April 7, 2021

Driving Demand: The Roadmap to Implementing Change

In the latest installment of our deep dive into demand generation, Lesley Crews talks with Carlos Hidalgo about his book, Driving Demand. They also discuss the roadmap to implementing change in your organization, creating an accountable culture and how to embrace the change.

Transcript
WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.540 --> 00:00:02.740 Yeah. 2 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:08.970 All right. Welcome back to be to be growth. I'm Leslie Cruise with Sweet 3 00:00:08.970 --> 00:00:13.910 Fish Media. Today we will be continuing our deep dive into demand generation. 4 00:00:13.920 --> 00:00:19.180 And I'm very excited to have Carlos Hidalgo joining us today. Carlos is the 5 00:00:19.190 --> 00:00:23.760 author of Driving Demand, which is specifically designed for B two B 6 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:27.710 marketing leaders assessing the challenge of demand generation 7 00:00:27.710 --> 00:00:32.420 transformation and asking themselves Is it really worth it? And that's a little 8 00:00:32.420 --> 00:00:34.750 bit about what we're going to talk about today. So, Carlos, thank you so 9 00:00:34.750 --> 00:00:38.630 much for joining me. Hey, Thanks, Leslie. Really appreciate it. Love what 10 00:00:38.630 --> 00:00:43.710 you guys are doing in this space. Great. Well, I want to start off by saying 11 00:00:43.710 --> 00:00:48.670 that when I was starting my research for conducting this deep dive, Really? 12 00:00:48.670 --> 00:00:53.620 There was only one specific book that I could find that really addresses the 13 00:00:53.620 --> 00:00:57.810 benefits and challenges integrating a demand jin strategy. And it was yours. 14 00:00:57.820 --> 00:01:01.400 And what I really enjoyed about this book is that it contains a very 15 00:01:01.400 --> 00:01:06.420 specific roadmap for implementing the change and, you know, that really needs 16 00:01:06.420 --> 00:01:11.120 to happen in a business for their demand. Jin strategy to help sales and 17 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:15.430 revenues start to take off. But before we dive into all of that, Carlos, I 18 00:01:15.430 --> 00:01:19.330 really wanted to start off by asking, you know, going back to the basics. And 19 00:01:19.340 --> 00:01:22.420 this is a question I've been asking everyone I've talked to so far, So I 20 00:01:22.420 --> 00:01:26.120 wanted to give you an opportunity to just share in your own words. How do 21 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:31.610 you really define demand generation? Yeah, I define demand generation as 22 00:01:31.610 --> 00:01:35.200 first and foremost. It's a customer acquisition and a customer expansion 23 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:40.440 strategy, and so many times I see organizations just focus on customer 24 00:01:40.440 --> 00:01:45.290 acquisition. But when we realize that 90% of our customer lifetime value 25 00:01:45.300 --> 00:01:49.480 occurs after our first purchase, it necessitates the fact that we include 26 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:55.700 expansion. I also say that it's a marketing and sales discipline, and 27 00:01:55.700 --> 00:02:01.050 some people do not involve sales in that. And marketers for the 25 years 28 00:02:01.050 --> 00:02:05.040 I've been involved in this space get increasingly frustrated of how do I get 29 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:09.350 sales involved, or how can I get sales to take my leads while you involve them 30 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:15.960 in the development of strategy in the first place? And that's going to really 31 00:02:15.970 --> 00:02:20.400 drive that collaboration and an alignment that everybody is looking for. 32 00:02:20.410 --> 00:02:24.890 But further than that it makes sure when we defined. Imagine that we're 33 00:02:24.890 --> 00:02:30.150 talking about aligning to the buyers at every stage of their purchase path, 34 00:02:30.540 --> 00:02:34.990 using content and channels that they prefer. And when I talk about the 35 00:02:34.990 --> 00:02:39.990 purchase path, I'm not talking about a funnel or a waterfall, and I've said it 36 00:02:39.990 --> 00:02:43.560 a million times. I'll say it again. I've never heard a buy or salmon in the 37 00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:49.460 sales accepted lead stage of my buying process, and so we have to make sure 38 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:56.540 that what we are putting out there is contextually and relevant, a relevant 39 00:02:56.540 --> 00:03:01.500 way aligned to our buyers. And it's not the strategies that we think it's what 40 00:03:01.500 --> 00:03:05.830 they need to hear at that right time. What are their watering holes? Where do 41 00:03:05.830 --> 00:03:10.280 they gather the information to make an informed decision? Yeah, and I want to 42 00:03:10.280 --> 00:03:13.670 talk a little bit about something that you discussed in the first couple of 43 00:03:13.670 --> 00:03:18.380 chapters of your book here, and that is the real issues with modern demand, Gen. 44 00:03:18.380 --> 00:03:22.600 And more specifically, you shared a few reasons why marketing departments are 45 00:03:22.600 --> 00:03:26.680 kind of lacking and the ability to measure quantifiable business impact. 46 00:03:26.680 --> 00:03:29.810 So do you mind just sharing a little bit about that and a little bit about 47 00:03:29.810 --> 00:03:34.400 those issues. Yeah, I think one of the reasons they're they're struggling 48 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:37.960 still. I mean, that book is we were talking about before we hit record. You 49 00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:42.350 know, the book is almost six years old, which is hard to believe. But I think 50 00:03:42.840 --> 00:03:49.240 first and foremost is it's difficult. We have a proliferation of technology 51 00:03:49.240 --> 00:03:54.860 and our data scattered all over that technology. So to try to bring all of 52 00:03:54.860 --> 00:03:59.300 that together to define that attribution makes it increasingly 53 00:03:59.300 --> 00:04:05.350 difficult for a marketer. That's number one. Number two marketers were not have 54 00:04:05.350 --> 00:04:09.860 not been trained with the right skill set to do quantitative analysis. 55 00:04:10.940 --> 00:04:14.530 And when we think about that, when we think about, we're asking people who 56 00:04:14.530 --> 00:04:18.560 don't have this training to do something they've never done before. 57 00:04:19.240 --> 00:04:22.450 There's a little bit of a fear factor. There's a little bit of trepidation, 58 00:04:22.840 --> 00:04:26.020 and what I've seen many marketers do is say, Well, I'm just gonna go grab the 59 00:04:26.020 --> 00:04:29.550 technology to get it done with no strategy on how they're going to 60 00:04:29.550 --> 00:04:34.710 measure in the first place. And so we get wrapped around the axle with is a 61 00:04:34.710 --> 00:04:39.080 multi touch. Distribution is the first touches at last touch. Let's just get 62 00:04:39.080 --> 00:04:42.600 to a point where we can measure our impact on pipeline and impact on 63 00:04:42.600 --> 00:04:48.620 revenue. Start there. And so I think we also overcomplicated, and what I have 64 00:04:48.620 --> 00:04:55.160 seen in many organizations is multiple tries or they just ignore it altogether. 65 00:04:55.740 --> 00:04:59.520 And so they shy away from. And I talked to one CMO who said, I don't want to be 66 00:04:59.520 --> 00:05:03.600 tied to revenue that scares me to death. But the reality is the business 67 00:05:03.620 --> 00:05:08.250 requires that we be tied to revenue we need as marketers to be coin operated. 68 00:05:08.740 --> 00:05:12.400 Yeah, that's so true. I think that a lot of people tend to overcomplicate a 69 00:05:12.400 --> 00:05:15.910 lot of this and it's it's not. It doesn't have to be. And I like that 70 00:05:15.910 --> 00:05:21.200 idea. And I wanted to talk about embracing change a little bit, and, you 71 00:05:21.200 --> 00:05:25.070 know, as marketers were constantly dealing with change, the marketing 72 00:05:25.070 --> 00:05:29.550 world is exploding, and even I talked to a few people even with the pandemic. 73 00:05:29.560 --> 00:05:34.280 It's changed so much in the last two years alone, and we're dealing with 74 00:05:34.280 --> 00:05:38.640 this explosion of touchpoints channels, new technologies, all of this, newness 75 00:05:38.640 --> 00:05:44.590 all the time and what type of change do you feel like marketers need to really 76 00:05:44.590 --> 00:05:50.460 embrace in order to drive that demand? And why are these changes necessary? 77 00:05:51.140 --> 00:05:54.860 Well, I think the changes are necessary because their buyers are are driving it. 78 00:05:55.240 --> 00:05:59.280 You know, we when you think about the millennial generation, we are now 79 00:05:59.280 --> 00:06:04.060 seeing the first generation of digital natives involved in it be to be buying 80 00:06:04.060 --> 00:06:09.760 process and B two B decisions that fundamentally changes things. So when 81 00:06:09.760 --> 00:06:13.550 we think about what kind of changes I think first off just embracing the fact 82 00:06:13.550 --> 00:06:20.860 that our roles have changed. I remember the day when I was told by my boss I 83 00:06:20.860 --> 00:06:25.820 was a necessary evil, not real motivating. I also remember being told 84 00:06:25.820 --> 00:06:30.270 by sales that, hey, don't ever forget where your customer and you guys are 85 00:06:30.270 --> 00:06:35.630 just the arson craft department. Also not real motivating. So when we think 86 00:06:35.630 --> 00:06:40.720 about these digitally savvy, sophisticated customers and buyers, we 87 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:45.480 are serving well. We have to first and foremost understand, and sales needs to 88 00:06:45.480 --> 00:06:51.170 understand. This probably more than marketing is, sales is not as important 89 00:06:51.180 --> 00:06:56.170 in a deal as they were 15 years ago. I'm not saying they're not important. 90 00:06:56.170 --> 00:07:01.840 They're not as important when we think about what marketing's role is now I 91 00:07:01.840 --> 00:07:07.750 have to fill in the gap for a buyer who is looking, or a customer who is 92 00:07:07.750 --> 00:07:14.270 looking for a solution in a digital manner. Whatever percent that is C E B, 93 00:07:14.280 --> 00:07:19.680 which is now. Gardner talked. You know, years ago, about 57% I've seen 70%. I 94 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:23.840 mean, who the research to me is irrelevant because you got a base that 95 00:07:23.840 --> 00:07:30.350 based on vertical marketers now the change we have to embrace is we have to 96 00:07:30.350 --> 00:07:36.530 understand who are buyers are even in an A B M context, what's important to 97 00:07:36.530 --> 00:07:40.770 them, the type of content they want to consume, the channels by which they 98 00:07:40.770 --> 00:07:45.940 want to consume it. And we have to create a continuity of dialogue across 99 00:07:45.940 --> 00:07:48.250 that entire purchase process. 100 00:07:49.340 --> 00:07:55.840 And then we have to enable sales to continue that conversation. So the 101 00:07:55.840 --> 00:08:03.210 biggest thing we can do is understand that the customer is our customer and 102 00:08:03.210 --> 00:08:04.960 that if we want that 103 00:08:06.440 --> 00:08:11.600 elusive seat at the table that everybody talks about, it is our job as 104 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:18.270 much as sales to create revenue through our demand generation. Josh, what do 105 00:08:18.270 --> 00:08:22.270 you think is the most irritating thing for me to be buyers right now, man. 106 00:08:22.280 --> 00:08:26.140 Logan, I love talking to you about this. You know that the number one challenge 107 00:08:26.140 --> 00:08:30.530 right now is that many customer facing teams in the B two B space right now 108 00:08:30.530 --> 00:08:35.159 are forcing their potential buyers, too, by the way that they want to sell. 109 00:08:35.340 --> 00:08:39.000 Buyers don't want to buy that way right now. They want to, by the way they want 110 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:43.820 to buy. We need to enable those buyers. We call this buyer enablement at sales 111 00:08:43.820 --> 00:08:48.380 reach. We need to enable those buyers to make better decisions quicker in a 112 00:08:48.380 --> 00:08:51.870 comfortable environment that's more personalized for them to move forward 113 00:08:51.870 --> 00:08:55.800 with that process. Dude, that's awesome. I couldn't agree more. Since I've been 114 00:08:55.800 --> 00:08:59.610 using sales reach in my own sales process, it's allowed me to really 115 00:08:59.620 --> 00:09:04.010 enable the buyer to move more quickly in really two ways. One, they don't 116 00:09:04.010 --> 00:09:07.670 have to download a bunch of attachments. I can send them to one page with the 117 00:09:07.670 --> 00:09:11.760 proposal. Case studies different resources because, let's face it, the 118 00:09:11.760 --> 00:09:15.810 proposal is just one part of the sales conversation and probably only one 119 00:09:15.810 --> 00:09:20.070 sales enablement piece of content that you're sending so it makes it easier on 120 00:09:20.070 --> 00:09:23.530 them. And then the other thing is, you know, we're selling to our champions, 121 00:09:23.530 --> 00:09:26.890 and then we're making them have to re give our pitch to the entire buying 122 00:09:26.890 --> 00:09:31.230 committee. So one thing I do is put a custom 2 to 3 minute video on the top 123 00:09:31.230 --> 00:09:34.760 of my sales reach page that says, Hey, here's all the resources. Tie it back 124 00:09:34.760 --> 00:09:37.530 to the conversation. Here's the proposal. Let me know if you have any 125 00:09:37.530 --> 00:09:41.650 questions, and it allows me to give a little bit of kind of a mini pitch to 126 00:09:41.650 --> 00:09:45.250 the rest of the buying committee. Introduce myself, which helps me build 127 00:09:45.250 --> 00:09:48.720 trust and credibility and helps the buyer not have to repeat the entire 128 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:53.110 pitch from scratch. So if anybody is looking to do the same thing in their 129 00:09:53.110 --> 00:09:56.540 own sales process, I'd highly suggest they reach out to you and the team over 130 00:09:56.540 --> 00:10:00.780 at sales reach for anybody listening. Just go to sales reach that I owe to 131 00:10:00.780 --> 00:10:06.730 talk to Josh and the team. Yeah, that it's so funny because that is such a 132 00:10:06.730 --> 00:10:09.750 trending thing. And everyone I've talked to has talked about that 133 00:10:09.750 --> 00:10:13.110 collaboration between sales and marketing because I think that a lot of 134 00:10:13.110 --> 00:10:16.450 times sales over here marketing over here, and they're butting heads like 135 00:10:16.450 --> 00:10:19.340 you said. I mean, someone literally called marketing, arts and crafts 136 00:10:19.340 --> 00:10:24.260 department. That's it's It's intense, but it's it's so important in demand. 137 00:10:24.260 --> 00:10:28.070 Gen two kind of collaborate on the two. And why do you think that is so 138 00:10:28.070 --> 00:10:32.470 important? Well, I think sales has a different view of the customer than we 139 00:10:32.470 --> 00:10:36.420 do. You know, they're they're talking to them all the time, every day, all 140 00:10:36.420 --> 00:10:40.380 day. We are not as marketers now. We should be talking to our customers, but 141 00:10:40.380 --> 00:10:45.490 we're not going to be given the access to them that sales is going to get. So 142 00:10:45.490 --> 00:10:49.630 that's number one. Number two. You know, sales is ultimately the one who's going 143 00:10:49.630 --> 00:10:55.000 to bring the deal across the finish line. So if we think as marketers, we 144 00:10:55.000 --> 00:11:01.680 can create personas or profiles or journey maps or campaigns or even 145 00:11:01.680 --> 00:11:06.500 measurement and not go to the other side of the house that is playing such 146 00:11:06.510 --> 00:11:11.470 also a very critical revenue generation role and say, Hey, how can we work on 147 00:11:11.470 --> 00:11:15.980 this together? Why then should we expect them to just magically take our 148 00:11:15.990 --> 00:11:20.960 leads? and run with them. That's a pretty arrogant assumption on our part. 149 00:11:21.640 --> 00:11:27.090 And so what we have to do is start to speak the language of the business. And 150 00:11:27.090 --> 00:11:31.830 when I think about sales and marketing, alignment and collaboration, as I said, 151 00:11:32.140 --> 00:11:36.790 I've been in this industry for 25 years. This is nothing new. Yet nobody seems 152 00:11:36.790 --> 00:11:40.910 to have made any headway with it. Well, if marketers would say, Hey, let's stop 153 00:11:40.910 --> 00:11:48.050 trying to quote, get our place and just focus on the buyer and working with 154 00:11:48.050 --> 00:11:53.810 sales to understand that buyer and assuming some of the responsibility for 155 00:11:53.810 --> 00:11:58.750 revenue. Guess what? We would have our seat at the table because we would 156 00:11:58.750 --> 00:12:03.930 actually be a revenue generation part of the business and not an arts and 157 00:12:03.930 --> 00:12:08.160 crafts department. Mm, That's good. That's good. That collaboration is so 158 00:12:08.160 --> 00:12:13.310 important, vital, so switching gears a little bit. Here in this book, you 159 00:12:13.310 --> 00:12:17.340 really focus on a road map to implement change, and that's what I really want 160 00:12:17.340 --> 00:12:20.890 to focus on here. I think a lot of organizations struggle with the idea of 161 00:12:20.890 --> 00:12:25.900 change. In general, change is hard, but for those who are ready and willing to 162 00:12:25.900 --> 00:12:29.660 take that step, forward and to challenge the status quo, if you will. 163 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:34.890 Can you share some of the pitfalls to be aware of? That might come along with 164 00:12:34.890 --> 00:12:38.330 this change and likely will. I think one of the biggest pitfalls is not 165 00:12:38.330 --> 00:12:43.010 realizing from a CMO perspective or even a director senior director. 166 00:12:43.010 --> 00:12:47.700 Perspective is that what you're about to embark upon is more a change 167 00:12:47.700 --> 00:12:52.020 management initiative than a marketing initiative. So that makes two culture. 168 00:12:52.030 --> 00:12:56.080 I think the pitfalls are not recognizing the fact that you're going 169 00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:59.060 to have people who this scares them to death. 170 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:04.230 You know, James talks about it with what you guys do. Their at sweet fish 171 00:13:04.230 --> 00:13:07.770 and the B two b gross show is the human element of what we do in business every 172 00:13:07.770 --> 00:13:13.050 day. You know, we have people who, when you say, hey, we're going to change the 173 00:13:13.050 --> 00:13:16.780 marketing charter and become more of a revenue engine immediately, you're 174 00:13:16.780 --> 00:13:19.460 gonna have people saying, What does this mean for me as an individual? 175 00:13:20.730 --> 00:13:26.590 And it is my job, secure house, my job going to change. You know how How do I 176 00:13:26.590 --> 00:13:30.130 collect sales may scare somebody, right? I don't want to talk to sales they 177 00:13:30.130 --> 00:13:35.210 scare me to death there. There are all type a go getter. So it's that type of 178 00:13:35.210 --> 00:13:38.030 thing that we have to be aware of. Number one is that human element. 179 00:13:38.030 --> 00:13:43.450 Number two is This is not an overnight fix. You're not going to change the 180 00:13:43.450 --> 00:13:47.490 culture of your marketing organization in 90 days. You're not going to create 181 00:13:47.570 --> 00:13:52.750 a buyer driven strategy in 90 days just because you bought marketing automation. 182 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:57.040 It doesn't happen that fast. Transformation doesn't happen that fast. 183 00:13:57.040 --> 00:14:00.460 And what I always say to my clients is, you didn't get yourself here overnight. 184 00:14:00.470 --> 00:14:05.930 You can't expect to change it overnight and then understand, too, that there's 185 00:14:05.930 --> 00:14:12.050 going to be ebbs and flows. You're gonna have really great winds, but 186 00:14:12.050 --> 00:14:16.640 you're also going to take some steps back. So the example I always uses any 187 00:14:16.640 --> 00:14:20.900 time you've done any hiking, if you've done any hiking in the mountains and I 188 00:14:21.010 --> 00:14:25.850 spent 10 years in Colorado and so when you hike a 14,000 ft, you don't go 189 00:14:25.850 --> 00:14:31.500 straight up the side of the mountain. You sometimes do switchbacks where you 190 00:14:31.510 --> 00:14:35.070 start to wind around the side of the mountain and sometimes you go down so 191 00:14:35.070 --> 00:14:39.650 that you can go up and same with change. There's gonna be some EBS. There's 192 00:14:39.650 --> 00:14:44.470 gonna be some flows. There's gonna be some, you know, moments where you have 193 00:14:44.470 --> 00:14:49.320 that sharp curve that goes up and everybody's celebrating. Well, at that 194 00:14:49.320 --> 00:14:53.750 point, everybody is now adjusting to the new world, so you can expect a 195 00:14:53.750 --> 00:14:57.180 little regression, and that's fine. You're just going to go back up. So 196 00:14:57.180 --> 00:15:00.400 when you understand that it's a journey and understand that you're gonna have 197 00:15:00.400 --> 00:15:04.330 some ebbs and flows, you're gonna be able to embrace that change in a much 198 00:15:04.330 --> 00:15:11.510 more important and much more impactful way. Yeah. So you're saying basically, 199 00:15:11.520 --> 00:15:17.250 through all of this, in order to kind of implement a really good demand in 200 00:15:17.250 --> 00:15:20.830 strategy, you kind of have to start backwards, take a step backwards and 201 00:15:20.830 --> 00:15:26.300 look at your culture. Yeah, I think I mean, I talked to one prospect recently 202 00:15:26.300 --> 00:15:29.740 who I said, you know, from talk to me about your ideal customer profiles, 203 00:15:29.750 --> 00:15:33.340 What do you have? They said, Well, we have them, but we really haven't done 204 00:15:33.340 --> 00:15:38.040 much with them. And I said, Okay, well, we would start there to revisit those, 205 00:15:38.040 --> 00:15:41.410 and their response is well, we know we have them. We don't. Okay, so you have 206 00:15:41.410 --> 00:15:46.720 them, But you're not doing anything with them. So I can't start to work 207 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:51.100 with you in a demanding strategy. Unless you're willing to take a hard, 208 00:15:51.100 --> 00:15:55.570 fast look at these personas and use those to help drive your channel and 209 00:15:55.570 --> 00:15:59.280 your content strategy. If you don't want to start there, I can't work with 210 00:15:59.280 --> 00:16:05.500 you. And so that understanding that Hey, if we do this, if we go forward and 211 00:16:05.500 --> 00:16:10.180 develop a modern, sophisticated demands on strategy which we need to do to 212 00:16:10.180 --> 00:16:15.140 match the sophistication of our buyers, it is going to change the way marketing 213 00:16:15.150 --> 00:16:20.220 traditionally has worked, which is get a content asset, blast out an email 214 00:16:20.220 --> 00:16:23.760 posted on the website, collect all the names, send them off to sales and say, 215 00:16:23.760 --> 00:16:28.310 Hey, we just launched a campaign and then go off to the next one. That's not 216 00:16:28.310 --> 00:16:32.770 how modern demand generation works. And so, yeah, you have to embrace the fact 217 00:16:32.770 --> 00:16:35.530 that your role is going to change and it's going to become much more 218 00:16:35.530 --> 00:16:40.930 important to the organization. Yeah, and among all of this change and all 219 00:16:40.940 --> 00:16:46.020 these potential pitfalls, I guess my question is in the end, is it worth it? 220 00:16:46.030 --> 00:16:50.640 And what are those benefits? What are the benefits of, you know, really 221 00:16:50.640 --> 00:16:55.880 implementing this change in this strategies? Yeah, I think number one is 222 00:16:55.890 --> 00:16:59.070 You actually become relevant to the organization in terms of you become a 223 00:16:59.070 --> 00:17:05.050 revenue engine and always on sustainable revenue engine, which means 224 00:17:05.220 --> 00:17:09.810 marketing actually becomes sought after an important in the organization. And 225 00:17:09.810 --> 00:17:14.319 quite honestly, that's what are CEOs and CFOs are begging for. So that's 226 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:17.560 number one number two. Just from a personal aspect, I've seen people who 227 00:17:17.560 --> 00:17:22.270 create those have an incredible opportunity within their careers to get 228 00:17:22.270 --> 00:17:26.380 promoted, to take new roles, to move into a CMO position or an S V P 229 00:17:26.380 --> 00:17:30.950 position. So from that aspect, Number three, it's worth it for our customers. 230 00:17:31.340 --> 00:17:35.780 Customers are out there are begging from an experiential perspective for 231 00:17:35.780 --> 00:17:40.130 companies to meet them where they're at and customer experience starts long 232 00:17:40.130 --> 00:17:44.530 before anybody buys something. And so, in my definition, I talked about the 233 00:17:44.540 --> 00:17:50.670 attraction or the acquisition. I also talked about the expansion of customers, 234 00:17:51.140 --> 00:17:55.720 and so when we think about how we're gonna expand our customers, we need to 235 00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:59.990 ensure that they have a great experience as well. And so if we want 236 00:17:59.990 --> 00:18:04.770 to succeed as marketers in this new world in which we live, which is a 237 00:18:05.540 --> 00:18:10.410 rapid, digitally transforming world, if we want to stay in this role and 238 00:18:10.410 --> 00:18:15.620 succeed in this role, we have to do demand generation to match a digitally 239 00:18:15.620 --> 00:18:21.330 savvy buyer. I love what you said about customer experience starts long before 240 00:18:21.330 --> 00:18:26.080 anyone buys anything, and I think that's that's so important and people 241 00:18:26.080 --> 00:18:31.080 don't really think about it. But it's building that relationship that kind of 242 00:18:31.090 --> 00:18:35.920 goes in before or even you set up this demand jin strategy. It's like building 243 00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:39.280 those relationships, making yourself known in the space, making yourself to 244 00:18:39.280 --> 00:18:45.880 go to. So would you say that that is kind of and correct me if I'm wrong 245 00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:51.670 here. But maybe that's kind of similar to, in a way, content based networking. 246 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:57.030 Yeah, I think it is, absolutely. I mean, one of the ways I'm gonna endear you to 247 00:18:57.030 --> 00:19:05.290 my brand is to build trust. So here's an example. I got a LinkedIn email 248 00:19:05.330 --> 00:19:11.360 yesterday from someone who basically they're they're lead generation company 249 00:19:11.940 --> 00:19:16.350 and said, Hey, I'm looking for a coach, Can you and I set up a time. So I 250 00:19:16.360 --> 00:19:21.570 checked out the profile and I knew what she did for a living. But I was like, 251 00:19:21.580 --> 00:19:25.010 Okay, this is interesting. Maybe they're really looking for that advisor 252 00:19:25.010 --> 00:19:30.400 type role. So I said, Hey, I would love to set up time. Well, the follow up 253 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:34.160 email said Well, actually, what I want to know is, would you be open to 254 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:39.200 getting 10 to 15 leads a week from our company? It was a total lie, and 255 00:19:39.210 --> 00:19:43.020 honestly, it just pissed me off. So I took a look at her company. I'm like, 256 00:19:43.020 --> 00:19:46.200 Do you? So I emailed her back and I said, Do you think I would ever at this 257 00:19:46.200 --> 00:19:51.270 point do business with you in any way, shape or farm? Because you lied to me 258 00:19:51.740 --> 00:19:54.640 and you were deceitful in your original email? If you would come at me with 259 00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:58.400 your original proposition, I still would have said no, but at least you 260 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:01.820 would have had your integrity intact. And so when we think about what we're 261 00:20:01.820 --> 00:20:06.760 trying to do and the content based in networking, I'm there to build trust 262 00:20:06.760 --> 00:20:11.690 and into endear my brand to you to say, Hey, I know what I'm talking about. I 263 00:20:11.690 --> 00:20:15.190 have your best interest in mind. I'm gonna build trust and I'm going to be a 264 00:20:15.190 --> 00:20:20.390 source Whether or not you buy from us, I am going to be a source that you can 265 00:20:20.390 --> 00:20:25.280 come to to help qualify and quantify your purchase. If, at that point I'm 266 00:20:25.280 --> 00:20:30.170 that brand where people will see that, then great. Once I'm in a buying 267 00:20:30.170 --> 00:20:33.480 process, I may come to you not saying you're always going to be the vendor of 268 00:20:33.480 --> 00:20:39.280 choice. But you've done a lot in that experiential piece to build that trust 269 00:20:39.290 --> 00:20:43.170 so that I can move forward when that purchase process kicks off based on 270 00:20:43.170 --> 00:20:46.860 whatever trigger events happened. That's so good. And that's kind of what 271 00:20:46.860 --> 00:20:49.430 we're trying to do here at Sweet Fish, too. You know, we're trying to make 272 00:20:49.430 --> 00:20:53.850 ourselves to go to and b two b podcasting, and it's interesting 273 00:20:53.850 --> 00:20:57.590 because it's not all about generating sales and generating leads and doing 274 00:20:57.590 --> 00:21:00.580 these things. It's about building relationships with people and making 275 00:21:00.580 --> 00:21:05.170 ourselves that go to and, you know, we're even doing a B two B podcasting 276 00:21:05.170 --> 00:21:08.090 course. We're working on it now, and I think that's going to be a great 277 00:21:08.090 --> 00:21:12.080 resource to people, and so that's that is the overall goal. And I do think 278 00:21:12.080 --> 00:21:14.850 that building those relationships are important and, you know, like you said, 279 00:21:15.140 --> 00:21:20.240 people will lie to you and people will use you for things and it's like, Oh, I 280 00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:24.770 know you're just trying to make a sale So that's good, Yeah, But you can make 281 00:21:24.780 --> 00:21:29.090 you can make a sale in a way that keeps your integrity intact. You know, last 282 00:21:29.090 --> 00:21:34.110 week I had to prospects who? After a half hour conversation, I said, I just 283 00:21:34.110 --> 00:21:39.050 don't think I'm gonna be the best vendor for you. I don't think with what 284 00:21:39.050 --> 00:21:43.710 you need and it was one of those, like, Could I do it? But am I the best at it? 285 00:21:43.710 --> 00:21:48.660 Would it be a good relationship between myself and that client? The answer was 286 00:21:48.660 --> 00:21:53.770 no. So I said, Here are three other groups you should call based on what 287 00:21:53.770 --> 00:21:59.270 you need. If you need anything else, let me know. But there's a company who, 288 00:21:59.940 --> 00:22:05.420 you know, they had a need. They came to me. It wasn't the right fit. Now down 289 00:22:05.420 --> 00:22:09.330 the road, they may leave that company. They may have something that's more 290 00:22:09.330 --> 00:22:15.410 aligned. But I have a fairly strong confidence that one. Another need 291 00:22:15.410 --> 00:22:20.800 occurs. I'm going to be on their list simply by saying, Hey, I'm going to 292 00:22:20.800 --> 00:22:24.560 help you again. Whether or not you buy from me, I'm gonna help you. So you 293 00:22:24.560 --> 00:22:29.310 make the most informed decision. Call these three other vendors. Yeah, that's 294 00:22:29.310 --> 00:22:34.030 great. Carlos, this has been so insightful. Thank you so much for 295 00:22:34.030 --> 00:22:38.440 joining me. And if anybody out there is listening and you know is interested in 296 00:22:38.440 --> 00:22:41.620 learning more, where can they find you online? Yeah, you can find me on 297 00:22:41.620 --> 00:22:47.410 LinkedIn. Carlos Hidalgo. H i d a L g o. You can find me on Twitter at sea a 298 00:22:47.420 --> 00:22:53.930 hidalgo, uh, or visit our website. Visit the c X. That's B I s u M c x dot 299 00:22:53.930 --> 00:22:57.550 com. Great. Fantastic. Well, thank you so much for joining me on GDP growth. I 300 00:22:57.550 --> 00:23:03.930 appreciate it. Absolutely. Thanks. Leslie, are you on LinkedIn? That's a 301 00:23:03.930 --> 00:23:07.540 stupid question. Of course you're on LinkedIn. Here's sweet fish. We've gone 302 00:23:07.550 --> 00:23:11.920 all in on the platform. Multiple people from our team are creating content 303 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:16.400 there. Sometimes it's a funny gift for me. Other times it's a micro video or a 304 00:23:16.400 --> 00:23:20.670 slide deck. And sometimes it's just a regular old status update that shares 305 00:23:20.740 --> 00:23:24.760 their unique point of view on B two b marketing leadership or their job 306 00:23:24.760 --> 00:23:29.150 function. We're posting this content through their personal profile, not our 307 00:23:29.150 --> 00:23:33.420 company page, and it would warm my heart and soul. If you connected with 308 00:23:33.430 --> 00:23:37.780 each of our evangelists, we'll be adding more down the road. But for now, 309 00:23:37.790 --> 00:23:42.290 you should connect with Bill. Read our CEO, Kelcy Montgomery, our creative 310 00:23:42.290 --> 00:23:46.710 director. Dan Sanchez, our director of audience growth. Logan Lyles, our 311 00:23:46.710 --> 00:23:50.850 director of partnerships, and me, James Carberry. We're having a whole lot of 312 00:23:50.850 --> 00:23:54.340 fun on linked in pretty much every single day, and we'd love for you to be 313 00:23:54.340 --> 00:23:54.860 a part of it.