doesn't mean anything until you put 186 00:14:45.539 --> 00:14:50.740 it in context and then figure out how the brand can support the buyer journey 187 00:14:50.940 --> 00:14:54.730 for them in this all to make their decision process easier and more seamless and 188 00:14:54.929 --> 00:14:58.529 to understand what they want and when they need it. And with with the 189 00:14:58.970 --> 00:15:03.450 caveat which I think most people are familiar with at this point, without being 190 00:15:03.570 --> 00:15:11.639 creepy. So personalized to help me. Don't personalize on information that you you 191 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:16.519 do not have permission to use. Right. Yeah, it seems simple, 192 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:20.399 but even or even Iola, even if you have permission to use the information, 193 00:15:20.559 --> 00:15:26.309 your personalizing on it. Just does it advance the relationship or is it 194 00:15:26.470 --> 00:15:28.870 a sort of a transparent tactic to get my attention and have this sort of, 195 00:15:30.190 --> 00:15:33.870 you know, very superficial fame? Show me, you know me strategy. 196 00:15:33.029 --> 00:15:37.340 If you can see the seams of that strategy in the personalization. There's 197 00:15:37.340 --> 00:15:41.220 almost nothing more ob noxious, for like of a better term, as a 198 00:15:41.500 --> 00:15:45.059 as a buyer. I've been on both sides of it. I've done it. 199 00:15:45.179 --> 00:15:48.259 I've been the girl who's been like Hey, I saw you just open 200 00:15:48.299 --> 00:15:50.610 my email a few seconds ago. Do you want me to call you on 201 00:15:50.649 --> 00:15:54.769 the phone? And so that's not affective. Carefully, even though I have 202 00:15:54.929 --> 00:15:58.330 I have some implied permission to know that they just open the email. The 203 00:15:58.929 --> 00:16:03.009 advance the relationship at also, yes, yes, I you will get no, 204 00:16:03.529 --> 00:16:07.080 no arguments from me on that front. I really love the way that 205 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:10.080 you have lad these things out at what I want to get to these other 206 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:12.879 couple of points, but I do want to also make sure that I'm respectful 207 00:16:12.919 --> 00:16:17.840 of your time. But there's a really interesting question here. But I just 208 00:16:17.879 --> 00:16:21.269 want to make sure that we just wrap this up. For folks who are 209 00:16:22.070 --> 00:16:26.669 pursuing the type of balance that you talked about and, you know, up 210 00:16:26.710 --> 00:16:30.429 against things like you just mentioned, the term disconnected data. I think everybody 211 00:16:30.470 --> 00:16:33.539 out there has their own version of how they how they face that and their 212 00:16:33.580 --> 00:16:37.779 own business lives. But overall, what are some of the key takeaways that 213 00:16:37.899 --> 00:16:41.860 you found during your thirteen years at I say, if he when it comes 214 00:16:41.899 --> 00:16:48.649 to be to be commerce and and maintaining the customers trust digitally. So number 215 00:16:48.769 --> 00:16:55.289 one, and if you can't do this, don't bother. Be Transparent. 216 00:16:55.889 --> 00:17:00.370 One hundred percent transparency if possible, and that means, you know, price 217 00:17:00.490 --> 00:17:06.119 transparency and also, for us, free trials or even paid proofs. The 218 00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:11.480 concept, but the the fact is people need to know what they're getting, 219 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:15.269 why the terms are the way they are and what they're going to pay and 220 00:17:15.789 --> 00:17:23.069 if you can't meet that expectation of transparency you shouldn't be in the the bet 221 00:17:23.150 --> 00:17:27.630 being commerce business. So, you know, try before you buys is not 222 00:17:27.910 --> 00:17:34.380 optional anymore. And again I mentioned the the sneak peak into the study that 223 00:17:34.460 --> 00:17:40.740 we just completed it which was on the digital buying of enterprise software, and 224 00:17:41.140 --> 00:17:45.529 the initial findings, you know, where that nearly ninety percent of organizations consider 225 00:17:45.650 --> 00:17:51.450 product trials to be important in their digital buying process. Ninety percent, wow, 226 00:17:52.490 --> 00:17:56.730 eighty five percent of businesses rate one on one online product demos or video 227 00:17:56.809 --> 00:18:03.759 product demos is very important to their buying process and for four out of five 228 00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:07.160 organizations they're willing to even do paid proofs of concept. So if the you 229 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:12.470 know, if it's a more involved product, where a free demo or free 230 00:18:12.549 --> 00:18:15.750 you know, and not a demo? Demos are always free, but a 231 00:18:15.869 --> 00:18:21.029 free trial might be in very, very difficult or costly to do. There 232 00:18:21.029 --> 00:18:25.990 they're even willing to pay to be able to ask things out and pry it, 233 00:18:26.589 --> 00:18:30.940 you know, with their real data in their real environment. They want 234 00:18:30.140 --> 00:18:37.180 to test and try and touch and have all their questions answered before they make 235 00:18:37.259 --> 00:18:40.420 a purchase. That's incredible. So I already know I have to have you 236 00:18:40.500 --> 00:18:42.410 back on the show after Y'all release this study, and what I want to 237 00:18:42.490 --> 00:18:45.690 do is be like look, here the top of few things that we found. 238 00:18:45.690 --> 00:18:49.369 That ninety percent is chiller. Here the things we found. Here's how 239 00:18:49.410 --> 00:18:52.809 you address them, and I know we're going to. We would help a 240 00:18:52.849 --> 00:18:56.519 lot of folks out with that information. But until then, now that I've 241 00:18:56.559 --> 00:19:00.799 successfully picked your brain, Amanda, and you have given us so much, 242 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:03.559 it's time for us to talk about what you're putting in your brain. So 243 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:08.880 tell us about a learning resource that you engage with that is informed your approach 244 00:19:08.920 --> 00:19:14.950 that's just excited these days. All right. So for me in this is 245 00:19:15.309 --> 00:19:19.430 this is something I've been trying out for maybe the last six to eight months 246 00:19:19.630 --> 00:19:23.500 in somebody that that I, you know, know and respect very much had 247 00:19:25.259 --> 00:19:27.180 brought this up. I don't know, we're having coffee or something, and 248 00:19:27.779 --> 00:19:33.059 the idea just sort of sunk into my head and I couldn't let go over, 249 00:19:33.180 --> 00:19:36.619 like I it kept coming back and like I okay, now I have 250 00:19:36.819 --> 00:19:41.569 to do this. And the concept of reverse mentoring. So instead of you 251 00:19:41.690 --> 00:19:45.410 know, as you as you get, you mentioned a couple times thirty you 252 00:19:45.490 --> 00:19:49.130 know, thirteen, almost fourteen years at sap. Typically I'm sought out as 253 00:19:49.210 --> 00:19:53.559 a mentor or a coach by folks, you know, who are entering the 254 00:19:53.640 --> 00:19:56.839 organization or are, you know, you know, in a in a point 255 00:19:56.880 --> 00:20:02.400 in their career where they're looking to grow. But what's really useful for me 256 00:20:02.599 --> 00:20:10.069 now is is the opposite and seeking out actively people who are are new, 257 00:20:10.549 --> 00:20:14.470 who come from our new to the organization, are early in their careers, 258 00:20:14.589 --> 00:20:18.430 are, you know, perhaps even you know, jen why not, millennial, 259 00:20:18.990 --> 00:20:25.059 and learning from them how they think, how they approach things, what 260 00:20:25.299 --> 00:20:29.579 their opinions are. So instead of me talking at them, it's me listening 261 00:20:29.859 --> 00:20:36.369 and asking lots of questions, and the things that I have learned are invaluable 262 00:20:36.809 --> 00:20:41.250 and they can be, you know, as has been as impactful as me 263 00:20:41.369 --> 00:20:44.809 figuring out a different way to talk to a board member because of what, 264 00:20:45.170 --> 00:20:48.329 you know, somebody on an internship rotation said to me. As it is 265 00:20:48.450 --> 00:20:53.240 also facilitating my ability to also interact with my own children, because I learned 266 00:20:53.440 --> 00:21:00.200 what some different emojis meant that I I didn't know or understand previously. So 267 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:07.589 I highly recommend it. Hands on reverse mentor, you know, find yourself 268 00:21:07.630 --> 00:21:11.990 a young, millennial or Agen why to talk to you. Know, I 269 00:21:11.150 --> 00:21:15.230 love that so much. I'm actually I kind of fell into that myself. 270 00:21:15.509 --> 00:21:18.539 We we recently had a gentleman come on as name is Travis King. His 271 00:21:18.619 --> 00:21:23.420 into episodes out there for you guys you're listening, and he's ten years my 272 00:21:23.619 --> 00:21:29.539 junior and he has come on to cohost some of the baby growth episodes. 273 00:21:29.740 --> 00:21:34.609 And our sales meetings typically have ended up just me listening to him and all 274 00:21:34.690 --> 00:21:41.210 his little his little hacks to just how to interact with the world around him, 275 00:21:41.210 --> 00:21:44.529 because there's so many things that would never even occur to me that would 276 00:21:44.569 --> 00:21:48.680 make things so much easier my day to day that listening to him is, 277 00:21:48.759 --> 00:21:52.160 seeing how he gets things done. Have have really helped me out with and 278 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:56.119 so I love this idea so much. I've never I just wouldn't have thought 279 00:21:56.119 --> 00:21:59.400 to call it verse mentoring, but that's exactly what it is. Gosh whore, 280 00:21:59.400 --> 00:22:00.910 you go again given us more stuff. So I know, Amanda, 281 00:22:00.950 --> 00:22:04.190 that everybody out they're listening, just like me, has become a fast fan 282 00:22:04.269 --> 00:22:07.910 of yours. They're going to want to keep up with you. Tell us 283 00:22:07.309 --> 00:22:12.390 how folks can connect with you. So I would recommend twitter. It's Al 284 00:22:12.549 --> 00:22:18.339 Mountain is my is my twitter handle. Not that you can't find me and 285 00:22:18.460 --> 00:22:22.500 get me on Linkedin, but I respond a lot faster on twitter. You 286 00:22:22.579 --> 00:22:26.180 know, Linkedin is something I check periodically. In twitter, I'm on every 287 00:22:26.180 --> 00:22:32.690 day. So that would be my my recommended channel. And then, Hey, 288 00:22:32.809 --> 00:22:36.410 if you're interested in enterprise software, I would go out and look at 289 00:22:36.490 --> 00:22:41.650 SAP storecom because it'll it'll help kind of visualize some of the stuff that I 290 00:22:41.089 --> 00:22:45.079 talked about earlier. Thanks so much. Like I said, I mean it 291 00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:48.119 will have to have you back on against Dick Dad dive deeper into that report. 292 00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:52.319 You guys had come out got you were just a look of knowledge and 293 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:55.400 so much fun to talk to you. Thanks for coming on, Amanda. 294 00:22:55.680 --> 00:22:57.400 It has been my pleasure. Nikki and I can't wait to come back and 295 00:22:57.480 --> 00:23:03.950 talk about the report when we published. We totally get it. We publish 296 00:23:04.069 --> 00:23:07.509 a ton of content on this podcast and it can be a lot to keep 297 00:23:07.549 --> 00:23:11.630 up with. That's why we've started the BDB growth big three, a no 298 00:23:11.789 --> 00:23:17.579 fluff email that boils down our three biggest takeaways from an entire week of episodes. 299 00:23:18.019 --> 00:23:22.859 Sign up today at Sweet Phish mediacom big three, that sweet fish Mediacom 300 00:23:23.700 --> 00:23:25.420 Big Three