8 Steps For Building and Leading a High Performance Team, with Jen Anderson

WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:16.679 Conversations from the front lines and marketing. This is be tob growth, coming 2 00:00:16.679 --> 00:00:20.000 to you from just outside Austin, Texas. I'm your host, Benjie Block, 3 00:00:20.039 --> 00:00:24.760 and joining me today rex our vp of revenue at sweet fish, and 4 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:28.920 emily, our creative content lead. Now, in a few minutes you're going 5 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:34.520 to hear a featured conversation to throwback episode eight steps for Building and leading a 6 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:40.320 high performance team with Jen Anderson. We're excited to share that today, but 7 00:00:40.520 --> 00:00:44.759 before we get there, I wanted to bring something that I've been paying attention 8 00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:49.000 to and it's a linkedin post today, something from marketing that I think we 9 00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:55.039 should be talking about now. I shared on Linkedin how oftentimes we can, 10 00:00:56.280 --> 00:01:00.000 you can see a gated piece of content and basically just to ignore it. 11 00:01:00.039 --> 00:01:04.120 But we all want to like hat. We all have that desire, I 12 00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:07.760 think, to create that piece of content that like gets the emails, or 13 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:11.439 maybe you have a quota or something that you're trying to meet, and so 14 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:15.359 we get tempted in that direction. I posted that and then Chris Piper from 15 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:19.560 over at scribe commented and said he had just written something about that today. 16 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:23.319 Actually a case study that helps prove my point. That people don't really pay 17 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:29.879 attention to that gated content and he said he was nervous about ungating their content. 18 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:34.640 And if you're unsure, if you should that the proof is kind of 19 00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:38.680 in the pudding that when they ran a case study, because in March of 20 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:44.280 two thousand and twenty, when covid hit, they decided to basically say, 21 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:48.599 all right, we're going to allow this stuff to be ungated, and the 22 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:53.560 result is as a as a company that helps authors publish their books right, 23 00:01:53.959 --> 00:02:00.159 they had over twenty Fivezero people joined them in their courses that they began to 24 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:05.680 give away for free, and he says that they can attribute over a million 25 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:10.280 in directly attributed revenue at a minimum. So there's a lot here, but 26 00:02:10.360 --> 00:02:15.319 the basic premise of this post, and even what I was talking about over 27 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:17.479 on Linkedin that I want to bring to you, rex and Emily, today, 28 00:02:17.560 --> 00:02:22.400 is this just this idea of gated content. We have a fear around 29 00:02:22.439 --> 00:02:25.159 just allowing all of our content to go out into the world without collecting any 30 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:30.599 information on the people that are interacting with it. Yet we also know like 31 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:35.159 a lot of good comes from just that interaction of saying hey, here's quality 32 00:02:35.240 --> 00:02:38.759 content and you don't have to give us anything in return. I'm a big 33 00:02:38.800 --> 00:02:42.520 proponent of that. Let's just start with this question. How do you guys 34 00:02:42.520 --> 00:02:46.879 feel about gated, verse UNGATED Content Rex Europe? First? Well, I 35 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:53.039 feel like we're super biased because emily is a single piece of content. You 36 00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:55.080 create as as our create content. Lead like, is there anything you gate? 37 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:59.919 Have you gated one thing since you've been here now? Not a single 38 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:04.319 thing. Right. It's like we're coming at this with a totally different perspective, 39 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:07.879 and I think it goes back to our CEO, our founder, James 40 00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:12.080 Carberry, and like his approach has always been tell the world what you're building 41 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:15.199 while you're building that he learned that from Gary Vander Chuck. Like this is 42 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:19.639 this is not a new concept, but to see a lived out so fully 43 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:23.719 across our entire company. That I mean he originally hired emily to focus on 44 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:29.039 writing and then ultimately building out our evangelism program like he just wanted to share 45 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:30.800 with the world what we were doing and what we were learning, what we 46 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:32.439 were seeing. I mean the fact that we have be to be growth is 47 00:03:32.439 --> 00:03:37.680 in part just so we can share the perspectives of diverse array of markers and 48 00:03:37.719 --> 00:03:42.360 like what they're learning seem so like we just don't believe in gating anything from 49 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:46.479 the very beginning. So I think we come at this with a totally different 50 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:50.159 angle. I think from my past experience, I've worked at companies where I 51 00:03:50.199 --> 00:03:53.919 was a sales rep and given leads that came from gating content and they were 52 00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:57.400 of the lowest caliber you can imagine. It was really like, you know, 53 00:03:57.599 --> 00:04:00.639 it's still held true, that ten percent of them were in market and 54 00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:02.759 everybody else didn't care. So, yeah, are you still going to hit 55 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:06.240 some wins with some of those mqls you're creating from the getting content? Totally, 56 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:09.400 that's possible, but it's going to it's going to match the ratios of 57 00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:13.319 the market that you would have gotten from traffic overall if you hadn't gated it. 58 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:15.319 So I don't know, emily, if you have a different perspective on 59 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:17.199 that. Yeah, I don't know that this is going to be a super 60 00:04:17.240 --> 00:04:21.199 interesting talk because I'm with you one hundred percent, just because, like you 61 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:26.040 said, that's I know I am and it's, you know, not to 62 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:29.680 be like self promotion or anything, but this is how we've operated, right 63 00:04:29.720 --> 00:04:32.920 we you don't get our content even I'm thinking of like the marketing course that 64 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:36.480 we put out last year or the year before, and we didn't get that. 65 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:41.759 We just put it out for free, because that's the whole point of 66 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:46.079 what we're doing. Our business is to help people create podcasts, and so 67 00:04:46.199 --> 00:04:48.480 if we can give a guide to do that, then that's great and then 68 00:04:48.519 --> 00:04:51.279 hopefully they come to us and they want more help and then you've got a 69 00:04:51.319 --> 00:04:56.319 customer. But I think from the get go you have to be just giving 70 00:04:56.399 --> 00:04:59.600 value over and over and over again for free, like you have to just 71 00:04:59.639 --> 00:05:01.279 be putting so much content out there, and that's why we do it on 72 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:04.639 Linkedin, that's why we get our team to do it on Linkedin, because 73 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:09.639 that kind of thing is it's a long play, but it's going to get 74 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:14.439 you better results because you're you know, people are encountering you over multiple touch 75 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:17.720 points. They're seeing that you're putting out content that's hopefully useful and helpful to 76 00:05:17.759 --> 00:05:20.480 them, which would make sense that they would then come to you and and 77 00:05:20.759 --> 00:05:26.560 ask you for help. So I've never been a fan of gated content. 78 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:30.560 I wish I could add add a little bit of spiciness to this talk, 79 00:05:30.600 --> 00:05:35.040 but I agree with you guys on that. So it's just crazy because it's 80 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:38.920 still not the standard, though, emily, like what you and I experience 81 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:42.759 our careers, with Benji's experiencing his career. Like it's not like this is 82 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:46.160 the average. We're still fighting a battle here, like this is still so 83 00:05:46.279 --> 00:05:49.720 common for people to get white papers and ebooks. I can't tell you how 84 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:54.759 many if you go on and search on upwork for like projects that people have 85 00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:57.720 done like designers, how many of those are white papers that you know they're 86 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:00.279 just going to gate behind something. It's easy that it's still so common. 87 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:03.879 Like we feel really passionate about this. So maybe it's not spicy because we 88 00:06:03.879 --> 00:06:08.439 all are totally in alignment. But I think if you if you go and 89 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:13.439 look at especially older industries, the manufacturing vertical or maybe something it's not the 90 00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:17.279 Sass bubble or, you know, the linkedin bubble, it's still so uncommon 91 00:06:17.319 --> 00:06:20.639 for people to be willing to give away the value that their business creates through 92 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:24.560 content, even though they're making the content. There's just they just don't want 93 00:06:24.600 --> 00:06:27.360 to do it without putting something on the hook. You know. Yeah, 94 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:29.920 but it's like how do I know if I want that information? That you've 95 00:06:29.959 --> 00:06:32.439 gated, like I don't know, unless you have put out other information that 96 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:36.000 I've seen right, like, where is the the proof that this is valuable 97 00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:42.040 content to me? It's also a difference between like me going and interacting with 98 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:45.439 your content and then intentionally going and looking at more of your content, versus 99 00:06:45.480 --> 00:06:49.279 now you're going to like put me in some campaign that I have no desire 100 00:06:49.399 --> 00:06:53.560 really to like be in and you're going to hope that that drip is going 101 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:57.560 to somehow lead to me purchasing when in reality, if I was just interacting 102 00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:00.480 with all your content and I was in market, I'm going to come to 103 00:07:00.519 --> 00:07:02.160 you anyway and you're in front of me all the time because I'm looking for 104 00:07:02.199 --> 00:07:06.120 it actively, which is the type of lead you would want. So it's 105 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:10.839 it's just an interesting like shift. But there's also got to be and this 106 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:13.800 is where I, like my devil's advocate brain comes out, is I'm like, 107 00:07:13.959 --> 00:07:17.639 there has to be reasons why we've been incentivized in this direction that I 108 00:07:17.639 --> 00:07:21.399 think, even with good intentions, people like have gone that route and even 109 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:26.360 seen success in that route. We're just don't happen to be the company that 110 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:30.079 does that, and podcasting doesn't lend itself either to ever, like were clearly 111 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:36.279 putting out a ton of audio content right like for free to the whole world. 112 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:41.120 So our medium is not necessarily the one that would lend itself to this. 113 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:44.399 I think it's interesting because, like, in their decision ascribe, he 114 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:49.240 saying they could have probably charged like K for that type of course that they're 115 00:07:49.240 --> 00:07:53.720 putting out. That's a big time decision because you put a lot of effort. 116 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:56.839 It's not just like a content piece where you write it, you know, 117 00:07:57.000 --> 00:08:00.199 like it's like this. At one point was something we could have just 118 00:08:00.199 --> 00:08:01.519 had people come in, they pay for the course. Maybe they don't work 119 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:05.920 with us on publishing their book, but this is like a way with that 120 00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:09.639 we generate revenue and they're going, Nah, we're going to make this public 121 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:11.720 to everybody. This is really our expertise in a major way. You can 122 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:18.759 walk through it and we're now we're on gating it. So it's that change 123 00:08:18.759 --> 00:08:22.720 of mindset. I could see that being a little bit more scary than some 124 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:26.160 of like what we choose to not get because of the effort put in. 125 00:08:26.199 --> 00:08:28.600 Does that make sense? Yeah, I think I think we're all kind of 126 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:33.840 afraid that someone will read something great and then they'll close the tab and they'll 127 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:35.240 have or they'll jump on a meeting and they'll forget about us. So I 128 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:41.320 understand like gating gives us a chance to like give them more of what they 129 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:45.320 potentially wanted by showing up. So there's some like some positive intent there. 130 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:48.960 But I loved what he said in that post, was that he still gets 131 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:52.080 leads today who, in their in bow, kind of like their intake for 132 00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:54.840 say, oh, yeah, I consumed your content in two thousand and twenty, 133 00:08:54.879 --> 00:08:58.440 so two full years. Like I spent time with you two years ago 134 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:03.240 and now is the time to buy, because so few people are in market 135 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:07.320 today that it just it makes sense if you compel them but they're not ready, 136 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:09.399 they're still going to feel compelled. When they're in market, you're going 137 00:09:09.399 --> 00:09:11.840 to be the brand they think of. So I think he gave us more 138 00:09:11.919 --> 00:09:16.080 proof than just hey, it created conversions and it created a tributorable revenue in 139 00:09:16.120 --> 00:09:20.960 that year. It's been creating it for years. And when's the last time 140 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:24.759 we created content, gated it and it produced revenue for years? It's pretty 141 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:30.879 stinkin rare. I think the other fear is in this situation okay, because 142 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:33.159 of the depth of content that we're giving away, they can just go write 143 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:37.519 the book without us, they can go do the thing without us and overcoming 144 00:09:37.639 --> 00:09:41.200 that hurdle where you're going to work. We're proving that this is harder than 145 00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:45.480 you think it is to write a book right or, in our case, 146 00:09:45.559 --> 00:09:48.759 to make a podcast, like we're showing you you can do it, but 147 00:09:48.840 --> 00:09:52.039 you really do want a guide, you really do want someone to come alongside 148 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:56.279 and do some of the heavy lifting for you. That it's a switch in 149 00:09:56.320 --> 00:10:01.240 mindset that I understand why some people in the booardroom level, like the conversations 150 00:10:01.240 --> 00:10:05.679 on this, would maybe shy away instead of leaning and and going like a 151 00:10:05.799 --> 00:10:09.240 let's just make it all available to everybody at all times, you know. 152 00:10:09.720 --> 00:10:13.840 Okay, so there was one caveat that we didn't mention, but it comes 153 00:10:13.879 --> 00:10:16.679 up, I think, in the comments of his post, because they actually 154 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:22.000 had to collect emails because their courses run in a way where you had to 155 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:26.960 have a log in. So I guess one quick way of thinking about gated, 156 00:10:28.039 --> 00:10:33.480 verse ungated content is not necessarily that someone doesn't have to give their email, 157 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:37.399 but how you use the email afterwards. Right. So, yes, 158 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:41.279 in some cases, you might have a piece of content that you had to 159 00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:45.679 get a log in for, but did they put enroll you in a dript 160 00:10:45.720 --> 00:10:48.480 campaign? Did they put you like what happens with your email after that? 161 00:10:48.519 --> 00:10:52.480 I think, to me ends up being the marker of if it was gated 162 00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:56.159 or UN getted. Any other qualifiers you guys would put in? Or is 163 00:10:56.159 --> 00:10:58.159 that pretty much it? No, the falls in line with what I think 164 00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:01.559 of is gated. You put a burden there. You put them I've got 165 00:11:01.559 --> 00:11:05.279 to get over or something that you're going to do that. I didn't I 166 00:11:05.320 --> 00:11:07.440 didn't intend on that. Right. I wanted the piece of content. I 167 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:11.320 didn't want the drift campaign. I find it fascinating to read this whole case 168 00:11:11.320 --> 00:11:15.960 study and I I wasn't going to just straight up read his linkedin post in 169 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:18.679 full to all of you, but you can go find him, Chris Piper, 170 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:24.600 over at scribe and just a great case study and he's doing a great 171 00:11:24.679 --> 00:11:28.919 job of putting out more and more content and so give him a follow. 172 00:11:30.039 --> 00:11:35.320 All right, today on be tob growth we are going to have a featured 173 00:11:35.320 --> 00:11:43.240 conversation throwback episode eight steps for building and leading a high performance team with Jen 174 00:11:43.320 --> 00:11:50.120 Anderson. Happy Friday. Everybody enjoy this conversation. Welcome back to the be 175 00:11:50.279 --> 00:11:52.919 to be gross show. Today we are joined by Jen Anderson. Jen is 176 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:56.840 the director of be to be marketing at Rent Path. Jen, welcome to 177 00:11:56.879 --> 00:12:00.600 the show. Thank you. It's a pleasure to have you on the show. 178 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:05.039 Today we're going to be talking about not only building but building and leading 179 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:09.000 a high performance team. I think this is a subject that our listeners across 180 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:11.799 the board are going to get value out of. But before we get into 181 00:12:11.799 --> 00:12:15.919 today's topic, maybe you can tell us a little about what you and the 182 00:12:15.960 --> 00:12:20.279 rent path team are up to these days. Sure. So, for those 183 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:26.039 of you that don't know what rentpath is, Rent Path is a digital marketing 184 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:31.879 solutions and information provider to the rentals housing market. So we own five consumer 185 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:39.879 facing websites, apartment Guycom, rentcom, rentalscom live lovely and rental Housescom, 186 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:46.399 and consumers use those sites to find their next rental home. We monetize access 187 00:12:46.519 --> 00:12:56.080 to those to that consumer audience through digital advertising, different communication tools, lead 188 00:12:56.159 --> 00:13:01.679 management things of that nature to property management companies across the country. So we're 189 00:13:01.639 --> 00:13:05.879 a two hundred and fifty million dollar business where the leader in our in our 190 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:13.480 vertical today and we operate throughout the entire lead to lease sale cycle. Just 191 00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:18.039 to give the audience a little bit of context, we recently went through some 192 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:22.559 restructuring when we had our new CEO join us. Mark Lafar joined us last 193 00:13:22.600 --> 00:13:28.799 April and he came from bondage use, the former CEO there. Mark has 194 00:13:28.840 --> 00:13:33.639 a background as a seem he was the CMO singular wireless and he helped launch 195 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:39.120 the iceong with Steve Jobs. So when he joined our company he did a 196 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:43.360 lot of analysis to understand where we were really strong where there was opportunity for 197 00:13:43.399 --> 00:13:48.480 improvement. I'm one of the teachinges that he made late last year was to 198 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:56.240 restructure marketing and product. So we broke out marketing into two groups, consumer 199 00:13:56.240 --> 00:14:03.240 and BTB, and we also broke out several different teams in B tob product 200 00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:07.000 as well as consumer product. So on the BTB side, my team reports 201 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:11.240 to the head of BBB. There are seven departments that report up to him 202 00:14:11.240 --> 00:14:16.519 and be be marketing this one of them, and I joined the team. 203 00:14:16.759 --> 00:14:22.759 I was formerly managing a digital marketing team. So I consolidated my team with 204 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:26.159 the broader be to be marketing team and restructured it into some we started in 205 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:31.960 December. That's fantastic. I mean your resume certainly sort of speaks for itself. 206 00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:35.159 I mean you're obviously someone we want to have come on the show and 207 00:14:35.480 --> 00:14:41.399 talk to us about B Tob Marketing and today specifically, you know, building 208 00:14:41.399 --> 00:14:45.320 and leading a high performance team, which I think is fantastic because we do 209 00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:48.679 have a lot of guests that that come on and they have a lot of 210 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:52.720 incredible insight into the world of be tob marketing and things that the executives in 211 00:14:52.759 --> 00:14:56.919 our audience can be doing specifically for their company. But I'm excited to talk 212 00:14:56.960 --> 00:15:01.600 about okay, well, you know what else, and you do specifically that 213 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:05.759 is sort of team oriented. So I'm going to you, gentle'm going to 214 00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:09.440 kind of let you take it away. I mean the one of the first 215 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:13.600 points that you were going to be making today was actually structuring for success. 216 00:15:13.639 --> 00:15:16.440 So what does that mean? Yeah, I think a lot of people when 217 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:18.279 they think about, okay, you know, what do we need to do 218 00:15:18.360 --> 00:15:22.600 to incentivized performance, they go right to culture and they go right to, 219 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:26.440 you know, hiring. But but the reality is that you can hire the 220 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:30.639 best people, but if they're not if you don't have the structure and place 221 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:33.600 for those people to be successful, you'll still fail. So the first thing 222 00:15:33.639 --> 00:15:37.759 that I did when I took the BDB team over was I looked at where, 223 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:41.679 how are we structured today and and what's working and what's not working. 224 00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:46.679 And what I notice, which is true of a lot of marketing ords today, 225 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:50.240 is that we were structured around channel. So we had somebody dedicated to 226 00:15:50.279 --> 00:15:56.519 PR another person dedicated to email, another person focused on social, and that 227 00:15:56.519 --> 00:15:58.440 really led to a lot of stylos where the team was running into each other 228 00:15:58.679 --> 00:16:03.440 rather than working alongside each other to accomplish the overall goals. So what I 229 00:16:03.480 --> 00:16:07.799 did was I looked at what's our actual marketing process that we go through to 230 00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:14.559 operationalized marketing and really drive demand, and then I structured the team around that. 231 00:16:14.679 --> 00:16:19.159 And so we created three core pillars, demand generation, marketing operations and 232 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:25.519 analytics and customer experience, and each of those teams is responsible for a part 233 00:16:25.559 --> 00:16:30.039 of the marketing process that we used to engage perspective buyers and operationalized mess the 234 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:33.639 gene across channels to those buyers, as well as ensure adoption and retention post 235 00:16:33.639 --> 00:16:40.200 sale. So structuring in that manner to really allows for each person on the 236 00:16:40.200 --> 00:16:45.039 team to be part of the broader initiatives that were pursuing as a team, 237 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:49.039 but also allows them to really grow their competency tea or they're specialized in deep 238 00:16:49.080 --> 00:16:53.879 in a particular area, soill work broadly across various teams and also ensures that 239 00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:59.759 we're thinking about marketing from an audience centric perspective so that each initiative is effected 240 00:16:59.799 --> 00:17:03.120 at a cheaping our our core objectives. Yeah, yeah, I mean it's 241 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:08.599 a unique approach and it sounds certainly very effective. And you've also mentioned competency 242 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:15.440 and developing competency is actually sort of number two in our in our interview today 243 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:18.599 about building and leading a high performance team. So can we delve into developing 244 00:17:18.599 --> 00:17:22.079 that competency a little bit more? Absolutely so. One of the other things 245 00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:26.759 that I did once I structured the team around marketing process was I looked at 246 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:32.640 each person that existed on the team and evaluated where they really strong, where 247 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:37.079 do they have opportunity to grow and become stronger and specific areas and what skills 248 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:41.839 do they have that really would position them well for some things but but not 249 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:48.119 for others, and once I evaluated that, I moved people into rules where 250 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:52.200 they had an opportunity to pursue that team and get really continue to grow that 251 00:17:52.200 --> 00:17:57.480 that specialization, but also stretching grow in other areas. So, once I 252 00:17:57.559 --> 00:18:02.599 put everybody into those roles, I also evaluated where do we have gaps on 253 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:06.119 the team and then I began to pull in people that would help round out 254 00:18:06.200 --> 00:18:10.319 the skills in the team. So, for example, how this actually works 255 00:18:10.440 --> 00:18:14.599 is we have on our demand generation team we have somebody WHO's really skilled in 256 00:18:14.680 --> 00:18:18.759 campaign development. So she leads a lot of our campaign initiatives, but she 257 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:22.559 also works with other members on the on the team to develop or content and 258 00:18:22.599 --> 00:18:26.240 sales collateral so that she can further develop in those areas. Then I have 259 00:18:26.279 --> 00:18:30.279 another person on the team who comes from sales. So she's fantastic at thinking 260 00:18:30.359 --> 00:18:33.759 about, okay, if I'm a salesperson and I'm sitting in front of a 261 00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:37.119 client or prospect, how am I pitching this? And so she's great at 262 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:42.640 developing the right sales collateral for the end stage buyer journey. But because of 263 00:18:42.680 --> 00:18:51.680 that perspective, she's also really instrumental in helping US develop our our campaign strategy 264 00:18:51.720 --> 00:18:55.480 and our core messaging so that it's effective in the early stages of the buyer 265 00:18:55.559 --> 00:18:59.440 journey as well, and that helps us better align marking sales and so each 266 00:18:59.480 --> 00:19:03.839 of the teams has this mix of different skills and competencies and we've appropriately put 267 00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:07.759 people in the roles where they can really flourish and grow. Yeah, I 268 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:11.559 know it does sound organizationally as if you've you know, you're talking about getting 269 00:19:11.559 --> 00:19:18.920 people out of a silo and sort of aligning those efforts. So seems to 270 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:23.759 be very successful with with the sort of organization that you have going on. 271 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:30.359 And point number three was this idea of organization and project management it. So 272 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:36.160 I'd love to know kind of how that also sort of differs from structuring for 273 00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:40.240 for success, the first point that we talked about. Yeah, so once 274 00:19:40.279 --> 00:19:44.279 you've got this sort of structure and plays, I think it's easy to sort 275 00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:48.319 of forget will someone still has to be looking at the holistic big picture right, 276 00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:52.200 and so I'm certainly looking at that. But it's also important for there 277 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:56.559 to be defined, processed and handoff across each of these teams, both within 278 00:19:56.720 --> 00:20:02.119 marketing but also broadly across the company, and this is particularly true for rent 279 00:20:02.119 --> 00:20:06.319 path were working with a lot of different teams within the company. We're sort 280 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:10.720 of the intersection, so we're working with consumer marketing and consumer product teams, 281 00:20:10.759 --> 00:20:15.079 as well as be tob product teams, sales operations it and, you know, 282 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:18.680 three hundred and fifty sales people. So it's really important for us to 283 00:20:18.680 --> 00:20:25.160 make sure that we've got strong handoff and organization to manage these different cross functional 284 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:27.920 initiatives. So one of the people that we have on the team that is 285 00:20:27.960 --> 00:20:32.440 sort of that's it's sort of outside of the three pillars, is our marketing 286 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:38.079 project manager and she's really responsible for ensuring that as we move forward with different 287 00:20:38.119 --> 00:20:41.799 initiatives, whether there's small, medium or large in scope, that we've got 288 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:47.279 a very structured approach to each initiative, that there's a project plan in place, 289 00:20:47.640 --> 00:20:52.279 that we have people who are assigned as responsible and accountable, that we 290 00:20:52.359 --> 00:20:56.119 have firm deliverables in place and that there are dashboards and place for everyone, 291 00:20:56.160 --> 00:21:00.599 whether they're inside marketing or outside of marketing, that they can see exactly where 292 00:21:00.599 --> 00:21:07.000 we are in each project, what's been complete, what's still in progress and 293 00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:10.279 and whether or not worth hitting the the deadlines that we have on each of 294 00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:15.480 those initiatives. We also the project manager is also responsible for facilitating bi weekly 295 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:19.960 scrums, which are sort of all hands meetings, and this person she she 296 00:21:21.960 --> 00:21:25.759 leads the team through. Okay, looking at our projects. Not Talk about 297 00:21:25.799 --> 00:21:29.680 everything that's in green, let's talk about everything that's at risk and yellow and 298 00:21:29.799 --> 00:21:33.119 what's driving that risk, and let's talk about everything that's in red, what's 299 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:37.160 a blocker. And this gives the the team an opportunity to not only collaborate 300 00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:42.599 across there the different pillars within marketing, but also with the broader project teams 301 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:48.519 and it gives everybody the opportunity to provide input and help us move things forward. 302 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:52.000 It also ensures that we're not doing duplicative work. So one of the 303 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:55.960 things that we were doing when we were structured on channels. A lot of 304 00:21:55.960 --> 00:21:59.319 people were doing a lot of the same things and didn't even realize it. 305 00:21:59.359 --> 00:22:03.640 So having these sort of scrums give it gives us visibility into what everyone is 306 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:07.640 doing and how they're how they're all contributing to the overall team, as well 307 00:22:07.640 --> 00:22:11.680 as the company objectives and and because the project plans are visible to everyone, 308 00:22:11.720 --> 00:22:18.160 including our leadership team, everyone is aware of what's happening and who's responsible for 309 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:22.759 it, which really doubtails into our next topic of transparency and accountability. Yeah, 310 00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:26.319 yeah, absolutely, and I and I do want, I mean you're 311 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:30.680 talking about visibility and I want to get into this point number four, transparency. 312 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:33.759 Can I ask really, really quick then, Jin you know, when 313 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:37.920 you do have these biweekly scrums, you know there are a few key pieces 314 00:22:37.960 --> 00:22:44.359 of advice you have for making these something that your team looks forward to rather 315 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:47.599 than rather than dreading, rather than feeling like, you know what we're just 316 00:22:47.960 --> 00:22:49.759 we're just having another meeting, we're just wasting time. I mean, do 317 00:22:49.799 --> 00:22:55.599 you do a couple of key things that sort of keeps it pointed, focused 318 00:22:55.640 --> 00:23:00.799 and valuable? Absolutely so. We go through the actual project dashboard, so 319 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:06.000 every project has a dashboard with a roll up view what's happening this week, 320 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:07.720 and so we try to make sure that it's very structured. Everybody in the 321 00:23:07.799 --> 00:23:12.160 room is supposed to just focus on a few key points, something that they 322 00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:18.400 accomplished, which everyone it's an opportunity for everyone to recognize each other, as 323 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:22.240 well as focusing on the yellow and the red at risk and the blockers. 324 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:26.960 When you keep things very pointed and keep things focused on just what are the 325 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:30.119 high level points that we need to really address in this meeting. It keeps 326 00:23:30.119 --> 00:23:34.440 it moving to our scrams are only thirty minutes and a lot of times we 327 00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:40.119 have more than ten people in these scrums, and so everybody has to be 328 00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:42.839 super disciplined just move, keeping it moving. It's not an opportunity for everyone 329 00:23:42.920 --> 00:23:47.000 sort of Blowviy, but we keep it work, we keep it very much 330 00:23:47.079 --> 00:23:51.119 on track and focus on the key things that we all need to do to 331 00:23:51.119 --> 00:23:53.079 move forward for the week. We also meet twice a week, so in 332 00:23:53.160 --> 00:23:56.400 the beginning of the week and a little bit later in the week, and 333 00:23:56.519 --> 00:23:59.880 shares that not only do we know what we're supposed to be accomplishing this week 334 00:23:59.880 --> 00:24:02.240 but them we also, at the end of the week, make sure that 335 00:24:02.279 --> 00:24:06.240 everything we talked about earlier and that week actually did get accomplished and if it 336 00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:10.000 didn't get accomplished, it's an opportunity for us to ask why and what we 337 00:24:10.039 --> 00:24:12.000 need from the team to make sure that we can might move it forward. 338 00:24:12.119 --> 00:24:17.319 Gotcha. Also blowviate, great word, I love. I love the fact 339 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:22.000 that you use that word, very under utilized. Let's let's talk about point 340 00:24:22.039 --> 00:24:27.000 number four. Let's talk about transparency and accountability. Yes, so having these 341 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:33.400 project plans in place, it really gives us transparency into what every single person 342 00:24:33.480 --> 00:24:37.559 on the team is doing. It also gives us visibility, particularly me and 343 00:24:37.720 --> 00:24:44.599 the leadership team, visibility into resource allocation. And what I'd found is that 344 00:24:44.839 --> 00:24:51.000 people who are a players, particularly people who are driven by performance and results, 345 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:55.720 they want to know that they're hard work is not only being recognized but 346 00:24:55.759 --> 00:25:00.759 it but that they're not the only ones working right. And so having accountability 347 00:25:00.759 --> 00:25:06.839 and transparency in places really important. I would argue probably two of the key 348 00:25:06.880 --> 00:25:11.400 components of being a performance triven ten is offering those people transparency and accountability. 349 00:25:11.480 --> 00:25:17.240 So when you have these friends, we have this type of structure where everyone 350 00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:22.000 has visibility to what their colleagues are doing. They see how everyone is contributing 351 00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:26.640 value, they see how everyone is allocated and it developed a culture of trust 352 00:25:26.680 --> 00:25:32.200 and respect. It also empowers account of ability. So if someone isn't delivering 353 00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:36.480 on what their commitments are to the team, there's no hidings on it. 354 00:25:36.599 --> 00:25:41.640 The the the tasks are in red and and their past do and so when 355 00:25:41.640 --> 00:25:47.119 you have that level of visibility and everyone is looking at the same information, 356 00:25:47.359 --> 00:25:52.000 everyone is held to the same standards of excellence. I would also say that 357 00:25:52.559 --> 00:25:56.599 it's important for, I think, leaders to really hold people accountable. You 358 00:25:56.680 --> 00:26:00.200 can't say that you have a performance certain team or that you're focused on performance 359 00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:04.119 if you're not willing to make the heart decisions. So there are times when 360 00:26:04.119 --> 00:26:07.079 you're going to have people in the team that are just not pulling their weight 361 00:26:07.079 --> 00:26:10.839 and as a leader, you really have to make the heart decision. Can 362 00:26:10.839 --> 00:26:15.319 I skill this person up? Do they have the will? If they don't 363 00:26:15.400 --> 00:26:18.799 have the will, then there really isn't anything you can do. In my 364 00:26:18.839 --> 00:26:21.960 opinion, there isn't anything you can do about that. You can I can 365 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:25.519 bring I can help skill someone up that they have to bring the will for 366 00:26:25.559 --> 00:26:27.960 a drive and the will to actually do the work. That's not something that 367 00:26:29.000 --> 00:26:32.480 I can teach someone. That's someone something that I expect people to bring to 368 00:26:32.519 --> 00:26:36.880 the job and I have to be willing, just like every other leader has 369 00:26:36.920 --> 00:26:41.640 to be willing, to hold those people accountable. There's there's certainly there certainly 370 00:26:41.640 --> 00:26:45.119 needs to be an opportunity for improvement, but when someone isn't performing, you 371 00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:48.440 must hold that person accountable and make the hard decision to let them go, 372 00:26:48.400 --> 00:26:53.839 because otherwise keeping people on the team who operate at a level of mediocrity. 373 00:26:53.920 --> 00:27:00.559 All you're doing is is a rotine trust. You're a roting morale and ultimately 374 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:06.119 you crush strong performance because your high players are a you're a players are going 375 00:27:06.119 --> 00:27:08.880 to say, why am we working so hard when I'm being hauled to higher 376 00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:12.599 standards than this person over here who seems to be getting away with it. 377 00:27:12.640 --> 00:27:17.359 So it's really important to not only say that you're holding people accountable but actually 378 00:27:17.400 --> 00:27:19.799 pull the trigger and do it. You know, it feels like I've heard 379 00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:27.480 more and more people talk about this idea of sort of accountability for marketing as 380 00:27:27.519 --> 00:27:33.039 a whole as as a team, sort of tracking the the marketing metrics you 381 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:37.559 met, being able to measure marketing success versus just, you know, sales 382 00:27:37.640 --> 00:27:41.240 obviously easy to me easy to measure, marketing a little bit tougher. But 383 00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:45.759 as as sort of new tools become available, I've noticed that there's more of 384 00:27:45.799 --> 00:27:49.440 this push to accountability for the marketing team as a whole. But it's interesting 385 00:27:49.480 --> 00:27:53.759 to hear it. You know, even internally, you know the accountability and 386 00:27:53.799 --> 00:27:59.640 the standardization internally for your for your marketing team. So that's great point number 387 00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:03.319 five, and I think you've already started to touch on this, is the 388 00:28:03.359 --> 00:28:11.759 idea of recognition and and sort of incentivizing increased performance. Yep, absolutely so. 389 00:28:11.079 --> 00:28:17.720 I personally worked in several environments where this was not done, and the 390 00:28:17.920 --> 00:28:22.920 fact one of the things that I wanted to make sure that I did differently 391 00:28:22.039 --> 00:28:26.640 when I when I started to grow this team, was to make sure that 392 00:28:26.680 --> 00:28:30.119 when we do have a players that were moving them forward, that we're not 393 00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:36.000 losing them, because everybody has treated the same. So it's one thing to 394 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:41.759 talk about incentivizing performance, is another thing to actually grow people, and I 395 00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:45.799 don't see a lot of leaders really focus on this and I think it's unfortunate 396 00:28:45.839 --> 00:28:49.359 because because people will grow frustrated. They want to particularly a players, people 397 00:28:49.400 --> 00:28:53.319 who are very performance driven. They want to know that what they're doing is 398 00:28:53.359 --> 00:28:57.000 making an impact, and so if you're not focused on empowering those people and 399 00:28:57.039 --> 00:29:00.160 advancing them, you're going to lose them. So one of those one of 400 00:29:00.160 --> 00:29:03.960 the things that I've done is I've really thought about what are some of the 401 00:29:04.079 --> 00:29:08.720 different ways that we can incent up as performance, both from a from a 402 00:29:08.799 --> 00:29:15.440 verbal recognition standpoint all the way through to actually advancing people. So the first 403 00:29:15.519 --> 00:29:21.519 one that's pretty simple I think, is providing verbal recognition in front of the 404 00:29:21.559 --> 00:29:25.680 team, not just the marketing team, but the division meetings that we hold 405 00:29:25.799 --> 00:29:29.440 quarterly, as well as in front of senior leadership. Whenever I have the 406 00:29:29.480 --> 00:29:36.039 opportunity to to call out someone on the team for exceptional performance in front of 407 00:29:36.039 --> 00:29:40.240 our leadership team, I do it and it's important for that, for anyone 408 00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:45.519 who's got that visibility into senior leadership to acknowledge the hard work of the people 409 00:29:45.559 --> 00:29:48.400 on their team. A lot of these people don't necessarily interrupt with senior leadership 410 00:29:48.440 --> 00:29:52.640 on a day to day basis, so they don't necessarily have exposure, but 411 00:29:52.759 --> 00:29:59.160 it's also important for your senior leaders to know what people are contributing in the 412 00:29:59.160 --> 00:30:03.680 company. So I'm very careful to give credit to the people who are doing 413 00:30:03.720 --> 00:30:07.960 the actual work and and reward them with that, with that recognition in that 414 00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:12.799 phrase, at a leadership level. And this helps build collaboration and appreciation into 415 00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:18.359 your team culture. When people are are recognized only by their by their leaders, 416 00:30:18.359 --> 00:30:22.920 but also by their peers, they feel appreciated and it's motivating. It 417 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:27.839 helps them continue to want to come into work every day to feel part of 418 00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:32.599 a bigger initiative, something that's bigger than themselves, bigger than the day to 419 00:30:32.680 --> 00:30:37.480 day grind. The other thing that we started to do is implement non pay 420 00:30:37.519 --> 00:30:41.680 incentive, so things like extra time off. We work from home every Tuesday, 421 00:30:41.720 --> 00:30:47.279 but we've also offered additional remote working days. When people go above and 422 00:30:47.319 --> 00:30:52.119 beyond, I offer happy hours and team events. I also use different gifts 423 00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:59.160 to reward exceptional performance and I think it's just important for managers and leaders to 424 00:30:59.160 --> 00:31:03.359 say thank you. It's it's yes, somebody's doing their job when they hit 425 00:31:03.400 --> 00:31:06.359 it out of the park, but when somebody hits it out of the park 426 00:31:06.559 --> 00:31:10.839 and they go above and beyond you sometimes you need more than just a thank 427 00:31:10.920 --> 00:31:14.759 you. A verbal thank yous and just isn't enough sometimes, especially when you're 428 00:31:14.759 --> 00:31:18.680 pushing through a major initiative and people are in the office until eleven o'clock trying 429 00:31:18.680 --> 00:31:22.799 to get, you know, deadlines hit. It's nice to say thank you 430 00:31:22.920 --> 00:31:26.359 and then also say hey, by the way, take day off, and 431 00:31:26.440 --> 00:31:30.720 so we've really we've really leveraged that within our team. And I think the 432 00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:36.880 last point is advancement. So I I don't know why this is so uncommon, 433 00:31:36.960 --> 00:31:40.720 but I have seen it, particularly in mid market march or businesses. 434 00:31:41.960 --> 00:31:45.559 There's this this perspective that everyone should just get a three percent raise, and 435 00:31:45.599 --> 00:31:49.799 I just I don't believe in that at all. I believe in pay. 436 00:31:49.920 --> 00:31:55.359 I believe in playing favorites and not playing favorites based on I like this person. 437 00:31:55.480 --> 00:31:59.319 That doesn't matter. What matters is is somebody going above and beyond? 438 00:31:59.400 --> 00:32:04.359 Are they contributing exceptional value? And if they are, you must reward that. 439 00:32:04.680 --> 00:32:08.359 And so I don't believe in giving everyone this same advancement, the same 440 00:32:08.359 --> 00:32:14.599 performance paying crease. I think that that all that does incentivize and mediocrity. 441 00:32:14.880 --> 00:32:19.680 So I and I also believe that there's no reason why you can't find a 442 00:32:19.680 --> 00:32:24.559 way to give someone a an advancement of title, an advancement of pay, 443 00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:30.279 as well as an advancement of scope of responsibility. Yes, it means that 444 00:32:30.359 --> 00:32:34.720 somebody else timate team may not get three percent, they may get one percent, 445 00:32:34.759 --> 00:32:37.839 they may get zero percent, but if you have somebody who's our rockstar 446 00:32:37.920 --> 00:32:43.519 performer, they do deserve more, and so it's important for that perspective to 447 00:32:43.559 --> 00:32:47.759 be applied to compensation and advancement everybody on my team. I have an idea 448 00:32:47.880 --> 00:32:51.079 of where they want to grow. Some of them are a little bit more 449 00:32:51.160 --> 00:32:54.400 articulate and thoughtful about that than others, but I'm always looking at even if 450 00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:59.759 they have an articulated specifically where they know they want to go, I have 451 00:33:00.039 --> 00:33:02.839 I've already in my mind and idea how I can further leverage them in a 452 00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:07.599 more senior role. So I'm always looking at how it can grow the people 453 00:33:07.640 --> 00:33:13.599 on my team make sure that they're continuously advancing and and so I'm keeping the 454 00:33:13.640 --> 00:33:15.680 people that I need. I mean, at the end of the day, 455 00:33:15.720 --> 00:33:21.079 the Atlanta job market is competitive right now, so it's easy to lose good 456 00:33:21.079 --> 00:33:23.720 people. There's a lot of offers out there. I personally get contacted by 457 00:33:23.720 --> 00:33:29.039 recruiters on a regular basis. So if you're not proactively looking at okay, 458 00:33:29.039 --> 00:33:31.839 who are my top performers? Are they challenged? Are they growing? Are 459 00:33:31.880 --> 00:33:38.200 they dancing? You will lose them. Hey, be to be gross listeners. 460 00:33:38.279 --> 00:33:40.960 We want to hear from you. In fact, we will pay you 461 00:33:42.039 --> 00:33:46.240 for it. Just head over to betb growth podcom and complete a short survey 462 00:33:46.279 --> 00:33:50.880 about the show to enter for a chance to win two hundred and fifty dollars. 463 00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:54.319 Plus the first fifty participants will receive twenty five dollars as our way of 464 00:33:54.359 --> 00:34:00.079 saying thank you so much one more time. That's be tob growth podcom. 465 00:34:00.160 --> 00:34:07.720 Let her be number two letter. Be Growth podcom. One entry per person 466 00:34:07.960 --> 00:34:10.920 must be an active listener of the show to enter. I look forward to 467 00:34:10.960 --> 00:34:20.719 hearing from you. Yeah, I love how how deliberate and thoughtful you are. 468 00:34:20.800 --> 00:34:24.440 Sort of it when it comes to managing the team, recognizing those those 469 00:34:24.559 --> 00:34:30.960 all star performers that you have. You know, it's not it's not an 470 00:34:30.960 --> 00:34:32.719 easy thing. It's so much easier to just, like you said, say, 471 00:34:32.800 --> 00:34:37.480 oh well, everyone, everyone gets three percent this year. You've all 472 00:34:37.480 --> 00:34:42.320 worked very hard, but takes a lot more time and effort to sort of 473 00:34:42.360 --> 00:34:45.719 be delivered about. Okay, let's let's think about, you know, what 474 00:34:45.719 --> 00:34:51.039 we're trying to accomplish, who's helping us get that done? And and I 475 00:34:51.039 --> 00:34:54.239 think that kind of, you know, in a way definitely relates to point 476 00:34:54.320 --> 00:34:59.960 number six, having having a clear mission. Let's talk about that. Yeah, 477 00:35:00.079 --> 00:35:04.800 and I think I think this is really important and it's a small thing 478 00:35:04.840 --> 00:35:09.920 that can have such a huge impact. So, as somebody who is also 479 00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:15.400 driven by performance, I one hundred percent want to know what I'm working towards 480 00:35:15.480 --> 00:35:17.840 right I need to have a clear mission in front of me, and so 481 00:35:19.159 --> 00:35:22.880 I think if you have really strong performers on your team, it's important that 482 00:35:22.960 --> 00:35:27.800 you document what it is that they're working towards. They have clear goals than 483 00:35:27.840 --> 00:35:32.960 mine. So there should be no confusion on your team what the mission is, 484 00:35:32.960 --> 00:35:37.039 what the core values are, what your core objectives are. My team 485 00:35:37.039 --> 00:35:43.400 recently went through an exercise of actually drafting a formalized team mission statement documenting our 486 00:35:43.440 --> 00:35:47.440 core values and outlining each of our objectives, and each person had a part 487 00:35:47.480 --> 00:35:52.159 in that process, and so what happened was every single one of them had 488 00:35:52.199 --> 00:35:59.039 an opportunity to ensure that their voices were represented in that documentation and in doing 489 00:35:59.079 --> 00:36:01.400 that we gained a buy in. What are we actually here to do? 490 00:36:01.480 --> 00:36:07.320 Are we all clear on that mission what our actual core values? Right, 491 00:36:07.400 --> 00:36:12.199 and performance and hustle were at the top of our values list, along with 492 00:36:13.039 --> 00:36:17.360 accountability. We had we had a team meeting, we drafted this together, 493 00:36:17.519 --> 00:36:22.199 we formalized it and then we actually shared it out with others in the company 494 00:36:22.480 --> 00:36:28.559 and it's been incredibly empowering, I think, for the team because we've created 495 00:36:28.599 --> 00:36:32.039 sort of a unified team identity, but it's also really helped guide our interview 496 00:36:32.039 --> 00:36:37.079 process when we're bringing people onto the team. So it's helped us remain focus 497 00:36:37.199 --> 00:36:42.400 on what's important, as well as who are the people that we need to 498 00:36:42.400 --> 00:36:46.400 make sure that we're bringing in to accomplish those specific objectives. Point number seven, 499 00:36:46.480 --> 00:36:51.239 radical candor. Let's talk about it really quick. Yeah, so I 500 00:36:51.280 --> 00:36:58.440 am a firm believer in direct communication. There's just no time for passive aggressiveness 501 00:36:58.559 --> 00:37:04.119 or team conflict and you'll always have moments of conflict, but it's how you 502 00:37:04.159 --> 00:37:09.880 address them that really can make or break your team. So my team we 503 00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:15.880 all challenge each other directly, encourage it, expect it. Every single person, 504 00:37:16.000 --> 00:37:22.320 when when we're debating different ideas, is expected to participate and if they 505 00:37:22.679 --> 00:37:28.039 disagree with something that we're pursuing or an idea or a strategy, it's up 506 00:37:28.079 --> 00:37:35.559 to them to our take relate that during those discussions. If they don't articulate 507 00:37:35.599 --> 00:37:38.920 it, then they are buying into the solution that comes out the other end 508 00:37:39.000 --> 00:37:45.360 and they're responsible and accountable for helping the team implement it. So I think 509 00:37:45.400 --> 00:37:50.559 that there's an incentive there for them to voice their opinions up front so that 510 00:37:50.599 --> 00:37:52.519 they have buying later on. I think it's really important for us to all 511 00:37:52.519 --> 00:37:58.960 just be very direct about that. It's also important that we're communicating with one 512 00:37:59.000 --> 00:38:05.440 another when there's a failure. So nobody is perfect. We're in the we're 513 00:38:05.440 --> 00:38:09.320 in a kind of a transformation period over at wreck and path where we're growing 514 00:38:09.320 --> 00:38:14.679 really fast and we're bringing in a lot of amazing talent and we're growing out 515 00:38:14.679 --> 00:38:20.920 marketing and product substantially. But with that comes the challenge of managing that transformation 516 00:38:21.159 --> 00:38:24.639 and so there are going to be moments of failure, moments when things get 517 00:38:24.719 --> 00:38:30.599 dropped, when you know deadline is missed, and in those moments of failure 518 00:38:30.599 --> 00:38:36.639 it's really important for the team to challenge why. Sometimes it's because a of 519 00:38:36.679 --> 00:38:42.079 an organization issue, sometimes it's because of a competency issue, but it's important 520 00:38:42.079 --> 00:38:46.519 for all of us to challenge why those failures occurred, challenge directly and in 521 00:38:46.639 --> 00:38:52.199 doing so, put it behind us. We challenge, we get to the 522 00:38:52.199 --> 00:38:54.519 heart of what's going on, we solution for it and we move on, 523 00:38:54.559 --> 00:38:59.519 and I think that that is really helpful to date a strong team, our 524 00:38:59.599 --> 00:39:04.880 team, because of that. There's no pettiness, there's no backstab being. 525 00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:08.840 There's it's not competitive in the sense that people are competing with each other or 526 00:39:08.920 --> 00:39:13.480 competitive in the sense that we want to win as a company. Right. 527 00:39:13.559 --> 00:39:16.840 And so when we're all clear about where we stand with each other, there 528 00:39:16.880 --> 00:39:22.840 there's no misunderstanding, and I think that's really important. Is Transparency and and 529 00:39:22.880 --> 00:39:30.079 being radically candid with each other really allows for people to feel comfortable. Like 530 00:39:30.159 --> 00:39:32.440 if I if there's something wrong, someone will tell me. If I'm not 531 00:39:32.559 --> 00:39:37.480 if I'm not meeting performance gools or if I'm not following through my commitments, 532 00:39:37.480 --> 00:39:42.920 my teammates will challenge me on that, and so I think that that has 533 00:39:42.960 --> 00:39:46.480 been a huge benefit for us and has really helped us move the team forward. 534 00:39:46.519 --> 00:39:51.599 Then you and you haven't had to send anyone to the rent path thunderdome. 535 00:39:51.599 --> 00:39:53.840 We're sort of too much to marketers enter, one marketer leaves it. 536 00:39:54.000 --> 00:39:59.159 That sounds sounds like a healthier choice that you're making. Yeah, it's been 537 00:39:59.159 --> 00:40:01.679 really good. I mean the team has we just we all get along so 538 00:40:01.880 --> 00:40:07.079 well. We all have a really healthy respect for one another. I mean 539 00:40:07.119 --> 00:40:12.239 it's, I think, just being direct with one another it's created mutual respect, 540 00:40:12.360 --> 00:40:15.800 which is a been very important for us well. Jet, we're coming 541 00:40:15.840 --> 00:40:21.000 down the home stretch. Point Number Eight, the of the steps to building 542 00:40:21.000 --> 00:40:25.159 and leading a high performance team, professional development. Let's unpack that really quick 543 00:40:25.440 --> 00:40:30.480 yeah, so, I mean marketing is constantly evolving right the just the rate 544 00:40:30.480 --> 00:40:35.119 of digital innovation is enough to warrant a training budget in your broader marketing budget. 545 00:40:35.199 --> 00:40:38.039 And if you want to not only bring a players in but continue to 546 00:40:38.119 --> 00:40:44.480 keep them, you have to continue to challenge them. So I have actually 547 00:40:44.519 --> 00:40:49.159 looked at ways that I can invest in my team's growth. We leverage online 548 00:40:49.199 --> 00:40:54.159 trainings well as college courses. We go to serious decisions, dreamforce and different 549 00:40:54.199 --> 00:40:59.719 conferences throughout the year, not everyone, but the people who it makes the 550 00:40:59.719 --> 00:41:02.079 most sense for them to go. We also do in market field trips. 551 00:41:02.119 --> 00:41:06.360 So we have, you know, we have a considerably large sales team out 552 00:41:06.360 --> 00:41:10.599 in the field and every market is slightly different and so it's really important that 553 00:41:10.800 --> 00:41:16.119 every single marketer on our team understands what sales is facing in all of those 554 00:41:16.119 --> 00:41:22.119 different markets. And so throughout the year we have a budget for everyone on 555 00:41:22.159 --> 00:41:28.360 the team to go out into the field to join client meetings to enjoy and 556 00:41:28.440 --> 00:41:30.760 prospect meetings and get a feel for what sales is facing so that we can 557 00:41:30.800 --> 00:41:37.119 better articulate in our messaging, in our campaigns, things that will help move 558 00:41:37.159 --> 00:41:42.800 the needle for them. And so I've also encouraged my team that if they 559 00:41:42.800 --> 00:41:45.079 feel like they're weak in a specific area or they just want to learn something 560 00:41:45.119 --> 00:41:49.400 new to grow, encourage them to pursue that training. So I've actually set 561 00:41:49.440 --> 00:41:52.880 aside training budget which I planned to actually increase going into two thousand and eighteen, 562 00:41:52.880 --> 00:42:00.400 just to ensure that my team it's constantly moving forward and not becoming static, 563 00:42:00.559 --> 00:42:05.199 which I think is a challenge in today's digitally gurven world. Yep, 564 00:42:05.360 --> 00:42:07.719 Yep, it makes a lot of sense. Jen. This has been, 565 00:42:07.079 --> 00:42:12.599 I just, I think, some tremendous content. I mean this is definitely 566 00:42:12.880 --> 00:42:16.039 one of our longer episodes, but I think it's perfect because everything that you 567 00:42:16.079 --> 00:42:20.480 were talking about makes a lot of sense. It was very well put together, 568 00:42:20.639 --> 00:42:23.599 very deliberate, great actionable pieces of advice for our listeners and if any 569 00:42:23.639 --> 00:42:28.840 of our listeners are interested in following up finding out more about, you know, 570 00:42:28.880 --> 00:42:31.239 what they can do to build and lead a high performance team, they 571 00:42:31.239 --> 00:42:35.360 want to find out more about rent path. They want to connect with you. 572 00:42:35.679 --> 00:42:37.000 What's the best way for them to go about doing that? Yeah, 573 00:42:37.039 --> 00:42:43.719 I'm on Linkedin. On linkedin is Jennifer Anderson, Alanzie, and alanzie's my 574 00:42:43.800 --> 00:42:49.480 married name and you can also reaching at Jennifer Anderson at rentpathcom perfect, Jennifer. 575 00:42:49.559 --> 00:42:52.280 Thank you so much for your time today. It was a pleasure having 576 00:42:52.280 --> 00:42:53.840 you on the show. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.