The Revenue Cafe

Companies that are not very metric-savvy can let the "tail wag the dog," or basically design the business in service of metrics and attribution models. Mo Zahid, VP of Self Serve at Hootsuite, explains that companies must never change their customer experience just to better serve metrics. Learn more about using benchmarks effectively in this episode of Breadcrumbs Hot Takes Live by Revenue Cafe podcast.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Metrics can be a double-edged sword - Mo: "People say a little bit of data is better than no data. I actually have the opposite assessment. I think a little bit of data often hurts way more than no data. And the short version of that is that it's often used to stuff out or circumvent discussion."

"Whereas when you have no data, you're forced to think logically about a problem and you often get to a way better outcome than when you have a little bit of data. And so attribution models often fall into that fallacy where they can actually get you to make kind of the wrong decisions."

You can find out more about Mo in the link below: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohamedzahid/

The goal of a GTM leader is to create a high-performance revenue engine. Mo Zahid, VP of Self Serve at Hootsuite, comes on the show to explain that LTV/CAC is actually the only metric you need. However, to make it really powerful, you need to pair it with the Rule of 40. Learn more about financial alchemy and pairing metrics in this episode of Breadcrumbs Hot Takes Live by Revenue Cafe podcast.

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The Rule of 40 explained - Mo: "Rule of 40 is super dumb, super simple. It's basically your growth rate plus your profitability. And the idea there is you can trade those off at different stages of your company. So I'll give you a few examples of what Rule 40 looks like because then it makes more sense. Let's say you're growing at a hundred percent a year, but your profitability is negative 60. You would still be rule 40 cause it's a hundred minus 60."

You can find out more about Mo in the link below: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohamedzahid/

Today we feature Nicholas Ghitti, the CRO of Trace Finance. He runs down the process of turning your sales team into a data-gathering team. This starts with their mindset and then the necessary training for them to understand the data.

Also, know that 90% of the time you do not even need third-party research and that all the data you need is available in-house. Learn more about intelligence-gathering and empowering reps to be specialists on this episode of Breadcrumbs Hot Takes Live by Revenue Cafe podcast.

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The data within your sales team is immense - Nicholas: "Don't underestimate how much your sales team actually knows about your industry and how much information, how much data, they have access to on a daily basis. And most of all, make sure you have the right processes and platforms in place to make the most out of that data."

You can find out more about Nicholas in the link below: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasghitti/

On today's episode, we feature Nicholas Ghitti, CRO of Trace Finance. He shares their unique problem where they could not access 40% of their leads from Shopify. By having the sales team become a data-gathering team, Nicholas was able to find the seed of a solution from one of his sales reps.

The lesson is for companies not to waste the data gathered by sales because marketing and sales management need answers to questions about the market, product, and customer perception. Learn more about using sales for intelligence-gathering on Breadcrumbs Hot Takes Live by Revenue Cafe podcast.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Gather the valuable data collected by sales teams - Nicholas: "The real problem is that even though they're not actually trained to do that, most account as executives, they actually use those information to build rapport or establish a relationship with the lead, but they're using that information only to be able to close the deal."

"Once the deal is done, either they close the deal or the deal was lost, they have no use for that information anymore, or they don't share that kind of information with the rest of the company, with their peers, or with the leaders."

You can find out more about Nicholas in the link below: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasghitti/

On this episode of Breadcrumbs Hot Takes Live by Revenue Cafe podcast, we feature Nishchal Dua, VP of Marketing at inFeedo. Today, he dives into how to build brands in practice and measure brand impact. Nishchal identifies events and focuses on "owning the internet for a day" as prime examples of creating memorable brands.

He also talks about measuring brand impact by tracking brand search traffic. An increasing number of people Googling a company's name is the most direct indicator that brand recall is improving. Learn more about building a strong brand in B2B SaaS companies in this episode of Breadcrumbs Hot Takes Live by Revenue Cafe podcast.

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Events and LinkedIn content create a memorable brand - Nishchal: "I think the number one takeaway for everyone who's trying to build a phenomenal, memorable brand here is to go back and think about the next event that they can host. And in today's world, events are not big budget, long duration, long turnaround time kind of affairs."

"They're super simple to execute and it's just about the right kind of creative that goes into it. Second, Look within your own organization, look within your customer base, look within your community, and think about the three LinkedIn creators that you can create from within."

Brand recall improves conversion rates - Nishchal: "Your conversion rates start going up and you might be thinking, hey, maybe it's because of 10 other things that we executed across sales enablement, product marketing, content marketing. But end of the day, it's because your brand recall is so strong that all your prospects want to move further down the fund."

You can find out more about Nishchal in the link below: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nishchaldua/

Brands are built over time. It requires a significant amount of storytelling and persistence to the point where it can be deafening and annoying. This episode introduces us to Nishchal Dua, VP of Marketing at inFeedo, and he will be sharing his expertise on marketing and branding. 

Nishchal identifies how the brand is the key problem when growth-stage companies suddenly lose their shine. There is a misconception of what a brand really is—it is not just the logo, the color, or swag, but the story you tell that makes it your identity. Learn more about Nishchal and his insights in this latest episode of Breadcrumbs Hot Takes Live by Revenue Cafe podcast.

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What a brand really is - Nishchal: “Brand, in the simplest terms, is a story that you tell over and over and over again. It’s a story that you tell so many times in all the different places that you can by telling the same story and it becomes deafening to a level and it becomes super annoying, and you become tagged as the person or the company that only talks about this, this particular message, this particular story, and that's the reason why brands are built over time because you stick to that messaging that you have for as long as you can.”

You can find out more about Nishchal in the link below: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nishchaldua/

On this episode of Breadcrumbs Hot Takes Live by Revenue Cafe podcast, we feature Paul Fairbrother, Founder and CEO of The Fairbrother Agency. Funnel strategies are much too simplistic. Buyers will not just see your ad and then buy your product.

They will research you, your social media, your ratings, and your competitors. Besides, tracking is not precise and with Google phasing out cookies, adapting our view of sales funnels is vital. Learn more in this latest episode of Breadcrumbs Hot Takes Live by Revenue Cafe podcast.

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Reimagine the sales funnel as a sales web - Paul: "Google is going to be removing cookies in the future. So we can't just go and track this linear like we can't track all our leads, all our sales-qualified leads, all of our trials. We have to take a more holistic view and that's why the web is a much better kind of concept of thinking about it instead of the funnel."

You can find out more about Paul in the link below: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pwfairbrother/

On this episode of Breadcrumbs Hot Takes Live by Revenue Cafe podcast, we feature Paul Fairbrother, Founder and CEO of The Fairbrother Agency. Marketing funnels don't work the way you think. They are not linear; they are a web. The solution is content marketing because the customer is in control and they will buy only when they are ready. Learn more in this latest episode of Breadcrumbs Hot Takes Live by Revenue Cafe podcast.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Think like a customer with their needs and wants  - Paul: "You might think, okay, my KPIs for this month are to get X number of MQLs or Y number of SQLs, but really you need to be thinking what does the customer need at this stage of the journey?"

"Like I was saying on the previous slide with these squeeze pages, they don't give enough information. So, maybe the customer doesn't want to jump on a webinar yet. It might be that that's your KPI, but you got to think of what the customer wants."

You can find out more about Paul in the link below: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pwfairbrother/

On this episode of Breadcrumbs Hot Takes Live by Revenue Cafe podcast, we feature Rich Adkin, CEO and Founder of Flikli. When you partner up with a studio, Rich recommends starting with a strategic framework, then the project managers take over from clients and distribute with audiences in mind. Learn more in this latest episode of Breadcrumbs Hot Takes Live by Revenue Cafe podcast.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Successful video production depends on process management  - Rich: "Process management is key because, otherwise, you're going to get behind the 8-ball, you're not going to have the project done on time, it's not going to be released in time with the rest of the marketing campaign, and you're going to be left out in the cold for not doing your job."

You can find out more about Rich in the link below: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-adkin/

On this episode of Breadcrumbs Hot Takes Live by Revenue Cafe podcast, we feature Rich Adkin, CEO and Founder of Flikli. The power of video cannot be ignored. Audiences engage with it and the US digital video marketing industry has taken notice—it is projected to reach $130 billion this year.

Rich shares how to define sh*tty videos, make a plan for your video content and avoid a sh*tty process. Learn more in this latest episode of Breadcrumbs Hot Takes Live by Revenue Cafe podcast.

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The 3 steps to NOT make a sh*tty video - Rich: "The first step is you must define sh*tty video. And that means when there is just no impact on your audience. They aren't taking action, they're clicking away, they're forgetting you, like you're ignored. People are not paying attention to if you've got a video that's not working."

"Step number two, to avoid that you need to make a plan. Making that plan is super important. Number one, who are you talking to? Number two, what is the video supposed to do? What is the purpose of that video? And number three, you need to know where your audience spends their time."

You can find out more about Rich in the link below: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-adkin/