What Happens When Sales and Marketing Finally Work Together? [Endless Customers Podcast Ep. 103]

This transcript has been generated with AI and not checked for accuracy.

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:01:22

Lindsey Auten

imagine this. You're a sales leader.

 

00:00:01:22 - 00:00:05:22

Lindsey Auten

You have a complete turnover of your sales team, meaning

 

00:00:05:22 - 00:00:08:16

Lindsey Auten

you have to hire all new salespeople. You're probably panicking, right?

 

00:00:08:18 - 00:00:10:09

Alex Winter

Yikes. Yeah. That's scary.

 

00:00:10:11 - 00:00:15:17

Lindsey Auten

What if I told you there's a company out there who experienced complete sales team turnover,

 

00:00:15:17 - 00:00:20:01

Lindsey Auten

but they dramatically increased their sales?

 

00:00:20:02 - 00:00:22:19

Alex Winter

And tell me more about it. I want to hear all about that.

 

00:00:22:21 - 00:00:25:19

Lindsey Auten

Well, we're going to talk to the Strauss team and they're going to tell you how they did it.

 

00:00:35:05 - 00:00:47:04

Alex Winter

Welcome back to Endless Customers. I'm your host, Alex Winter. And today on the show, we have some very special guests. And I'm going to turn it over to one of our coaches and trainers. Lindsay Otten here at impact. Lindsay. Welcome back to the show.

 

00:00:47:04 - 00:00:52:17

Lindsey Auten

Hey, Alex. It's good to be back, but I am not the special guest today. I, I brought some friends with me.

 

00:00:52:18 - 00:00:54:21

Alex Winter

You're not the special guest. What?

 

00:00:54:23 - 00:01:10:19

Lindsey Auten

No, not the special guests. My friends from Strauss are here. I've been working with them for a while now, and, even though I know them pretty well, I'd love for them to introduce themselves. So. Lee and Zach. Can you tell our audience a little bit about who you are and what your day to day looks like?

 

00:01:10:21 - 00:01:18:19

Lindsey Auten

At Strauss and maybe explain a little bit what Strauss does to you for those of the audience who are not familiar with the company. So, Lee, why don't we start with you?

 

00:01:18:21 - 00:01:55:02

Lee House

Hi. Thank you. I'm Lee, and, I'm Strauss's content marketing manager. So my day to day typically looks like, writing articles, checking the website analytics I interview a lot of our subject matter experts, which in our case are typically engineers. Strauss I'll give you my elevator pitch. Strauss is a converting company, which basically means we buy these big rolls of adhesive like tapes, foam films, foils any flexible materials, and then we cut them down to these little specialized parts like that go inside of medical devices, automobiles and all sorts of fun, cool stuff like that.

 

00:01:55:04 - 00:01:57:04

Lee House

So yeah.

 

00:01:57:06 - 00:01:58:00

Alex Winter

Very cool.

 

00:01:58:00 - 00:01:58:14

Lindsey Auten

not,

 

00:01:58:19 - 00:02:21:09

Zach Tracey

You sure? I will. Hop in. Well. Hello, Lindsay. Hello, everyone. My name is Zach Tracy. I'm the central U.S. territory manager for Strauss. My day to day looks something like a mix between a project manager and sales. Is really how I shake it out. So, I'm the first point of contact on new business opportunities with Strauss, you know, kind of guiding them through that pre discovery to discovery solution development phase.

 

00:02:21:09 - 00:02:36:10

Zach Tracey

facilitating those conversations between our engineering team, and, you know, the end user and then kind of bringing them through to a buying decision. And my elevator pitch for Strauss would be, just in the breadth of the industries we serve. So really, the flexible materials can be anything that's sourced on a roll.

 

00:02:36:10 - 00:02:49:12

Zach Tracey

And, you know, I might be working on a project with an aerospace company, with a defense company, with an automotive company, with a medical company. And it's not even 8 a.m. yet. So that's, that's kind of how it breaks down for us.

 

00:02:49:14 - 00:02:58:14

Alex Winter

Wow. Very cool. Well, welcome to the show. It's great to have you both on. Lindsay, I think a good place for us to start because I am excited to hear more about Strauss and your journey.

 

00:02:58:14 - 00:03:07:06

Alex Winter

We always talk a lot in endless customers about how important it is to have a revenue team and the importance of having your marketing and your sales working together as one.

 

00:03:07:06 - 00:03:21:03

Alex Winter

So can we start there with how you got that buy in, and how both of these teams started to work together to create the content and all the things that you're doing nowadays. And Lindsay, how you how you got everyone to play played nicely in the same sandbox.

 

00:03:21:05 - 00:03:45:06

Lindsey Auten

Well, Alex, I think the before we dive into that, it's important to address like what a revenue team meeting is. Why it's important. And just to quickly define that is it's a meeting where the sales and marketing and possibly service teams, if service is important to your customer relationships and the ongoing value, like if you have any opportunities for retention or upselling services are good.

 

00:03:45:08 - 00:04:14:23

Lindsey Auten

Like would be a good component of that, but it's the teams that interact with customers that come together and basically identify challenges, problems, ideas, anything that can help the sales team and evolve the content strategy so that it speaks more true to like, what people are actually asking about. And generally speaking, when this meeting comes to fruition, when it happens for the first time, marketing is really excited about it.

 

00:04:14:23 - 00:04:42:00

Lindsey Auten

And sales does not really care if I'm being blunt. Okay. And so for someone like Lee, who's the content manager, who's like all excited to have this meeting, it can be a challenge to pick the right agenda that's going to get sales to buy in. And I think that's something that Lee has done exceptionally well, which is why when we were talking about this topic and we were thinking about what team makes sense to bring on and talk about revenue teams and sales and marketing, cohesion.

 

00:04:42:02 - 00:04:57:00

Lindsey Auten

The Strauss team was, frankly, the first team I thought of. And so I would love to hear from Lee's perspective, when you were first approached about the idea of a revenue team meeting, how how did you take on that that challenge?

 

00:04:57:02 - 00:05:19:19

Lee House

Well, well, I feel very flattered that we were the first people you thought of. It was interesting when I think when I first came on, they sort of had it in mind where it was already sort of being talked about. Hey, we want to join the sales and the marketing teams together and see what we can do together and try and, create this cohesive content strategy that's going to last.

 

00:05:19:19 - 00:05:40:20

Lee House

We have a very long sales cycle, so you have to account for all of that throughout. Of course. But when we first started the revenue team meetings, like, it was very, I mean, it's very stressful thing because I show up, I'm new and I walk in and I'm like, yeah, guys like you guys know your industry super well, and I kind of know what we do here.

 

00:05:40:20 - 00:06:05:04

Lee House

And let's all like, talk about, like how well you're selling stuff and it's like, so it can be so miserable. But like the truth is it's it's very, you know, it very much just needs to be a meeting that benefits everyone. So I think that over time I learned to relax into it. And I would go around and just figure out what people wanted to talk about and figure out where the problem areas were that we actually did need to address.

 

00:06:05:04 - 00:06:08:13

Lee House

And I think that we managed to boil it down to that.

 

00:06:08:14 - 00:06:10:20

Lindsey Auten

Yeah, yeah. Go ahead. Yeah.

 

00:06:10:20 - 00:06:26:15

Alex Winter

It looks like I say, Lee, that does sound intimidating at times, especially that first kickoff meeting. One how to do this in two part question one how did you power through that and find the strength to like, keep digging deeper and to keep pushing forward. And then two how did you start to get that buy in? Because I feel like having an outside perspective.

 

00:06:26:15 - 00:06:36:23

Alex Winter

I know you said that you were new to all these salespeople that had been there for a long time. How did your, like, fresh perspective help kind of change the conversation and push it into the direction it is now?

 

00:06:37:01 - 00:07:07:19

Lee House

Yeah, no, it's a great question. I think that when I first showed up, a lot of what I learned was the need for preparedness. I guess when it came to the meetings. I think that in terms of figuring out what to do each meeting and how to step in and be the one learning how to navigate the room, I guess when you're in there and you're trying to give everyone a voice, and when you're trying to make sure that everyone's getting the time to voice their concerns and voice, there are things that go well and things that don't go well.

 

00:07:07:20 - 00:07:25:09

Lee House

I think that over time, I learned how to navigate that better by showing up and genuinely showing an interest in and out of the meetings about what people were up to, about their deals, about how things are going with them, and about whether there are tools that they need or content they need that can genuinely make their jobs better and make their days go smoother.

 

00:07:25:11 - 00:07:27:03

Lee House

And I'm forgetting your second question.

 

00:07:27:05 - 00:07:45:12

Alex Winter

Yeah. So you coming in with a new perspective might have seemed like, like maybe a little fish out of water scenario, but it also brings some new ideas into the equation and maybe can help bring some new ideas to the table that people aren't seeing. So how did that play into working with the sales team and starting to develop a rapport with this, like revenue team structure?

 

00:07:45:17 - 00:08:04:12

Lee House

Yeah. So I definitely think a lot of the ideas I had coming in were pretty new. I came in and I was very much like, let's get it on video, and we're out here and like, I'm Gen Z and we're like making TikToks and whatever. It's no big deal. But for some of these guys, they've never taken a video that wasn't at their like wedding, you know, and that's cool.

 

00:08:04:12 - 00:08:22:17

Lee House

But like at the end of the day, it's a matter of just like finding that compromise with everyone where they're going to show up and be like, I think this there's a way we can make this work for you in a way that's going to be comfortable for you, and we're going to try and make that work as much as possible, so that we're giving you the best strategy you need to succeed in your goals.

 

00:08:22:17 - 00:08:34:01

Alex Winter

Very nice. And Zach, I'm just going to bridge over to you here. So what was it like for you as, you know, as a, as a manager and starting to join these meetings? How did this play it for you and how did it feel for you coming into the mix?

 

00:08:34:01 - 00:08:35:01

Zach Tracey

Yeah. So

 

00:08:35:01 - 00:08:54:23

Zach Tracey

to Lee's point, like I had the one advantage of from the moment I was on board, it kind of having these these they ask you answer principles and going through the impact of training like that. That got to be a firm cornerstone of my development and kind of getting scaled up into the role. So, you know, the concept of a revenue team and a revenue team meeting, like as soon as I was learning about that, I was like, oh, this makes sense.

 

00:08:55:01 - 00:09:10:11

Zach Tracey

And then I was in, you know, my first meeting two weeks in a role. And we did have more tenure in those meetings when I first started. But it really like I just appreciated the moment of, you know, getting to sit back with all my peers in the room, you know, we will bring in engineers or CEO.

 

00:09:10:11 - 00:09:28:08

Zach Tracey

We'll sit in sometimes just getting to have these moments where Leah's either teaching, she's asking questions, or the team is sharing examples of something. You know, they went through an example, they used assignments selling a video that they sent. You get to have these like global learning moments. And that happened in my first meeting there is, you know, bits and pieces of that all over.

 

00:09:28:08 - 00:09:46:02

Zach Tracey

And I was spot in. I tell Lee it's jokingly it's not a joke. The revenue meeting is my favorite meeting of the week, because it's nice when you get a meeting, when you just know there's like this, this global, like, hey, we're here to drive revenue. And that is the result we're chasing. That's what all of these people in this room are for.

 

00:09:46:04 - 00:09:59:04

Zach Tracey

So let's get better together. It's not, don't be afraid to share some feedback or where you maybe thought you could have dealt with something better, because we're going to talk about it and we're going to like, you know, encourage each other in a way to, like, push towards that goal of driving more revenue and getting better.

 

00:09:59:06 - 00:10:12:12

Alex Winter

Yeah, creating that safe space is so important. And I think that's the biggest benefit of having a revenue team is it becomes less critical and a numbers driven and much more about helping each other and learning and growing so that you can sell better and build more trust.

 

00:10:12:12 - 00:10:15:00

Alex Winter

So it sounds like it sounds like you're having weekly meetings.

 

00:10:15:00 - 00:10:20:17

Alex Winter

And Lindsay, correct me if I'm wrong, is that right that you guys are on a weekly cadence with your revenue? With your revenue team meetings? Is that what is that what you said?

 

00:10:20:17 - 00:10:25:10

Zach Tracey

Zach, it's by week. By week. I might have said weekly, but it is by. Okay.

 

00:10:25:10 - 00:10:37:18

Alex Winter

It's apparently all right. So can I ask? I'm just curious. What made you guys decide to do bi weekly or like, how did you set up the cadence that you felt was going to help the team and like, get you guys into the correct rhythm that you needed to create the content?

 

00:10:37:22 - 00:11:09:17

Lee House

So we have a very developed like development heavy process because we're taking these customer designs and then we're making them into these especially like these very complicated parts and things like that. So we have a very long sales cycle. And I think a lot of why we ended up choosing bi weekly was just you're not you might not have a lot of the development that's able to be shown in terms of the content you've sent out to people over the course of like a single week, because and I mean, our sales guys are into they're in contact with so many different people, of course, that there are a lot of developments.

 

00:11:09:18 - 00:11:16:12

Lee House

But the big developments, I think it just takes a little more time to move between deal stages. So that's why we settled on biweekly.

 

00:11:16:17 - 00:11:32:12

Alex Winter

That makes sense. Lindsay, how was that for you as a coach? Watching, watching this team start to get into synchronicity and having these meetings and and just like having it really all come together because it doesn't always it doesn't always come together. It's not as easy. It's easier said than done, I guess, is what I'm trying to say.

 

00:11:32:12 - 00:11:36:02

Alex Winter

So Lindsay for use there. Coach. How was watching this unfold?

 

00:11:36:04 - 00:11:59:03

Lindsey Auten

Yeah, I was really proud of both Lee and Zach. In in accomplishing the level of revenue team meeting that they've been able to accomplish, because I think at the time I was working one on one with both of you where we had Zach, you and I were working one on one, and then Lee, you, me and then Joe Bashir, who was, the HubSpot trainer on my team.

 

00:11:59:05 - 00:12:27:00

Lindsey Auten

We're working together and to see the to create the this and it sounds so cheesy. The dream realized of sales and marketing alignment, is was so rewarding. And I think what's even in I think what's even more rewarding, is the way it's continued to evolve and the way that it that it's continued to grow. At sprouts because, Zach, in the time that he's been out, sprouts is now the most senior member of their, their sales team.

 

00:12:27:02 - 00:12:52:09

Lindsey Auten

And he is, truly a leader, in the sales space. And I've seen Lee as the type of person I want to introduce other content managers to who were in person with that at events. And so I've just I've seen tremendous growth from not only the, like, conceptual standpoint, but from both of them in their development as leaders, in not only their space but in the like, endless customer space as well.

 

00:12:52:09 - 00:12:54:15

Lindsey Auten

So for me as a coach is very rewarding.

 

00:12:54:15 - 00:12:55:21

Alex Winter

That's amazing. And

 

00:12:55:21 - 00:13:15:19

Alex Winter

aside from it being rewarding, there's also been some pretty great results. So how has having these consistent revenue team meetings affected the content and the way that you have your sales conversations? Because you said that, your sales, your sales, pipeline or process is a little bit longer. So what does that look like and how is that helped your bottom line when it comes to sales?

 

00:13:16:01 - 00:13:37:08

Lee House

Yeah. So I think it really came down to planning out content for each stage of the process. I think that for most people, it starts out with just planning it out and figuring out where those big points are, where people like decisions are going to be hinged and starting there and then working back and trying to create content that's going to be helpful for people at those stages.

 

00:13:37:10 - 00:14:11:21

Lee House

And then working on bringing people in as well. So it really started out with just asking our sales team from the top level, what questions do you get asked all the time? Like what issues do people bring to you? What questions do you have to answer? And you have to spend time writing the same paragraph over and over again, to the point where you've got it in a copy paste somewhere, and once we had that figured out and we figured, hey, like, that's the best way to help for us, to help us, like myself and our videographer Evan, as content creators is like, we can make those pieces after discussing it with the sales

 

00:14:11:21 - 00:14:24:06

Lee House

team, and then they just have something there that it's a ready explanation that's going to help the customer understand everything about what they're asking and help them move along in the process wherever they're at.

 

00:14:24:09 - 00:14:37:17

Alex Winter

Right? Right. Yeah, it's a win win because it helps your sales team. It shortens the conversations they have. And it also most importantly helps the customers because they get what they want faster increases their questions faster. It builds trust faster. It's a win win. That's really cool.

 

00:14:37:19 - 00:15:02:14

Lindsey Auten

Zach for you as a as the person who actually like uses the content in a conversation, do you remember when or do you remember the first article you used and or I guess I let me be more specific. The first article you use that came out of a revenue team meeting, and the impact it had on the conversation that you had with the person who you were sending it to.

 

00:15:02:16 - 00:15:24:09

Zach Tracey

I actually do remember the very first article I sent for assignment selling, and the customer and, you know, the discussion around it. So, we had talked about, you know, we were talking about discovery calls and, you know, not just letting the discovery call be a calendar invite, and that's how deep it was. Right. And then you just hop on this call with very little, you know, bilateral awareness between the customer and us, right.

 

00:15:24:09 - 00:15:45:09

Zach Tracey

And information sharing leading up to that. So we have this piece of content that we had developed called the, you know, ten questions. To know that Strauss is going to ask you during your discovery call to kind of give them a list of like, hey, like, here's the things we're going to talk about and what's going to be essential for us to get an accurate idea of what you're trying to do or change and how we can help, you know, get you there as long as we have this information.

 

00:15:45:11 - 00:16:03:11

Zach Tracey

So being that I was newer, I didn't have as much, you know, industry or like, niche experience to, like, rely on. So I was thinking like a buyer as much as I could because I would be like, oh, I don't know the answer to that. So do we have any content that's going to help, you know, tell this story and, you know, paint a path of this journey for them.

 

00:16:03:13 - 00:16:16:15

Zach Tracey

And I remember sending a new lead, that article very early in the sales process and was like, hey, like, you know, thanks for reaching out. Sounds like something we would love to talk to you guys about. I'm going to send you this article with ten questions about, you know, some things that are going to be really important for us to discuss in discovery.

 

00:16:16:15 - 00:16:47:01

Zach Tracey

Cool. So if you have some time to collect your thoughts and bring that with you, that's going to make sure we're going to have a really impactful call that's going to help us get you a solution. In a way that's, you know, quick, expedient to your needs and your timeline. And the response to that was, I believe, the same day I got a word document from them a day before the call with those ten questions answered in a sheet, basically telling us every single detail, whether it was a technical spec where whether it's a question about where they were in the process, what was the compelling reason for them,

 

00:16:47:01 - 00:17:04:08

Zach Tracey

you know, reaching out to us. And that was that was a huge unlock point because that was very early. And I don't think everyone gets that lucky because, you know, science only works. It might not work that well on your very first try, for every single person. But it did for me. And that was, you know, the proof is in the pudding.

 

00:17:04:08 - 00:17:26:18

Zach Tracey

So I was like, oh, now we have all this information. Our engineers are like, wow, this is awesome. Like, yes, we can help them. So here's what we're going to prepare a proposal on the meeting. And we went from, you know, a new company reaching out to having a pretty aligned idea of what they were trying to do and a solution that we could offer within like ten days, which for us was, like much quicker than our average cell cycle.

 

00:17:26:19 - 00:17:32:11

Zach Tracey

So from that point on, I was like, all right, this is the way, like, I can see the results. I can see the why, like I'm in.

 

00:17:32:14 - 00:17:53:23

Alex Winter

Yeah. You're bought in immediately. I don't and how can you how can you blame me? I would have felt the same exact way. So I just have to ask this right. Just based off that story, before you came to Strauss, had you had sales experience in the past? Have you ever done anything like this where, like you made some content like this and it just worked, or was this the first time you really had this sort of like moment and it just it just all came together.

 

00:17:54:01 - 00:18:12:20

Zach Tracey

Yeah. On the sell side like or B2B sales I'd say. Yeah. This was, this is kind of the first moment for me, from what I had done prior was on a with like an executive leadership level on the operations side of things. So the conversations we were having about sales and results, you know, it was very macro, was very data driven.

 

00:18:12:20 - 00:18:32:21

Zach Tracey

It was less, personalized and specific to the issues that someone was facing. So this was like, you know, a much smaller scale, from what I was used to. But seeing that buying, you know, from the customer to immediately be like, oh, that makes sense. I want to provide that information. So this goes well, you know, that kind of set it off for me.

 

00:18:32:23 - 00:18:52:21

Alex Winter

Very cool, very cool. So I have a stat here and I have to ask this because we're talking about sales. It says that at one point in your journey that you had a full sales team turnover. Lee, that like my hair stand up on the back of my neck just thinking about that. That sounds like a pretty stressful situation to be in.

 

00:18:52:23 - 00:19:11:22

Alex Winter

And you navigated it very gracefully and you've re-upped your sales team, and you've implemented this revenue squad team meeting that you're having on a regular basis. And it seems to be working better than ever. So, how did you navigate that? And for everyone out there watching and listening, that maybe having some struggles with their sales team or whatever the case may be, what advice could you give them to just help them?

 

00:19:12:00 - 00:19:20:03

Alex Winter

Because sometimes things don't always go according to plan. So how did you just navigate through all this and just paint that picture for us?

 

00:19:20:04 - 00:19:48:10

Lee House

Yeah, it could definitely be a very, very shocking process. I think when something that big happens, you know, and it does rock your organization a bit. But at the end of the day, I think that what really helped us get through it was sticking to the process, I suppose, which is very difficult to say when part of the reason why, you know, some people are leaving is we're doing things that aren't comfortable to them and don't fit into the way that they're used to selling.

 

00:19:48:10 - 00:20:09:12

Lee House

You know, there's so many people who have been doing their job for years and years, and it's a very it's a very hard thing to come in and say, we want you to try things very differently than what you're used to, you know? And they all gave it a great try. And they and many of them, you know, we're doing well as well, with, with this new process.

 

00:20:09:12 - 00:20:27:10

Lee House

But at the end of the day, it's just not always going to be fully compatible with every person. And there's so many companies out there who are not doing it this way. And, you know, going through this new process that, you know, maybe it's not always a good fit, but at the same time, the thing that really helped us get through it was,

 

00:20:27:10 - 00:20:48:02

Lee House

at the end of the day, bringing in people, and just from the get go, we're saying this is the way we do it. And we know it works. And I'm going to show you the proof that it works so that you understand we're for real about this and that we're going to sales and marketing are going to be able to work together to, you know, make everything as best as we possibly can.

 

00:20:48:04 - 00:21:10:12

Alex Winter

Yeah, yeah. And I think Zach is a perfect example of, of that. Someone who's coming in that has the buy in starts to work. The program. And clearly it has worked out exceptionally well. What about, with Lindsey? So how was it for you having a coach? Do you feel like having somebody to be able to bounce these ideas off of, to have, a companion when you're maybe having some of these tougher conversations and navigating some of these tougher times?

 

00:21:10:12 - 00:21:14:18

Alex Winter

How did that help you as you were going through this process?

 

00:21:14:20 - 00:21:17:10

Lindsey Auten

You guys can be honest, so you don't have to say all nice things about me.

 

00:21:17:10 - 00:21:18:12

Alex Winter

Yeah.

 

00:21:18:14 - 00:21:23:09

Zach Tracey

Yeah, she yelled at me. Well.

 

00:21:23:11 - 00:21:36:14

Zach Tracey

Well, I thought from my perspective and, you know, this is just a core value of mine is like, I don't like to do things just to do them. Like, you got to explain the why to me. You got to. I got to be bought into it. Like, you know, I don't want to just do something because it's what we're doing it.

 

00:21:36:14 - 00:21:59:02

Zach Tracey

And if I can't see the results of the reason, like, I'm going to be a tough sell. Yeah. So, you know, getting up to speed on what was, you know, unless customers and they ask, you answer and these principles, and they're having revenue team meetings and then to have these sessions with Lindsey where, you know, we might shoot a 1 to 1 video and I'd be like, look like, I don't know that the video worked in this instance like we thought it should.

 

00:21:59:04 - 00:22:15:07

Zach Tracey

Or maybe like, I think there's a way that could work better. Or is there a use case for video that's different than what we thought of? And you're just being able to be like, hey, like have those honest conversations about where we see it working really well and where maybe we need to think different about these things and try a different strategy.

 

00:22:15:08 - 00:22:31:05

Zach Tracey

That was huge, right? Because it's it's not as easy. And I think everyone on this call, and probably everyone who's listening on this podcast knows this. Like, you can't just lay out a blanket criteria or process and not change, adapt or optimize it at all for your business. Like you're going to have to customize it at some level, right?

 

00:22:31:09 - 00:22:53:12

Zach Tracey

Yeah. And to just be to have those conversations as I'm learning it to be like, hey, like, is there a different way we can approach this or look at it? And to have her experience in line, you know, to kind of guide me through that as I was learning it like that was invaluable because then I was I was constantly getting the why and my feedback, if there was any, from the real life application, you know, we could address, you know, our direction moving forward based off of that.

 

00:22:53:14 - 00:22:54:23

Zach Tracey

Yeah.

 

00:22:55:01 - 00:23:19:10

Lindsey Auten

And I was never going to I will say this maybe more indicative of my coaching style is I'm never going to go into any kind of relationship and be like, you have to do it this way because it works 100% of the time. I'm I'm willing to admit when something I've suggested doesn't work. And as a coach, you have to, in my mind, in my philosophy, you have to be able to say like, okay, we tried it.

 

00:23:19:10 - 00:23:48:00

Lindsey Auten

It didn't work. What did we learn? And we move on and we improve. And when Zach and I first started working on video, specifically, their boss, Zach and Lee's boss, Scott had already, like, expressed where he's had some examples of bad 1 to 1 video that was sent to him. So he was very cautious about implementing 1 to 1 video with his customer base because he didn't want that same like, obnoxious experience, to happen to them.

 

00:23:48:06 - 00:24:14:06

Lindsey Auten

And so, Zach, I think we trialed and aired a lot of styles of 1 to 1 video types that, like, like you said, some work, some didn't work. And it was, I love it when something like that is a collaborative process, because there are things that we talked about in our sessions that I can take and bring to other teams from a concept standpoint and be like, hey, this worked.

 

00:24:14:06 - 00:24:23:00

Lindsey Auten

This type of video worked for this team. Could it work for your team as well? And see how that takes hold in other organizations?

 

00:24:23:02 - 00:24:45:14

Alex Winter

Yeah, that's a that's a really interesting point. Lindsey and I, we talk a lot about video, and you've been on the show in the past and talk quite a bit about video, and you're in good company with Austin and myself here in studio. But I've never really thought about it where like 1 to 1 example, one on one video is a perfect example of like what works for Strauss and what Scott, the CEO, wants to see from like a tone and culture perspective might be very different than another company.

 

00:24:45:14 - 00:24:58:17

Alex Winter

And that doesn't mean that a 1 to 1 video has to change drastically. But like the way that it's done, the style of it is going to vary based on on the specifics of each company, and it has to be custom tailored to do so. And that's that's a really interesting point. And I don't know if we've ever talked about that.

 

00:24:58:17 - 00:25:01:05

Alex Winter

So I think that's just a really cool thing to highlight here.

 

00:25:01:08 - 00:25:18:22

Lindsey Auten

Lee, what about your perspective on the like coaching aspect of it? Because you've worked with a lot of different members of the impact team, not just me. So you've received a lot of different styles of coaching and areas of coaching over your time. Working with impact and working with Strauss?

 

00:25:19:00 - 00:25:37:23

Lee House

Well, I think that especially like coming from a writing background, it's sort of you get used to hearing a lot of different perspectives is a good thing. I think that's like the mentality I had going into it. So it's kind of been nice to work with a lot of different coaches because I get so many different perspectives on what we're doing and how we're going to be doing it.

 

00:25:38:01 - 00:25:56:00

Lee House

And obviously there is like the overarching goal, but, you know, everyone's going to be coming at it from a different place. But I really enjoyed working with you all, because I think that whenever I come to you all with a goal of what we want to do, I think that a lot of the time what happens is you all are working on your end to plan things.

 

00:25:56:00 - 00:26:12:16

Lee House

We're working on our end to plan things, and when we're both like doing that and we come together and I say, here's our objectives. And you all say, you know, here's what we want to help you do. We're able to meet in the middle and find something really nice that's going to work for us and drive results for us as well.

 

00:26:12:16 - 00:26:31:17

Alex Winter

That's awesome. Very cool. Speaking of driving results, this is a great segue. What results have you been seeing since you've implemented all these changes and going through the process you've been through? What are your traffic and leads and sales looking like, can you take us from maybe before you started training with us to where they're at now, or maybe like before the turnover to where they are now?

 

00:26:31:17 - 00:26:35:17

Alex Winter

I just love to hear some numbers and paint that picture. It'd be really cool.

 

00:26:35:19 - 00:27:02:23

Lee House

Yeah, absolutely. So when we talk about our traffic that's coming in, before I'm like, thinking of the whole thing. Think of the big picture here. So I've been working here for about three years, when I first started here, ever since then, it was on the up and up for sure, like our traffic as we went through the process, we're creating this content and we're optimizing the content to be the best it can.

 

00:27:02:23 - 00:27:25:01

Lee House

Then, you know, have, you know, I originally were like, you know, see if we can fit the keywords in there as well, the rank and doing all of your classic tips and tricks and everything. But then of course, Google I over the years happened and now it's a very interesting game because what's happened is our traffic has dropped off a bit, but what's going on is our leads have increased significantly.

 

00:27:25:03 - 00:27:49:08

Lee House

And so I've seen a lot of other people mention this on LinkedIn. They've been saying a crocodile type figure in their impressions versus their, versus their views. And, and it's very interesting because it's very it's a different game now, you know, and it's you see everything changing and you have to learn how to adapt to that. And for us, it's been going still pretty well because we didn't freak out at the signs of the change or anything like that.

 

00:27:49:08 - 00:28:06:04

Lee House

So, you know, we're we're getting our leads coming in and we've been able to adapt to it pretty well. And so humbly, I mean, that's the thing is we just have to make sure that their quality leads. Right? I'm out here fishing and and then I turn to Zach and I go, is it illegal?

 

00:28:06:06 - 00:28:10:18

Alex Winter

And then Zach, what do you say? Where it where does that conversation go?

 

00:28:10:20 - 00:28:39:01

Zach Tracey

Well, I'd say the answer has been yes. More and more. Obviously you have to keep tweaking things. But, you know, when I started in October of 2023, you know, with the full, very tenured sales staff, Q1 of 2024 was where that turnover we talked about earlier really took place. But in 2024, you know, we kind of made the decision where my role was going to focus on new business, new opportunities, and we role we like elevated our customer service team to a customer success model.

 

00:28:39:03 - 00:28:45:04

Zach Tracey

And we so just for new sales for 2024, it was a 400% increase. You're year from 2400.

 

00:28:45:05 - 00:28:46:09

Alex Winter

Percent.

 

00:28:46:11 - 00:29:17:05

Zach Tracey

462% to be accurate. But I felt like being that accurate was like a little pretentious. But that was that's what we saw in the central U.S. territory. The territory I'm responsible for. So the total business, the existing business stayed there. But that additional level of focus and assignment selling and like, you know, really looking at these leads that we were getting from a different perspective with a different set of tools, like we saw some very real traction, you know, very quickly, you know, as we started to implement those things.

 

00:29:17:08 - 00:29:27:14

Alex Winter

Yeah, 400 plus percent. That's that's beyond incredible for anyone out there watching and listening. I hope your ears perked up because mind, that's that's the dream scenario. Wow. Incredible.

 

00:29:27:14 - 00:29:43:08

Alex Winter

Well, speaking of results, can we. Do you guys have some stories you could share with us of, maybe some wins that have happened while you're doing this? And I also want to bring into the mix assignment selling. And I think a lot of people out there that listen and watch this podcast. No, but, Lindsay, I'm going to put your coaching expertise in here.

 

00:29:43:08 - 00:29:50:21

Alex Winter

Do you want to just explain what assignment selling is? And then we'll and we'll give some examples of how this has helped. You guys do your job better.

 

00:29:50:23 - 00:30:22:00

Zach Tracey

Yeah. So at its base level, assignment selling is the act of assigning a person that you're speaking to, whether you're in customer service, whether you're in sales, you're assigning the person who you're about to have a conversation with, a resource, to read or watch, that the ideas will help further the conversation. So you're basically giving homework. And the idea is that it's a more educated, more well-rounded conversation that leaves them in a better position to make a decision so that you can move more quickly through the sales cycle.

 

00:30:22:02 - 00:30:34:22

Alex Winter

Nice. I love it. So, Zach Zachary leads, you have some stories maybe you could share of when assignments only went really well and it just streamlined your sales process in the sales cycle. And it was just a home run.

 

00:30:35:08 - 00:31:04:03

Lindsey Auten

Yeah, I have a like an internally focused one that jumps out to me to start with. And it kind of correlates back to what we're talking about with revenue team. And I remember when we first started, you know, and I was in these revenue team meetings, we would always review assignments, selling examples. Right. And sometimes, you know, as we were still gaining that buy in from the total team, you'd see examples where, you know, maybe we were using it to use it, or someone was it hadn't quite clicked for someone yet.

 

00:31:04:05 - 00:31:20:02

Lindsey Auten

Where they'd be, you know, sharing an example where they had shared an article. But if you read the conversation and the customer's response, you might think, like, I'm not sure if that was a direct result of, you know, whether we're trying to guide them down the path of, you know, a successful product launch or where this came from.

 

00:31:20:02 - 00:31:40:00

Lindsey Auten

So we started looking at it from a different spoke, excuse me, a different scope of like, you know, instead of just, use it instead of, you know, creating the opportunity for people to be using it to using it. We would talk about it from a perspective of like, hey, like if we look at the conversation that led up before it, was going on actively and what followed, you know, what made sense?

 

00:31:40:00 - 00:31:56:16

Lindsey Auten

And it's something that, in my opinion, like when it's used well, it's the result of listening. Well, if I am listening well to a customer, I'm going to think of some content that does a great job of sharing with our team, you know, updates on what's new, what we have in terms of content. I'm going to think of that article.

 

00:31:56:18 - 00:32:18:21

Lindsey Auten

I'm going to think of the context I find myself in with the customer. I'm going to apply that well. And if it's a result of, you know, listening well, it really, really hits with the customers, because it feels like it's not it's, you know, we are using that content to directly answer or to answer questions that they haven't even asked yet, because we're doing a good job of paying attention at the beginning.

 

00:32:18:21 - 00:32:27:06

Lindsey Auten

And if it's the result of listening, well, we found it to, you know, really have a strong impact with their customers as they go through our sales process. Yeah.

 

00:32:27:08 - 00:32:44:19

Alex Winter

Yeah, that's a great story. I learned something, too, with assignment selling that I used to do it more open ended. Like how you started off the conversation where like I include some articles, but then I wouldn't really give clear direction of like, please read this. And then in our next conversation let's talk about it. And you really have to define that and have like those clear next steps.

 

00:32:44:19 - 00:32:54:18

Alex Winter

Because if you don't you're sort of like half checking the box and you're not really practicing active listening like you were just talking about, because that's really what it's about, is listening to your customers or potential customers.

 

00:32:54:20 - 00:33:12:01

Lee House

Yeah. We found out that very quickly giving people a reason to do things. I know there was like some study on this, but giving someone a reason to do things, when you boil it down to the pure psychology of it, is what's going to get them to engage with it actively. And like I said, it's a really it's a full picture.

 

00:33:12:01 - 00:33:29:19

Lee House

You have to look at. We have so much data on how people interact with our website, how they interact with us, and if we're not using that and using it to its full potential, you're not going to get the full, clear picture of where this person is at in their customer journey and why they're coming to us and what they already know and the best way we can help them.

 

00:33:29:19 - 00:33:46:14

Lee House

So it's very much like Zach said, when our territory managers and our sales team are tuned in to where the customer is at, instead of just tagging the content down below, here's a couple links. And then they just say that no one's gonna click that. You know no one wants to to engage with something that's not going to resonate with them.

 

00:33:46:14 - 00:33:55:06

Lee House

But everyone wants a very personalized experience these days. And if you're offering that and it's it's useful and it's helpful to them, then that's great.

 

00:33:55:07 - 00:33:56:22

Alex Winter

Very well said. I couldn't agree more.

 

00:33:58:09 - 00:34:04:08

Alex Winter

Lindsay, anything else we want to talk about before we start to get into like, learning lessons? And the one thing.

 

00:34:04:21 - 00:34:33:03

Zach Tracey

I'm just I'm thinking about, like, how do I get more? How do I get more salespeople who I, I'm currently working with? How do I get them to listen better in conversations, and think critically more about the like, the content that we're using because it is a common a common mis in assignment selling when you're coaching assignment selling is I can see people using the content that they don't really understand why they're using it.

 

00:34:33:03 - 00:34:56:23

Zach Tracey

They're more just using it because it's like, well, I said, so use it because I said so. And I'm wondering, is there a like mindset shift or is there messaging that needs to happen for them to that can be communicated in a revenue team meeting to better like think of assignment selling as a tool rather than a like requirement.

 

00:34:57:01 - 00:35:19:04

Zach Tracey

Like, yes, we want you to use it as part of your process, but it needs to be a valuable tool for you to fully like make that transition. So I'm just wondering, like Lee, from your perspective, are there any specific agenda points in the revenue team meeting where you feel like it does a good job of creating that dynamic of assignment, selling as a as a tool in your toolbox rather than like a requirement to use.

 

00:35:19:06 - 00:35:35:04

Lee House

Yeah, absolutely. When I first started putting the meetings together, I don't think there was much of a guideline. So we kind of just went for it and did the same thing a few times and would try out new segments and see if it works kind of thing. But what ended up happening was we started when we started looking at assignment selling.

 

00:35:35:06 - 00:35:54:20

Lee House

Basically, I would pull up the assignments, I like emails, and we would look at that from the isolation of the email itself. People would judge their grammar. People would judge, you know, the way they if they knew how to hyperlink, you know. But at the end of the day, what really ended up being helpful was when we transition back into we are going to observe these specific deals and these very specific customers.

 

00:35:54:22 - 00:36:17:08

Lee House

And because that's what makes it very personalized. And so instead of focusing on the assignment, selling aspects of it in that way, what ended up being the most useful for us was focusing harder on the specific deals that are top of mind, and then going over that as a whole and seeing where the pain points were, and then saying, could we address that with content?

 

00:36:17:08 - 00:36:48:17

Lee House

Could we address these pain points with content? Could we address the things that are not pain points, but come up over and over again? We create promotional more so content at the beginning of the journey for that, because we know that we're we're winning these types of deals. And so as you get really granular about the type of deals and type of customers that you're working with, you just start to see those holes where content fills it, open up, it's and then it feels less forced for marketing to create content, because it's very much needed, and it feels way less force for sales to use the content, because it's also needed on their own.

 

00:36:48:21 - 00:36:52:01

Zach Tracey

Yeah, I love that we think you can do that.

 

00:36:52:03 - 00:37:19:23

Lindsey Auten

Yeah, I mean, I, I wholeheartedly agree with that. And I think as we taught it, you know, for new territory managers as we went through that turnover period, like, you know, using the examples, like, you know, when we talk about Reddit and how the buyers have changed, right? And you know what? But to Lee and Lindsay and, you know, and I do when we want to buy something, you know, we're going to go gather as much information as we can now before we make a buying decision, you know, correlating our onboarding to that simple principle.

 

00:37:19:23 - 00:37:42:15

Lindsey Auten

And like, you know, how it's laid out entire like that. That clicked for me and it's clicked for our into our territory managers because that's how they shop. That's how, you know, a lot of these shifts with the consumers and with sales have, you know, that's where we're at right now. So when we correlated it to that, you know, and you shared the use cases for it, it really clicked because it's not something we're doing because it's part of our process.

 

00:37:42:15 - 00:38:00:10

Lindsey Auten

It's something we're doing because we're saying, no, we're going to boldly educate our customers like we're comfortable doing that, like we're not going to just ask questions, and not and not, you know, use our voice like, no, our voice has a place and it's our job to boldly educate and, you know, help our customers on that hero's journey.

 

00:38:00:12 - 00:38:17:03

Zach Tracey

Yeah. I love, And Alex, we can we can wrap up in a second, but I would love if we could, like, brag a little bit about the impact your content has had on the industry because we've had conversations about your competitors a few times. I would love to hear.

 

00:38:17:05 - 00:38:18:01

Alex Winter

Yes, I want to hear.

 

00:38:18:01 - 00:38:22:01

Zach Tracey

About your articles and how they have impacted the industry.

 

00:38:22:06 - 00:38:24:20

Lindsey Auten

Yeah. And just if you're watching this, we know who you are.

 

00:38:24:22 - 00:38:30:12

Lee House

Yeah, well, I just know the copycats never felt the it's way.

 

00:38:30:15 - 00:38:35:15

Alex Winter

Hey, Copycatting is the highest form of flattery, I feel like. And also, I do want to say this because I think it's important

 

00:38:35:15 - 00:38:45:19

Alex Winter

right before you go. You guys have said a few times in this episode that you have a longer sales cycle, and you still have figured out a way to be consistent and have measurable wins by doing what you're doing.

 

00:38:45:19 - 00:38:59:09

Alex Winter

So I sometimes I think we hear that as an excuse. And Lindsay, I'm sure you've heard it a bunch that like, oh, we have a long sales cycle, we have a certain way of selling. And that may be true, but that doesn't mean you still can't have consistency and you can't have the success that you guys are having.

 

00:38:59:09 - 00:39:08:08

Alex Winter

So, Lee, with that in mind, could you tell us a little bit about, how you disrupted your industry and what you've been doing to set the trend in your, in your space?

 

00:39:08:09 - 00:39:27:12

Lee House

Yeah, it's it's very funny in a business to business type of industry because especially if you come into it from a creative perspective, because a lot of times the content that you're making might not already exist. And so when you come into it and you're making sort of we talked about this industry disrupting content that we're going to be able to put out.

 

00:39:27:14 - 00:39:54:22

Lee House

And so we really have been trying to be the leaders in that. And we've been trying to offer the answers that aren't there. And we've been working really hard to make sure that when people are looking for answers for search engines, whether that's gen AI, whether they're searching for that or whether they're regular search engines or whether we're giving the information to them, you know, directly, it's been our goal to just offer up as much as we can because we have the resources to do so.

 

00:39:54:22 - 00:40:16:06

Lee House

And a lot of our competitors have, you know, some of them have followed suit. We've had people come up to us at shows and talk about, do you guys, you know, do you guys hire out your marketing kind of thing? And we've had people come to us and, say, hey, I saw this on another website. And we look and they've kind of, you know, taken it and ChatGPT a little bit.

 

00:40:16:08 - 00:40:30:19

Zach Tracey

Later and, Lee's being kinder than some plagiarism. We've talked about it in our sessions, but there are definitely people looking at Strauss and replicating, and the nicest way of saying it. Replicating what Lee has created.

 

00:40:30:23 - 00:40:48:12

Alex Winter

Wow. Well, that's an you know, you're doing something right when people start to want to steal your ideas or try to replicate what quote unquote, replicate your what you're doing out there, and also to have people ask if you can do marketing for their companies while you're already marketing your own company. That's that's amazing. That's so cool to hear that.

 

00:40:48:12 - 00:40:55:04

Alex Winter

And, good on you for setting yourselves up to be in a space where you can disrupt your industry. That's what it's all about.

 

00:40:55:04 - 00:41:06:03

Alex Winter

All right, so now with that, this is my favorite part of the show. It's time for the one thing. So I'm going to ask each of you, Zach and Lee. What's one thing for people watching and listening that they should take away from this conversation?

 

00:41:06:03 - 00:41:15:04

Alex Winter

And if it's okay? Zach, why don't we start with you? I'm curious. What do you want? To resonate with people. And what do you want people to take away from this conversation today?

 

00:41:15:12 - 00:41:32:07

Lindsey Auten

Think if you're chasing revolutionary results for your team, you have to understand, you get there by an evolutionary path like process. A lot of times, like, you know, you can you can learn a new methodology, you can, you can get really excited about, you know, implementing this and what this is going to look like for your business.

 

00:41:32:09 - 00:41:47:18

Lindsey Auten

But when it comes to implementing it, you got to understand it's going to be iterations. You know, if you're chasing perfectionism, that's not going to equal revolutionary results. But if you're chasing getting better at this one thing. So if you're a company that's sitting there and saying like, hey, like this is a great idea, I'm bought in, where do I start?

 

00:41:47:18 - 00:42:10:22

Lindsey Auten

Like, I think maybe, maybe you take some steps in terms of the articles and the content you're putting out and establishing your thought leadership. Maybe you start coaching your teams on one specific, you know, maybe it's between discovery and solution development or discovery and like proposal price quote. You want to coach those actions. Like if you take small intentional steps, you know, you show the team the score.

 

00:42:10:23 - 00:42:35:02

Lindsey Auten

They're not going to be able to do anything but help. But when, you know, if you do that, so, you know, if you, if you gain their buy in and you, you take it as an iterative approach, I think that's, that's how you're going to achieve revolutionary results. Like we saw a 400% increase. And that's, you know, that's not something to scoff at or to say, like, you know, we don't want to sit here and brag about it, but like, that's that was the results of us just trying to get a little bit better every day with this.

 

00:42:35:04 - 00:42:50:21

Alex Winter

You should brag 400% is insane. That's absolutely incredible on anyone out there that hears that and hopefully wants the same thing. So well done. Lee, same question for you. What's one thing that you think people should take away from this conversation today?

 

00:42:50:23 - 00:43:12:22

Lee House

I think that when you're looking at the marketing in the sales team, you have to keep in mind that you can get to a certain degree when they're both traveling alone. But we've found so much, so much success when everyone is cooperating and we're really together and not in the yay team work way, but in a way where we're we're putting in very intentional work to make sure that we know what's going on with each other.

 

00:43:12:22 - 00:43:31:14

Lee House

We very much know what each other's, what we do in a day to day. It's not a point where I'm sitting over there and Zach has no clue. You know, like we we're very much in each other's business. And it's a great thing because we we need to be that way. We need to understand what the other is doing in order to.

 

00:43:31:16 - 00:43:43:09

Lee House

And we need to communicate and we need to ask each other questions, in order to figure out the best way to move forward as a company and to advance each other's current set and skills. I think.

 

00:43:43:11 - 00:43:55:03

Alex Winter

Yeah, yeah, well, said, Lindsey, I'm gonna ask you the same question as their coach and as you've seen them evolve and grow, implementing endless customers, what's one thing that you've taken away from your time with them in this experience?

 

00:43:55:05 - 00:44:18:20

Zach Tracey

Oh, that's a great question because there's been so much, I think the thing that I would like to emphasize as the like thing people should be taking away is that assignment selling is not a one size fits all, approach. It is principle based, which means that they like practical application can be different, across the board.

 

00:44:18:22 - 00:44:44:16

Zach Tracey

And so if you're wondering, hey, I've been sending 101 to 1 videos and they didn't work well, why didn't they work? What are your subject lines look like? What is the email around it look like? Have you earned the right to have that level of conversation with them? Are you there in the process? Like, those are the things that you should be asking yourself instead of just saying, oh, well, it didn't work, so I'm going to stop.

 

00:44:44:18 - 00:44:58:00

Zach Tracey

It's a tool that for you to use and deploy at the correct time. And if you can learn and listen and understand when that correct time is, then you're going to see more success when you implement it.

 

00:44:58:02 - 00:45:08:00

Alex Winter

Absolutely. Mic drop, that is some wisdom right there. Well, Lindsey, Zach Lee, thank you so much for being on the show and taking the time to share your story with us today. We really appreciate it.

 

00:45:08:07 - 00:45:09:12

Lee House

Thank you for having us.

 

00:45:09:12 - 00:45:11:04

Lindsey Auten

thanks for having us out.

 

00:45:11:06 - 00:45:22:10

Alex Winter

Awesome. Well, you guys are welcome any time. And I definitely want to keep hearing how your journey goes as you move forward with endless customers. But for now, thanks for everybody out there watching and listening. I'm your host, Alex Winter. We'll catch you on the next episode.