For this month’s blog, I snagged a few moments with one of the busiest people in Demandbase, Mark Walter, leader of the Demandbase Technical Consulting Team. After working with hundreds of clients across a myriad of industries, Mark and his team have some pretty unique capabilities. They’re able to paint a vision of how to solve a client’s business needs, through technical demonstration, analyzing client pain points, and creating a compelling strategy. In short, they have the technical chops to address even the most complex technical challenges for our clients.

Here’s what Mark has to say about Demandbase Technical Consulting Services…

What does a technical consulting team do?

Our mission is to surprise and delight customers by delivering technical content in a way that interests and excites our clients based on their role in their organization. Beyond that, our team plays three primary roles. First, we’re involved in the foundational service packages that bring us into contact with many of our clients on a quarterly or monthly basis — where we provide technical guidance on platform setup and optimization. Next, we support our enterprise customers through ongoing hours-based projects. We serve as a technical resource to guide our clients through best practice usage and platform utilization. And lastly, we support customers with technical integrations that occur after they’re out of the implementation phase to ensure the new integrations are set up correctly.

What backgrounds do they have?

All of our technical consultants (TC’s) come from technical backgrounds, of course, but each one also brings a unique ability to communicate and interact with customers — something that is rare in a technical persona.

What superpowers do they possess?

One of the things we have unique knowledge of, because we’ve seen so many client tenants, is the implications of decisions made in the platform. We have an insider view of so many customer configurations, and we’ve waded in the technical weeds with so many clients that it’s easier for us to identify problems quickly or head them off altogether. Easier than it would be for you to do it on your own. 

Compared to the implementation team that works with our clients for the first few months, overseeing the initial configuration of the platform, we come in a bit later and have the opportunity to see the more prolonged downstream impact of platform setup. This puts us in an excellent position to help refine and optimize for our clients, really taking their performance to the next level and aligning it with their business strategy.

Are there specialties within the team?

Each of us has found our niche inside of the platform. One of our team members focuses on journeys and scoring models, while another has expertise on intent and the new workspaces feature. For me, I focus on the analytics-how we present the data in charts and graphs, helping our clients learn from the data.

What value do you bring to customers?

We all enjoy our client interaction, and bringing the platform to life for customers is our specialty and passion. We help you get excited about Demandbase, not only because we help you build confidence in how the software is set up, but because we teach you how you can see results on your own through analytics, intent dashboards, reports, etc. 

What is something unique you do to engage clients in a virtual meeting?

One of the things we have brought to Demandbase is the way in which we conduct our technical sessions. We have the client log in and share their screen. In this way, we help the user learn the platform, with our guidance, and this really helps with knowledge transfer, and retention and keeps everyone engaged in our sessions.

What three words describe Demandbase Technical Consulting best?

• Confident :  I like the word confident because it’s essential for building credibility and rapport with our clients. And we’re confident in our skillset and technical competence for sure!
  
• Comprehensive : We need to know so much about the platform to be ready to answer any question on the spot. Good thing, we have a ton of knowledge that we pack into our brains that we’ve learned along the way as both users and technicians of the platform. This depth and breadth of knowledge helps us react and learn with our clients in any number of technical and business discussions.
• Analytical : Not only do we analyze from a technical perspective, but we’re also always gauging how deep we can go in the conversations with people we’ve just met. Are they execs who need us to explain things in a simple, non-technical way? Or are they technical individuals who want and need to dive deep into the platform details?
  

What’s your favorite part about leading the technical consulting team?

Our team is a wonderful group of people, with top-notch talent, and we all get along well. We get feedback regularly on our team members, and (not to boast) we’re all excelling in our roles. While we have a lot of work, we’re always hungry for more!

The post Meet the Team with Hidden Superpowers: Demandbase Technical Consulting appeared first on Demandbase.

Demandbase was recently named a 2023 Gartner® Peer Insights Customers’ Choice for Account-Based Marketing Platforms and I couldn’t be prouder. Why me? Well, as the Head of Customer Experience at Demandbase, glowing reviews from customers are about as good as it gets. And this recognition was based on verified reviews from end users of Demandbase One who took the time to give their opinions. A whopping 96% scored the platform with four or five stars and 90% said they would recommend it to others. Want to know why? You can catch the full report here.

Now you’re probably thinking the key to getting great product reviews like these is to have a great product. And you’re not wrong. That’s a given. But that alone will not garner the kind of reviews we all dream about. At least not in B2B, where our solutions are multi-faceted and more powerful than buying a hairdryer or pair of shoes.

In B2B, the secret to great product reviews is ensuring your customers achieve and recognize success. Here’s how we do it at Demandbase, and it’s gold!

We’re a partner, not a vendor

I know everyone says that, but without being boastful, I can honestly say we live it at Demandbase. We hear from our customers all the time that they consider us a “true partner” in their success…like an extension of their team.

Here’s just one example from a recent Gartner® Peer Insights 5-star review, “…[Demandbase’s] customer success team truly is dedicated to our company’s success and has grown with us in so many ways. We use our partnership with Demandbase as the model all future partnerships should be built on.”

Our focus on partnering with our customers is 100% intentional, because we understand that running a successful ABM program — or creating and launching ad campaigns that build lift and engagement, or using sales intelligence and data to drive revenue to the bottom line — is about so much more than having the right tool. It’s about having the right strategy, best practices, buy-in from leadership, a definition of success and identified KPIs, and alignment across teams, as well as a great platform to orchestrate it all. Without all these components in place, the program is doomed for lackluster results or worse, failure. 

That’s why we come alongside our customers, share our expertise, and ensure they have the training and resources they need to get the most out of Demandbase One. These things don’t come about by simply plugging in and flipping a switch. 

Walking the talk

This year our Customer Service and Success teams won the International Business “Stevie” Award for Best Customer Service Department of the Year, and our Technical Support team won the American Business “Stevie” for Best Tech Support Strategy and Implementation! I’m busting my buttons. They’re the ones delivering on being a true partner. 

So how’d they do it? Here are some keys to their success, and ultimately our customers’:

• First, we consolidated multiple customer-facing teams into one Customer Experience organization — that’s my baby! 
• Created “statements of value” for each customer to proactively communicate ROI to stakeholders. 
• Redefined our customer journey to include specific milestones and clear hand-offs to remove friction from the customer experience and help them recognize value at regular intervals. 
• Implemented ChurnZero, going from five tools to one, improving efficiency and visibility into key metrics and allowing us to better actively guide customers.
• Implemented a Digital Touch nurture program, which tripled the percentage of accounts certified within the first 30 days and dropped the average time to gain certification from 140 days to 22. 
• Expanded customer training through Demandbase Academy, Customer Office Hours, and instructor-led training, and implemented cross-platform training for internal teams. 
• Offered Managed Services to fill customers’ resource gaps — includes ROI reporting, platform management, strategy, and workshop sessions. 
• Launched a strategic webinar series to inspire customers on various advanced use cases to inspire them on what is possible for the future of their programs.
• Built out journeys, enablement, and nurture programs by persona to ensure we are actively guiding many customers forward based on the needs of their specific role. 

On the tech support side, we:

• Built internal tooling to speed investigation times and reduce time-to-resolution.
• Designed repeatable processes to scale these efforts quickly.
• Expanded support teams across geographies and time zones.
• Added more key performance indicators to include CSAT, time-to-resolution, aged case reduction, periodic update SLAs, and more. 
• Improved job satisfaction and augmented team members’ skills and opportunities. 
• Implemented a more robust product/engineering feedback loop. 
• Cross trained to ensure customers were able to address most of their questions or concerns through one individual versus having to move between resources for different platform questions.

With all these things in place, we’re consistently earning customer satisfaction scores of 98% or better. That’s the secret to garnering great product reviews. 

So if you’re trying to drive stronger reviews for your product, these are some of the best practices you can take to the bank. 

And if you’re less than thrilled with the service you get from your go-to-market (GTM) “vendor” — and I use that word intentionally — our door is wide open. We’d love to become an extension of your team. Just contact us or learn more about how we can partner in your success. 

Gartner, Voice of the Customer for Account-Based Marketing Platforms, Published 28 June 2023, By Peer Contributors

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Peer Insights is registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and GARTNER PEER INSIGHTS CUSTOMERS’ CHOICE badge is a trademark and service mark, of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

Gartner Peer Insights content consists of the opinions of individual end users based on their own experiences with the vendors listed on the platform, should not be construed as statements of fact, nor do they represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in this content nor makes any warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this content, about its accuracy or completeness, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

The post The Secret to Great Product Reviews. (Hint: It’s Not What You Think.) appeared first on Demandbase.

I admit it! I played with Barbie as a child, and the messages of female empowerment were utterly lost on my 8-year-old brain. The beautiful clothes, fancy townhouses, and spectacular cars drew me in. I mean, what little girl wouldn’t want unlimited wardrobe options, fun friends, a cute boyfriend, and a life one could only dream of? And dream, I did. I dreamt of flying around the world, meeting new people and seeing new things, negotiating business deals, and making my own decisions. 

Female Leadership

Fast forward four decades, and I’m doing all of those things. Last week, I spent several days in San Francisco with my Demandbase teammates, tackling tough business challenges and plotting the future of our Professional Services Organization at “Customer Experience Summer Camp.” For the first time in my career, I witnessed four levels of female empowerment and leadership and individual contributors in a high-tech SAAS organization- something else I couldn’t have imagined as a girl playing with Barbie. At Demandbase, we create opportunities for everyone in the organization, regardless of race, creed, religion, or gender. While we aren’t perfect, we’ve made a lot of progress. According to Zippia “40 Telling Women in Technology Statistics [2023 ]: Computer Science Gender Ratio”, women hold 44% of STEM-related bachelor’s degrees as of 2022. Yet, women hold 28% of computing and mathematical jobs in the US as of 2022. The numbers are even more dismal when you look at leadership roles, with fewer than 20% of vice president positions in the tech industry, only 19% of senior vice presidents, and 15% of CEOs being held by women. Based on these stats, Demandbase is significantly ahead of our industry.

What Women Bring to the Workplace

According to a Center for Creative Leadership study, companies and organizations with more female employees “have more meaningful work and job satisfaction, better organization and dedication, and lower rates of burnout.” During our company meeting, organized and executed by a mostly female team, plenty of fun and creativity was built into the agenda, giving everyone time to connect, think differently, and push our organization forward. We played games, solved problems, and connected on a deeper level through intentional networking times and shared meals. There were even fun stickers each camper earned for their achievements. The Summer Camp atmosphere kept the mood light and challenged everyone to get out of their boxes and work together toward common goals.

Demandbase Value-Added Services Team at Summer Camp last week channeling our inner Barbie!

Female Role Models

I’ve had plenty of male role models and mentors throughout my career, and I’m so grateful for them. However, this is my first time having female role models who lift one another up and create an environment for all to grow. Strong female role models have three core benefits, according to an article by Forbes. Female role models expand what is possible, inspire women to be more ambitious and aim higher, and demonstrate the behaviors and mindsets necessary to rise in an organization. The successful women at Demandbase are unpretentious, hardworking, level-headed, and, most importantly, problem-solvers. Having these women in positions of influence in our organization can only serve to break down barriers, position other women for influence roles, impact policies involving work-life balance and child/elder care, and broader topics such as pay equity – for all people in the workplace, especially those who are under-represented today.

Making Barbie Proud

The women at Demandbase would make Barbie proud. We’re a new breed of professionals who have found the ability to manage our personal and professional lives while impacting the strength and trajectory of our organization. From Human Resources to marketing, customer success, sales, product development, professional services, and beyond, the women at Demandbase are showing that childhood dreams are not only possible but they are a reality. And let’s not forget the men with whom we work, you’re “Dee-best.”

Some additional resources: Women in Revenue, Girls Who Code, Future Business Leaders of America, Demandbase Careers

The post Why Demandbase’s Customer Experience is Barbie-Approved appeared first on Demandbase.

Outreach is an incredible tool for tasks like sales execution, task management, and monitoring email sequences. However, to effectively prospect an account or individual, most sellers need to switch between Outreach and other systems, such as their CRM, to get the full picture. This constant toggling between platforms is time-consuming, can lead to missed opportunities, and frankly, it’s a headache. Yet the scenario described is an all too familiar reality for the modern day seller, which is why Demandbase is thrilled to announce a native integration with Outreach. 

This powerful partnership introduces native access to rich account and contact insights directly within your Outreach platform, so you can seamlessly personalize your sales outreach, and revolutionize the way your sales teams connect with prospects.

Streamlining Sales Engagement

Demandbase has long offered an unparalleled set of 1st- and 3rd-party data attributes, along with the ability to assign and run Outreach Sequences directly from Demandbase One. This makes the automation of sales and marketing plays across the customer journey easy, but is one-directional in nature. 

Recognizing the human desire for convenience, Demandbase strives to meet sellers where they already are, which is frequently within Outreach. With our new Outreach integration, sellers can now:

• View Demandbase Sales Intelligence on the Account, Prospect, and Opportunity tabs in Outreach, providing industry-leading company and contact-level insights.
• Access the full capabilities of Demandbase on the Account and Prospect Overview Tabs in Outreach
• Interact with Demandbase’s Sales Intelligence through a custom tab, enabling searches across Demandbase’s entire 3rd-party company and contact database of more than 92 million companies globally and 150+ million contacts, to build prospect lists, set up connections, and more, all from within Outreach’s UI.

This means that sellers can access Demandbase company and contact-level details throughout Outreach, no matter what their preferred workflow may be.

Enhancing Efficiency and Impact

Sellers aren’t the only winners here. With this integration, sales and marketing teams can collaborate more effectively, aligning around coordinated messaging throughout the customer journey. Sales can reference the same insights as marketing and easily track the various ways marketing engages with accounts in their territory.

Take the Engagement Tab as one example. Sellers can view every marketing and sales engagement with an account or prospect to keep tabs on the prospect’s participation in marketing campaigns and adjust their engagement accordingly.

The integration empowers sellers to tap into the full potential of Demandbase in a format tailored specifically to their preferred workflows. They can easily access highly relevant insights to make informed decisions, identify sales opportunities, and engage with prospects more effectively. 

Future Innovation

Our commitment to empowering sales teams doesn’t end with this integration. We have exciting plans to further enhance the experience in the coming weeks and months, including the introduction of our Prescriptive Sales Dashboards. These dashboards will provide a unified and prioritized view of a seller’s territory and account lists.

Everything You Need in One Place

The Demandbase + Outreach integration represents a significant milestone in revolutionizing sales outreach. By seamlessly combining the power of Demandbase’s rich account insights and Outreach’s sales execution capabilities, sales teams can now deliver highly personalized, targeted messaging at scale. This integration streamlines workflows and empowers sales professionals to make data-driven decisions, resulting in increased response rates, stronger pipeline generation, and ultimately, better sales outcomes.

Join us in unlocking the power of personalized sales outreach with Demandbase and Outreach today. Visit https://www.demandbase.com/smarter-sales-intelligence/ for more information.

The post One Platform, Endless Insights: Access Demandbase Intelligence without Leaving Outreach! appeared first on Demandbase.