Nothing But the Best – Meet Demandbase Implementation

For this month’s blog, it was exciting to connect with Jo Troyer, Demandbase RVP of Services. Jo has been with Demandbase for six years and is already a legend among us! She has deep expertise in implementation services, first in Fintech and now in Martech. Jo leads the Demandbase services organization through the customer lifecycle, including implementation services, consulting services, and strategic and technical consulting- all to drive customer success with our solutions.

Tell me about the implementation team at Demandbase: 

We have a talented and diverse group of people from various backgrounds working from multiple locations in the US and India to cover our customer’s varying time zones. They are an incredible group of professionals. In their past lives, our implementation managers were project managers; some worked in other SaaS companies doing consulting, and many developed deep expertise in various marketing automation platforms and CRM systems. I’ve had many clients remark on how energetic and positive their implementation manager is and how no question is ever a ‘dumb question’ to them. I think this makes a Demandbase implementation a positive experience for all involved.

In addition to our implementation managers, we have implementation engineers who specialize in web integrations. They have deep technical backgrounds so that they can code, help with Analytics or CMS integrations, review and turn on website customizations and forms, address tag-related challenges, and more. They round out our implementation team and manage many technical challenges in support of our customers. 

What can a customer expect from implementation? 

It varies based on the needs of each customer, and that’s by design. We believe “one size fits all fits no one,” so we strive for a tailored approach that addresses each customer’s specific requirements. We start by ensuring we are aligned on the course of action, goals, priorities, etc. We then work through a series of calls, each focused on a specific area of your solutions. In the case of the Demandbase Engagement Platform, this typically involves integrating with first-party data sources, setting up keyword sets, configuring Engagement Minutes and Journey Stages, and driving customer stakeholders’ understanding of how their new solution can work for them. As SaaS solutions, the products do not require development work for set up, and in fact, most configuration work is easily completed by the customer with guidance from the implementation team. Our goal is not to configure every bell and whistle and feature but to get them stood up so that they can begin to execute their programs and utilize the data provided by the platform.

How long does a typical Demandbase implementation take? 

We have several product offerings, so implementation time varies by product complexity and the customer’s specific timeline. I always tell prospects that we will move at your pace. If you want to move quickly, we will be right there with you. If you need more time, we can do that too! It’s up to you and your organization. We recommend keeping up your momentum out of the gate, however, to ensure we’re making the most of our partnership and getting you to value quickly. 

What resources are available to my organization during implementation? 

We have more resources than you might imagine! We have done an excellent job at our company by surrounding our customers with a lot of options for support. First, all customers have an account team dedicated to their success. Available resources include the Customer Success Manager (CSM), Global Account Director (GAD), and our professional services teams. We also have a technical support staff with real people responding to your questions or resolving your issues. For a more self-service approach, we have an excellent knowledge base, the Demandbase Academy for in-depth learning, customer skill-builder office hours and instructor-led training, the Demandbase Community, events and webinars, and more. We believe that supporting our customers comes in many forms, so we work hard to make resources available when and where our customers need them.

How much work needs to be done on my side during implementation?

There are considerable differences between our solutions and how our customers prioritize implementation. We have some out-of-the-box configuration options that allow you to get up and running quickly, often within just a few days. We can also deeply customize many configurations if that’s desired. I generally recommend an approach of ‘moving the big rocks’ – setting up for the key factors you know about already, and then allowing yourself to learn and optimize as you go. This is simply because – when working in a new solution – you don’t know what you don’t know, and you need time to learn, or you’ll experience diminishing returns on your configuration efforts during onboarding. My best advice is to pace yourself, learn as you go, and take advantage of our available resources.

Once implementation is complete, what’s next? 

We typically will sign off the implementation with a solutions review, and use that as a jumping off point for focusing on how to unlock the value of your solutions to the broader customer team. This can take the form of planning a sales rollout, running campaigns, or working with our professional services team on other program priorities. For example, a common step is to pursue a strategic Account Based Marketing workshop delivered by one of our ABM Strategists. We offer a number of services in addition to the support from your CSM, account director, and the strategic guidance they provide. We strive to ensure you have the right resources available from our team to make you successful with Demandbase!

How is Demandbase implementation different from other SaaS implementations we may have been a part of in the past? 

First and foremost, we take a holistic approach to onboarding our customers. We work in parallel tracks during this phase to cover the technical setup and strategic goal setting and planning. The idea is that when you have the products configured, you already have a game plan for program execution laid out with your Customer Success Manager and are ready to rock. We also understand that every customer is different, so focusing the onboarding process to accommodate your priorities is important. This approach allows us to get you to value on key components of the solutions in a staggered manner and ensures that we are providing the right resources at the right time for your needs.

What advice would you give potential customers considering investing in Demandbase?

That’s an excellent question! I’d say that you should identify your key stakeholders and start socializing goals early. Definitely include champions from sales in that stakeholder group to increase buy-in across teams. Bringing this group together builds your “ABM Leadership Team”, which is a huge component of driving success with ABM.

Additionally, don’t seek perfection out of the gate. During onboarding – or when starting a new program – solve for the 80% and let yourself learn. And in terms of learning, we give you homework during the implementation phase. Our most successful customers do their homework and take the Demandbase Academy courses to establish a baseline understanding. Doing this makes our time spent together in meetings that much more productive If you don’t do these things, the implementation will take longer. 

Finally, always be thinking about how to drive adoption within your organization. Build it into the workflows of your sales and marketing teams and drive accountability through executive sponsorship.

If you are eager to get started with Demandbase but are concerned about implementation, set aside your worries and let our implementation team guide you. We have hundreds of happy customers who have utilized our implementation services to get a jump-start on their GTM goals. Take a look at our customer case studies page for examples of how Demandbase has helped our customers increase conversion rates, improve product lift, and grow revenue. We look forward to working with you soon!