Start Using Customer Testimonials That Aren't All Praise

WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.240 --> 00:00:09.380 Hey, everybody, welcome back to another episode of B two B growth. I'm your 2 00:00:09.380 --> 00:00:13.960 host to me, Bauer. And my guest today is Mark Montgomery. He is the chief 3 00:00:13.970 --> 00:00:20.060 marketing officer at Crane Wear. He is an avid fan of fantasy sports and the 4 00:00:20.060 --> 00:00:24.200 history of religious cults and their impact on people. Not the topic we're 5 00:00:24.200 --> 00:00:27.950 talking about today. And he's a passionate, mediocre golfer. Mark. 6 00:00:27.950 --> 00:00:32.150 Welcome to the show, Tim. Thanks for having me. It's great to be here. I'm 7 00:00:32.150 --> 00:00:35.570 excited to talk to you. You've been on our show before, but for listeners who 8 00:00:35.570 --> 00:00:38.640 are hearing you for the first time, give us a little context of your 9 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:42.980 company. Yep. We're Crane Wear PLC. And what we do is we provide software and 10 00:00:42.980 --> 00:00:47.450 services to US healthcare providers so they can maintain strong financial 11 00:00:47.450 --> 00:00:51.950 performance that allows them to pursue their healthcare mission. Awesome. In 12 00:00:51.950 --> 00:00:55.690 our last conversation, you said something really interesting to me. You 13 00:00:55.690 --> 00:01:01.660 said the best customer testimonials include how the company can improve. 14 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:06.870 Why do you believe that, Mark? Well, I I think it shows the relationship is 15 00:01:06.870 --> 00:01:09.600 strong, right? So you want strong relationship where it's a personal 16 00:01:09.600 --> 00:01:12.580 professional relationship? I think sometimes the best feedback and 17 00:01:12.580 --> 00:01:16.290 recognition isn't always positive, right? It it's Here's what you're doing 18 00:01:16.290 --> 00:01:19.580 well. But here's where I think we can improve or you can improve. So I think 19 00:01:19.580 --> 00:01:23.660 that's one of the big reasons why it shows the strength of the relationship. 20 00:01:23.740 --> 00:01:27.510 And it shows the candor and the strength and and the fact that there's 21 00:01:27.510 --> 00:01:31.070 a commitment there to the relationship. You know, on both parties that they can 22 00:01:31.070 --> 00:01:34.590 continue to invest in one another because there's a mutual need for both 23 00:01:34.590 --> 00:01:38.130 to be successful, to continue the business relationship. So I think those 24 00:01:38.130 --> 00:01:42.360 are a couple of key reasons why it's important. Yeah, I agree. I think I 25 00:01:42.360 --> 00:01:46.400 think it's obvious sometimes when you're looking at ratings or reviews or 26 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:51.320 testimonials and you can tell when it's just somebody that was either paid or 27 00:01:51.320 --> 00:01:54.950 asked to hype up that company or that product, right. You can't do an 28 00:01:54.950 --> 00:01:58.480 infomercial right. We have to just have the candid feedback, and it's great to 29 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:01.560 get that candid feedback in front of other prospects and customers, right, 30 00:02:01.560 --> 00:02:05.660 whether it be a speaking engagement at a webinar, whether it be a user 31 00:02:05.660 --> 00:02:09.310 conference, whatever it is when other customers and prospective customers 32 00:02:09.310 --> 00:02:13.340 here. The real nous of Hey, these four things were going great, but we haven't 33 00:02:13.340 --> 00:02:16.560 gotten to the five and six yet, and we're still working to get through that. 34 00:02:16.940 --> 00:02:21.310 I think those are the type of messages that resonate with the audience. For 35 00:02:21.310 --> 00:02:25.810 sure. Yeah, why do you think that there are so many that don't believe this 36 00:02:25.810 --> 00:02:30.040 philosophy? Well, I I can't speak for everybody, but certainly you wanna put 37 00:02:30.040 --> 00:02:33.670 your best foot forward. I think sometimes there's fear of uncovering 38 00:02:33.670 --> 00:02:37.340 our vulnerabilities. I mean, a company is like a family. You sort of know 39 00:02:37.350 --> 00:02:40.920 what's working and not We're working well internally, but sometimes you 40 00:02:40.920 --> 00:02:44.760 don't want to expose that to the outside world. But if it's done the 41 00:02:44.760 --> 00:02:47.800 right way and done the right audience, and it's more importantly, it's if it's 42 00:02:47.800 --> 00:02:52.770 done with the right spirit in the tone of genuine contributed help, Thio. 43 00:02:52.770 --> 00:02:56.150 Let's get this thing better and let's let's make it better for all of us, 44 00:02:56.160 --> 00:02:59.720 then that's when it becomes really and relatable. Yeah, let's talk about that. 45 00:02:59.720 --> 00:03:04.300 What is done the right way, I think with no malice, with no anger, right 46 00:03:04.300 --> 00:03:07.480 sometimes Look, we all have customers that come. Sometimes you can get 47 00:03:07.480 --> 00:03:11.470 frustrated, right, and we try toe to minimize that. And we certainly try to 48 00:03:11.470 --> 00:03:15.540 address what's the concerns to get customers back to a good place. But I 49 00:03:15.540 --> 00:03:20.400 think the right way is in the context of just a candid conversation or a 50 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:24.690 download of, uh, this is what's working Well, here's the things that we can do 51 00:03:24.690 --> 00:03:27.860 better as a customer. And here's the things that our vendor partner could do 52 00:03:27.860 --> 00:03:31.700 better to help us become better to achieve what our goals are. And I think 53 00:03:31.710 --> 00:03:34.540 at the end of the day, what we're looking for is focused on what are the 54 00:03:34.540 --> 00:03:38.140 outcomes were looking for? And if we can keep our focus on the outcomes and 55 00:03:38.140 --> 00:03:42.960 not the individual behaviors or individual hang up, then I think we get 56 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:47.660 Teoh a really good place a lot quicker, and and we stayed there a lot longer. 57 00:03:47.670 --> 00:03:52.130 Yeah, and you're saying that those honest customer testimonials are not 58 00:03:52.130 --> 00:03:56.610 just good internally, but they're good externally. What do you mean by that? 59 00:03:56.620 --> 00:04:00.910 Like in what way are they good? Externally? I mean, we have annual user 60 00:04:00.910 --> 00:04:04.450 summits where we bring in customers. We used to do it live Now we do it 61 00:04:04.450 --> 00:04:08.240 virtually, of course, but where we have customers speak on some of our 62 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:12.760 applications or our services, and I think that's where they have the chance. 63 00:04:12.760 --> 00:04:15.730 Thio have those conversations with our other customers. Sometimes we have 64 00:04:15.730 --> 00:04:19.709 prospective customers and on those audiences to just to hear that, and 65 00:04:19.709 --> 00:04:23.930 it's relatable. I think that's maybe a good word to say it's relatable because 66 00:04:23.940 --> 00:04:27.940 we all have business relationships, where for the majority, they're really, 67 00:04:27.940 --> 00:04:31.210 really good. But there's always things that can improve, and I think the best 68 00:04:31.210 --> 00:04:35.230 companies are the ones who drive a standard of high customer satisfaction 69 00:04:35.230 --> 00:04:38.790 and high loyalty with their customers. But they're always have their ears open 70 00:04:38.790 --> 00:04:42.250 and their eyes open toe how we can improve because the bar keeps changing. 71 00:04:42.250 --> 00:04:45.940 And once your customers reach a certain set of expectations with what you can 72 00:04:45.940 --> 00:04:50.320 deliver, you are no longer than adding value beyond what their expectation is. 73 00:04:50.320 --> 00:04:53.180 So you have to keep raising your standard of what you're delivering, 74 00:04:53.190 --> 00:04:57.240 whether it be a service of product relationship to make sure that you're 75 00:04:57.240 --> 00:05:02.140 continuing to drive that loyalty in that relationship, I think in this day, 76 00:05:02.150 --> 00:05:06.210 You know, with cloud based applications across any industry that you have now, 77 00:05:06.210 --> 00:05:09.640 the ability and the barrier to entry is a lot lower than it used to be. I mean, 78 00:05:09.640 --> 00:05:13.230 there are competitors who want our customers, and we wanna make sure we're 79 00:05:13.230 --> 00:05:17.300 doing everything possible. Relation Aly and from a business transaction 80 00:05:17.300 --> 00:05:21.930 standpoint to make it difficult for them to want to leave us. So walk me 81 00:05:21.930 --> 00:05:27.290 through the process, how somebody can successfully use customer testimonials 82 00:05:27.290 --> 00:05:31.630 that are honest, that even include the things that the company could do better 83 00:05:31.640 --> 00:05:35.900 externally and use those, well, externally like What is this? What is 84 00:05:35.900 --> 00:05:41.240 step one to doing that there's a number of ways I mean in relation to How Crane, 85 00:05:41.240 --> 00:05:45.480 Where does it we? We have a couple different methods. We have an ongoing 86 00:05:45.490 --> 00:05:49.180 I'll call it an ideation and enhancement requests process that our 87 00:05:49.180 --> 00:05:53.320 customers can lean into and give us the feedback. We have formal structures 88 00:05:53.330 --> 00:05:57.060 around what we call the crane, where Customer advisory council, where we 89 00:05:57.060 --> 00:06:01.250 have product advisory groups, byproduct where they meet on a quarterly basis 90 00:06:01.260 --> 00:06:06.230 and we get to share with them where the product is headed, perhaps like a 91 00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:10.330 little preview, if you will like a preview to what's coming in the road 92 00:06:10.330 --> 00:06:14.720 map. But at the same time we listen and we take feedback from what's working 93 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:19.310 well, what features or functions or direction of the product is doing well, 94 00:06:19.310 --> 00:06:23.360 but also what isn't right. And how can we do that better? So it's a control 95 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:27.020 group, but it's an open microphone, if you will. So they have the built in the 96 00:06:27.020 --> 00:06:31.270 freedom to share what their thoughts are. And usually if you're a customer 97 00:06:31.270 --> 00:06:34.180 in that group and you, you're struggling with certain problem and 98 00:06:34.180 --> 00:06:37.820 other people maybe identify what that challenges, it helps you articulate 99 00:06:37.820 --> 00:06:41.610 better the impact it's having on your business. And so we try to set that up 100 00:06:41.610 --> 00:06:45.560 formally. So there's group settings like our advisory council settings with 101 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:49.210 our product advisory groups. There's also individual opportunity to just 102 00:06:49.210 --> 00:06:53.720 have one on one conversations with our support team with our care partners 103 00:06:53.720 --> 00:06:58.080 with our sales organization, whomever the relationship is most solid or is 104 00:06:58.080 --> 00:07:01.880 available to them on. We have different points of contact throughout a customer 105 00:07:01.880 --> 00:07:05.360 life cycle with a customer, and they're always given the opportunity to give us 106 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:09.050 one on one feedback and then we proactively the third way Tim is we 107 00:07:09.050 --> 00:07:12.920 just proactively reach out and say, Look, we're trying to further market 108 00:07:12.920 --> 00:07:16.650 this application. You have been using it here some of the success you've had. 109 00:07:16.840 --> 00:07:20.350 Let's talk about the business impacts and let's talk about the organizational 110 00:07:20.350 --> 00:07:25.210 impacts it's had for you and how we can do that better on in those moments we 111 00:07:25.210 --> 00:07:29.320 can use webinars, we can use education sessions. We can use podcast. We can 112 00:07:29.320 --> 00:07:32.880 use different methods to do that. And in those moments they have the 113 00:07:32.880 --> 00:07:37.210 opportunity toe. Identify the what we hope for the vast majority of things 114 00:07:37.210 --> 00:07:41.250 that air succeeding for them, but also to identify the areas of improvement 115 00:07:41.260 --> 00:07:44.990 and mutual growth that we still have to go through. Yeah, I'm just thinking 116 00:07:44.990 --> 00:07:48.580 through like it would be a really self serving podcast, but it could be 117 00:07:48.580 --> 00:07:52.410 interesting to interview customers on B two b growth and literally have the 118 00:07:52.410 --> 00:07:56.070 focus of the interview be like What is sweet fish doing well for you? And in 119 00:07:56.070 --> 00:08:02.450 what areas are we sucking like, Where do we need to improve? You take 120 00:08:02.440 --> 00:08:05.740 customers from any industry and ask them, you know, pick your favorite 121 00:08:05.740 --> 00:08:09.660 vendor, right? What are the attributes they have, right or pick? Maybe a 122 00:08:09.660 --> 00:08:13.180 mediocre vendor. Ah, less mediocre vendor. And what are the attributes 123 00:08:13.180 --> 00:08:16.600 they have and how do you avoid that? Or how do you grow the good attributes? I 124 00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:19.990 think that's great idea in terms of just because, ah, lot of these 125 00:08:19.990 --> 00:08:23.760 attributes or transferrable, regardless of the market you're in, regardless of 126 00:08:23.760 --> 00:08:27.620 the product or service you deliver. These are the types of conversations 127 00:08:27.620 --> 00:08:31.410 that are very healthy, and every organization that wants to grow and get 128 00:08:31.410 --> 00:08:35.340 better has to have their ear open to how we can do it better for our 129 00:08:35.340 --> 00:08:39.340 customers. Yeah, and I think it would tell our listeners like a pretty 130 00:08:39.340 --> 00:08:43.030 clearly if anybody listening is ever considering having us do their 131 00:08:43.030 --> 00:08:48.570 podcasting, it would tell them like we really care way genuinely care about 132 00:08:48.570 --> 00:08:52.200 knowing where we need to improve. And that's part of the benefit. I'll just 133 00:08:52.200 --> 00:08:56.360 say with our advisory councils and with our user summits, that's part of us, 134 00:08:56.360 --> 00:09:01.910 you know, bring everybody into the group and show that show that care that 135 00:09:01.910 --> 00:09:07.290 attention and show that ability toe to keep the relationship strong, can you 136 00:09:07.290 --> 00:09:10.730 think of any ways that somebody listening could try to follow your 137 00:09:10.730 --> 00:09:16.910 advice and get it wrong. I would say it would be more difficult to do that. You 138 00:09:16.910 --> 00:09:20.000 know, look, in any relationship personal, professional. If you feel 139 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:23.100 like somebody genuinely cares about your success and wants you to have good 140 00:09:23.100 --> 00:09:27.150 outcomes and they're willing to listen to help you get there, I think that's 141 00:09:27.150 --> 00:09:31.780 important. I think maybe one way to get it wrong would be to not create a 142 00:09:31.780 --> 00:09:35.380 circle of feedback around those inputs, right? And just have it feel like a 143 00:09:35.380 --> 00:09:38.950 dead end and nothing happens. That would be one way. What do you mean by a 144 00:09:38.950 --> 00:09:44.260 circle of input? An ongoing dialogue versus just A, I say more of a process 145 00:09:44.260 --> 00:09:47.520 versus an event where you bring in. Maybe you have, AH, user group and you 146 00:09:47.520 --> 00:09:50.700 have one time they meet and then they never hear back from you again. That 147 00:09:50.710 --> 00:09:54.770 probably wouldn't be optimal to do it that way, but to keep them in a circle. 148 00:09:54.770 --> 00:09:59.110 You know, we have, ah, basically a two year life cycle on our memberships in 149 00:09:59.110 --> 00:10:03.290 our advisory council product groups, and so they have the ability to 150 00:10:03.300 --> 00:10:07.600 maintain some longitude and Cem Cem momentum with the conversation so they 151 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:10.890 could see progress going on the other way. I think that would Would wouldn't 152 00:10:10.890 --> 00:10:14.460 work in and for anybody. This is important. The quality of the product, 153 00:10:14.460 --> 00:10:18.620 right? The quality of the product has to be focused. It has to be maintained 154 00:10:18.620 --> 00:10:21.810 and it has to be improved as you go forward. I mean, you could be a great 155 00:10:21.810 --> 00:10:24.900 listener, but if you're not delivering quality service or product, whatever 156 00:10:24.900 --> 00:10:28.260 that product is, then obviously that would be one way to get it wrong as 157 00:10:28.260 --> 00:10:32.390 well. I love it. Mark, how can listeners connect with you? Listen, I'm 158 00:10:32.390 --> 00:10:37.450 a, uh m dot Montgomery at crane were dot com I'm on Twitter at at Crane were 159 00:10:37.450 --> 00:10:42.100 CMO and certainly can reach us through our website at Crane were dot com, but 160 00:10:42.110 --> 00:10:45.120 we'd love toe to hear from you answer questions and maybe I'll ask a few 161 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:48.640 questions back. I love it. Thanks so much for being on the show. Damn. Thank 162 00:10:48.640 --> 00:10:53.450 you. Appreciate it is your buyer of GDP marketer. If so, you should think about 163 00:10:53.450 --> 00:10:58.260 sponsoring this podcast. B two B growth gets downloaded over 130,000 times each 164 00:10:58.260 --> 00:11:01.800 month, and our listeners are marketing decision makers. If it sounds 165 00:11:01.800 --> 00:11:05.660 interesting, send Logan and email Logan at sweet fish media dot com.