Transcript
WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.540 --> 00:00:10.100 having empathy for the market that you're going after on Billy being able 2 00:00:10.100 --> 00:00:16.329 Thio dive into and try to really understand what their true needs are 3 00:00:16.329 --> 00:00:19.900 and what they're going after, I think makes you more of an authentic marketer. 4 00:00:19.910 --> 00:00:28.340 A start of 2020 The majority of people had not attended or created Ah virtual 5 00:00:28.340 --> 00:00:32.580 event or a hybrid event as we closed the year out. Of course, there's been a 6 00:00:32.580 --> 00:00:36.000 dramatic shift, but that doesn't mean that we're doing virtual events and 7 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:40.710 hybrid events particularly well. My name is Ethan Butte, host of the Sea X, 8 00:00:40.710 --> 00:00:46.260 Siri's here on B two b growth and your guest here is Corey McCarthy. CMO at 9 00:00:46.260 --> 00:00:51.090 socio events. Not only does she bring great tips for people who are producing 10 00:00:51.090 --> 00:00:55.510 events, participating in events or even attending events in a hybrid or virtual 11 00:00:55.510 --> 00:01:01.050 fashion, but also useful stories about how toe educate and help your customers. 12 00:01:01.040 --> 00:01:07.410 Here's my conversation with Corey McCarthy. So many individuals, teams 13 00:01:07.410 --> 00:01:11.860 and organizations have to pivot at one time or another. Sometimes it's by 14 00:01:11.860 --> 00:01:16.770 choice or opportunity, other times by force or circumstance. For example, in 15 00:01:16.770 --> 00:01:21.420 reaction to a global health pandemic, today's guest is rethinking the entire 16 00:01:21.430 --> 00:01:26.260 customer journey in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, as her team helps 17 00:01:26.260 --> 00:01:31.570 companies shift from physical events to virtual events and get as close to live 18 00:01:31.580 --> 00:01:35.970 as a virtual event can. She founded her own strategic marketing firm, serving 19 00:01:35.970 --> 00:01:40.560 clients in software, hospitality, financial services and other verticals. 20 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:44.840 She's held several sales and marketing leadership roles over the past decade. 21 00:01:44.850 --> 00:01:49.720 Today she serves as chief marketing officer for SOCIO, a team dedicated to 22 00:01:49.720 --> 00:01:54.010 creating the best event technology for their clients while providing them with 23 00:01:54.010 --> 00:01:57.250 world class support. Their clients include brands like Google and 24 00:01:57.250 --> 00:02:01.670 Microsoft, Pinterest and Pepsico, Harvard and Hand I just to name a Few 25 00:02:01.640 --> 00:02:06.450 Corey McCarthy. Welcome to the customer experience podcast. Ethan, thank you so 26 00:02:06.450 --> 00:02:10.460 much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here, thank you. And before we get 27 00:02:10.460 --> 00:02:13.820 going in earnest, and I think the pandemic is gonna be a theme here 28 00:02:13.820 --> 00:02:17.990 because it's so critical, it's driven pivots at socio and, of course, for all 29 00:02:17.990 --> 00:02:22.270 of your clients, as we have to go virtual from physical. But just give me 30 00:02:22.270 --> 00:02:26.330 a quick drive by set the senior in San Francisco. The rest of the team is in 31 00:02:26.330 --> 00:02:30.330 Indianapolis. What's the situation regarding the pandemic for you. How is 32 00:02:30.330 --> 00:02:34.320 it affecting you, your team members, Your customers Just give me a quick 33 00:02:34.320 --> 00:02:39.510 drive by on that? Yeah, absolutely. I was hired as a remote sammo, so my life 34 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:43.060 other than it's awkward going to the grocery store hasn't changed much for 35 00:02:43.060 --> 00:02:46.500 the team that I'm leading remotely. I don't get to get there in person. I 36 00:02:46.500 --> 00:02:49.650 only started in January, and so I had to touch points with them before we 37 00:02:49.650 --> 00:02:53.640 went into the Pandemic. Luckily, it's, Ah, tight knit group that is really 38 00:02:53.640 --> 00:02:57.360 bonded and solidified our working relationship over the last couple of 39 00:02:57.370 --> 00:03:01.890 months. And so, having worked from home for most my career, I was able to help 40 00:03:01.900 --> 00:03:05.780 pivot the team and help them kind of get up and running a little bit more 41 00:03:05.780 --> 00:03:10.510 quickly than usual into that new cadence of working from home from 42 00:03:10.520 --> 00:03:16.850 company and our customers perspective, we were always set up to do virtual. 43 00:03:16.860 --> 00:03:20.680 However, most of our business was coming from live events and so we have 44 00:03:20.680 --> 00:03:24.450 a couple of icy piece that we're working with associations, major event 45 00:03:24.450 --> 00:03:28.830 organizers, enterprise and tech companies, and it's been very 46 00:03:28.830 --> 00:03:33.130 interesting because you can take those two segments and divided into 21 half 47 00:03:33.140 --> 00:03:38.230 whose revenue completely relies on producing live events and the others 48 00:03:38.230 --> 00:03:43.150 that do events is part of the marketing initiative. So when you drop into the 49 00:03:43.160 --> 00:03:47.050 associations and the event organizers, they're really struggling right now, 50 00:03:47.040 --> 00:03:51.600 especially the associations, because they've never had to think outside the 51 00:03:51.600 --> 00:03:56.250 box in quite this way. And so it's really interesting is we're finding 52 00:03:56.250 --> 00:04:01.310 that it's not necessarily a pivot from virtual events, from live events to 53 00:04:01.310 --> 00:04:06.750 virtual events. It's actually a pivot from events to marketing, because any 54 00:04:06.750 --> 00:04:13.020 virtual event is marketing. And what a lot of the association, uh, managers 55 00:04:13.020 --> 00:04:17.750 don't understand is that the opportunity to reach far outside your 56 00:04:17.750 --> 00:04:23.450 existing account base or your existing membership base is there. And there's a 57 00:04:23.450 --> 00:04:29.660 really great opportunity to grow and to accelerate the association's mission. 58 00:04:29.940 --> 00:04:33.180 And they're not understanding that yet because they've never had to think like 59 00:04:33.180 --> 00:04:36.070 marketers. They think like event planners, which is, you know, very 60 00:04:36.070 --> 00:04:40.710 detail oriented, very process oriented. And so we're asking them in this moment 61 00:04:40.710 --> 00:04:45.060 to use an entirely new skill set that either they haven't used in a long time 62 00:04:45.060 --> 00:04:49.350 or were never asked to. So my team and I have been doing a lot of education 63 00:04:49.350 --> 00:04:53.020 around that to make them feel more comfortable with that pivot. Really 64 00:04:53.020 --> 00:04:56.580 good. I'm so excited for the rest of the conversation now. I mean, you know, 65 00:04:56.580 --> 00:05:00.360 I've been asking that question a lot, just thio, just to get to know people 66 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:05.700 in situations and markets and customers differently, from different seats in 67 00:05:05.700 --> 00:05:08.850 organizations and from different industries and things. This one 68 00:05:08.850 --> 00:05:11.960 obviously lends itself to a lot of the conversation. But that divide there 69 00:05:11.960 --> 00:05:17.220 between primary and, you know, support. You know, what is the role of the event 70 00:05:17.220 --> 00:05:21.740 for these people? So, so interesting? And you really teed up an interesting 71 00:05:21.740 --> 00:05:26.300 conversation around transitioning from just being a service provider. We 72 00:05:26.300 --> 00:05:30.780 provide an app. We provide tools to you to being a true partner. And how do we 73 00:05:30.780 --> 00:05:34.280 make sure that you stay successful so I don't wanna get too far ahead, So we'll 74 00:05:34.280 --> 00:05:38.190 start where we always start here, which is customer experience when I say that, 75 00:05:38.190 --> 00:05:42.790 Cory, what does customer experience mean to you? Customer experience means 76 00:05:42.790 --> 00:05:46.170 from the very first time you see or meet a brand, how you feel about it and 77 00:05:46.170 --> 00:05:49.480 how you continue to feel about it after you interact with all of the multiple 78 00:05:49.480 --> 00:05:53.300 touch points that that brand has to offer. And at the end of that journey, 79 00:05:53.300 --> 00:05:59.210 are you willing to recommend that brand to your friends and to your family? And 80 00:05:59.210 --> 00:06:04.350 so I guess the idea of customer experiences, you know, results in the 81 00:06:04.360 --> 00:06:09.850 end goal of Thean NPS score you captured there What? I did an entire 10 82 00:06:09.850 --> 00:06:13.580 minute episode of this podcast. I do some shorter episodes where I just kind 83 00:06:13.580 --> 00:06:16.970 of share some of my own thoughts and experiences, typically based on what I 84 00:06:16.970 --> 00:06:20.280 learned from from smart and kind folks like you who spent time with me on the 85 00:06:20.280 --> 00:06:24.900 podcast. And it's this. It starts with the feeling, and then it becomes 86 00:06:24.900 --> 00:06:28.160 thoughts. And then it becomes stories and the stories or what we tell in 87 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:32.010 online reviews. That's what we've given MPs feedback. It's what we provide in 88 00:06:32.010 --> 00:06:34.730 terms of word of mouth. I'm right there with you on that whole definition. 89 00:06:34.730 --> 00:06:38.230 Thank you for that. So before we go farther for folks who aren't familiar, 90 00:06:38.230 --> 00:06:41.170 we've already kind of previewed a little bit. But for folks who aren't 91 00:06:41.170 --> 00:06:44.760 familiar. Tell me a little bit about socio, like who is your ideal customer? 92 00:06:44.760 --> 00:06:48.450 You kind of defined two large groups. And then what do you solve for them? 93 00:06:48.460 --> 00:06:52.830 Sure, socio is an event platform that works with a number of different 94 00:06:52.830 --> 00:06:55.830 companies, anything from an enterprise organization and all the way down 95 00:06:55.830 --> 00:06:59.290 through the associations. And we work with anyone who is looking to pull 96 00:06:59.290 --> 00:07:04.000 together. An event used to be a lot of live events, of course, but we're 97 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:08.450 really taking a holistic look at how events fit into the Greater Martek 98 00:07:08.450 --> 00:07:12.560 space. Historically, events have represented about 20% of all marketing 99 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:17.970 budgets, and it is the most difficult to provide Arli stats to feed back into 100 00:07:17.970 --> 00:07:22.510 your CEO about to justify. However, the brand awareness and everything else 101 00:07:22.510 --> 00:07:25.280 that goes along with it is extraordinary, which is why marketers 102 00:07:25.280 --> 00:07:30.230 continue to do it. So article with our event platform is to make sure thio 103 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:36.320 capture enough attendee data and allow Organizer's the tools that they need to 104 00:07:36.330 --> 00:07:40.070 communicate with their attendees and give that really great attendee 105 00:07:40.080 --> 00:07:44.970 experience. So when you're talking about customer experience and push that 106 00:07:44.970 --> 00:07:48.890 into an event, what does that look like? what does it feel like? So it's been a 107 00:07:48.890 --> 00:07:52.690 lot of fun over the last couple of weeks here because we have been doing 108 00:07:52.690 --> 00:07:56.580 pivots not only with our clients but also with our technology as well, and 109 00:07:56.580 --> 00:08:00.010 going back into the idea that we're no longer working with just events. This 110 00:08:00.010 --> 00:08:04.940 is marketing, you know, one of one that we're working with here. Ah, lot of 111 00:08:04.950 --> 00:08:09.410 people spend so much time bringing everybody together into an event. And 112 00:08:09.410 --> 00:08:12.870 once you get them into your app, what you've already done is you've created a 113 00:08:12.880 --> 00:08:17.020 community on DSO. Now we get an opportunity to interact with that 114 00:08:17.020 --> 00:08:20.580 community or the people in the community, not just during the event 115 00:08:20.580 --> 00:08:26.260 but 365 days a year. And so, while we can't meet with each other face to face 116 00:08:26.260 --> 00:08:29.670 and getting together for an extended period of time, online doesn't make a 117 00:08:29.670 --> 00:08:33.900 lot of sense. Bringing together that community holistically allows brands 118 00:08:33.909 --> 00:08:38.380 and marketers to engage very continually over a longer stretch of 119 00:08:38.380 --> 00:08:44.110 time through that app or that platform which has been really exciting for us 120 00:08:44.110 --> 00:08:48.870 to stretch our legs and get into so good, really, really interesting this 121 00:08:48.870 --> 00:08:53.170 idea that the app isn't just for those gets back in the day. Three days that I 122 00:08:53.170 --> 00:08:56.920 was physically on site, maybe today, the day and a half that I spent, you 123 00:08:56.920 --> 00:09:01.200 know, on Zoomer and some other platform. So, folks, we're continuing to use the 124 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:05.750 app over a period of time is a place to essentially host ah community, get 125 00:09:05.750 --> 00:09:09.240 together perpetually and probably provide content and create some 126 00:09:09.240 --> 00:09:14.150 engaging pieces, polls and surveys and things. Absolutely. And what's really 127 00:09:14.150 --> 00:09:19.000 great is it's a mix of our A B M targets are prospects and our existing 128 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:23.300 clients. And so it's really cool about that is our existing clients really 129 00:09:23.300 --> 00:09:28.080 love the socio brand on getting them in there and having conversations. They do 130 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:32.210 such a great job making recommendations and giving ideas to non sensitive 131 00:09:32.210 --> 00:09:37.840 clients that they accidentally self platform for us, which makes it feel a 132 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:40.450 lot better all the way around. And when you're talking about customer 133 00:09:40.450 --> 00:09:45.140 experience, it's a lot more authentic in that community environment. ASL, 134 00:09:45.140 --> 00:09:48.160 long as it's curated properly, have had to fight to keep my sales guys out of 135 00:09:48.160 --> 00:09:52.240 it, just so that they don't kind of taint that good feeling Yeah, that's 136 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:55.610 awesome. There's there's so many conversations toe have off this. I'm 137 00:09:55.610 --> 00:10:01.140 really excited to get at it, I guess. Let's start with the pivot that you had 138 00:10:01.140 --> 00:10:06.070 to make and your team had to make a CMO in a marketing team, obviously. Okay, 139 00:10:06.070 --> 00:10:09.620 Are at a minimum, our message has to change. You already talked about making 140 00:10:09.620 --> 00:10:13.270 some changes to the Tech and continue to probably lean into the virtual event. 141 00:10:13.280 --> 00:10:17.260 Even Mawr. I would assume that you are probably doing supporting some virtual 142 00:10:17.260 --> 00:10:21.970 events already. But talk about. Start with talking about the pivot that you 143 00:10:21.970 --> 00:10:25.210 and your team had to make in terms of, you know, when I show up on your home 144 00:10:25.210 --> 00:10:28.600 page, for example, how does it communicate to me today Or, you know, 145 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:31.930 when I did this a couple days ago in anticipation of our conversation, it 146 00:10:31.930 --> 00:10:35.450 was very obviously all about virtual events. Talk about that process, like 147 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:38.620 when did you realize it was all happening? And, you know, what was that 148 00:10:38.620 --> 00:10:42.720 process like for you all to make that pivot? Yeah, it happened first very 149 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:46.390 early on. I've been in the event space for quite a while and having produced 150 00:10:46.390 --> 00:10:50.000 enough events. I know that getting attendees to come to your event is a 151 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:55.010 really finicky thing. When I was flying from San Francisco to Indianapolis in 152 00:10:55.010 --> 00:10:59.440 early February, the pandemic was already here and everyone was already 153 00:10:59.450 --> 00:11:03.620 aware of it. So it was very interesting being in the airport at that particular 154 00:11:03.620 --> 00:11:07.200 time because you could see already a couple of people wearing face masks and 155 00:11:07.210 --> 00:11:12.190 people kind of looking at each other strangely. So it was in that moment 156 00:11:12.190 --> 00:11:18.370 that I realized that oh, crap, thistles gonna impact attendance. Because if I'm 157 00:11:18.370 --> 00:11:21.980 thinking about it and I'm a little concerned about it, so are a lot of 158 00:11:21.980 --> 00:11:25.390 other people and potentially more so than me. So when I got into 159 00:11:25.390 --> 00:11:29.100 Indianapolis, I called my team together. I'd only been there a month, and I'm 160 00:11:29.100 --> 00:11:33.990 like, Hey, this could be a real problem for our company if people stopped going 161 00:11:33.990 --> 00:11:39.150 to events, you know, that's revenue for us gone. So we need to start writing, 162 00:11:39.150 --> 00:11:42.380 you know, we need to start, you know, adjusting a lover, content and writing 163 00:11:42.380 --> 00:11:45.890 about hybrid events. And I was even questioning the name hybrid events and, 164 00:11:45.890 --> 00:11:49.080 like, did I just make that up? You know, or is that a thing and so sexually 165 00:11:49.080 --> 00:11:54.510 thing? But at first, that's what we were talking about. And so we started 166 00:11:54.510 --> 00:11:59.550 pivoting and my team looked at me like I was absolutely crazy, like, No, this 167 00:11:59.550 --> 00:12:02.630 is something that all event planners are gonna have on the radar and start 168 00:12:02.630 --> 00:12:06.800 to worry about. So as soon as we got content out there, that's when the CDC 169 00:12:06.810 --> 00:12:10.370 really started shutting down live events, and my team started to look at 170 00:12:10.370 --> 00:12:16.960 me with a newfound sense of respect. So we started. We started that pivot very 171 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:22.570 early on, and we end up going back and continually updating and changing a lot 172 00:12:22.570 --> 00:12:26.180 of the content that we got out there with, because early on it was, Yeah, 173 00:12:26.190 --> 00:12:30.440 you know, throw some hand sanitizer around everybody. It'll be fine. You 174 00:12:30.440 --> 00:12:34.070 know, just be careful and maybe do a hybrid event, just in case, you know. 175 00:12:34.070 --> 00:12:38.320 So after everybody went into lock down and actually little bit before that, we 176 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:44.630 went through everything and we toned down any sales pitch. We actually, we 177 00:12:44.630 --> 00:12:48.110 completely removed all of the sales pitches. We went into complete 178 00:12:48.120 --> 00:12:53.740 education mode and went back and revised anything that was written a day 179 00:12:53.740 --> 00:12:57.660 or a couple of weeks before to take out any of the stuff that just sounded dumb, 180 00:12:57.670 --> 00:13:01.450 you know, given, you know, at that point, the daily, you know, 181 00:13:01.450 --> 00:13:06.640 circumstances that were being unfolded and unveiled Thio, all of us. So that 182 00:13:06.640 --> 00:13:09.750 had a major impact with how we move forward and then obviously trickled 183 00:13:09.750 --> 00:13:13.620 down into our website were a little hesitant to make too many changes on 184 00:13:13.620 --> 00:13:18.180 our website. Just because of S E O, we would. We weren't sure at that time how 185 00:13:18.180 --> 00:13:21.400 far the pandemic was going to go, what sort of impact it was going to make. 186 00:13:21.400 --> 00:13:24.540 And so rather than make a knee jerk reaction, we did a lot of really great 187 00:13:24.540 --> 00:13:27.960 content on the blogged and took it a little bit more slowly with the website. 188 00:13:27.940 --> 00:13:32.120 The other thing that we needed to do is while all of this was happening, I was 189 00:13:32.120 --> 00:13:35.020 going through and figuring out Oh my God, from a product marketing 190 00:13:35.020 --> 00:13:39.390 perspective, where do we fit? Why do you absolutely need to have an event 191 00:13:39.400 --> 00:13:43.260 app? And so it was a really great experience to go through because I was 192 00:13:43.260 --> 00:13:46.410 able to figure out that with all of the technology that comes into a virtual 193 00:13:46.410 --> 00:13:50.300 event, you need one thing. Thio string it all together. And the event AP 194 00:13:50.310 --> 00:13:53.080 actually did become the event, because that's actually where all of the 195 00:13:53.080 --> 00:13:57.250 sponsorship opportunities lie and a number of other things so going through 196 00:13:57.250 --> 00:14:01.660 that were able to make a lot of slight tweaks and product to make the virtual 197 00:14:01.660 --> 00:14:04.600 version better. But now I've got a product release that I needed to do. 198 00:14:04.600 --> 00:14:07.890 And how the hell do you do a product release in the middle of a demo when 199 00:14:07.890 --> 00:14:11.530 you can't sell anything? So we had already been leaning in pretty hard to 200 00:14:11.530 --> 00:14:15.430 the thought leadership, creative marketing and really taking on that 201 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:19.760 consultation approach to working with our existing clients and prospects to 202 00:14:19.760 --> 00:14:23.930 try Thio, give them ideas about how they could make that pivot themselves. 203 00:14:23.930 --> 00:14:29.780 So instead of doing a product lunch, I hosted heck a thon, where we reached 204 00:14:29.780 --> 00:14:35.770 out to 16 different industry evangelists and influencers who all had, 205 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:41.070 you know, very great followings on Twitter and invited them to a hack in 206 00:14:41.070 --> 00:14:45.780 four teams of four. So we got them all together. It was an hour and a half 207 00:14:45.790 --> 00:14:50.210 event. They all talked about it. They all came up with some really great ways 208 00:14:50.210 --> 00:14:54.900 to, you know, think about virtual events. Eso were seriously a company. 209 00:14:54.910 --> 00:14:58.670 We're doing a lot of things right, But somehow we got about 2500, actually. 210 00:14:58.670 --> 00:15:02.180 Don't know. I think that the end number was more around 3000 registrations for 211 00:15:02.180 --> 00:15:06.190 the stupid hackathon and was a stupid It was so much fun. People are still 212 00:15:06.190 --> 00:15:10.610 talking about it because we were able Thio as an event company. Really? Make 213 00:15:10.610 --> 00:15:14.650 that leap, figure out engagement, figure out networking and come up with 214 00:15:14.650 --> 00:15:19.540 something that was unique and truly wonderful experience not just for our 215 00:15:19.540 --> 00:15:23.290 clients, but for the influencers and a lot of other people in the industry as 216 00:15:23.290 --> 00:15:30.680 well. So we've been able to find great ways to not only pivot but do it well 217 00:15:30.690 --> 00:15:35.190 on Did have a lot of fun and inspire a lot of event planners who have been 218 00:15:35.190 --> 00:15:40.160 struggling along the way. Really good. So many so many fun places to pick up 219 00:15:40.160 --> 00:15:44.680 their first one. Being your your trust that you built with your team by being 220 00:15:44.680 --> 00:15:49.850 visionary things is gonna affect us. Really? Yes, it is Here we go. So I'm 221 00:15:49.850 --> 00:15:55.700 clear. When you created the hackathon, it was, uh let's get creative about how 222 00:15:55.700 --> 00:16:02.070 we can make this even more useful and friendly to a virtual situation. Yeah, 223 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:07.310 my CEO has endless ideas, and he's constantly having to be. Hey, Corey, 224 00:16:07.310 --> 00:16:10.130 what about this? Hey, Corey, what about that? And one of the ideas that he 225 00:16:10.130 --> 00:16:15.840 wanted me to do was true Hackathon. It didn't feel right to get tech involved 226 00:16:15.850 --> 00:16:19.350 yet because nobody knows exactly where to go. And I think that there was at 227 00:16:19.350 --> 00:16:22.640 that particular time, still a lot of way finding happening, and people 228 00:16:22.640 --> 00:16:26.790 wanted to be a little bit more cathartic and talk. So I had been part 229 00:16:26.790 --> 00:16:30.830 of a company with a headquarters in Switzerland and a home based in the 230 00:16:30.830 --> 00:16:34.110 United States. That was just sales marketing. And so our participation in 231 00:16:34.110 --> 00:16:39.170 Hackathons were just ideation sessions. And so I took that ideation session 232 00:16:39.240 --> 00:16:44.600 idea and put that into the event space because thes event planners are 233 00:16:44.600 --> 00:16:48.950 incredibly creative, very charismatic and have a lot to say and so getting 234 00:16:48.950 --> 00:16:55.150 them together to discuss and define different solutions to take and make 235 00:16:55.150 --> 00:16:59.290 that pivot from live events Virtual events really hit the mark. And, you 236 00:16:59.290 --> 00:17:03.440 know, we got a lot of really great takeaways, you know, from a platform 237 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:05.890 perspective, different ideas and different things that we can add into 238 00:17:05.890 --> 00:17:10.750 the platform. But more importantly, we were able Thio get everybody talking 239 00:17:10.750 --> 00:17:14.050 and figuring out how to save their own businesses because it really is an 240 00:17:14.060 --> 00:17:20.670 ecosystem that is dependent on one another. Josh, what do you think is the 241 00:17:20.670 --> 00:17:24.400 most irritating thing for B two B buyers right now, an Logan. I love 242 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:28.040 talking to you about this. You know that the number one challenge right now 243 00:17:28.040 --> 00:17:32.850 is that many customer facing teams in the B two B space right now are forcing 244 00:17:32.860 --> 00:17:37.110 their potential buyers, too, by the way that they want to sell. The buyers 245 00:17:37.110 --> 00:17:40.870 don't wanna buy that way right now. They wanna, by the way they want to buy. 246 00:17:40.840 --> 00:17:45.470 We need to enable those buyers. We call this buyer enablement at sales reach. 247 00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:49.760 We need to enable those buyers to make better decisions quicker in a 248 00:17:49.760 --> 00:17:53.250 comfortable environment that's more personalized for them to move forward 249 00:17:53.250 --> 00:17:57.160 with that process. Dude, that's awesome. I couldn't agree more since I've been 250 00:17:57.160 --> 00:18:00.970 using sales reach in my own sales process. It's allowed me to really 251 00:18:00.980 --> 00:18:05.370 enable the buyer to move more quickly in really two ways. One, they don't 252 00:18:05.370 --> 00:18:09.040 have to download a bunch of attachments. Aiken send them toe one page with the 253 00:18:09.040 --> 00:18:13.120 proposal. Case studies Different resource is because, let's face it, the 254 00:18:13.120 --> 00:18:17.180 proposal is just one part of the sales conversation and probably on Lee one 255 00:18:17.180 --> 00:18:21.450 sales enablement piece of content that you're sending so it makes it easier on 256 00:18:21.450 --> 00:18:24.900 them. And then the other thing is, you know, we're selling to our champions, 257 00:18:24.900 --> 00:18:28.270 and then we're making them have to re give our pitch to the entire buying 258 00:18:28.270 --> 00:18:32.610 committee. So one thing I do is put a custom 2 to 3 minute video on the top 259 00:18:32.610 --> 00:18:36.130 of my sales reach page. This says, Hey, here's all the resource is tie it back 260 00:18:36.130 --> 00:18:38.890 to the conversation. Here's the proposal. Let me know if you have any 261 00:18:38.890 --> 00:18:43.010 questions, and it allows me to give a little bit of kind of a mini pitch to 262 00:18:43.010 --> 00:18:46.620 the rest of the buying committee, introduce myself, which helps me build 263 00:18:46.620 --> 00:18:50.080 trust and credibility and helps the buyer not have to repeat the entire 264 00:18:50.080 --> 00:18:54.480 pitch from scratch. So if anybody is looking to do the same thing in their 265 00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:57.910 own sales process, I'd highly suggest they reach out to you and the team over 266 00:18:57.910 --> 00:19:02.430 its sales. Reach for anybody listening. Just go to sales reach dot io to talk 267 00:19:02.430 --> 00:19:07.900 to Josh and the team. Yeah, which kind of tease up where I wanted to go next 268 00:19:07.900 --> 00:19:12.800 was any and you've already alluded to it several times. It's the pivot that 269 00:19:12.800 --> 00:19:15.700 your customers have had to make, and let's just separate them in the to 270 00:19:15.700 --> 00:19:19.970 customers. And I guess I'll add one more kind of comment question before I 271 00:19:19.970 --> 00:19:23.990 let you go on just some basic tips on assisting them through the pivot. I 272 00:19:23.990 --> 00:19:27.840 guarantee their people listening right now that are either their companies 273 00:19:27.840 --> 00:19:30.660 doing their planning, an event or they're not sure if they're going to do 274 00:19:30.660 --> 00:19:35.840 an event. And so you know how you've aided some of these other companies 275 00:19:35.840 --> 00:19:38.860 make the transition, whether they're all events all the time, or whether 276 00:19:38.840 --> 00:19:42.420 events are just part of what they do for sales and marketing. Ah, hybrid 277 00:19:42.420 --> 00:19:45.720 event is just the comment question I wanted to make. First hybrid event is 278 00:19:45.720 --> 00:19:49.770 maybe where we are doing a live event. But we're also for for a much lower 279 00:19:49.770 --> 00:19:53.980 cost, probably doing a stream for hundreds or thousands of people back at 280 00:19:53.980 --> 00:19:58.280 their offices that didn't want to make the journey to Las Vegas or wherever is 281 00:19:58.280 --> 00:20:02.760 that true? And then also, then just go on some of the some of the education 282 00:20:02.760 --> 00:20:06.050 that you're providing to help people make the transition to a virtual event. 283 00:20:06.540 --> 00:20:11.330 Absolutely. Ondas forest hyper events. I think that that is our future for the 284 00:20:11.340 --> 00:20:16.920 next couple of years. Maybe more because typical event planners were 285 00:20:16.930 --> 00:20:23.110 there. KP I was the number of people that were attending a live event, and 286 00:20:23.110 --> 00:20:26.240 so they didn't want to do a virtual event and a live event because they 287 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:31.260 would cannibalize their live event. Keep you guys. Now, after having the 288 00:20:31.260 --> 00:20:35.510 experience of doing ah, virtual event and understanding the greater impact 289 00:20:35.510 --> 00:20:39.380 and greater level of awareness and participation that you can get from the 290 00:20:39.380 --> 00:20:44.600 greater community, I think that from a business model, I think it elevates any 291 00:20:44.610 --> 00:20:48.890 event business model. It's inclusive and it makes just more sense, I think, 292 00:20:48.890 --> 00:20:52.370 to carry into the future. And so I think that in the future what we might 293 00:20:52.370 --> 00:20:56.410 see, especially this year. If any events happen this year and into next 294 00:20:56.410 --> 00:21:00.230 year, you'll see smaller, more regional events happen with a larger extended 295 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:03.760 audience online. And so I think that that's something that will carry 296 00:21:03.760 --> 00:21:08.450 through indefinitely, to be honest with you, just because it's of its level of 297 00:21:08.450 --> 00:21:13.380 inclusivity and from an exposure standpoint for sponsors and the brand 298 00:21:13.380 --> 00:21:16.720 that's putting it on, there's a lot of value there, and so I don't see that 299 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:21.660 stopping any time soon. Yeah, I don't either. So let's start with companies 300 00:21:21.660 --> 00:21:24.330 that this was a kind of a sales and marketing thing for folks who are 301 00:21:24.330 --> 00:21:28.710 hosting events, whether it's their one big annual event or whether it's, you 302 00:21:28.710 --> 00:21:32.520 know, the quarterly events or maybe a road show or something. What are a 303 00:21:32.520 --> 00:21:36.280 couple points of transition for those folks who they could be successful 304 00:21:36.340 --> 00:21:41.940 continuing to use an event experience, too Generate, community, generate 305 00:21:41.940 --> 00:21:47.130 opportunity, generate evangelists, etcetera? Yeah, What's interesting is 306 00:21:47.130 --> 00:21:50.390 the thing that not a lot of event planners we're talking about right now 307 00:21:50.390 --> 00:21:53.700 and for, you know, company like Bom bom. It would be, you know, you feel 308 00:21:53.700 --> 00:21:56.750 marketing team hypothetically, that would be pulling it together, it's 309 00:21:56.750 --> 00:22:01.010 still all about the strategy. So what are your goals? What are you looking to 310 00:22:01.020 --> 00:22:06.670 achieve from hosting this event is a greater engagement. Is it education? 311 00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:10.840 And after you have down those schools that you want to accomplish, nailed 312 00:22:10.840 --> 00:22:16.480 down, then it gets into more of the tactical execution, you know of it? And 313 00:22:16.490 --> 00:22:21.260 how are you going to make that work in a virtual setting? And what tools do 314 00:22:21.260 --> 00:22:26.140 you need to pull that together? So I would start with the strategy and KPs 315 00:22:26.140 --> 00:22:30.460 first and then reverse engineer down from there? Because whatever technology 316 00:22:30.460 --> 00:22:36.230 is from streaming to an event AP their containers. And so it relies on the 317 00:22:36.230 --> 00:22:41.620 creativity and the ingenuity of the marketing team or the event planners to 318 00:22:41.620 --> 00:22:45.360 put all of the right pieces together and then find the right technology to 319 00:22:45.360 --> 00:22:50.740 deliver it in a really consistent, great way to the attendees in order to 320 00:22:50.740 --> 00:22:56.790 achieve the goals. Great and flip. Now, to those folks who are probably even 321 00:22:56.800 --> 00:23:01.100 more challenging situation, they probably weren't doing anything or 322 00:23:01.100 --> 00:23:05.120 weren't doing as much Hybrid is, perhaps these other folks were what 323 00:23:05.120 --> 00:23:08.470 have you been, maybe guiding them through. We actually started up an 324 00:23:08.470 --> 00:23:12.810 entire services department. So we was gonna be a follow up question. So good. 325 00:23:12.820 --> 00:23:17.550 We've taken a very concentrated approach, and so we've been on the 326 00:23:17.550 --> 00:23:21.230 phone with all of our clients. In fact, the entire executive team for the first 327 00:23:21.230 --> 00:23:27.580 two weeks sat on 3 to 5 calls a day, listening to what our clients for going 328 00:23:27.580 --> 00:23:30.200 through some of the pain points and the decision points that they're having to 329 00:23:30.200 --> 00:23:35.630 make and so event and be held a weapon. Or a few weeks ago. And 64% of all 330 00:23:35.630 --> 00:23:39.330 event planners had never done a virtual or hybrid event before. And so that 331 00:23:39.330 --> 00:23:44.310 would be roughly 60% of our audience that had never done this. And, you know, 332 00:23:44.320 --> 00:23:47.640 the is a tech company. Everyone is young and capable. So what we've done 333 00:23:47.640 --> 00:23:53.180 is we've taken some of our service team and transition them into what we call 334 00:23:53.180 --> 00:23:57.520 our Orange Glove service. And so we literally do everything. We sit there 335 00:23:57.520 --> 00:24:01.950 with the clients during their strategy sessions and translate that for them 336 00:24:01.960 --> 00:24:06.310 with how to accomplish it, whether it's recommending and helping them get their 337 00:24:06.310 --> 00:24:10.290 streaming service set up, helping them get their output together registration 338 00:24:10.290 --> 00:24:14.000 and all of the moving pieces. It's one of those things that we have been 339 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:18.200 inherently sitting there with them for, so I love the name orange glove service 340 00:24:18.200 --> 00:24:21.050 that obviously can notes exactly what you wanted to. But it's unique to 341 00:24:21.050 --> 00:24:25.720 SOCOG's, I assume oranges a primary color. Talk about that pivot, you know 342 00:24:25.720 --> 00:24:30.230 taking resource is that were deployed one way and assigning them in. Probably 343 00:24:30.230 --> 00:24:34.500 a very quick order to the most acute or pressing me that some of your most 344 00:24:34.500 --> 00:24:40.720 valuable customers were facing absolutely services was a revenue model 345 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:45.480 that we were exploring before covet and after covered, you know, as a SYRIZA 346 00:24:45.480 --> 00:24:49.020 company, we had a lot of different financial decisions to make when it 347 00:24:49.020 --> 00:24:54.250 comes to burn cash flow. So it's a company with a lot of heart. The last 348 00:24:54.250 --> 00:24:57.400 thing that we would want to do is do any furloughs or let anybody often. So 349 00:24:57.400 --> 00:25:01.850 we've taken great care to make sure that we are finding ways to generate 350 00:25:01.850 --> 00:25:06.010 enough revenue to keep everybody going, including keeping the, you know, event 351 00:25:06.020 --> 00:25:10.830 industry alive and taking care of our own people at the same time. So by 352 00:25:10.840 --> 00:25:15.050 infusing services as an offering. Not only are we able to provide an even 353 00:25:15.050 --> 00:25:18.800 better customer experience, but you know, on a little bit more of a 354 00:25:18.800 --> 00:25:22.610 holistic side were able to take care of the loyal employees that we have to 355 00:25:22.610 --> 00:25:27.510 Well, which is awesome. Eso we pivoted. I think about four people over into the 356 00:25:27.510 --> 00:25:31.890 service positions. Odd, it's honestly still evolving. I think that we've been 357 00:25:31.890 --> 00:25:36.030 selling it for the last three or four weeks, so it's been great because our 358 00:25:36.040 --> 00:25:40.310 average contract value has gone up pretty significantly. We have an 359 00:25:40.310 --> 00:25:44.830 amazing CSM and service team anyway that have won multiple awards and get 360 00:25:44.830 --> 00:25:48.960 rave reviews for a client. So it just made a lot of sense and it was a little 361 00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:52.490 bit earlier than what we wanted to do it. But I think that with the pandemic, 362 00:25:52.490 --> 00:25:56.340 we're all finding that it's the great accelerator, anything that we wanted to 363 00:25:56.340 --> 00:25:59.960 do, anyways happening and happening much faster than any of us had planned 364 00:25:59.960 --> 00:26:04.710 for Yes, so true. I'll bet you know, let's just pretend the pandemic never 365 00:26:04.710 --> 00:26:09.030 happened. You probably would have spun on this idea of services for some time 366 00:26:09.030 --> 00:26:13.100 and gathered more information and kicked it around and let's back burner 367 00:26:13.100 --> 00:26:15.920 that conversation in this meeting because we're running out of time and 368 00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:20.160 to your point like Boom, here it is. We have to do something and you're 369 00:26:20.160 --> 00:26:23.890 probably that they're just a learning cycle alone is dramatically accelerated 370 00:26:23.890 --> 00:26:28.960 by that as well. Really smart. Just quick, quick, Take on this one. What do 371 00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:32.690 you think are some of the characteristics of a great, fully 372 00:26:32.690 --> 00:26:38.320 virtual event? I've been on a number of, you know, I've been on the plain old 373 00:26:38.320 --> 00:26:42.100 zoom call. Of course, I'm still on the plain old fashioned webinar. I've been 374 00:26:42.100 --> 00:26:46.280 in a couple situations with different tech that has, like, live chat in 375 00:26:46.280 --> 00:26:50.150 different rooms on the side. Like from your experience, because you produced a 376 00:26:50.150 --> 00:26:54.940 virtual event back in, what, 2005? Yes, I'm sure the tech was a lot different 377 00:26:54.940 --> 00:26:59.280 than an Internet connectivity was not nearly as good as it is today. But you 378 00:26:59.280 --> 00:27:02.470 know this really, really well and you're teaching it to people on your 379 00:27:02.470 --> 00:27:06.100 team is teaching it to people you're helping people planet and coordinated. 380 00:27:06.100 --> 00:27:09.280 What are a few takeaways for folks like, What are a few characteristics of a 381 00:27:09.280 --> 00:27:15.320 great virtual event? Absolutely excitement, entertainment and 382 00:27:15.330 --> 00:27:18.730 engagement or networking of some sort, I think are the most important points. 383 00:27:18.740 --> 00:27:23.500 It's almost kind of show business and unfortunately, because not everybody is 384 00:27:23.500 --> 00:27:27.600 in a room together to kind of feel that energy you rely on having really 385 00:27:27.610 --> 00:27:33.090 engaging speakers. And so I think that this is a really good time. Thio hire a 386 00:27:33.090 --> 00:27:36.940 legitimate EMC that knows how to get the crowd going. One of the groups that 387 00:27:36.940 --> 00:27:42.410 to the HACKATHON had a legitimate emcee in that group, and he was in there with 388 00:27:42.410 --> 00:27:46.850 the music going and got the energy up and, you know, did the moderation and 389 00:27:46.850 --> 00:27:50.880 was able thio generator. Replicate that excitement that you would usually have 390 00:27:50.880 --> 00:27:56.610 in an in person events. And so bringing that sort of energy is huge. What sort 391 00:27:56.610 --> 00:28:01.330 of platform do you have available for engagement? Do you have chat open on 392 00:28:01.340 --> 00:28:04.490 Zoom? That was one of the big questions that we had when we were first doing it, 393 00:28:04.500 --> 00:28:09.680 because it's kind of dicey. Sometimes we do now have a virtual bouncer, and 394 00:28:09.680 --> 00:28:13.960 so if you start promoting, your stuff will kick you out. I think that 395 00:28:13.970 --> 00:28:17.760 offering the opportunity Thio, get those chats going has been something 396 00:28:17.760 --> 00:28:21.350 that not only with our event, but I'm in quite a few CMO communities that 397 00:28:21.350 --> 00:28:25.200 I'll have the chats going and you get such great information and ability to 398 00:28:25.200 --> 00:28:30.560 share. And I've met a number of new people through those chats. So I think 399 00:28:30.560 --> 00:28:34.310 that that's a really great thing to Dio. Of course, that's an extension of the 400 00:28:34.320 --> 00:28:38.890 app to keep it going, you know, before, during and after, because that sense of 401 00:28:38.890 --> 00:28:43.040 community, I think, has always been necessary in there. But I think it's 402 00:28:43.040 --> 00:28:46.040 more important right now than ever. And so I think it's a really great time for 403 00:28:46.040 --> 00:28:50.010 people to lean into that community concept because we're all home. We're 404 00:28:50.010 --> 00:28:53.850 all in a captive audience. We're all looking for something. E think that 405 00:28:53.850 --> 00:28:58.110 when you take a look at content, you really need to be careful of the length 406 00:28:58.110 --> 00:29:02.150 of your content and the number of speakers that you have. I think the 407 00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:07.760 statistic is a person can pay attention to one speaker for eight minutes 408 00:29:08.140 --> 00:29:12.060 continuously and then they start to lose their attention. And so if you mix 409 00:29:12.060 --> 00:29:16.240 up the speakers and mix up the content that you're bringing in pretty 410 00:29:16.240 --> 00:29:21.490 constantly that will help keep people. They're involved engaged because one of 411 00:29:21.490 --> 00:29:25.060 the big things that's happening right now is zoom fatigue and then 412 00:29:25.070 --> 00:29:28.330 distractions. How Maney tabs do you have open on your computer right now? 413 00:29:28.340 --> 00:29:33.730 And so is the webinar an afterthought, or are you able to keep everybody's 414 00:29:33.730 --> 00:29:37.390 attention then? And B did another webinar a couple of weeks ago, and they 415 00:29:37.390 --> 00:29:40.700 did a really amazing job with the production value. They had a sketch 416 00:29:40.700 --> 00:29:45.360 artist whose sketching out each of the speakers presentations and putting it 417 00:29:45.360 --> 00:29:49.370 into cartoons and they would show it after each of speakers was done. They 418 00:29:49.370 --> 00:29:53.890 had a songwriter paying attention to the whole thing, and about three 419 00:29:53.890 --> 00:29:57.990 quarters of the way through presented a song. You know, that was based off of 420 00:29:57.990 --> 00:30:01.150 everything that he had learned. So there are a lot of really neat things 421 00:30:01.150 --> 00:30:04.800 that you do from an entertainment perspective that you can weave through 422 00:30:04.810 --> 00:30:10.240 to really kind of keep that engagement and experience a top notch. So many 423 00:30:10.240 --> 00:30:14.180 good tips there. If you're listening to this and you have the 32nd or 62nd 424 00:30:14.180 --> 00:30:18.890 bounce back, I encourage you to do so. Whether you're an attendee or someone 425 00:30:18.890 --> 00:30:22.540 potentially producing something like this. So many great tips there. And as 426 00:30:22.540 --> 00:30:25.220 you are offering that, I'm thinking about some good riel events I've been 427 00:30:25.220 --> 00:30:30.050 at or not riel in person events. They're all riel s. Um, virtual events 428 00:30:30.050 --> 00:30:33.610 that I've been at that have been, you know, some good, some bad on thinking 429 00:30:33.610 --> 00:30:37.070 of my son. And I go to like, one or two, eh? NBA basketball games every year. 430 00:30:37.070 --> 00:30:40.530 And that's exactly what they do. It makes so much sense is like the second 431 00:30:40.530 --> 00:30:44.860 the primary action stops. There's something else to keep the energy, keep 432 00:30:44.860 --> 00:30:49.280 the attention etcetera. And it reminds me to oven Event that I participated in 433 00:30:49.280 --> 00:30:54.140 is a speaker where I had to deliver a 5 to 7 minute presentation. And then 434 00:30:54.140 --> 00:30:57.520 there were 10 minutes of Q and A and they just turned us over, turned us 435 00:30:57.520 --> 00:31:01.190 over, turned us over, and then a couple events that I've been at That just is a 436 00:31:01.190 --> 00:31:05.610 final, I guess tip, and then I have ah, kind of a bigger separate question for 437 00:31:05.610 --> 00:31:09.250 you. Those breaks at the bottom of the hour, you know, tops and bottoms of the 438 00:31:09.250 --> 00:31:13.210 hour so that people can go do what they need to dio, rather than expecting them 439 00:31:13.210 --> 00:31:17.690 to just sit there for hours on end until lunch or whatever kind of last 440 00:31:17.690 --> 00:31:21.800 question here before I get to a couple questions. I always love to ask against 441 00:31:21.800 --> 00:31:25.450 smart and kind folks like you on the show. I just wanted to ask this because 442 00:31:25.540 --> 00:31:29.310 you've led sales and marketing teams, you've led global marketing efforts 443 00:31:29.310 --> 00:31:33.280 you've got exposure to and experience in a wide variety of channels and 444 00:31:33.280 --> 00:31:37.320 disciplines. What are some like a couple hard and valuable lessons you've 445 00:31:37.320 --> 00:31:40.820 learned along the way. Any trends you're seeing? Just just give me a high 446 00:31:40.820 --> 00:31:43.990 level on, you know, while I have someone like you and we have an 447 00:31:43.990 --> 00:31:47.710 audience of people in a variety of disciplines. You know, if you were 448 00:31:47.710 --> 00:31:51.800 going to give some tips or advice based on all the things you've learned in 449 00:31:51.800 --> 00:31:54.450 your experience, where a couple things that stand out to you that you might 450 00:31:54.450 --> 00:31:59.780 offer someone, I think that taking a look at yourself and having empathy for 451 00:31:59.790 --> 00:32:04.390 the market that you're going after and really being able to dive into and try 452 00:32:04.390 --> 00:32:09.460 to really understand what their true needs are and what they're going after, 453 00:32:09.460 --> 00:32:13.410 I think makes you more of an authentic marketer. I think that the best 454 00:32:13.410 --> 00:32:18.370 experience that I draw from is having run magazines and having to grow in 455 00:32:18.370 --> 00:32:22.970 audience keeping audience and keep them wanting. Thio read your content, you 456 00:32:22.970 --> 00:32:28.220 know, week over week, and that takes a certain level of expertise and 457 00:32:28.220 --> 00:32:31.140 intellect about whatever industry that it is that you're serving in a certain 458 00:32:31.140 --> 00:32:34.810 level of passion for that industry to really make it resonate and really make 459 00:32:34.810 --> 00:32:40.680 it authentic. Eso What I've been doing with every marketing team that have run 460 00:32:41.040 --> 00:32:46.890 is we never sell, and anything that we produce could be further distributed 461 00:32:46.900 --> 00:32:50.330 anywhere if the Wall Street Journal called needed an article that could go 462 00:32:50.330 --> 00:32:55.560 to our block and pick up anything. And so I think that that empathy, thought 463 00:32:55.560 --> 00:33:00.740 leadership and just getting down to really good clean business. When you 464 00:33:00.740 --> 00:33:05.050 take a look at S c o, there's like what I called the dark arts. You can get 465 00:33:05.050 --> 00:33:09.610 really tricky really fast, but nobody wins in the end. And so if you focus on 466 00:33:09.610 --> 00:33:15.650 what your customers need, what they really need and give them authentic 467 00:33:15.660 --> 00:33:20.660 content and tools to support them and support their businesses. Everybody 468 00:33:20.660 --> 00:33:24.830 wins, and that's been one of the things that I strive to do in any deal that I 469 00:33:24.830 --> 00:33:29.610 put together how to do. How does the other person when how do I win? What 470 00:33:29.610 --> 00:33:32.990 does that mean to look like to everybody's benefit? There's so much in 471 00:33:32.990 --> 00:33:35.940 there. I wanna have, like, another 20 minute conversation, but I won't out of 472 00:33:35.940 --> 00:33:39.070 respect for your time and out of respect for our listeners. So much good 473 00:33:39.070 --> 00:33:42.470 stuff there. Thank you so much for that. If you've enjoyed this conversation 474 00:33:42.470 --> 00:33:46.560 with Corey McCarthy, I've got a couple other CMOs. I have several, but your 475 00:33:46.560 --> 00:33:50.640 two top of mind if you wanna check out Episode six with Steve Personally, who 476 00:33:50.640 --> 00:33:54.070 is the CMO and one of my team members? That bomb bomb that one was called 477 00:33:54.070 --> 00:33:58.060 connecting with customers by exploring a shared belief. There's kind of a 478 00:33:58.060 --> 00:34:03.070 community element there, and it gets to kind of this empathy and authenticity 479 00:34:03.070 --> 00:34:06.170 and really being passionate about it and sharing that with and through your 480 00:34:06.170 --> 00:34:11.500 customers. That's Episode six with Steve Personnel and then on Episode 14 481 00:34:11.510 --> 00:34:15.010 Samantha Stone CMO with the marketing advisory network that was balancing 482 00:34:15.010 --> 00:34:19.409 automation AI and human relationships where we get it. This tension and 483 00:34:19.409 --> 00:34:23.730 you're kind of there with the dark arts piece in my in my mind, I'm not deeply 484 00:34:23.730 --> 00:34:27.280 studied on this. In my mind, all Google's trying to do is serve the 485 00:34:27.280 --> 00:34:31.949 human searcher. And so the more you write for a human, the better off 486 00:34:31.949 --> 00:34:35.440 you're gonna be in the long run to your like. Nobody wins with these kind of 487 00:34:35.440 --> 00:34:41.020 tricks and shenanigans and whatnot. So, Corey, how about you take a moment to 488 00:34:41.020 --> 00:34:44.750 think or mentioned someone who's had a positive impact on your life or career 489 00:34:44.760 --> 00:34:48.330 and give a shout out or a nod to a brand or a company that you really 490 00:34:48.330 --> 00:34:53.560 respect for the experience they deliver for you as a customer? Absolutely. I 491 00:34:53.560 --> 00:34:57.270 think that a nod that I'd like to give to somebody who's helped me 492 00:34:57.270 --> 00:35:03.060 professionally. My career is my coach, Steve Axel. Hey, was a NASDAQ CMO. I 493 00:35:03.060 --> 00:35:08.510 really value the time that he spends with me. He has really helped elevate 494 00:35:08.520 --> 00:35:13.030 me as a professional and then to I also use him as a sounding board to gut 495 00:35:13.030 --> 00:35:16.480 check different things that I'm doing professionally since he has such great 496 00:35:16.480 --> 00:35:21.460 CMO experience, so incredibly thankful for the time that I get to spend with 497 00:35:21.460 --> 00:35:24.240 Steve. He and I have been working together for a couple of years now, and 498 00:35:24.240 --> 00:35:28.120 it's something that I treasure as far as a brand that I love. Right now it's 499 00:35:28.120 --> 00:35:33.430 called, Who gives a crap. They sell toilet paper on a subscription, and 500 00:35:33.440 --> 00:35:38.260 their marketing is clever. It's thoughtful. It's unique. Every time you 501 00:35:38.260 --> 00:35:42.110 turn around, there's this moment of delight, whether it's you looking at 502 00:35:42.110 --> 00:35:46.190 the bottom of the box and it tells you to take a vacation or when you get down 503 00:35:46.190 --> 00:35:50.220 to the last roll and it says Oh, crap, it's time to order more So they're 504 00:35:50.220 --> 00:35:55.520 funny and it's just a delight. Their CEO had a really nice email that he 505 00:35:55.520 --> 00:36:00.480 wrote during the pandemic because they also ran into a shortage, and the level 506 00:36:00.480 --> 00:36:06.820 of humanity and humility that he showed in this message was fantastic. And so 507 00:36:06.820 --> 00:36:10.580 as a marketer, I really appreciate their messaging the way they've been 508 00:36:10.580 --> 00:36:13.960 able to position this and really, how they've moved through the whole 509 00:36:13.960 --> 00:36:19.420 pandemic with grace really good and another product that I guess two years 510 00:36:19.420 --> 00:36:22.480 ago, I never would have expected would be available on subscription, but 511 00:36:22.480 --> 00:36:27.730 everything is now. So if you've enjoyed this conversation, I'm gonna link up 512 00:36:27.730 --> 00:36:31.620 Steve. I'll link up who gives a crap, and I'll link up a couple other things 513 00:36:31.620 --> 00:36:35.140 that I'll ask you about now. And if you're listening, can always learn more 514 00:36:35.140 --> 00:36:38.980 about the guest. You can see video clips. We do short write ups, and again 515 00:36:38.980 --> 00:36:45.170 we link up related materials at bom bom dot com slash podcast. Eso a couple 516 00:36:45.170 --> 00:36:48.680 other things I'll link up here for you. Cory, how could someone connect with 517 00:36:48.680 --> 00:36:51.600 you or with socio? Where would you send people if they want to follow up on 518 00:36:51.600 --> 00:36:55.360 some of the themes that we've talked about today? Yeah, absolutely. Um, 519 00:36:55.360 --> 00:37:01.880 socio dot events is the website for us. And then I'm slash Corey McCarthy c o r 520 00:37:01.890 --> 00:37:07.280 e y m c c a r t h y on Lincoln. More than happy to talk to anybody, I think 521 00:37:07.280 --> 00:37:11.480 that now, more than anything right now, it's ah, great time to get together and 522 00:37:11.480 --> 00:37:15.620 share ideas. I completely agree. I appreciate you getting together with me 523 00:37:15.620 --> 00:37:19.840 to share ideas with me and with all of our listeners here on the podcast again, 524 00:37:19.840 --> 00:37:23.980 you can connect with Cory. I'll link all this stuff up at bom bom dot com 525 00:37:23.980 --> 00:37:27.480 slash podcast. I thank you so much for your time and insights. Corey. You're 526 00:37:27.480 --> 00:37:32.340 awesome. Thank you so much for having me. Hey, if you enjoyed this 527 00:37:32.340 --> 00:37:36.230 conversation with Corey McCarthy, you might enjoy some of the other 528 00:37:36.230 --> 00:37:41.240 conversations that are available from the customer experience podcast. Learn 529 00:37:41.240 --> 00:37:45.330 more by searching the customer experience podcast in Apple podcast 530 00:37:45.330 --> 00:37:50.320 Spotify or wherever you prefer to listen, or you can visit bom bom dot 531 00:37:50.320 --> 00:37:58.450 com slash podcast b o m b b o m b dot com forward slash podcast. My name is 532 00:37:58.450 --> 00:38:03.140 Ethan Butte. I welcome your feedback on these episodes by email. Ethan at bom 533 00:38:03.140 --> 00:38:08.830 bom dot com or on LinkedIn Hit Me up Ethan Butte. Last name is spelled B E u 534 00:38:08.830 --> 00:38:12.350 T E. Thanks so much for listening to the B two B growth show. 535 00:38:15.330 --> 00:38:18.720 For the longest time, I was asking people to leave a review of B two B 536 00:38:18.730 --> 00:38:22.720 growth and Apple podcasts, but I realized that was kind of stupid 537 00:38:22.730 --> 00:38:28.160 because leaving a review is way harder than just leaving a simple rating, so 538 00:38:28.160 --> 00:38:31.960 I'm changing my tune a bit. Instead of asking you to leave a review, I'm just 539 00:38:31.960 --> 00:38:36.010 gonna ask you to go to be to be growth in apple podcasts, scroll down until 540 00:38:36.010 --> 00:38:39.920 you see the ratings and review section and just tap the number of stars you 541 00:38:39.920 --> 00:38:45.030 wanna give us No review necessary Super easy. And I promise it will help us out 542 00:38:45.040 --> 00:38:49.340 a ton. If you want a copy of my book content based networking, just shoot me 543 00:38:49.340 --> 00:38:53.170 a text. After you leave the rating on, I'll send one your way. Text me at 544 00:38:53.170 --> 00:38:57.460 4074903328
