Demand & Ops Unboxed with Travis L. Scott

Ali Lillie from SmartBug joined the Demand & Ops Unboxed podcast to dive into the fascinating topic of how alignment between sales, marketing, and customer success teams is the often-overlooked key to driving revenue growth. Ali, who has worked in all three revenue departments at SmartBug, shares her valuable insights on the different priorities and processes of each team. It was interesting to hear how her experience has shaped her understanding of the importance of alignment.During the conversation, we touched on some other interesting topics as well, including lead scoring, the difference between customer success and customer service, and the effectiveness of webinars and events as a demand gen strategy.As a side conversation (it's 2023, why not) we discuss the role of AI in improving efficiency and productivity. We both agree that AI has been a game-changer in our work. Ali predicts that leveraging AI for efficiency will be a big focus in 2024.Here are a few key takeaways from the interview:Alignment between sales, marketing, and customer success teams is crucial for driving revenue.Lead scoring can be tricky to set up in HubSpot, but highly effective if done right There's a difference between customer success versus customer serviceWebinars/events are still effective as part of a demand gen strategyLeveraging AI for efficiency will be a major focus in 2024, which can help create better alignmentLearn more about and connect with Ali and SmartBugThe Demand (and Ops) Unboxed podcast is produced by RainierDigital, a demand and ops consultancy.Want to stay up to date with the latest from RainierDigital and Travis? Learn more about RainierDigitalFollow Travis on LinkedInFollow RainierDigital on LinkedIn

In the first interview of the re-branded era for the podcast, I interviewed Connor Jeffers, the Founder and CEO of Aptitude 8, a HubSpot Elite Partner.Connor comes from a Saleforce background and, with the recent changes HubSpot has made to it's platform and Ops Hub, he's been able to do things in HubSpot that, previously, could only be done in Salesforce. We talk about how this has been a gamechanger for HubSpot and his business as well as why Ops Hub might be one of the most underrated hubs.The Demand (and Ops) Unboxed podcast is produced by RainierDigital, a demand and ops consultancy.Want to stay up to date with the latest from RainierDigital and Travis? Learn more about RainierDigitalFollow Travis on LinkedInFollow RainierDigital on LinkedIn

Demand Gen is a huge buzzword, yet many people are unsure what it is.Christopher Roche, Chief Executive Officer at Catalyst Consulting, talked about why now - with a lot of talk of a looming recession- is a great time to transition from a lead gen model to a demand gen model. Here are some of the topics covered:The difference between demand gen and lead genThe compounding effect of demand gen on growth and revenueThe importance of social selling and building a personal brand to good demand gen Chris' framework for transitioning from a lead gen model to a demand gen model- without having to burn it all downThe Demand (and Ops) Unboxed podcast is produced by RainierDigital, a demand and ops consultancy.Want to stay up to date with the latest from RainierDigital and Travis? Learn more about RainierDigitalFollow Travis on LinkedInFollow RainierDigital on LinkedIn

RevOps and Marketing Ops isn't new, but it sure seems like it by the amount of attention they're getting these days - and for good reason.With so much focus on growth- especially rapid growth - companies are looking for different levers to pull to accelerate their growth curves. Technology has made it easy to spam cold leads at scale and people are ignoring these emails. Especially in a time of constant distraction and noise.Ali and I hopped on a call to riff about the recent attention MOps and RevOps are getting right now and why it's so critical to businesses of all sizes. The Demand (and Ops) Unboxed podcast is produced by RainierDigital, a demand and ops consultancy.Want to stay up to date with the latest from RainierDigital and Travis? Learn more about RainierDigitalFollow Travis on LinkedInFollow RainierDigital on LinkedIn

John Suarez, Director of Marketing Strategy at Smart Bug MediaWe talked about:The evolution of HubSpotHubSpot's new functionality and why it’s a big dealThe importance of being intentional about the types of projects and clients you take onGating vs un-gating content and outbound vs no outbound salesWhat he sees happening in sales and marketing in the next 1-2 yearsFollow John on LinkedIn: ​​https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnjsuarez/The Demand (and Ops) Unboxed podcast is produced by RainierDigital, a demand and ops consultancy.Want to stay up to date with the latest from RainierDigital and Travis? Learn more about RainierDigitalFollow Travis on LinkedInFollow RainierDigital on LinkedIn

Tara is a financial services, product marketing director at Demandbase, and we talked about the lessons learned throughout her career and what it means to be an industry marketer, the importance of mentors, and why it's so important to not only develop the hard skills of marketing, but also the soft skills.The Demand (and Ops) Unboxed podcast is produced by RainierDigital, a demand and ops consultancy.Want to stay up to date with the latest from RainierDigital and Travis? Learn more about RainierDigitalFollow Travis on LinkedInFollow RainierDigital on LinkedIn

Sales compensation. It's a very complex, yet fascinating topic and Ali and I had the pleasure of sitting down and digging into all of the nuances of this topic with Sandeep Singh.Sandeep shared his three key elements of sales compensation and also touched on quota planning, sales enablement, as well as how things have changed over the years.  About Sandeep Sandeep has nearly 20 years of revenue operations experience spanning companies like Dell to independent consulting. He is currently the Founder of Ascentreon and VP of Revenue Operations. Ascentreon provides advisory services related to sales GTM strategy and planning, revenue operations, process optimization and sales compensation design focusing on serving revenue orgs in early-stage and mid-stage SaaS and professional services firms. Connect with Sandeep on LinkedIn -- https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandeep-singh01The Demand (and Ops) Unboxed podcast is produced by RainierDigital, a demand and ops consultancy.Want to stay up to date with the latest from RainierDigital and Travis? Learn more about RainierDigitalFollow Travis on LinkedInFollow RainierDigital on LinkedIn

Jay Desai has started several companies, some of which he continues to be involved with. However, just a few months ago he decided to leave entrepreneurship and pivot into an in-house role as the Head of Marketing for Captivate Talent. This might seem strange during the time of "the Great Resignation" and he explains why now is actually a great time to go in-house. We also dove into what it means to be a solo marketer and a couple of his favorite content strategies you can use if you're a marketing team of one, along with a few of his favorite tools. The Demand (and Ops) Unboxed podcast is produced by RainierDigital, a demand and ops consultancy.Want to stay up to date with the latest from RainierDigital and Travis? Learn more about RainierDigitalFollow Travis on LinkedInFollow RainierDigital on LinkedIn

I have had a lot of great conversations with people since starting this podcast in the Summer of 2021, but my conversation with Robbie could have gone on for another couple of hours. Robbie recently published a book (one in a future series of three) about the reality of being able to way more than we think in even less time than we think.He wrote this book, 12 minutes at a time. Day by day, drip by drip until, one day, he had a book to publish. The topic might not be specifically marketing or ops, but the concept applies to anything we do - especially the big things we dream of doing in our careers. The Demand (and Ops) Unboxed podcast is produced by RainierDigital, a demand and ops consultancy.Want to stay up to date with the latest from RainierDigital and Travis? Learn more about RainierDigitalFollow Travis on LinkedInFollow RainierDigital on LinkedIn

Jamie Moran is the Head of Marketing at Neurotrainer.After attending over 30 different events in 2019, Jamie didn't quite understand how to use HubSpot Sequences and has regretted a huge missed opportunity to follow up with people. He wanted to change this, so he started doing research, leaned into learning, tested different strategies, and finally nailed how to use HubSpot sequences.Follow Jamie on LinkedInThe Demand (and Ops) Unboxed podcast is produced by RainierDigital, a demand and ops consultancy.Want to stay up to date with the latest from RainierDigital and Travis? Learn more about RainierDigitalFollow Travis on LinkedInFollow RainierDigital on LinkedIn

Kyle Lacy was the CMO at Lessonly...before they were acquired by Seismic within the last six months. Now he leads all of marketing as Seismic's SVP of Marketing. Kyle talked about what that transition was like and why one of the most important strengths a leader can have is adaptability. We also talked about hiring people and the importance of being able to look beyond a resume. Why having a niche as a leader is critically important and why there's no such thing as an end game. ----------------Connect with Kyle: LinkedIn, Twitter, SeismicConnect with Travis: LinkedIn, Twitter, RainierDigitalThe Demand (and Ops) Unboxed podcast is produced by RainierDigital, a demand and ops consultancy.Want to stay up to date with the latest from RainierDigital and Travis? Learn more about RainierDigitalFollow Travis on LinkedInFollow RainierDigital on LinkedIn

Andy Brunn is the Media Director at Clarity Coverdale Fury (CCF)Andy and I riff on the future of marketing and what we think is in store for marketers with the move away from third-party cookies and less visibility into metrics and why it will be an opportunity for marketers.Another topic we covered is how marketing leaders can build the marketing capabilities of their team - hint, it has a lot to do with how the team is measured.You can follow him here:- Andy on LinkedIn- Andy on Twitter- CCFThe Demand (and Ops) Unboxed podcast is produced by RainierDigital, a demand and ops consultancy.Want to stay up to date with the latest from RainierDigital and Travis? Learn more about RainierDigitalFollow Travis on LinkedInFollow RainierDigital on LinkedIn

Stephen G. Pope is the Founder & CEO of SGP Labs and he helps entrepreneurs generate more revenue by leveraging online marketing and video content strategies.He used to be an engineer and that has served him well when it comes to creating content at scale. Stephen has found a way to automate nearly 90% of his content creation and, if you saw it in action, it would blow your mind. He's also killing it on TikTok as a marketer- and he doesn't have to dance. We talk about:Why TikTok works for businesses and marketers and why you should have a presence there. Psychology and why people stop to check out your content or keep scrolling. Automation - especially when it comes to contentHere are some highlights from our conversation with timestamps if you want to jump ahead.9:37 - Automating your content creation and distribution: Stephen has automated nearly 90% of his content creation and has built a community where he shares how he's done this with people interested in learning and applying it to their own content.12:30 - Should you hire an editor to help 14:40 - Where you distribute and where you're active are two different things20:41 - Connecting the dots and paying attention to the little details24:24 - The importance of staying focused on growing one thing at a time.26:32 - You don't have to keep coming up with new things. It's OK to repeat yourself28:58 - Listen to what people are asking about including your prospects you speak with, customers, and a gold mine is in the discussions happening in communities and groups.35:25 - People are addicted to 'how-to' videos and content and a lot of the time the biggest roadblock for people is themselves. 38:34 - The best way to get started. 42:02 - Why content creation is easier for new companies versus companies who have been around for a while.----------------------Where to find Stephen: LinkedIn, TikTok, Twitter, SGP Labs, Digital Masters Community Where to find Travis: LinkedIn, Twitter, RainierDigitalThe Demand (and Ops) Unboxed podcast is produced by RainierDigital, a demand and ops consultancy.Want to stay up to date with the latest from RainierDigital and Travis? Learn more about RainierDigitalFollow Travis on LinkedInFollow RainierDigital on LinkedIn

Nelson Gilliat is the author of the book The Death of the SDR: and the Birth of Buyer-Centric Revenue. We discussed the following topics:The Buyer-Centric Revenue Model vs the Predictable Revenue Model: is the Predictable Revenue model outdated?Why the Predictable Revenue Model no longer worksThe difference between bad marketing and good marketingHow embracing the good marketing that's laid out can catapult your marketing careerIf you're an entrepreneur and starting a company or recently launched, should you build a marketing team first or a sales team?From a recruitment marketing standpoint, just replace the term SDR with Sourcer and AE with Recruiter and everything Nelson talks about is applicable to the outdated way in which companies hire. Where to find Nelson: LinkedIn--------------Where to find Ali: LinkedIn, Twitter, Simple StratWhere to find Travis: LinkedIn, Twitter, RainierDigitalThe Demand (and Ops) Unboxed podcast is produced by RainierDigital, a demand and ops consultancy.Want to stay up to date with the latest from RainierDigital and Travis? Learn more about RainierDigitalFollow Travis on LinkedInFollow RainierDigital on LinkedIn

In this episode:Finding a good marketing role during COVIDJob titles- who they're really forOrganic LinkedIn engagement and growth in a short amount of timePricing and when "free" works and when it doesn'tThe biggest missed opportunity in marketing for most companiesWhere to find Mason: LinkedIn, Mojo Media Labs--------------Where to find Travis: LinkedIn, Twitter, RainierDigitalThe Demand (and Ops) Unboxed podcast is produced by RainierDigital, a demand and ops consultancy.Want to stay up to date with the latest from RainierDigital and Travis? Learn more about RainierDigitalFollow Travis on LinkedInFollow RainierDigital on LinkedIn

If you're a Marketing Manager, Director of Marketing, or responsible for the results of a marketing team, this episode is for you.Jeff Gothelf is the author of two books: Lean UX and Forever Employable. He's a keynote speaker on the topic of Lean UX, OKRs, and how to become forever employable and a regular contributor to HBR and other publications.In this episode, we talk about what OKRs are and how they can be a huge advantage, not just to the entire organization, but to marketing teams specifically.Because OKRs are meant to be stretch goals, they may be uncomfortable for people who are perfectionists or used to always getting "A's" on their work. OKRs can also foster creativity and innovation if aligned correctly with the team's mission.We also talk about some common traps - like viewing OKRs as the strategy when they're really the measurement of a strategy - and why it's absolutely critical to establish alignment between marketing's OKRs and those of the entire organization before implementing them within a marketing team. --------------Where to find and connect with Jeff: LinkedIn, his website, TwitterAn HBR article he wrote on OKRs: Use OKRs to Set Goals for Teams, Not Individuals His books:  Lean UX and Forever Employable--------------Where to find Ali: LinkedIn, Twitter, Simple StratWhere to find Travis: LinkedIn, Twitter, RainierDigitalThe Demand (and Ops) Unboxed podcast is produced by RainierDigital, a demand and ops consultancy.Want to stay up to date with the latest from RainierDigital and Travis? Learn more about RainierDigitalFollow Travis on LinkedInFollow RainierDigital on LinkedIn

Ali and I riff on how marketers can get buy-in for projects, new additions to your MarTech stack, and more budget, among other things. Here are some of the highlights:1:34 - Understand who you are trying to get buy-in from and why they might not "get it"2:12 - Why a marketing leader might not "get it"3:50 - Being an internal marketer to get buy-in and why empathy is important6:52 - A non-marketer's exposure to marketing at other companies may influence their decision to buy into what you're trying to do9:00 - How being aligned on OKRs and goals as an organization makes getting buy-in much easier13:05 - If you're continuously learning and evolving as a marketer, some people may lock into the old practices or methodologies you used to believe in and it could make it difficult to push something new and different through that goes against your old perspective19:38 - Customer feedback is your secret weapon21:41 - Challenge of getting buy-in for the amount of time it might take to see results; SEO is a perfect example of a long-term project that might not show results for several months24:42 - Staying the course when you have a leader that's distracted by shiny things and wants to constantly pivot26:08 - Using a powerful sales tactic to get buy-in33:52 - Write out a "marketing plan" for how to market to your coworkers if you're feeling stuck--------------Where to find Ali: LinkedIn, Twitter, Simple StratWhere to find Travis: LinkedIn, Twitter, RainierDigitalThe Demand (and Ops) Unboxed podcast is produced by RainierDigital, a demand and ops consultancy.Want to stay up to date with the latest from RainierDigital and Travis? Learn more about RainierDigitalFollow Travis on LinkedInFollow RainierDigital on LinkedIn

Guest: Tiffany SauderHosts: Travis Scott and Ali SchwankeOriginally Recorded: 09-24-2021Tiffany Sauder is a highly successful CEO at Element Three, a marketing agency in Indianapolis that has been around for over 15 years.  On the outside, given her success, you'd think that she was super confident and had all of the answers.The truth is she deals with fear and imposter syndrome just like many of us. In fact, she's even started a podcast about it called Scared Confident. We caught up with Tiffany to learn more about how she identifies her fear and ultimately deals with it, as well as her advice for younger, professional women wondering how to navigate maintaining a successful career while also having a family. --------------Follow Tiffany: LinkedIn, Twitter, Element ThreeFollow Ali: LinkedIn, Twitter, Simple StratFollow Travis: LinkedIn, Twitter, RainierDigitalThe Demand (and Ops) Unboxed podcast is produced by RainierDigital, a demand and ops consultancy.Want to stay up to date with the latest from RainierDigital and Travis? Learn more about RainierDigitalFollow Travis on LinkedInFollow RainierDigital on LinkedIn

Typically, we release our podcast episodes on a bi-weekly cadence but with Inbound 2021 recently wrapping up, we decided to share our takeaways and squeeze in a bonus episode ahead of our next interview. Some of the key takeaways we share are around content, email marketing, the rise of operations (marketing ops, sales ops, and RevOps), the right way to host a Q&A panel, video and voice-only content, and more.Here are some links related to the topics we discussed in this episode:Inbound 2021Bookmark this to find out about Inbound 2022Some of the Inbound presenters we mentioned:Marcus Sheridan- Twitter, LinkedInChristopher Penn- Twitter, LinkedInJay Schwedelson- Twitter, LinkedInJohn Lee Dumas- Twitter, LinkedInAJ Cox- Twitter, LinkedInMichaela Alexis- Twitter, LinkedInJudi Fox- Twitter, LinkedInFollow and Connect with Us:Ali: Twitter, LinkedInTravis: Twitter, LinkedInThe Demand (and Ops) Unboxed podcast is produced by RainierDigital, a demand and ops consultancy.Want to stay up to date with the latest from RainierDigital and Travis? Learn more about RainierDigitalFollow Travis on LinkedInFollow RainierDigital on LinkedIn

HostsAli Schwanke, CEO & Founder @ Simple StratTravis Scott, Founder & Principal Consultant at RainierDigital-----------------TEDx speaker and growth marketer, Yuliya Salorenko, sat down with Ali and Travis to talk about all things growth including growth marketing and professional growth.Yuliya didn't dream of becoming a marketer as a child, but she's fallen in love with the profession.She gives advice on how she made the transition into marketing and how she continues to level up. This episode has it all. We also talked about: Imposter syndromeWhy marketing is a marathon and not a sprintThe power of saying 'no'The truth about growth hackingWhy it's important to have  a growth mindset  The best way for someone to get their foot in the door with growth marketing---------------Here's how you can connect with Yuliya:LinkedINInstagramThe Demand (and Ops) Unboxed podcast is produced by RainierDigital, a demand and ops consultancy.Want to stay up to date with the latest from RainierDigital and Travis? Learn more about RainierDigitalFollow Travis on LinkedInFollow RainierDigital on LinkedIn