All About The Customer

Customer marketing can be a lonely job. That's bad for customer marketers, their companies, and customers. Evan Jacobs, Head of Customer & Partner Marketing at Chainalysis, shares why customer marketing is both lonely and dangerous, how this isolation impacts our companies and customers, and how to start working more cross-functionally with other teams. 

Customer education and customer marketing logically overlap but are too often disconnected. Customer education makes great material, and then marketing promotes it. But Shannon Howard, Director of Customer & Content Marketing at Intellum, believes the two functions should combine forces. In this episode, Shannon dives into why customer marketing can better enable customers to turn into advocates, how customer education can scale customer success, and how customer marketing and education can work more closely together.

Customers might not always be right, but they also aren't the enemy when things go wrong. When SaaS relationships break down, Casey Trujillo, Vice President, Sales Excellence at BrainStorm Inc, sees everyone turn on each other. But it doesn't have to be this way. In this episode, Casey breaks down how to set up SaaS relationships for success and what to do when they break down.

Too often, businesses focus on product personalization. But they don't focus enough on ensuring their customers are cared for as humans. Best-selling author Dr Joseph Michelli believes this “making it personal” approach is the key to success. In this episode, Dr Michelli shares the meaning of making it personal, why caring for our customers as people is good for business, and examples of companies from Starbucks to The Ritz-Carlton who are doing it right.

In the time of AI, Carrie Melissa Jones believes we need community now more than ever. In this episode, Carrie shares AI's positive and negative impacts on community building, how not to lose our humanity in the age of AI, and some AI tools that can help you scale your customer community efforts the right way.

Let's look back at the year that was. In this episode, we dive into a recap and soundbite from each of 2023's 18 episodes.

Too often, we wait months—or even years—to engage customers as advocates. But in waiting, we lose out on valuable opportunities. In this episode, Udemy's CMO Dr. Genefa Murphy shares how to engage customers earlier, the massive missed opportunities that happen when you don't, and why advocacy should truly be a two-way street.

Autodesk has long been a product-driven company. And while they were always customer-centric, they knew they needed to double down and shift from being product-driven to customer-driven. In this episode, Vikram Dutt, Vice President of Industry & Portfolio Marketing at Autodesk, shares the reason for this shift, how they've codified these approaches in their marketing efforts, and why being more customer-centric has been empowering to his team.

For a long time, customer retention was viewed as CS' singlehanded responsibility. After all, isn't that their job? But Kevin Lau, Senior Director of Global Customer Engagement at F5, believes retention is a team sport. Marketing, sales, and CS should come together to create better customer experiences. In this episode, Kevin dishes on why he believes marketing can help CS, why onboarding is a key part of retention, and how to determine the proper swim lanes when multiple teams are involved in ensuring customers are successful.

How often do you run your key messaging by your customers? Probably not often enough. Sara Varni, CMO at Attentive, believes too much messaging work happens in an ivory tower. In this episode, Sara dives into why marketers tend to work in those ivory towers, what happens when we don't talk directly to our customers, and shares her framework for how she works through messaging with customers.

Great companies tap into their customers to drive everything. At Wrike, they look to their customers to dictate their messaging, go-to-market strategy, and even product decisions. In this episode with Wrike CMO Esther Flammer, we uncover exactly how they start everything with their customer.

Zendesk powers customer experiences, so it's only logical that their own CX is a major focus. But recently, Zendesk decided to double down. In this episode, Teresa Anania, Zendesk's SVP Global Customer Experience, shares how to get top-down buy-in for customer centricity, how Zendesk believes CX will take their company to the next level, and how you can get even non-customer-facing teams to care about the customer.

Starting with our customer in mind sounds obvious, but it's unfortunately not our default. When we get stuck on the autopilot of our day-to-day roles, we begin with our inside-out mindset. But Johann Wrede, CXO of Emburse, believes an outside-in mindset can set your company apart. In this episode, Johann shares what gets unlocked when organizations think about the customer first, how to be an agent of customer-centric change in your company, and how to change your own mindset.

All marketers know customer reviews are essential—but G2's Katlin Hess believes they're still an untapped goldmine. In this episode, Katlin dives into how the voice of your customer can be a differentiator, how to handle negative reviews, and tactical advice for how to get every part of your organization to care about the customer.

The advent of customer marketing has shown why marketing's role shouldn't stop after the sale. Unfortunately, not enough companies are getting on board. But author Rod Cherkas believes that should change. In this episode, Rod shows how marketers' skill sets nicely mesh with customer success teams, why our existing customers are currently the best source of new bookings, and he dives into his book, The Chief Customer Officer Playbook.

Every year, TrustRadius releases their B2B Buying Disconnect report that shows the misalignment between buyers and sellers. In this episode, we sit down with Allyson Havener, VP of marketing at TrustRadius, to discuss the report in depth, diving into the voice of the customer, marketing resources that make a difference with buyers, and why CFOs are more involved than ever.

Great creatives learn from those outside their field. But can marketers really learn anything from improv? Lauren Turner, Director of Customer Marketing at Alyce, believes they can.In this episode, we talk about how Lauren first started bringing her learnings from improv into the marketing world, how improv can lead to more active listening (which can help you connect more deeply with your customers), and how it's helped Lauren not be afraid to take risks.

Many companies have some form of customer education—whether onboarding or knowledge bases—but not many are truly going all in. Mark Kilens (CMO of Airmeet) believes that's a big miss.In this episode, Mark shares his experiences building HubSpot academy, thoughts on why more companies aren't investing in customer education, and some aspirational examples of companies who are nailing it. 

Advocacy is often thought of as just a marketing responsibility—but it doesn't have to. In this episode, Julie Norquist Roy outlines why advocacy can truly impact every part of the organization, gives ideas for how to align sales and CS to this more customer-centric view, and shares why we lose focus on our customers.

According to Jeff Pedowitz (author of F the Funnel), the traditional funnel is outdated. It simply doesn't reflect the way modern consumers want to buy. Luckily, he believes there's a better way. In this episode, Jeff shares why the funnel isn't living up to expectations, walks us through his customer-centric replacement, and outlines how to put the customer at the center of your universe.

Looking to start a customer marketing program but don't have the budget? No problem. Michelle Randall, CMO at Playvox, shares 10 ways to start a customer marketing program with just a little elbow grease. 

Looking to give gifts to your customers but don't have the budget of Oprah? Reputation's Cassie Sneed has you covered. In this episode, Cassie shares insights on the perfect times in the customer journey to give gifts, the types of gifts that are most impactful for different customer groups, and how to think about gift giving on tight budgets.

When you find a customer willing to be an advocate, how often do you overuse that relationship? Probably way too often. HubSpot's Natalie Gullatt has seen it throughout her career and has found ways to avoid advocacy fatigue.In this episode, we chat about how to build meaningful reciprocal relationships with customers, how to ensure we aren't burning out relationships with too many one-sided asks, and even how to get around PR and legal department roadblocks. 

Your approach to B2B sales and marketing is becoming obsolete. But best-selling author Brent Adamson thinks the better way involves customer confidence. In this episode, we discuss how marketing and sales teams can operate differently to better serve prospects, how organizations can potentially completely rework their go-to-market strategy by reorganizing teams, and how to improve the likelihood that your customers feel great about their purchasing decisions.

GitHub's The ReadME Project takes a unique approach to brand-based marketing and is perhaps the next evolution in customer marketing: giving your customers incredibly valuable resources without expecting anything back. In this episode, we sit down with GitHub's Virginia Bryant and Robb Mapp to discuss this content initiative, how to create content that's valuable to your customers, and how to make your customers want to provide you with user-generated content.Read more about The ReadME Project here: https://github.com/readme/

Sam Shepler, CEO of Testimonial Hero, believes the B2B buyer journey has changed. More than ever, prospects want to self-serve, not be led by a salesperson. So how can our content adapt?In this episode, Sam dives into this new buyer's journey, how snackable and candid content can serve our prospects, and the power of video testimonials.

Customers give you feedback—and then what? To get ahead, Airbnb's Raj Sivasubramanian believes you need to close the loop on customer feedback. In this episode, Raj shares why so many companies fail to close the loop, how closing the loop can mean different things, and shares a video feedback program he spearheaded at Airbnb to help bring more empathy to customer feedback. 

How valuable are customer marketing programs, and how do you get started? This episode's guest, Steve George, Global Director of Customer Marketing and Community at Insider, shares advice on choosing the right person to lead an advocacy program, on different job types you might need to hire as you grow, and his three-step framework for building a program.

Most of us in customer marketing claim to want more diversity in our organizations, but are we doing enough to make it happen?In this week's episode, Pascale Royal, Director of Executive Customer Programs at Coupa Software, talks about the impact of this lack of diversity on our customers, how featuring different groups of people can unlock more powerful stories, and how diverse teams can lead to better products—and businesses.

Metrics matter in a community program, but what matters most is what and when you measure.In this episode, Jae Washington, Senior Community Manager at Headspace, talks about long-term thinking, the fundamentals of community building, and how a customer community can impact every part of your business. 

Everyone knows customer onboarding is important. But did you know poor onboarding is the cause of massive amounts of churn? In this episode, customer onboarding expert Donna Weber shares why customer-facing teams are so siloed, why onboarding happens before you close the sale, and her Orchestrated Onboarding™ framework to nail onboarding every time.

You might think you need to approach B2B and B2C communities differently. Asana's Joshua Zerkel rejects this, calling it a “false distinction.” He believes B2B communities can have the same fun, engagement, and feel of B2C communities. In this episode, Joshua shares how any B2B brand can cultivate a B2C-style community, how their Asana Together community helps drive meaningful impact, and some fun things they've built in their community that have resonated with their audience.

NPS surveys can sometimes work, but what if you asked your customer directly: how happy are you? Colin Burns, Global VP of Professional Services at Brandwatch, spends a ton of his time on customer calls. In a world where we have better customer data than ever, he feels there's little substitution for a customer conversation.

Mapping the customer journey is an important exercise for customer experience or product teams—but what about marketing? And once you understand the customer journey, how can you fuse advocacy asks throughout? Jane Menyo, Head of Customer Marketing at Gong, shares her thoughts on the advocacy ladder, how marketing can help with retention, and low-calorie versus high-calorie advocacy asks of your customers.

Customer-centricity needs to be company-wide for it to truly impact your customers. But how can you instill these values in everyone? Annette Franz, Founder and CEO of CX Journey Inc, gives her playbook for developing a customer-centric culture at your organization. Her new book, Built to Win, dives deep into this topic and is out now.

When providing customer support for highly-technical solutions, how do you ensure customers are getting the service they need? Manuel Harnisch, VP of Customer Success at People Data Labs, shares how to increase your CS team's technical muscle to better service your customers.

The Chief Customer Officer can be a singular role that unites your organization around your customers. But what does this role entail? And does it always need to be just one person—or exist at all? In this episode, best-selling author Jeanne Bliss shares her insights into the CCO position and how to unite decision-makers for a cohesive approach to customer experience.

Jeni knows that the journey of growing to thousands of advocates begins with just one customer. In this podcast, Jeni shares how to get started with an advocacy/community initiative, the impact of focusing on a narrow subsection of your customers, and how to better relate to your customers on a human level.