PRODUCTEA with Leah, Growth & Senior Leadership Leah Tharin

Summary

The conversation with Mike Weir, former CRO of G2, focused on reducing churn and driving expansion revenue.

At G2, they used a churn model with 14 highly correlated variables to identify at-risk customers and prioritize actions for the customer success team. We also discussed the importance of product and marketing in customer education and engagement and how to align sales, customer success, product, and marketing in a product-led growth (PLG) organization.

The discussion also touches on the role of compensation plans in driving the right behaviors and the importance of measuring and rewarding actions that correlate to long-term revenue and whether founders should do sales and for how long.


Takeaways
A churn model with highly correlated variables can help identify at-risk customers and prioritize actions for the customer success team.

Compensation plans should reward behaviors that correlate to long-term revenue, even if they don't directly generate revenue.

Product teams play a vital role in supporting sales efforts and providing valuable data.

Founders should stay involved in sales for as long as possible to refine their understanding of the market and product-market fit.


Sound Bites

"You got a customer that's kind of like half in the boat, half in the water."

"Expansion is the best way to fight against churn."

"If they're already trusting G2, then why not use that G2 third party validated content in that direct conversation when you get them engaging with your marketing materials or in a direct meeting with you."


Chapters
00:00 Profile Completeness and Engagement
11:08 Using a Churn Model
30:41 Aligning Sales, Customer Success, Product, and Marketing
39:36 Measuring Handraisers and Sales Calls
48:15 The Role of Founders in Sales
57:24 Incentivizing Actions that Drive Long-Term Revenue

My Blog / Newsletter: www.leahtharin.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leahtharin/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeahThar

#productledgrowth
Leah on Linkedin / Twitter / Youtube

Anthony Pierry, partner at FletchPMM, focuses on messaging for early-stage B2B SaaS startups, and he brought a lot of actionable knowledge on how to do it right to the ProducTea.

Summary
I talk with Anthony about how to focus and narrow down your target audience and how to communicate it through your value proposition. How do we cross the chasm between the early-stage value proposition and the bigger market we want to reach?

How do we use qualitative feedback in these high-risk and low-data decisions to figure out whether we should focus on features vs. outcomes when we talk to our customers?

Takeaways
Founders should narrow down their target audience and focus on specific use cases to effectively communicate their value proposition.

Copying the messaging of larger companies may not be effective for startups, as they have different levels of risk and value propositions.

Startups have an advantage as flexible specialists, offering solutions that larger enterprises cannot provide.

Qualitative feedback and testing are essential to ensure that the messaging resonates with customers.

A balanced approach is needed in B2B marketing between both features and outcomes.

Sound Bites
"The hypothesis can't be, we serve all industries for every use case. That's just not going to cut it as an early stage company."

"Be temporarily narrow. Just go for the next three to four months, but have your tracking in place, please. Narrow down for three months, see what happens."


Chapters

06:16 Finding the Right Messaging and Positioning
12:20 Having an Iterative Process of Finding, Messaging and Positioning
28:21 Reducing Risk through Product-Led Growth (PLG) in Positioning Experiments
34:54 How to optimize your Positioning in detail, features vs outcomes

Anthony’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonypierri/
My Blog / Newsletter: www.leahtharin.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leahtharin/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeahThar

#productledgrowth
Leah on Linkedin / Twitter / Youtube

Adam Robinson, CEO of Retention.com & RB2B, is the CEO who builds in public on LinkedIn and is crushing it by discovering the power of product-led growth as he is doing it. He’s very specific about what works and what doesn’t and how he got started.
He explains the power of organic reach through LinkedIn and building a personal brand through social media, particularly LinkedIn, and how important it is to not be too rigid in your assumptions. Adam shares his experience with video content and its impact on building trust and affinity with his audience to sell and scale an impressive B2B product-led flywheel.
We talk about the concept of freemium product-led growth (PLG), the value of free users, and why it’s worth it to keep them around, even if they never buy.


Takeaways
Building a personal brand through organic reach on social media platforms like LinkedIn can create trust and affinity with the audience, especially in B2B.Video content allows for a richer and more dynamic connection with the audience, enhancing the impact of your brand.Retaining free users is valuable for organic distribution and building domain authority.The combination of AI and influencer-type founders can enable bootstrapped startups to scale and compete with larger companies. We are just at the beginning.Point solution products with a massive free offer and a focus on viral expansion can disrupt traditional SaaS models.Sound Bites
"I want to challenge myself to just keep adding value to the paid plan until we get decent conversion rates instead of taking value away from the free one.""I think video builds an affinity for you in a way that nothing else can because people are sitting there, they're observing your mannerisms and the way that you say things and like the sound of your voice and everything.""No user is a free user. You get something from everyone."Chapters
02:16 The Impact of Video Content on Building Trust and Affinity
08:45 Understanding Customer Churn and Market Dynamics
23:38 The Value of Offering a Free Product to Build Brand Presence
24:07 Freemium PLG and the Actual Value of Free Users
25:37 What can and should you “automate” about personal connections?
33:00 The Importance of Retaining Free Users
35:26 The Future of AI and Bootstrapping, hyper-efficiency

Adam's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/retentionadam/
Leah on Linkedin / Twitter / Youtube

Casey Hill is a Senior Growth Manager at ActiveCampaign, Institutional Consultant, and Founder. More importantly, he’s incredibly actionable and smart on LinkedIn around B2B Email channels, and that’s why I wanted to have him on the podcast.
Summary
We talk about how to approach Email, how to use it from the ground up to drive meaningful business and how to measure it. How to balance different channels, such as influencers, podcasts, and newsletters.
What IS good content and should you repurpose it? What is the difference between a Short-term and long-term goal, when to drop money into Ads vs. the quality of the content?
We talk about engagement metrics and validation points, how to encourage an open structure for content posting, tracking engagement metrics and pipeline opportunities, the long-term play and how to trust in a B2B content strategy, separating reporting for different content types, gathering information and filtering leads, and choosing the most valuable question to ask.
Takeaways
Email marketing is still a valuable channel for demand generation despite the flood of automation and AI, but it requires targeted goals and effective use.Create good content that is valuable to a specific audience and consider repurposing content to maximize impact.Set short-term and long-term goals for growth, and use benchmarks to guide your strategies.Gating content in newsletters should be done sparingly, as building trust and showcasing content upfront are more important than gathering low-intent emails.Separate reporting for different content types to accurately evaluate performance.Chapters
04:22 The Importance of Email in Demand Generation
10:56 Creating Good Content for a Specific Audience
13:38 Repurposing Content and Optimizing Channels
16:29 Short-Term and Long-Term Goals for Growth
21:46 Setting Targets and Benchmarks for Growth
24:06 Importance of Quality and Amplification in Newsletters
26:27 Gating Content in Newsletters
29:10 Differentiating Friction Based on Buying Intent
30:38 The Five Degrees of Content
35:18 Engagement Metrics and Validation Points
39:33 Tracking Engagement Metrics and Pipeline Opportunities
40:28 Long-Term Play and Trust in B2B Content Strategy
41:26 Separating Reporting for Different Content Types
Leah on Linkedin / Twitter / Youtube

Julie Zhuo, Co-Founder @ Sundial, Author of THE MAKING OF A MANAGER, ex-VP Design @ FB
Summary
Intuition and hiring is an uncomfortable topic. We should be rational, have reasons for why we choose to work with someone or not. When should we trust our gut feeling? When is it time to step back and say, no. I go with the hard facts?
In the end it’s all about building an honest relationship as a leader with our peers and what kind of person you want to be. Afterall, we spend a huge time with our peers, even if work is not our main focus in life.
We explore the journey of personal growth and learning, the challenges and strengths of introversion and extroversion, and the significance of choosing battles and seeking feedback.
How can we understand ourselfes better and become the inspiring leaders that we wish we had in our life when we were younger?
Takeaways
Intuition and logic are both valuable in decision-making, and it is important to know when to choose which one.We don’t have to be leaders by embracing the bad stereotypes from the past.Clear communication and honesty are essential in building strong relationships.Taking risks and embracing vulnerability will lead to personal growth and learning.Chapters
05:01 The Power of Clear Communication
07:13 Balancing Simplicity and Complexity in Writing
08:12 The Importance of Honesty in Relationships
14:25 The Wisdom of Intuition and Logic
23:00 Building Honest and Deep Relationships with your peers
26:17 Personal Growth and Learning
29:32 Navigating Introversion and Extroversion
32:59 Overcoming Fear and Embracing Authenticity
38:05 Inspiring Others and Building Meaningful Relationships
Leah on Linkedin / Twitter / Youtube

Summary

Jamie Gier, - CMO at DexCare and former Director of Product Marketing at Microsoft - and I talk about the importance of understanding the customer and the challenges of marketing in regulated industries. We also touch on the process of learning marketing, the concept of account-based marketing in B2B, and how to connect it to revenue through ROI cases for our customers. The conversation concludes with a focus on relevant outreach and communication concepts with the aid of AI.

Takeaways

Good Marketing plays a strategic role in product development, informing product strategy and ensuring a unified voice in the marketplace.

Marketing in regulated industries, such as healthcare, requires balancing compliance with innovation and user experience.

Learning marketing involves understanding the customer, creating value, and staying up to date with industry trends.

Account-based marketing in B2B involves aligning with sales, understanding ideal client profiles, and deploying the right sales and marketing motions. Effective processes and personalization are crucial in marketing and sales.

Making the ROI case for customers from Marketing is essential.

Chapters

06:42 The Importance of Personal Board of Directors
12:18 Measuring Marketing Impact
16:29 The Role of Marketing in Product Development
22:02 The Challenges of Marketing in Regulated Industries
38:14 Learning Marketing and Creating Value
45:38 Account-Based Marketing in B2B
47:30 Effective Processes and Personalization that doesn't feel artificial
49:17 Making the ROI Case through Account-based Marketing



My Blog / Newsletter: www.leahtharin.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leahtharin/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeahThar

#productledgrowth
Leah on Linkedin / Twitter / Youtube