Feb. 4, 2021

Lean ABM: Engage Target Accounts Without a Massive Budget

In this episode, Dan Sanchez talked with Andrei Zinkevich, CEO at FullFunnel.io, about how to do lean ABM.

If you’re looking for a step-by-step guide that will help you build a reliable demand generation engine, then you’re gonna want to listen to Andrei break his case study down in this episode.

Transcript
WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.540 --> 00:00:08.800 welcome back to be to be growth. I'm Dan Sanchez with sweet fish Media, and 2 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:14.250 today I'm joined with Andre Zivkovic, who is the CEO of co Funnel. As you 3 00:00:14.250 --> 00:00:19.050 know, we're continuing our journey on understanding a B M and getting deep 4 00:00:19.060 --> 00:00:23.580 into it. I was very excited about today's guests because we met on 5 00:00:23.580 --> 00:00:27.920 LinkedIn and I discovered that somebody has figured out how to do a B M on the 6 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:33.140 cheap. Or maybe you could call it Lean A B M. I don't know, but as I'm sure 7 00:00:33.140 --> 00:00:37.510 you know, there are a lot of people out there trying to figure out a. B. M is. 8 00:00:37.510 --> 00:00:41.220 You read the case studies as you look at the block Post is you read the books 9 00:00:41.220 --> 00:00:44.720 and I'm a few books, and now and what I've just come to find is that a B M 10 00:00:44.720 --> 00:00:50.650 seems like a very expensive proposition, which isn't very exciting for the rest 11 00:00:50.650 --> 00:00:55.180 of us who don't necessarily like. We like the idea, it seems right, but it 12 00:00:55.180 --> 00:00:58.740 seems like, Oh, it's like either you have to jump off the chasm and hope 13 00:00:58.740 --> 00:01:03.420 that something is going to be there to catch you or or not like it seems a 14 00:01:03.420 --> 00:01:08.710 shame that you can't stair step your way in without buying $100,000 package 15 00:01:08.720 --> 00:01:11.570 software package of some kind to do this thing. Right? So I was very 16 00:01:11.570 --> 00:01:17.570 excited to talk to Andre to figure out what he did with a client or two to 17 00:01:17.570 --> 00:01:20.140 figure out how to do it and stair step your way into it. Because maybe the 18 00:01:20.140 --> 00:01:23.310 software out there is good and I've We're going to be talking to a number 19 00:01:23.310 --> 00:01:26.110 of different software providers out there, and I'm sure I'm sure it's 20 00:01:26.110 --> 00:01:31.040 effective. But if you're like me, it's a big bite. Thio commit Thio If you 21 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:34.800 don't, if you're not fully sure ifit's gonna work for you, you don't want to 22 00:01:34.800 --> 00:01:40.180 spend a half a year and that much money going into something that big. So Andre, 23 00:01:40.190 --> 00:01:43.760 to kick this thing off, I thought I'd start with a fun question for you. And 24 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:47.980 that is just simply what is your favorite marketing channel currently 25 00:01:47.990 --> 00:01:53.080 and why? And then we could jump into a B M. So my favorite channel is limited 26 00:01:53.080 --> 00:01:57.980 in. I probably won't be unique here on basically the reason why I love this 27 00:01:57.980 --> 00:02:03.300 channel is just because, as like we have connected with you. I met your 28 00:02:03.310 --> 00:02:08.710 founder, James Carberry, three years ago. Again, Matt. Lots off B two b 29 00:02:08.710 --> 00:02:14.250 marketing on cells leaders were LinkedIn. I was able to establish my 30 00:02:14.440 --> 00:02:20.660 personal brand on Actually LinkedIn ISS one off the key channels for 31 00:02:20.660 --> 00:02:26.530 regeneration For our company. We don't do any called outbound sequences for 32 00:02:26.540 --> 00:02:32.240 ourselves costs. We are small company, and this is not a final having this 33 00:02:32.250 --> 00:02:38.410 channel as a top channel for inbound high quality enquiries. Absolutely. I'm 34 00:02:38.410 --> 00:02:43.520 a Lincoln fan. I mean, that's where we were introduced. And I think Lincoln's 35 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:46.310 got to be one of my favorite marketing channels as well. And I think I could 36 00:02:46.310 --> 00:02:50.370 go into the whole episode just talking about why Lincoln's awesome. And I'm 37 00:02:50.370 --> 00:02:53.820 sure you'll talk about how you use linked in. It's part of the A B M 38 00:02:53.820 --> 00:02:59.170 campaigns, but let's dive into those campaigns specifically, starting with 39 00:02:59.180 --> 00:03:02.990 who were you doing this work for that you talked about in the case study you 40 00:03:02.990 --> 00:03:09.100 posted recently, And how did you frame it up up front, like, what did you go 41 00:03:09.100 --> 00:03:12.340 into before you got into the work of identifying the target accounts. I know 42 00:03:12.340 --> 00:03:15.920 this was pretty intensive. What did you do in the beginning To make sure this 43 00:03:15.920 --> 00:03:23.990 was going to be a success? So this case started. You mentioned I was actually 44 00:03:23.990 --> 00:03:28.260 working with a company that is providing custom software development 45 00:03:28.260 --> 00:03:33.700 services. If you'll take a look on this industry, you'll see that 99% off. The 46 00:03:33.700 --> 00:03:39.020 companies that are providing software development services are operating in 47 00:03:39.020 --> 00:03:45.120 what I used to call one size fits all. Basically, it means that most of them 48 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:50.310 are sending, you know, setting up called automated cadences, off emails 49 00:03:50.310 --> 00:03:54.770 or LinkedIn messages saying something. Hey, then, I am business development 50 00:03:54.770 --> 00:03:59.420 guy from a software development company. We can create a mobile APP website or 51 00:03:59.420 --> 00:04:03.290 whatever you want. Just let me know what you need and let's have a call 52 00:04:03.290 --> 00:04:08.570 will create whatever you want. So imagine any attack founder or CEO 53 00:04:08.580 --> 00:04:12.130 because basically, these are to target job roles. Software development 54 00:04:12.130 --> 00:04:17.620 companies are targeting. Just imagine how many messages I mean this standard 55 00:04:17.630 --> 00:04:23.750 spending messages these people are getting day by day. So even if you will 56 00:04:23.750 --> 00:04:30.510 be like a like a BDM, you know, get a meeting with a co founder. You'll face 57 00:04:30.520 --> 00:04:34.690 a situation, or you will face a challenge where you'll be compared to 58 00:04:34.700 --> 00:04:40.140 all other companies and the only competitive advantage toe close the 59 00:04:40.140 --> 00:04:45.500 deal successfully. Will the decrease in your rates basically providing a lower 60 00:04:45.500 --> 00:04:52.740 price or dumped on what I will call it? So the same situation this is more or 61 00:04:52.740 --> 00:04:58.460 less It was the same situation for a client reached me out. So the first 62 00:04:58.460 --> 00:05:04.030 thing, obviously we needed to start with figuring out their positioning and 63 00:05:04.040 --> 00:05:08.950 alliance this positioning around the core expertise. So the first step I was 64 00:05:08.960 --> 00:05:13.280 doing, probably it will make sense to share with listeners. So I get an 65 00:05:13.280 --> 00:05:17.650 access. I got an access to their CRM, and I was analyzing all the deals they 66 00:05:17.660 --> 00:05:23.930 had in the past on, likely at the same time I was starting my own size product 67 00:05:23.940 --> 00:05:30.140 called Our Plan On, basically gave me a privilege. Let's say, to reach out to 68 00:05:30.150 --> 00:05:35.470 their customers, I was saying something. Hey, guys, I'm just launching my news 69 00:05:35.470 --> 00:05:40.830 as product, and I'm considering this company as a partner, and I noticed 70 00:05:40.830 --> 00:05:45.970 that you have worked with them, so I'm just curious. You know what I what I 71 00:05:45.970 --> 00:05:50.090 assaults on them. What are the pros and cons of going with them? Just share 72 00:05:50.100 --> 00:05:54.440 share with me. Your experience And basically that was fantastic, you know, 73 00:05:54.450 --> 00:05:59.140 because I was like a soft party. I had no connection and or at least that 74 00:05:59.140 --> 00:06:02.990 customers couldn't see any connection between me and my client. And they 75 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:08.130 provided sincere feedback on this is how again, a swell. Analyzing their 76 00:06:08.140 --> 00:06:13.370 past projects, I was able to figure out where the key expertise off this 77 00:06:13.370 --> 00:06:19.780 company lays down. So thesis how I decided to go with healthcare industry, 78 00:06:19.780 --> 00:06:25.070 cause here is the truth again, when you provide a health care or not even 79 00:06:25.070 --> 00:06:28.970 health care, when you provide software development services, you operating 80 00:06:28.970 --> 00:06:33.880 with six or seven figures, budgets. I mean, this is the average contract 81 00:06:33.880 --> 00:06:40.670 weather. So when potential customers are considering outsource its 82 00:06:40.680 --> 00:06:47.280 development, they always want to get the best vendor in this niche. Which 83 00:06:47.280 --> 00:06:52.490 means that this vendor should be aware off all the integrated details off this 84 00:06:52.490 --> 00:06:57.990 particular article in Porto. It will be talking about health care means that 85 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:03.580 this wonder should know all the standards like h i p p o. And lots off 86 00:07:03.580 --> 00:07:07.810 them. You know, there is a bunch off North American standards when it comes 87 00:07:07.810 --> 00:07:16.180 to toe healthcare. So besides the good court quality, they expect that this 88 00:07:16.180 --> 00:07:21.120 vendor will come up with expertise so they want only get the brief with all 89 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:24.310 the tasks. But as well they will recommend something from their 90 00:07:24.320 --> 00:07:28.040 expertise. They might say, Guys, you know, we have this project servicing 91 00:07:28.050 --> 00:07:33.150 this feature might work for you. Maybe we recommend you to use this framework 92 00:07:33.150 --> 00:07:37.760 of this technology are not just only getting, you know, the income and tasks. 93 00:07:37.840 --> 00:07:42.400 So this is This was critical, and I started to do in depth interviews with 94 00:07:42.400 --> 00:07:47.890 their customers. So again, if you might have a question, how I was able to 95 00:07:47.890 --> 00:07:52.230 reach out as a soft party and then the in depth schools. So I, of course, 96 00:07:52.230 --> 00:07:57.600 divided all the customers into the group's first of all, I sure I selected 97 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:02.720 the customers that brought the highest revenue, and I left them tow this in 98 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:07.300 depth interviews. So I agreed on the calls and I was sorry and them asking 99 00:08:07.300 --> 00:08:11.230 questions like, Why did you decide to go with that company? What was the key 100 00:08:11.230 --> 00:08:16.490 advantage? Like, uh, from perspective of collaborating with that company. 101 00:08:16.490 --> 00:08:20.160 What are the biggest, biggest, biggest advantages they brought to your 102 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:25.210 business besides the court, you know? So how would you describe this company? 103 00:08:25.220 --> 00:08:30.980 Toe your partner or to your colleague? So these were questions that helped me 104 00:08:30.980 --> 00:08:35.179 to identify ideas for unique value proposition. Basically, I waas 105 00:08:35.190 --> 00:08:38.960 listening to customers and I waas understanding what are the business 106 00:08:38.970 --> 00:08:45.330 benefits this company specifically Prince toe healthcare vertical as well. 107 00:08:45.330 --> 00:08:49.120 I was asking questions. You know how your typical decision making process 108 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:54.560 looks like, But who you advice when it comes to, you know, buying services 109 00:08:54.560 --> 00:08:59.610 like this. So this is how I was able to find some of people that belong toe by 110 00:08:59.610 --> 00:09:03.120 and comments because, as I mentioned in the beginning, you know, traditionally 111 00:09:03.130 --> 00:09:09.180 software development companies, they target only CEO cough like this. Let's 112 00:09:09.180 --> 00:09:15.190 executive roles and chief technical officers PR fight, etcetera. But what 113 00:09:15.190 --> 00:09:21.400 waas Pretty good to notice that once we were discussing out stuff and services, 114 00:09:21.400 --> 00:09:26.180 not just outsourcing about stuff, and one company needs to ramp up there, you 115 00:09:26.180 --> 00:09:31.040 know, I t Team was like a developer who has some specific skills just on a 116 00:09:31.050 --> 00:09:36.000 timely basis, for example, for two months. So a couple off sitios told me 117 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:41.660 that quite often they outsource this. You know, Let's say research process 118 00:09:41.660 --> 00:09:49.210 toe h ours. And, uh, yeah, this is how I figure it out the roles for the 119 00:09:49.220 --> 00:09:53.070 buying computers. So that was the set up. So essentially you're working with 120 00:09:53.070 --> 00:09:57.520 a customer that was like one size fits all marketing with a one size fits all 121 00:09:57.520 --> 00:10:01.350 product to match. They were kind of anything to anybody doing development, 122 00:10:01.640 --> 00:10:05.800 and you stepped in and essentially helped reposition them, positioning 123 00:10:05.800 --> 00:10:09.550 them by helping them niche down picking the vertical where they were probably 124 00:10:09.550 --> 00:10:12.720 going to be the most successful. Maybe by I think I heard you right and that 125 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:16.830 you were helping them find their most profitable customers. Or did you find 126 00:10:16.840 --> 00:10:20.660 that they just had a knack for that specific vertical health? Health care? 127 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:26.880 Eso Basically, once I was analyzed on their crm, I figured out that the 128 00:10:26.890 --> 00:10:31.360 highest traveling came from that industry from healthcare. So the next 129 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:35.430 point I was when you did the formal interviews with those specific, that 130 00:10:35.430 --> 00:10:39.970 specific segment of customers just to talk to them, see why they chose it, 131 00:10:39.970 --> 00:10:42.730 what they're buying journey was like to try to articulate what the value 132 00:10:42.730 --> 00:10:48.120 proposition would be just too that vertical. So you're entering. With all 133 00:10:48.120 --> 00:10:51.070 this work you've done, you finally have a better understanding of what the 134 00:10:51.070 --> 00:10:54.500 target is because we all released people who have started to figure out 135 00:10:54.500 --> 00:10:58.350 the A B. M. If you're getting into a B M, chances are you've started to figure 136 00:10:58.350 --> 00:11:01.150 out that you have to have a pretty narrow target. You can't target 137 00:11:01.150 --> 00:11:05.540 everybody, and it's about identifying the best ideal fit. But first you have 138 00:11:05.540 --> 00:11:10.360 to have an ideal that you have to have a best person to work with. So that was 139 00:11:10.360 --> 00:11:14.290 the front part of targeting. Now, once you had that person selected or health 140 00:11:14.290 --> 00:11:19.250 care Did you niche down further? Or did you? How did you pick Ah, subsection? 141 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:24.290 Yeah, so I will give you somewhat needed greater detail because I assume 142 00:11:24.290 --> 00:11:28.300 the important service, these interviews And basically, with this analysis, I 143 00:11:28.300 --> 00:11:33.490 did one more analysis. I started toe analyze all the deals that were lost. I 144 00:11:33.490 --> 00:11:36.760 mean, all the sales qualified opportunities, of course that were lost, 145 00:11:36.940 --> 00:11:41.140 and basically, I figure it out. Some patterns are common features. If you 146 00:11:41.140 --> 00:11:47.830 will off these companies and basically one off the feature waas. If anybody 147 00:11:47.830 --> 00:11:53.300 from the buying committee waas from, Let's say, ex post Soviet Union 148 00:11:53.300 --> 00:11:59.730 countries, these companies tend toe actually to negotiate the rates because 149 00:11:59.740 --> 00:12:03.480 they knew they always could find, you know, better rates in Russia and 150 00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:08.170 Ukraine and the others etcetera. So that was the first disqualification 151 00:12:08.180 --> 00:12:13.430 criterion. And secondly, I have figured out one more criterion. If we were 152 00:12:13.430 --> 00:12:21.140 talking Toe City or who has actually who spent less than one year in in the 153 00:12:21.140 --> 00:12:26.430 company? Basically, he didn't. There is, uh, there were two scenarios, either. 154 00:12:26.440 --> 00:12:33.100 Hey, didn't have a purchasing power. Let's say he didn't have enough power, 155 00:12:33.110 --> 00:12:37.620 you know, to bring in you ender toe the company. Or basically they didn't want 156 00:12:37.620 --> 00:12:42.050 to do anything. You know, just for the first year they wanted toe keep things 157 00:12:42.060 --> 00:12:46.800 at the organization. So that was the second disqualification criterion. And 158 00:12:46.800 --> 00:12:51.240 from my point of view, it's very important to have this disqualification 159 00:12:51.240 --> 00:12:56.780 criteria to build your list off target account. So you want to waste time on 160 00:12:56.790 --> 00:13:01.490 companies that will never buy from you. So that was the first part. The second 161 00:13:01.500 --> 00:13:06.670 part was exactly what you mentioned. So yeah, indeed. We narrow down our focus 162 00:13:06.670 --> 00:13:12.080 further on the goal was to find sub industries, and basically, we have the 163 00:13:12.090 --> 00:13:15.950 list off sub industries. I don't know if it's really important to mention all 164 00:13:15.950 --> 00:13:19.850 of the sub industries, but the idea waas again. So we were analyzed on 165 00:13:19.850 --> 00:13:24.850 their portfolio and see where the best case that is, where the best, you know, 166 00:13:24.850 --> 00:13:29.350 projects were accomplished. And this is how we have to find this six up 167 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:35.080 industries toe, create an account list. So once you've done all this work, how 168 00:13:35.080 --> 00:13:39.610 did you go about finding and selecting the best? I think you have 30. It was a 169 00:13:39.610 --> 00:13:43.950 It was a small amount, right? Like a small target list. Where did you find 170 00:13:43.950 --> 00:13:47.370 the list? And then how did you What filters? Did you run on it in order to 171 00:13:47.370 --> 00:13:51.250 get it down to 30 which is just seems really small to me. But of course, 172 00:13:51.250 --> 00:13:55.600 these air big contracts, So you really only need half dozen to a dozen to 173 00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:59.580 really make the bank for a whole year sometimes, right? How'd you get it down 174 00:13:59.580 --> 00:14:06.090 to three? Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So the idea was to start a pilot project 175 00:14:06.100 --> 00:14:12.020 costs before me, The Company LTD. That market and if we can call it marketing 176 00:14:12.020 --> 00:14:16.020 toe roadshows, you know, attention rod shows and book and meeting with some 177 00:14:16.020 --> 00:14:20.540 prospects on the road shots on conferences on actually doing some 178 00:14:20.540 --> 00:14:25.200 called outreach, which waas very ineffective. So they're like, not 179 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:34.520 positive reply rate by but reply rate in General waas less than 1.1% you know, 180 00:14:34.520 --> 00:14:40.030 So it waas like miserable. So my idea was to start a pilot project on a small 181 00:14:40.030 --> 00:14:47.240 scope just toe document. The process is to see if I did the work the right way 182 00:14:47.250 --> 00:14:51.850 and basically to train the sales team and create a marketing and sales 183 00:14:51.850 --> 00:14:56.220 playbook so the company could use it further. So that's why we ended up with 184 00:14:56.220 --> 00:15:01.530 such accounts the way how I started it. Actually, all of us, I believe, have 185 00:15:01.540 --> 00:15:07.110 this opportunity. So the law, the lowest can get fruit is analyzing your 186 00:15:07.110 --> 00:15:11.320 serum and see if you had any opportunities that you didn't close, 187 00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:15.520 you know in past two years and see if there are still some good prospects 188 00:15:15.530 --> 00:15:19.710 that you can add to your ICMP. Basically, this is what a bit of the 189 00:15:19.710 --> 00:15:25.150 marketers used to call reengage campaigns. Eso i waas analyzing if 190 00:15:25.150 --> 00:15:29.250 there are some good prospects, we can still add. At the same time, they had 191 00:15:29.260 --> 00:15:33.780 all the least off customers from the road shows and events. So I did a 192 00:15:33.780 --> 00:15:38.920 manual search. Eso if there are any companies that might feed our ideal 193 00:15:38.920 --> 00:15:43.360 customer profile But basically the next step what I was doing, I was He said 194 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:46.770 you were searching manually for the for these companies. You know what you're 195 00:15:46.770 --> 00:15:50.900 looking for, But where you searching for them? Yeah, So we had a list off. I 196 00:15:50.900 --> 00:15:55.960 see p and as I mentioned, I mean, I see p criteria. Basically, the our jail 197 00:15:55.960 --> 00:16:02.010 occasion are the team size, the revenue size on the buying comments are are you 198 00:16:02.010 --> 00:16:08.130 searching on Google LinkedIn Crunch days? No, no, no, no. Now, this is what 199 00:16:08.140 --> 00:16:13.270 probably missed. I thought that they had at least off all the companies you 200 00:16:13.270 --> 00:16:18.970 know that attended the roadshows thes company attended. So they had a list of 201 00:16:18.970 --> 00:16:25.520 this prospects cause they added all of this prospects toe email can Yeah, So I 202 00:16:25.520 --> 00:16:29.970 was basically analyzing if there are any good companies that feed our ideal 203 00:16:29.970 --> 00:16:34.380 customer profile. And the next step, what I was doing, I was opening the 204 00:16:34.380 --> 00:16:39.390 websites and see if there is, for example, if this this is a tech company. 205 00:16:39.400 --> 00:16:44.850 I was searching for a roadmap. If they have any public road map, because if 206 00:16:44.860 --> 00:16:49.260 they had a public road map, I could easily identify the list off features 207 00:16:49.260 --> 00:16:54.030 you know they're planning to implement in the future. And that obviously 208 00:16:54.040 --> 00:16:58.280 opened as doors to say, like, this is something we can create for you. So 209 00:16:58.280 --> 00:17:04.630 that was the easiest way. How toe help this company. So that waas one off the 210 00:17:04.630 --> 00:17:10.460 let's say research processes. Uh, the second one I installed Alba Cross, 211 00:17:10.540 --> 00:17:15.310 which is I p identification software and force analyzing the incoming 212 00:17:15.319 --> 00:17:21.880 traffic for the last. So today's basically this is how a couple of more 213 00:17:21.880 --> 00:17:32.990 companies so this is just tow. Launch it faster. I decided to soothe. Hey, 214 00:17:32.990 --> 00:17:36.440 everybody, Logan with sweet fish here, if you've been listening to the show 215 00:17:36.440 --> 00:17:40.120 for a while, you know, we're big proponents of putting out original 216 00:17:40.130 --> 00:17:44.170 organic content on LinkedIn, but one thing that's always been a struggle for 217 00:17:44.170 --> 00:17:48.550 a team like ours is too easily track the reach of that Lincoln content. 218 00:17:48.560 --> 00:17:52.150 That's why I was really excited when I heard about Shield the other day from a 219 00:17:52.150 --> 00:17:56.680 connection on you guessed it linked in. Since our team started using shield, 220 00:17:56.690 --> 00:18:01.050 I've loved how it's led us easily track and analyze the performance of 221 00:18:01.050 --> 00:18:05.230 Arlington content without having to manually log it ourselves. It 222 00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:08.600 automatically creates reports and generate some dashboards that are 223 00:18:08.600 --> 00:18:12.940 incredibly useful to see things like what contents been performing the best 224 00:18:12.950 --> 00:18:16.360 and what days of the week are we getting the most engagement and our 225 00:18:16.370 --> 00:18:20.230 average views proposed? I highly suggest you guys check out this tool. 226 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:23.590 If you're putting out content on LinkedIn, and if you're not, you should 227 00:18:23.600 --> 00:18:29.000 be. It's been a game changer for us. If you go to shield app dot ai and check 228 00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:33.860 out the 10 day free trial. You can even use our promo code B two B growth to 229 00:18:33.860 --> 00:18:39.840 get a 25% discount. Again. That's shield app dot ai And that promo code 230 00:18:39.850 --> 00:18:45.000 is be the number to be growth. All one word. All right, let's get back to the 231 00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:52.890 show him. So, Aziz, you have your 30 accounts. What is the sequence look 232 00:18:52.890 --> 00:18:56.480 like to engage them and get them warmed up so that you might be able to 233 00:18:56.490 --> 00:19:01.110 activate them. I know it's pretty in debt, so walk me through. If I'm one of 234 00:19:01.110 --> 00:19:09.970 these accounts, what did I receive? How did I experience it? Yeah, So again, uh, 235 00:19:09.980 --> 00:19:15.070 in this particular case, we were limited by human resources. Basically, 236 00:19:15.070 --> 00:19:19.300 I had only one as dark who was accountable to me and who we just 237 00:19:19.300 --> 00:19:24.270 arranged this campaign. So we decided after, you know, considering the 238 00:19:24.270 --> 00:19:31.120 resources with CEO of that company, we decided, not Thio go with, like, 100% 239 00:19:31.120 --> 00:19:35.090 personalization, which was bad from my point off, because otherwise the 240 00:19:35.090 --> 00:19:39.300 conversion rate could be much I and I was sharing recently. Some okay, 241 00:19:39.300 --> 00:19:45.380 studies where way did it with, like, 100% personalization on again on a 242 00:19:45.380 --> 00:19:50.450 small project were closed seven from 12 accounts, which is mind blowing. But 243 00:19:50.460 --> 00:19:55.990 anyway, coming back to that particular campaign. So we decided that we'll do 244 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:00.810 like, uh, Senate personalization, which means that the personalized our 245 00:20:00.810 --> 00:20:06.670 proposal to a job role and basically toe the public road map that we have 246 00:20:06.670 --> 00:20:11.250 seen on the website. So basically, if you know, You know, sweet fish Media 247 00:20:11.260 --> 00:20:16.360 plans to develop a mobile app with, like, particular features. I don't know, 248 00:20:16.440 --> 00:20:22.450 email. Like pop ups, you know, to get more people subscribing to email and 249 00:20:22.450 --> 00:20:26.730 useless this assumption. What will put in our proposal? We have seen that you 250 00:20:26.730 --> 00:20:32.060 then planet this feature. And this is something we can help with. Check our 251 00:20:32.060 --> 00:20:37.530 examples, etcetera, just to give you an idea. So we decided to go with four 252 00:20:37.530 --> 00:20:44.960 drop rods, See all city all h r and product manager. And basically, why 253 00:20:44.970 --> 00:20:50.030 this? Why was this for ALS? Basically see, always a decision maker. But in 254 00:20:50.030 --> 00:20:55.310 most cases, CEO is never, you know, even joining the meetings quite often. 255 00:20:55.320 --> 00:20:59.590 Especially if you're talking about the mid size companies, which was the 256 00:20:59.590 --> 00:21:05.370 target at the moment. So C o usually, you know, gives your proposal to SITIO 257 00:21:05.380 --> 00:21:09.770 or to the product manager, and that's it. So basically, they want to hear the 258 00:21:09.770 --> 00:21:14.910 opinion off their teammates. But that was critical. You know, toe make a 259 00:21:14.920 --> 00:21:19.850 positive impression off yourself. So once a company will be negotiate on our 260 00:21:19.850 --> 00:21:26.390 proposal CEO at least knew about or whatever that we exist, you know? So 261 00:21:26.390 --> 00:21:31.990 That's why this campaign we decided to go with CEO Seo as a key decision maker, 262 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:37.890 product manager is, let's say, a sort off influence or if we if we use our 263 00:21:37.890 --> 00:21:41.700 bit of the market and terminology, you know. So because this this is a person 264 00:21:41.700 --> 00:21:46.660 usually with who software development companies collaborate and basically a 265 00:21:46.660 --> 00:21:52.090 charge a chance for, uh, not so obvious buying committee members, As I told 266 00:21:52.100 --> 00:21:56.380 most of them, ignore, you know, a charge. But in our particular case, 267 00:21:56.380 --> 00:22:02.040 believe that if a company has an urgent need or basically, if they have an old 268 00:22:02.040 --> 00:22:06.530 technology and they need to find a developer with this rare skill set, 269 00:22:06.540 --> 00:22:14.120 this task will be signed toe HR and HR will be in rush, you know. And so every 270 00:22:14.120 --> 00:22:18.540 time will become into HR and asking like, Where's my talent? You know? So 271 00:22:18.550 --> 00:22:23.490 this is why we decided to target a charts as well and again in terms of 272 00:22:23.500 --> 00:22:27.330 market. And, you know, this is one of the most underestimated position in 273 00:22:27.340 --> 00:22:33.590 this particular vertical. So most people e mean most off marketers SDR, 274 00:22:33.590 --> 00:22:38.580 signore, this these people, In our case, it waas like a huge benefit that 275 00:22:38.580 --> 00:22:43.210 brought huge benefits to us and in this particular campaign, finally, maybe 276 00:22:43.210 --> 00:22:48.470 we'll just discuss this details. We were able to get to meetings with CEOs 277 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:53.080 because off charts and so you were reaching out to all four of these 278 00:22:53.080 --> 00:22:58.460 people within each each account. Yes, exactly. So for people off such 279 00:22:58.460 --> 00:23:04.290 accounts, if I was correct, it was certainly an account in total. So be 280 00:23:04.290 --> 00:23:09.180 prepared. So as the first touch, we decided to run. And basically, you know, 281 00:23:09.180 --> 00:23:15.110 traditionally, uh, market are usedto run. I have the best. That's just the 282 00:23:15.110 --> 00:23:21.550 warm up, but from my point of view, I honestly maybe I don't want to say Hey, 283 00:23:21.550 --> 00:23:28.210 this channel, but I don't think it's really effective. So see off the 284 00:23:28.210 --> 00:23:33.050 company asked me to prepare set off, you know, personalized based ads. But 285 00:23:33.060 --> 00:23:39.590 basically, after spending almost €100 I told that this makes no sense, and I 286 00:23:39.590 --> 00:23:44.510 suggested again I used to do the warm up on limited in demand generation were 287 00:23:44.510 --> 00:23:48.360 content creation and connecting with Stargate accounts, but again, at that 288 00:23:48.370 --> 00:23:52.980 particular campaign, didn't have enough resources to do it. So I just stopped 289 00:23:52.980 --> 00:23:57.650 the campaign and told, Okay, let's go with direct mail, and it would be our 290 00:23:57.660 --> 00:24:04.280 100% s O. That would be the That would be our first step. And then we'll 291 00:24:04.290 --> 00:24:09.620 prayed. That will have follow ups with frost. Step would be from Philip. 292 00:24:09.630 --> 00:24:13.110 Second step would be email follow up on. So tell me a little bit about the 293 00:24:13.110 --> 00:24:16.980 direct mail piece. Is this direct mail piece? That was kind of like a postcard 294 00:24:16.980 --> 00:24:20.950 that read like an advertisement. Or did you send some kind of, like content by 295 00:24:20.950 --> 00:24:29.880 a male? No. So it waas thinks parts off included. I will break it down for 296 00:24:29.890 --> 00:24:36.970 every role. So for sick house, I bought Scrooge McDuck figure, and basically I 297 00:24:36.980 --> 00:24:43.090 bought, uh, aspirin for everybody and Starbucks gift card that was printed, 298 00:24:43.100 --> 00:24:48.530 you know? So we added our logo on that Starbucks card and added shot in equal 299 00:24:48.540 --> 00:24:57.010 proposition and a phone number and email off SDR. So why this gift? Just 300 00:24:57.010 --> 00:25:03.060 to give you an idea. So for see, also, I was mentioning that you know, Ryan, 301 00:25:03.070 --> 00:25:06.710 this midsized company, especially in health care, you need to have the skill 302 00:25:06.710 --> 00:25:12.180 set as a Scrooge McDuck who was very well known CEO, but as well, he was 303 00:25:12.180 --> 00:25:17.030 well known for seven. Everything off his money and actually multiplying. You 304 00:25:17.030 --> 00:25:23.150 know, his spells. But I was like I was having some fun saying that Scrooge 305 00:25:23.150 --> 00:25:27.200 McDuck was not living. You know, in the tech era where you need to invest in 306 00:25:27.210 --> 00:25:30.680 attack and especially if you don't have attacked background. Basically, it 307 00:25:30.680 --> 00:25:34.830 could be, you know, huge investments, and you can lose lots of money. And 308 00:25:34.830 --> 00:25:39.260 this is how I told how we can save money and actually multiply Wells And 309 00:25:39.270 --> 00:25:45.160 the Equilar proposition again based all Waas, based on the customer and depth 310 00:25:45.160 --> 00:25:48.930 century is basically what I have come from the customers. I added the 311 00:25:48.940 --> 00:25:53.610 proposal and knowing the public crowd member. This is why I told that same 312 00:25:53.620 --> 00:25:59.260 personalization. So the let's say, the key part of the proposal with the quote 313 00:25:59.270 --> 00:26:03.880 unique weather proposition was the same for every job role. But knowing, you 314 00:26:03.880 --> 00:26:07.440 know, the public road map, I was saying, this is what we can help you with, 315 00:26:07.640 --> 00:26:11.650 etcetera, etcetera. And then I was heading Postscript. And so on the next 316 00:26:11.650 --> 00:26:17.870 pages, you can see details, uh, process map off, collaborating with our company. 317 00:26:17.870 --> 00:26:23.020 And this is what I was heading. Plus a detailed case study that is from 318 00:26:23.020 --> 00:26:27.900 healthcare industry and was saying something like, I added, aspirin in 319 00:26:27.900 --> 00:26:33.760 case if you have a terrific headache with software development challenges on 320 00:26:33.770 --> 00:26:40.940 and last one waas like I just added a Starbucks Starbucks gift card so you 321 00:26:40.940 --> 00:26:45.370 can read this proposal on the case study with your favorite vibration. Oh, 322 00:26:45.370 --> 00:26:53.580 in called quiet place. So yeah, nice. I did see on your case study. There was a 323 00:26:53.580 --> 00:26:58.500 lot of replies to your outreach because people it was not only relevant to them 324 00:26:58.500 --> 00:27:02.740 highly relevant, because the amount of targeting you did and and the value in 325 00:27:02.740 --> 00:27:05.830 the strength of the value proposition. But you also are a good writer, and you 326 00:27:05.830 --> 00:27:10.460 wrote it in such a way. That was a delight to read. Just based on some of 327 00:27:10.460 --> 00:27:13.900 the thank you's that I saw back that were like, Man, this was actually fun 328 00:27:13.900 --> 00:27:18.110 to read. Yeah, I'm available. They ended up listing off all these 329 00:27:18.110 --> 00:27:23.470 different replies. So, man, I'm starting to get a picture now of how 330 00:27:23.470 --> 00:27:26.550 this was set up with multiple touch points going out to four different 331 00:27:26.550 --> 00:27:30.340 people within each of these 30 accounts. So I mean, this is a lot of work, but 332 00:27:30.340 --> 00:27:34.400 not something that takes ah lot of technology to implement. You're not 333 00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:37.650 trying to figure out what their bio buyer signals are. You're not trying to 334 00:27:37.650 --> 00:27:41.640 figure out what they've been searching for. You've essentially figured out 335 00:27:41.640 --> 00:27:46.940 you're 30 best fit customers and then just started systematically reaching 336 00:27:46.940 --> 00:27:49.730 out to them. Of course, some of them are probably in the market. Some of 337 00:27:49.730 --> 00:27:53.900 them aren't. But if these air big firms and the customer does a lot of custom 338 00:27:53.900 --> 00:27:57.910 development, chances are there's always something to be developed, right? So 339 00:27:57.910 --> 00:28:01.150 that just kind of makes sense that this would work in this kind of situation. 340 00:28:01.160 --> 00:28:06.060 Well, how did you track the results? Is your rolling out these messages? How 341 00:28:06.060 --> 00:28:11.930 did you know you were doing well? So I was setting up. You know, I have a 342 00:28:11.940 --> 00:28:17.200 benchmark for myself. For all the camp. I mean, the people, the same campaigns 343 00:28:17.200 --> 00:28:23.820 I'm setting up. So I have a benchmark off 20% reply rate. So basically, if 344 00:28:23.820 --> 00:28:30.150 you have the reply rate above the 20% it means that we're doing great. So in 345 00:28:30.150 --> 00:28:33.420 this particular on and of course, I tracked the reply right from the 346 00:28:33.420 --> 00:28:37.260 account, Not not from a particular person, cause it doesn't matter. I 347 00:28:37.260 --> 00:28:43.080 forgot to reply. Like, for example, if CEO ignored us, but HR told, became 348 00:28:43.080 --> 00:28:46.990 available. Let's have a call. This is a positive reply with the account. And 349 00:28:46.990 --> 00:28:53.150 basically, finally, we are doing business with companies. Eso In our 350 00:28:53.160 --> 00:28:59.110 case, we were sending e believe this is critical because, uh, I know some off 351 00:28:59.110 --> 00:29:03.000 marketers who are doing direct mail. You know, they just write down some 352 00:29:03.010 --> 00:29:08.010 hand written notes of cards and or by some bottle off the vine. Kansas, you 353 00:29:08.010 --> 00:29:13.150 know, ascended the regular post, which makes no sense, because you might 354 00:29:13.160 --> 00:29:19.210 ignore this. You know, parcel. Uh, if you get it and say, Okay, this is fine. 355 00:29:19.210 --> 00:29:23.770 You know, getting this Candace is fine, but what's what's in here for me? So in 356 00:29:23.780 --> 00:29:27.290 this particular case, as as you mentioned, So the parcel was completely 357 00:29:27.290 --> 00:29:31.190 personalized, and what was critical was signed that we are FedEx with a 358 00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:37.730 tracking number. But because once you get a parcel from FedEx or DHL in 359 00:29:37.730 --> 00:29:43.220 Europe, you know, this always means by the fault that this is something 360 00:29:43.220 --> 00:29:48.170 important, urgent, correct. So you'll never you know, throw the box that was 361 00:29:48.180 --> 00:29:53.220 delivered by FedEx toe. You'll never get rid off it by without checking it 362 00:29:53.230 --> 00:29:57.620 so that that was important. And basically, we were getting, you know, 363 00:29:57.630 --> 00:30:02.990 the notifications from FedEx that the parcel was deliberate, which means that 364 00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:09.260 way, decided in our playbook we set up for hours off post. Or if the parcel 365 00:30:09.260 --> 00:30:14.160 was delivered at the end of the day, it means that we just need to the follow 366 00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:22.070 up next day around 10:10 a.m. So local time, of course, S O B. But once we got 367 00:30:22.070 --> 00:30:26.220 a notification from FedEx that the parcel was delivered the next day, as 368 00:30:26.220 --> 00:30:30.520 they are as they are. Of course, I trained as they are on the entire 369 00:30:30.530 --> 00:30:36.600 cabins and the entire campaign. So there waas prepared toe the calls on 370 00:30:36.600 --> 00:30:41.400 what is critical here. I think it makes sense to sit down. I mean, sales and 371 00:30:41.400 --> 00:30:44.590 market and sit down and discuss different scenarios how the 372 00:30:44.590 --> 00:30:49.150 conversation might fly, you know, because you might hear, like, you might 373 00:30:49.150 --> 00:30:53.430 hear positive reply something. Yeah, this is awesome. Let's book a call, 374 00:30:53.430 --> 00:30:57.770 etcetera, or you can just get something like I'm not interested. And this is 375 00:30:57.770 --> 00:31:02.580 critical. I'm tracking even. Negative replies. I'm tracking because this is 376 00:31:02.580 --> 00:31:07.120 very important. We got our person on the phone. Now. We need to understand 377 00:31:07.130 --> 00:31:12.650 if they're not interested. Why? Because if will understand the reasons why we 378 00:31:12.650 --> 00:31:17.250 can update our disqualification criteria, correct and never reach out. 379 00:31:17.250 --> 00:31:21.670 And never waste time on this stargate. I mean, on this account that result, 380 00:31:21.740 --> 00:31:27.930 they feed our ideal customer profile. So I was preparing this scenarios on 381 00:31:27.950 --> 00:31:32.700 our SDR was reaching out and say, Like, for example, if you then we'll say Okay, 382 00:31:32.700 --> 00:31:36.130 guys, I am not interested. This is not relevant. So we were like, Can you 383 00:31:36.130 --> 00:31:39.920 please? Okay, this is fine. We're not going to persuade you to book a call 384 00:31:39.920 --> 00:31:44.030 with us, but can you please give me just more, you know, details why you 385 00:31:44.030 --> 00:31:47.320 are not interested? Because we were thinking we were doing our manual 386 00:31:47.320 --> 00:31:51.430 research. And this is just a human, you know, question from human. Can you 387 00:31:51.430 --> 00:31:55.530 please help me to just improve my perspective and targeted? So why you 388 00:31:55.530 --> 00:31:58.990 are not interested? And you can just provide some details. And this is how 389 00:31:58.990 --> 00:32:04.140 we were collecting this feedback on later. You know, implementing it in our 390 00:32:04.150 --> 00:32:11.740 campaigns. So the key, the key metric here, obviously Waas positively booked 391 00:32:11.750 --> 00:32:16.830 meetings. I mean, meetings with somebody from our target accounts on in 392 00:32:16.830 --> 00:32:24.190 this particular case, our general reply rate waas such a 7% which is way above 393 00:32:24.200 --> 00:32:28.060 you know, the cold outreach on a positive reply, right? Finally, we 394 00:32:28.060 --> 00:32:34.450 booked, uh, like 11 meetings on six from 11 meetings close successfully. 395 00:32:34.460 --> 00:32:38.360 And that's pretty impressive. Especially since this was almost just a 396 00:32:38.360 --> 00:32:41.810 pilot. Just to figure out if it was viable on it certainly shows that it is 397 00:32:41.810 --> 00:32:47.590 viable and that it's worth scaling and you can even scale it better and faster 398 00:32:47.590 --> 00:32:50.900 with some of the learnings you probably got from all the different responses 399 00:32:50.900 --> 00:32:56.090 and conversations that you've now had. So as the company goes to is probably 400 00:32:56.090 --> 00:32:59.450 very happy with this and now goes to implement it. What are some 401 00:32:59.450 --> 00:33:05.350 recommendations you're giving to them to scale the effort? So in terms of 402 00:33:05.350 --> 00:33:10.510 scale and efforts, you know the key, the key here is documented everything 403 00:33:10.560 --> 00:33:17.340 and basically recording all the calls, all you know and the analysis, the next 404 00:33:17.340 --> 00:33:21.230 step should be the analysis off these calls The analysis off your cadences 405 00:33:21.230 --> 00:33:28.480 and the analysis off these, uh, playbook you have created cause in this 406 00:33:28.480 --> 00:33:33.470 case, you will be able to improve. You know, as I mentioned. First of all, if 407 00:33:33.480 --> 00:33:38.780 that you must be read it that that will the accounts that won't be interested. 408 00:33:38.780 --> 00:33:42.860 You know, unfortunately, there are no magic, you know, once or bullets, you 409 00:33:42.860 --> 00:33:50.550 know, get 100% reply rate. So your goal is to analyze why this by thes 410 00:33:50.550 --> 00:33:54.350 companies are not interested. So you can update your disqualification 411 00:33:54.350 --> 00:33:58.990 criteria. We won't waste time on this campaign at the same time, there was 412 00:33:58.990 --> 00:34:04.190 one more question, you know, once, for example, if a prospect waas saying 413 00:34:04.190 --> 00:34:08.120 something like I am interested, let's have a call we're asking. Can you 414 00:34:08.120 --> 00:34:12.159 please tell me what exactly resonated with you from our proposal? You know? 415 00:34:12.159 --> 00:34:16.960 So this is how we could identify this? Let's say unique value proposition 416 00:34:16.960 --> 00:34:21.949 amplifiers. What exactly, you know, motivated to influence or caught the 417 00:34:21.949 --> 00:34:26.350 attention what I will call it. Basically, using these phrases, we 418 00:34:26.350 --> 00:34:30.860 updated the LinkedIn profiles later, you know, used it on the home page, 419 00:34:30.870 --> 00:34:34.760 etcetera. This is how you can improve your marketing message in general. 420 00:34:34.840 --> 00:34:40.230 Undocumented processes cause, uh, once you want to scale it As I mentioned, it 421 00:34:40.230 --> 00:34:44.980 was done only by me and one as they are. But once you you know, you want to 422 00:34:44.980 --> 00:34:50.440 involve more SGR once you want toe. Basically one thing I forgot to tell. 423 00:34:50.440 --> 00:34:55.690 So we had one person who was in charge off the country search. Basically, that 424 00:34:55.690 --> 00:34:59.920 was the sort of person that was involved until the campaign. Basically 425 00:34:59.930 --> 00:35:04.830 this process waas outsourced. But if you want to have this process and house, 426 00:35:04.830 --> 00:35:10.110 you need toe document how you are doing account research? This is critical. 427 00:35:10.120 --> 00:35:16.880 This is probably the only way how toe scale the campaigns and last one is pro 428 00:35:16.890 --> 00:35:22.010 is making the takeaways from the campaign. Basically, you need to write 429 00:35:22.010 --> 00:35:27.190 down what was done. Well, what didn't work on? Why didn't it work? And what 430 00:35:27.200 --> 00:35:32.060 can you do to improve it in future? These are the best practices. Fantastic. 431 00:35:32.070 --> 00:35:37.010 I'm sure they're tickled to death to take this and go and run with it. Um, 432 00:35:37.050 --> 00:35:41.220 Andre, thank you so much for joining me on the episode today. If people want to 433 00:35:41.220 --> 00:35:45.060 learn more about this case study and go into the more nitty gritty. Where can 434 00:35:45.060 --> 00:35:48.020 they find that? And where can they connect with you online if they wanna 435 00:35:48.020 --> 00:35:52.120 learn more? So these Air square to connect with me, it's linked to them. 436 00:35:52.120 --> 00:35:57.190 Just type Andres in college. I don't think there are many, uh, people with 437 00:35:57.200 --> 00:36:02.280 that full name on. Yeah, if you'd like to learn more about this case started 438 00:36:02.290 --> 00:36:07.960 is a full final dot i all slash ADM campaign on. You'll see this case 439 00:36:07.960 --> 00:36:12.540 started with all the orchestration and the execution. Details. Fantastic were 440 00:36:12.540 --> 00:36:17.550 also include a link to both Andres linked in profile and the case study in 441 00:36:17.550 --> 00:36:22.250 the show Notes of this episode on Swedish media dot com. In case you 442 00:36:22.250 --> 00:36:25.450 wanna learn more Andre again, Thank you so much for joining me on the show 443 00:36:25.450 --> 00:36:29.750 today. Thanks from bythe 444 00:36:33.130 --> 00:36:37.320 It's Sweet Fish were on a mission to create the most helpful content on the 445 00:36:37.320 --> 00:36:41.900 Internet for every job, function and industry on the planet. For the B two B 446 00:36:41.900 --> 00:36:45.920 marketing industry, this show is how we're executing on that mission. If you 447 00:36:45.920 --> 00:36:49.510 know a marketing leader, that would be an awesome guest for this podcast. 448 00:36:49.520 --> 00:36:52.970 Shoot me a text message. Don't call me because I don't answer unknown numbers, 449 00:36:52.980 --> 00:36:59.710 but text me at 4074903328 Just shoot me. Their name may be a link to their 450 00:36:59.710 --> 00:37:03.520 linked in profile, and I'd love to check him out to see if we can get them 451 00:37:03.520 --> 00:37:05.160 on the show. Thanks a lot.