SBI Podcast

Customer Experience is no longer just a buzz word that companies can throw around. It has become a megatrend that demands a complete mindset shift in not only executive teams, but it also requires buy-in from the board in order to thrive.

On today’s show, Ryan Hollenbeck, CMO of Verint, joins us to discuss what market-leading companies do differently to prioritize CX programs. In Ryan’s first segment, he shares 3 critical steps to building a world-class customer experience program.

Vince shares valuable lessons learned from his tenure at Heartland that not only relate to the post-COVID recovery but also how you choose to advance your revenue growth journey through any challenging circumstance.

Having a full comprehension of customer experience in a digital world is crucial to revenue growth today. This motion requires not only active market listening, but communicating actionable insights across product, service, and channels — all while reducing friction in a virtual environment.

Joining us today is Tish Falco, veteran CX strategist and thought leader in tech and subscription-based services. Tish shares valuable guidance on:

• Defining CX vision and design from end to end
• Channel optimization protecting the revenue stream
• Brightening the future of digital CX

Although many sales leaders have had to adjust to this new world since March, global companies have had to acclimate since January. With every challenge that came with reorganizing a regional market, also provided the chance to accelerate a very crucial digital transformation.

As an early adapter to this new normal, Deb Walton, Chief Revenue Officer at Refinitv, saw the opportunity to interact with customers and employees like never before. On today’s show, Deb joins us to discuss how the changes she had made out of necessity have quickly proven to be more effective and have established permanence for years to come.

At the beginning of stay-at-home orders, maintaining a connection with the customer base was a top priority for CMOs. Marketing teams worked quickly to stand up virtual communities and help customers in an authentic way.

Now, as executives look to the future and aftermath of the pandemic, continuing to invest time and resources into their communities remains an integral part of making their number — not doing so could create a costly disconnect and breed mistrust.

On today's show, SBI community expert and Executive Consultant Laura Hall shares how to continue strong community engagement and why this continuity is important.

On today's show, Mary McDowell, CEO of Mitel, shares valuable insights for fellow chief executives:

• Lessons learned from previous crises
• Having an agile approach to the core business model and legacy products
• Acceleration of planning and decision-making in a high-pressure environment

Shifting the go-to-market model to digital has been a subject on the mind of market leaders for some time, and now it is being accelerated. For better or worse, COVID-19 has been the catalyst for a digital transformation that will fundamentally change how customers engage with vendors.

Veteran and market leader Chris Perry, President – Broadridge Financial Solutions, has a broad view of his organization and recognizes the critical importance of digital transformation right now. On today's show, Chris discusses:

• Differences between the current crisis and last recession on a macro/global level
• An accelerated roadmap for digitizing the client experience now and after the pandemic
• How sales and marketing must work together to help clients take risks and “win the recovery”

In the world of a sales enablement leader, the primary goal is to keep the sales team efficient and effective. How that goal gets accomplished occurs with consistent resegmenting of the customer base, cleansing the pipeline, and accurately forecasting changes and opportunities in the market. Market leaders know that these actions were important even prior to the last 30 days and are critical now.

Jedd Williams, Vice President of Global Sales Acceleration at Poly, was in the midst of a transformation when COVID-19 shifted the sales strategy and operating norms. Hear Jedd discuss:

• Why resegmentation was the first step in adjusting go-to-market strategy
• How the forecasting process has changed and its effect on product build schedules
• Covering the install base by considering propensity to buy and propensity to upgrade

Well-established tech companies have typically developed a large, multi-layer partner ecosystem that they rely on. For a sales leader in this environment, problem-solving, and having shared responsibilities with these channel partners is the only way to succeed in moving the GTM strategy forward.

Today, Scott Peterson, SVP Americas at Mitel and veteran UCaaS executive, shares what is working for him in adjusting to COVID-19 market implications with his partner ecosystem:

• Packaging and pricing with different-sized partners
• Daily scrums with channel partners
• Deal flow and execution

We have seen first hand how the pandemic has devastated businesses around the world. However, as we adapt to a new era of commerce, many companies have found opportunities to reevaluate their strategies and thrive. For a CRO in the SaaS cyber security industry, market opportunity has increased.

On today's show, Bob Layton, CRO of Digital Defense, joins us to discuss the effect of the pandemic on software companies. Bob shares that while many aspects of their business remain unchanged, like their coverage model, they are finding creative ways to drive revenue and incentivize their teams.