Inbound2Grow

Being an inbound organization is more than just creating an inbound culture or an MSPOT or a mission. Day in and day out the operation of the organization requires everyone to be working toward common, inbound goals. An inbound operating system maintains accountability and keeps everyone on the same page, so that day to day operations stay inbound.

Show Notes [0:43] Question: What is an Inbound Operating System?

So, what exactly is an inbound operating system?

Well, no two inbound operating systems will be exactly alike because an inbound operating system is the combination of systems, programs, and tools your organization uses every day. Not every tool or system will be ideal for every company, but the combination of tools and systems you use (whatever they may be) make up your inbound operating system.

Regardless of the specific tools, programs, and systems, the goal of an inbound operating system is to enable your organization to follow through on your MSPOT.

An MSPOT is a powerful tool for defining your goals, but it can’t just sit there and only be referred to once a quarter. Hitting your goals is a process with a lot of moving parts, and the meetings, wikis, software, and programs you use to track and organize those parts are your inbound operating system. Your MSPOT guides what you are doing as an organization, but your inbound operating system guides the how of implementation and defines how work actually gets done.

To put it in context:

Your mission is your why.

Your culture is the environment in which you follow through on your why.

Your MSPOT defines what you are specifically going to do.

Your inbound operating system is how you do it.  

[18:52] Todd’s Truth

Inbound leaders need to hold teams accountable. An inbound operating system keeps everyone on track and allows leaders to hold teams accountable.

[19:20] 3 Takeaways

1. Create your culture code and document it
2. Create a wiki (or other collaborative space/tools)
3. Review your regular meetings and why you have them

[20:09] Dan's Rant

Don’t hold meetings just to hold them! Meetings should serve a purpose, and if they don’t, they are just a waste of time.

P.S.

From now until the end of August we are holding an MSPOT contest! You can already download the MSPOT template and submit it for review, but from now until the end of August anyone who submits an MSPOT will be entered into our contest. We’ll have more details next in Episode 12s show notes (including what you can win), so download and submit your MSPOT soon!

Links

• HubSpot culture code https://www.slideshare.net/HubSpot/the-hubspot-culture-code-creating-a-company-we-love
• Take the Inbound Organization Assessment https://www.inboundorganization.com/inbound-organization-assessment
• Submit Your MSPOT https://www.inboundorganization.com/mspot-review

How do you make decisions in your organization? Inbound organizations make decisions with what is best for the entire organization in mind. Decision making within inbound organizations is also not confined to the upper echelons of leadership and management. Rather, an inbound organization leverages transparency and inbound methods to empower employees to make all but the most critical of decisions. So, what is an inbound decision?

Show Notes [0:42] Question: What Constitutes an Inbound Decision?

An inbound decision is focused on maximizing enterprise value (EV) and customer value. This puts the company’s decision before any other decision (individual or department) and, while this may seem opposed to inbound belief and typical methodology, it actually fits in perfectly with inbound. This is because an inbound organization has a company culture and mission with drives and focuses them on helping their customers succeed. With all aspects of the company focused on customer success it means that any decision which maximizes EV also, as a result, maximizes customer success as well. Put another way, the company’s success is intrinsically tied to the customer's success.

Inbound decisions balance what is best for the customer, employees, and company. There are three parts of a good inbound decision:

1. Using good judgment – not just going through the motions or parroting a policy manual.
2. Consider the optionality tax- you don’t have to make a decision. In fact, there are many decisions that you shouldn’t make, things you should say no to, and those things should be part of the omissions section of your MSPOT. By including your omissions, you are demonstrating that the option was mindfully considered and that the decision not to pursue it was a choice and not an oversight.
3. Don’t make uninspired compromises – don’t take the path of least resistance or refuse to make a decision because it will make someone unhappy. When businesses make decisions to avoid making people unhappy they invariably end up making the worst kinds of decisions.

Someone has to make a decision, and not everyone is going to be happy, but if you make the best decision to solve for EV then it will be a good, inbound decision.

[14:55] Dan’s Rant

If you’re not familiar with the Norrington Decision-Making Matrix, then Dan thinks you should be. The decision matrix was created by Lorrie Norrington, lead director for the HubSpot Board of Directors.

Be sure to visit inbound2grow.com for the Norrington Decision-Marking Matrix.

[16:21] Todd’s Truth

“Transparency without context is chaos.” JD Sherman

Inbound companies are transparent which allows their employees to have the right and relevant information in context to make good decisions.

Transparency informs your employees. Your mission guides your employees. Decision-making based on EV and customer value focuses them on driving inbound results.

[16:32] 3 Takeaways

1. List your omissions! It is vital to understand the optionality tax
2. Ask yourself if you trust your employees to make good decisions? Why or why not?
3. Do you tolerate uninspired compromises?

Links

• Take the Inbound Organization Assessment (https://www.inboundorganization.com/inbound-organization-assessment)
• We're still accepting MSPOTs for review! Download a copy of the template here: MSPOT Template (https://www.toddhockenberry.com/hubfs/MSPOT%20template.xlsx)
• www.inboundorganization.com/resources-and-articles

Your employees, prospects, and customers are all people. Every person your company interacts with, regardless of the type of interaction, wants to be treated like a human being. Inbound organizations understand this and put people first.

Show Notes [0:47] Question: Why Should Companies Put People First? 

Putting people first begins, like so much of inbound, internally. Your employees are some of, if not the most, important people you need to consider. Your employees deliver and interact with your prospects and customers, and when employees aren’t engaged and committed that delivery and interaction suffers.

So often we see a direct correlation between employee retention and happiness and success. Happy, engaged employees bring their all to the table, and they tend to stick around. Having high retention means that all of the organizational knowledge, relationships, and collaboration your employees gain over time stays in-house. And that is powerful!

Happy, long-haul employees don’t just happen though. A company culture that supports employees and offers them a seat at the table is key. Employees need to feel valued, heard, and like they are a meaningful part of the overall organization.

Putting people first touches everything from your website to your customer service to your sales teams, and it begins with how you treat your employees. Inbound companies aim to help, support, and put people first.  

 [15:22] Dan’s Rant

You need someone to be the advocate for your employees. Don’t expect human resources to play this role! Your Chief People Officer should empower your employees and make them feel heard.

[15:45] 3 Takeaways

These are the three questions you should be asking your employees on a regular basis (once or twice a year):

Do you know who your employee advocate is?

Do you know what our mission is?

Do you know your role in our mission and what you do to help us grow?

[16:28] Todd’s Truth

People want a sense of purpose and value, and they want to be apart of something that matters. Inbound organizations understand that, and they find ways to give their employees what they want. As a result, they see better outcomes.

Links

• Take the Inbound Organization Assessment (https://www.inboundorganization.com/inbound-organization-assessment)
• Additional Resources and Articles (https://www.inboundorganization.com/resources-and-articles)

In this episode, Dan and Todd talk about how transparency builds trust. From the steps leadership can take to be more transparent to tools organizations can leverage, this episode is all about building and keeping trust.

Show Notes [3:35] Question: Why is Transparency so Important to Building Trust?

Trust is rarely talked about as the foundation for an organization, but trust is essential within an organization. Employees need to trust in the decisions that are made throughout the organization, in the company’s mission, and in the organization as a whole. How trust is built is through transparency.

Organizations build trust by being transparent. Transparency creates an understanding of the decisions that are being made and the context in which they are being made. In fact, for many younger people transparency in their workplace is an expectation. For younger employees, a lack of transparency creates immediate distrust.

However, transparency is something that needs to be nurtured. Systems need to be put into place that encourage transparency. A large part of this is building systems and demanding the free flow of information. When everyone has access to information, they are able to make decisions and understand, because of the transparency provided by the information, the decisions and moves the organization as a whole is making.

Transparency also needs to be a part of the company culture, something that is discussed with systems of feedback to measure how well the organization is doing with transparency and trust.

Transparency needs, more than anything, to be spearheaded by the organization's leadership. Systems like an MSPOT are great for building trust and being transparent, but if leadership isn’t transparent then it sends the signal that transparency isn’t really a cornerstone of culture or a priority.

[18:00] 3 Takeaways

1. Create MSPOTs
2. Leaders need to share financial info and key metrics
3. Create tools to share information across your company (wiki, Slack, Google docs, etc.)

Links

• Take the Inbound Organization Assessment (https://www.inboundorganization.com/inbound-organization-assessment)
• Have an MSPOT? Visit https://www.inboundorganization.com and submit it for our feedback
• Don't have an MSPOT? Get it here: (https://www.inboundorganization.com/resources-and-articles)

Our buyers aren’t the only ones who have been fundamentally altered by the internet; employees have new expectations for their employers, and they are going about finding their next job in a drastically different way than they did 30 years ago. Inbound recruiting is a powerful tool for helping companies find and keep the ideal candidate.

Show Notes [0:45] Question: What are the Benefits of Inbound Recruiting and How Do You Do It? 

Inbound recruiting makes use of modern methods and tactics and applies them to finding and retaining the best employees. It used to be that when you needed a job, you picked up a newspaper and, as the job seeker, you found companies and tried to convince them you were the right person. Now, most peoples first step in a job search is to go online. Employees make use of sites like LinkedIn and Glassdoor to find companies that they want to work for, looking for companies with cultures that attract them.

Modern employers can also make use of modern tools, growing their pool of candidates from a small local pool to a large national or global one. This larger pool means you can focus on finding the right candidates that will fit in with your company culture.

The first step in inbound recruiting is creating an employee persona. Like a customer persona, an employee persona details the ideal candidate. More than just a list of skill and qualifications, an employee persona also outlines the characteristics that make an ideal employee.

It is important to recognize that inbound recruiting can be a long-term investment. Your ideal candidate might not need a job right this moment, but inbound recruiting nurtures candidates so that when they are ready to look for a new job you are positioned to offer them a good fit.

Also, don’t forget that every interview presents you with the opportunity to make either a positive or a negative impression on a candidate that will leave your office and go back out into the world, oftentimes sharing their experience. If you go into the recruiting process committed to being inbound and helping everyone, you can help that experience to be positive.

[15:33] Dan’s Rant

Dan wants you to know and understand that your employees are the lifeblood of your growth. Attracting and retaining the right people is essential for the long-term growth of your organization

[16:02] Todd’s Truth

While inbound recruiting can be rewarding, Todd wants you to know that it is also a lot of work. Recruiting is a significant time investment you must make when building an inbound culture.  

[16:39] 3 Takeaways

1. Create an employee persona
2. Map out your candidate journey
3. Create content that defines your culture. Interview against your culture code

Links

• Take the Inbound Organization Assessment (https://www.inboundorganization.com/inbound-organization-assessment)
• Glassdoor (https://www.glassdoor.com/index.htm)
• LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/)
• Addtional Resources and Articles (https://www.inboundorganization.com/resources-and-articles)

Companies create culture either intentionally or unwittingly. Creating a culture code allows you to take an active role in purposefully and mindfully creating your culture. Your culture code signals, both internally and externally, the values and beliefs your company is committed to. So, what is a culture code?

 

Show Notes [0:42] Question: Question: What is a Culture Code?

Directly from Inbound Organization, a culture code is, “an outline or slide deck that shows the key aspects of your beliefs, values, and aspirations and the type of environment you want to create. The culture code helps prospective applicants, employees, partners and vendors and even customers understand how you view your business and people.”

A culture code serves a number of functions both internally and externally. From the standpoint of internal leadership, it forces your leadership to be clear and transparent about the kind of company they are trying to create. It also sets expectations for your employees.

Your culture code also functions as a measure of what you say versus what you do and holds your organization accountable.

Externally, your culture code signals your beliefs and values as a company. A culture code helps to differentiate you from all other companies. This can play an important part in attracting and retaining the kinds of employees you want to work with.

Additionally, the process of documenting your culture code is important in and of itself. Having it shows people that the culture you are creating is something you value.

[14:06] Dan’s Rant

What is a wiki? A wiki is a website that allows everyone in the organization to collaborative edit the content and structure of the site. And Dan thinks that every company needs one!

In this week’s rant, Dan tells the story of a HubSpot intern who posts a reply on the company wiki that drastically changes the course of a major change at the company. 

[16:33] 3 Takeaways

1. Document your culture code
2. Start a wiki and start sharing information with everyone in your company
3. Learn about and implement an employee net promoter score (ENPS)

Links

• Take the Inbound Organization Assessment (https://www.inboundorganization.com/inbound-organization-assessment)
• The HubSpot Culture Code: Creating a Company We Love (https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34234/the-hubspot-culture-code-creating-a-company-we-love.aspx)
• The HubSpot Culture Code Slide Deck ( https://www.hubspot.com/jobs/culture )
• IMPACT Branding and Design (https://www.impactbnd.com/)
• What is a Wiki? ( https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/wiki )

In this episode, Dan and Todd explore how an authentic, inbound company culture fosters and allows employees to provide excellent customer experiences. While there are no shortcuts for creating a company culture, your company culture is an essential part of delivering the best customer experience.

Show Notes [0:40] Question: What is the Connection Between Company Culture and Marketing Execution? 

Inbound Organization begins with a case study about a payment processing company, Fattmerchant, who made their mark in a traditional industry by thinking outside the box and becoming an inbound organization. Fattmerchant built a company culture that helps their employees provide, “the best damn experience.”

You can feel the difference an inbound culture makes when you go into companies like Fattmerchant and HubSpot because they’ve built a company culture that permeates the business. And that culture isn’t something you can fake. It must be authentic.

Having an authentic company culture is a key part of how you deliver outstanding customer experience. By hiring for people who fit your culture and building your culture into every aspect of the business, you create an environment that fosters and allows your employees to provide the kind of customer experience you are aiming for.

[13:53] Dan’s Rant

Dan gets asked on a regular basis how they do it at HubSpot. The short answer is that people treat customers the way that they are treated, another reason why company culture is so important.

[14:38] Todd’s Truth

A modern buyer values a relationship with a company that shares her values without sacrificing any quality or utility. Buyers want to do business with companies that share their values and companies live out their values through their culture.

[15:26] 3 Takeaways

1. Check out Dan and Todd’s speaking schedule on inboundorganization.com.
2. Buy the book, if you haven’t already. Here's the link: http://a.co/1UTyN96
3. Leave a review, we really appreciate it!

Links

• Take the Inbound Organization Assessment (https://www.inboundorganization.com/inbound-organization-assessment)
• https://www.inboundorganization.com/resources-and-articles
• https://fattmerchant.com/

Let’s talk about the world of MSPOTs! What is an MSPOT, who needs one, why would you need one, and who creates it? In this episode, Dan and Todd break down the ins and the outs of MSPOTs and challenge you to start creating your own organizational MSPOT.

Show Notes [1:06] Question: Why is an MSPOT so important?

Mission

Strategies

Play

Omissions

Targets

An MSPOT puts your missions and strategies and goals on one page and makes them easy to consume. Any company, especially those with 3 employees or more, can benefit from an MSPOT because it gives every employee the information they need to work toward the goals of the company.

Just the act of creating an MSPOT can be a powerful and impactful experience. Even for an entrepreneur who has no employees, going through the process of creating an MSPOT and focusing on articulating your priorities is valuable.

MSPOTs begin with a companies leadership defining the overall goals of the entire business. For larger operations, managers or even individuals often create their own MSPOTs that fit within the larger company goals. Every level of the organization should have an MSPOT.

[8:43] What Does MSPOT Stand For?

M is for mission, the statement that defines your organization. Your mission will set your direction and make sure everyone is working toward the same overarching goal.

S is for strategies. Strategies are the outline of how you will deliver on your mission.

P is for plays or projects. This is where you define the handful of initiatives that will support the overall mission and strategies. This could encompass products or marketing initiatives, things of that nature.

O is for omissions. Omissions are strategies, plans, projects, or plays that are not a priority for the company. This is where you really focus and decide where you aren’t going to be spending your energy.

T is for targets. Your targets should be the metrics that allow you to track toward your goals.

[16:08] Dan’s Rant

Get an MSPOT. Simple and sweet, an MSPOT will change the way your company sets, tracks, and meets goals.

[16:21] Todd’s Truth

MSPOTs reduce uncertainty, deliver clarity, and drive alignment for everyone in the organization.

[16:32] 3 Takeaways

1. Download the MSPOT template
2. Complete it from the top down
3. Start building out your divisional MSPOTs

Links

• MSPOT Template (https://www.toddhockenberry.com/hubfs/MSPOT%20template.xlsx)
• www.inboundorganization.com/resources-and-articles
• Take the Inbound Organization Assessment (https://www.inboundorganization.com/inbound-organization-assessment)

In this episode, Dan and Todd talk about what makes a good mission statement. From the things to avoid to an example of what to strive for, this episode dives deep into why mission is critical for an inbound organization.

Show Notes   [1:20] The Inbound Organization Assessment

The Inbound Organization Assessment is a simple to use, handful of questions that help companies build the right foundation for becoming inbound. Taking the assessment will help you gauge how much work needs to be done, familiarize you with the concepts and terms of inbound, and give you actionable steps you can take to become an inbound organization.

[4:26] The Question: Why are leaders and executives so important to building an inbound organization?

Leaders and executives are vital to building an inbound organization because they define a companies mission. That mission is the foundation and guiding values and principles you want your people to follow and share.

Your mission is so important in today’s world because people want to do business with people who share their values and principles. They want to work with businesses that mirror their beliefs, and the same holds true for employees. People want to work for a company that they can believe in. Caring about what you’re doing for work and whey you’re doing it is why people go the extra mile and invest their time and energy into their employers.

[9:16] What is a Good Mission?

“A mission is how your company uses your resources, people, products, and service capabilities to help a certain set of people in a specific target market solve a specific problem.” – Inbound Organization

An inbound mission begins with the why and works backward to how you are going to help people.

[12:35] Dan’s Rant

Today’s rant is an example of an excellent mission statement which comes from Forge, a San Francisco based startup. “Forge is creating a new contract between employees and employers that offers workplace and schedule flexibility to those working in the service industry.” Stacey Ferreira  

[13:22] Todd’s Truth

A good test of your mission is to ask yourself if any other company could use the same mission statement to describe their organization. Also, no buzzwords!

[13:43] 3 Takeaways

1. Review your mission and test it
2. Identify your organizations why
3. Download the MSPOT template

Links

• www.joinforge.com
• startwithwhy.com
• MSPOT Template (https://www.toddhockenberry.com/hubfs/MSPOT%20template.xlsx?t=1529007667442)
• www.inboundorganization.com/resources-and-articles
• Take the Inbound Organization Assessment (https://www.inboundorganization.com/inbound-organization-assessment)

In episode 102 Dan and Todd talk about what inbound is, the assessment that can help you put a number on how inbound your business is, and what to keep out of your mission statement.

Show Notes   [0:52] The Question: What is the first step to becoming an inbound organization?

Dan and Todd hear this question from entrepreneurs, business leads, and senior managers all the time. Everyone wants a quick jumping off point into the tactics of inbound, but the problem is that no two businesses are the same, so no two businesses begin their inbound journey in the same place.

To help address this question, and give everyone some metrics to measure, they developed the Inbound Organization Assessment. The assessment gives companies a way to compare themselves against a standard, gives them an objective measurement they can track, and guides leaders as they progress towards becoming an inbound organization.

[5:17] What is Inbound?

As they wrote the book, Dan and Todd asked everyone they talked to what inbound was. The only universal answer they got back was that helping others first was the core of inbound.

Is your biggest goal to move people through a sales funnel, get them off the phone, get their details in your system? If the answer is yes, then it doesn’t matter if you’re employing inbound tactics you’re missing the heart of what it means to be inbound, and your prospects can tell.

[7:17] Todd's Story

If you’ve ever been to Florida, you know that all the sun and rain and beautiful weather leads to one thing…bugs! This is the story of how one bug guy earned himself a customer for life and countless referrals because he was helpful.

[8:44] Dan's Mission Statement 

Dan’s mission statement is doing the most good that he can for the universe. Helping people solve their problems is at the heart of what HubSpot does, so working for them makes Dan the luckiest guy in the universe.

[9:39] Focus Beats Bandwidth

The riches are in the niches. There’s so much competition out there that specializing in the smallest niche possible is how you’re going to stand out from the pack.

[10:50] Data Drives the Best Decisions

HubSpot is known for being data-driven. That’s a strategy that any business can implement to help make better-informed decisions.

The Inbound Organization Assessment can be a first step to help businesses generate powerful, impactful data about where they are in the inbound organization journey.

[12:35] Dan’s Rant

If your mission statement is full of buzzwords, no one is going to like it. Focus. Innovation. Customer satisfaction. Buzzwords. Weed out meaningless buzzwords to craft a mission statement that actually means something.

[14:16] Todd’s Truth

Inbound is the ways your prospects and customers want you to treat them. It is up to you whether you give it to them or not.

[14:39] 3 Takeaways

1. Download the Inbound Organization Assessment
2. Take the assessment to identify the areas where you are strong and where you are weak
3. Buy the book!

Links

• Inbound Organization Assessment (https://www.inboundorganization.com/inbound-organization-assessment)
• Additional Resources and Articles (https://www.inboundorganization.com/resources-and-articles)
• Inbound Organization Website (www.inboundorganization.com)