Adrian Brady-Cesana is the Customer Experience Executive of CX Chronicles, author of "The Four CX Pillars" and host of "The CXChronicles Podcast."  Adrian has been working in the Customer Experience space for 15+ years and is passionate about helping startup and growth phase businesses succeed using his 4 Pillars - Teams, Tools, Processes & Feedback.

In this episode we talk about:

1. Adrian's experience working over 10 years with VC-backed companies across a number of industries.  After seeing common struggles such as overspend and overhiring, Adrian developed the CX Scorecard.

2. Adrian describes the CX Scorecard in more detail as it focuses on the 4 pillars he developed - Teams, Tools, Processes & Feedback.

3. We discuss some of the challenges startups face with customer experience and how to start with some simple customer journey mapping.  Adrian discusses establishing a VOC (Voice of Customer) task force that includes people owners, process owners and product owners to really understand the customer experience from various perspectives.

4. Adrian shares some lessons learned and provides examples of how any company can start a simple playbook to improve customer experience.  He shares ideas for startups and small business owners and how documenting the 4 pillars on a single piece of paper can be used as both an internal and external tool to provide more customer insights into your business.

We also talked about market trends, reporting, made some predictions and so much more!

You can reach out to Adrian Brady-Cesana  on LinkedIn.  Learn more about CXChronicles here.

Adrian's book "The 4 CX Pillars" can be purchased on Amazon.

Subscribe to the CX Chronicles podcast. 

Mike Reynolds is the CEO and Executive Product Partner of Innovatemap.  Innovatemap is a product agency helping companies of all sizes dream, design and scale digital products and services.  Mike has been ideating and delivering digital products to market for over 20 years!

In this episode:

1. Mike shares his experience in product management.  He saw a rise in a need for product management differentiation to help leaders & founders "do product well".  As a result, he developed a product management as a service model.

2. Mike describes the process that InnovateMap uses to partner with companies to define goals and outcomes. 

3. The InnovateMap team is made up of  both product management/UX design as well as product branding & marketing. 

4. Mike shares his lessons learned.  He talks about "know the mode you are in" and keep the focus on fine tuning product market fit.

5. Some of the trends Mike sees include "product led growth" where the product itself introduces new features as well as digital product marketing focused on consistent branding across all digital products.

Learn more by going to InnovateMap  or connect with Mike Reynolds on LinkedIn.  

Jason Cochran is a psychologist and co-founder of iAspire. 

iAspire is a software solution for the 2 most challenging areas for businesses: People and Culture. 

iAspire helps leaders engage, motivate and retain their people from their first to day to the day they retire - 
thus establishing the organization as a destination employer and making culture their competitive advantage.

In this episode:

1. Jason shares his personal journey which started by helping children find their purpose, partnering with schools to develop healthy cultures to developing a full
service tech solution company for growth and development of employees within companies.

2. Challenges SaaS/Tech startups face such as employee retention, turnover, recruiting.  We discussed the difference between "culture-fit" and "culture-add" and why 
it's important for companies to develop a vibrant and diverse culture.

3. Why it's important for startups to work on culture, core values, mission and vision

4. How iAspire helps companies, including SaaS and Tech companies.  Jason describes the quick onboarding process, dashboard metrics and templates that helps
companies start realizing benefits quickly.

5. Market trends in company culture and employee engagement

...and much more!

Jerry Abiog is a Co-Founder and CMO of Standard Insights, based in Ft. Myers, FL.  Standard Insights is an AI as a Service growth marketing platform that enables businesses to execute data-driven omni-channel campaigns.

In this episode, we talk about:

1.  Jerry's career in sales an marketing helping software companies with their initiatives.
2. AI-drive technology will be a $400B industry in the next 5 years.   What is AI as  Service?  Jerry explains the model and the opportunities in the market.
3.  Online ordering through the iOrder product.  How it's helping businesses drive repeat buyers.
4. Behavior and mindset changes that are taking place as we interact with technology.

And so much more!

You can reach out to Jerry on LinkedIn
To contact Jerry - LinkedIn or learn more about Standard Insights.
His email is  [email protected]

Dr. Jeff D. Standridge helps organizations and their leaders generate sustained results in the areas of innovation, strategy, profit growth, organizational effectiveness and leadership.

Formerly a Vice President for Acxiom Corporation, he has led established and startup businesses in North & South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
Jeff serves as Managing Director for the Conductor, Co-founder of Cadron Capital Partners, and teaches Entrepreneurial Finance & Innovation Leadership in the
College of Business at the University of Central Arkansas.

Dr. Standridge has been an invited speaker, trainer, and consultant for numerous companies, institutions, and organizations across five continents. He is also a two-time best-selling author.

We specifically cover:

1. Jeff's journey from academics to Acxiom Corporation to Cadron Captial Partners and the Conductor. 

2.  How the Conductor and Startup Junkie are creating ecosystems to support entrepreneurs using their 4 pillars (talent, culture, community engagement and access to capitol)

3.  Scaling companies by demonstrating success scaling what won't scale first.  This allows you to build the base functionality in a non-scalable form.

4.  Finding your purpose.  Jeff shares and exercise to help you find your purpose.  The connection between work, vocation and your unique gifts is a complete game changer.

and much more!

You can connect with Jeff on LinkedIn.  The link to his new book can be found here.

Jason Reichl is the CEO and Founder of Go Nimbly, the RevOps company that helps SaaS companies like Zendesk,
Coursera, and Plaid identify and close gaps in the buyer experience through revenue operations.

We talked about so much in this episode!

1. Jason shares his journey from owning a record label and creating music to starting Go Nimbly. 

2. Unintentional silo creation in companies - what does this mean, when does it start and how we can use revenue operations to break down silos

3. What is #revops?  Jason describes the methodology and how revenue operations can increase revenue by fixing gaps in the buyer experience.

4. How to realign teams, move away from specialists so that there's a balance between strategy, tools, enablement, insights

5. Jason shares his insights into the future of #saas and subscription based business along with some recommendations for new founders

and so much more!  You can reach Jason on LinkedIn.

Book recommendations:
a. https://www.zingermanspress.com/books
b. Brave New Work

Steve Laborda is a leader, coach, expert, and practitioner in B2B sales and marketing excellence focusing on improving profitability, capturing value, and developing the competences of commercial teams. With 15 years of experience in the specialty chemical industry, he has successfully impacted corporate cultures, behaviors and processes through the design, development and execution of commercial excellence programs and trainings. As CEO of ValueBizBooster, he helps teams fully realize potential of Commercial Excellence and
Value-Based Selling to improve profitability and growth.

We specifically cover:

1. What is commercial excellence? 

2. Value-based sales in B2B market  - why it's important to differentiate yourself.

3.  How startups can accommodate the sales process and keep their agility.  Steve offers other key insights for startups to excel in their sales process.

4.  Key advice to startup founders.  Building your vision, listening to people and team competencies will help you grow and scale.

Contact Steve on LinkedIn or at  (valuebizbooster.com)

Need help scaling sales?  You don't want to miss this episode!

As the Chief Sales Officer at The ROI Shop, Keith Campagna spends his time talking with Sales Executives, sales leaders, sales professionals, and sales enablers inside companies of all shapes and sizes.
 
Since 2006, Keith has sold "software as a service" on behalf of globally recognized companies such as ADP and SAP Concur. Keith keeps busy as a single father of two boys, 12 & 13,
and he is also building out his passion project, called "Lifework Integration".  Lifework Integration is a progressive employee development program helping CEOs, Sales and HR leaders,  as well as, anyone else turn stress into a competitive advantage.
 
However, Keith's primary focus is on growing the 8-year-old, ROI Shop.  At a time when "no-decision" is every sales organization's #1 competitor, and selling "value"
is most sales rep's #1 challenge, The ROI Shop's value calculators make it easy for sellers to have financial discussions with their buyer champions. 
 
Made for salespeople, by salespeople, The ROI Shop increases win rates by focusing on buyer enablement resulting in less discounting and way fewer "no decisions".

Key topics:

1. Value-based selling describes how your solution not only solves your customer's problem but also how it can make your customer money.

2. Buyer trends - sales will need to be able to provide a clear current state and future state for their buyer to "buy into". 

3. Building a business - buyers are looking for value and have to have a business case.  Build a collaborative, believable, closeable business case.

4. Sales automation  is coming.  Will the in-person sales model change?

...and much more!

You can reach Keith on LinkedIn or  email ([email protected] ).

The ROI Shop

Do you need help with virtual training development or facilitation? 

Heather Burright, founder and CEO of Skill Masters Market, specializes in creating dynamic, people-centric solutions for your organization’s most important asset – your human capital.
Leveraging 15 years of experience, Heather partners with organizations to create solutions that align with their business goals, exceed their expectations, and meet their needs.
Heather’s unique approach taps into big picture thinking – what are the organization’s strategic goals and what will people need to do to meet those goals – while also keeping a sharp detail focus.  Her expertise in instructional design and change management principles allows her to provide the necessary structure and strategic direction to any human capital project.

Some topics that we cover:

1. Best practices on designing your training program, keeping in mind what people need to do with the training, not just what they need to know.

2. Tips to create formal and informal feedback loops into your training program.

3. Delivering your content - pre-recorded vs. live.  Heather talks about pros/cons of each one and has a virtual facilitation guide on her website for you to download.

4. Depending on your organization size, ensure you have all SME's involved in your training content creation (sales, marketing, technical, etc.)

You can find Heather on LinkedIn.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Has Dosanjh.  He has a deep understanding of B2B and B2C dynamics and hence how to drive top and bottom line growth. Has brings a proven track record of implementing growth strategies,  building strong and diverse teams and creating value for stakeholders.

We specifically cover:

1. Lessons learned from his startup experience - especially around revenue and fund-raising.  "Be always current" is his life value.

2. Separating product development from delivery.  This includes having a clear roadmap that is visible to the
customer. It means developing trusting and long-lasting relationships with your customers.

3. Importance of Values - BELILEVE in your value

4. For new startup founders, there are some great nuggets focused on  financials, people, revenue and infrastructure!

You can connect with Has on LinkedIn.