Rooted In Revenue

Susan Finch

Revenue and sales are driven by marketing, sales skills, adapting and responding to new technology, and events. Brought to you by speaker, author, producer, Susan Finch. This show is part of Funnel Media Group’s monthly line-up of podcasts. read less
BusinessBusiness

Episodes

Customer Intelligence Fuels Growth - The Overlooked Metrics
Feb 22 2024
Customer Intelligence Fuels Growth - The Overlooked Metrics
CEOs, are your metrics telling the whole story of your company’s health? Susan Finch poses this vital question to her guest, customer intelligence expert Laura Patterson, in this episode. Laura spotlights critical yet overlooked metrics beyond sales and profit — brand equity and customer value. These interlinked measures provide unparalleled visibility into your company’s ability to attract, retain, and expand customer relationships over time. According to Patterson, savvy executives harness these advanced analytics to steer product innovation, segment customers precisely, model business impacts, and ultimately make decisions that accelerate growth. Connecting the dots between these additional metrics and concrete outcomes gives you the power to future-proof your organization amid disruption. Will you lead with expanded metrics to propel competitive advantage? The insights in this episode equip you to do so. The intro focuses on the bottom-line benefits of the discussed metrics for CEOs and uses Laura Patterson's expertise to compel leaders to incorporate broader intelligence.  Links from this episode: VisionEdge Marketing Laura Patterson on LinkedIn Speaking Workshop Advisory Services About Laura Patterson: Laura Patterson has believed in the power of customer-centricity since childhood, when she sold chocolates door-to-door. She founded the growth strategy firm VisionEdge Marketing in 1999 to help companies reap the rewards of a customer focus. Patterson has severed as director of customer marketing and brand strategy, customer relationship manager, customer marketing initiative lead, and customer loyalty architect for companies like Motorola. An award-winning author and speaker, she shares her expertise through books, interactive workshops, research, and advisory services to boards and executives. Patterson is passionate about enabling businesses to accelerate growth through four key game-changers: better growth strategies, organization-wide customer-centricity, performance measurement, and operational excellence. With over 25 years helping companies implement these customer-first approaches, her mission remains unchanged - inspire organizations to fully leverage customer intelligence for sustainable success.
Stories Forge Trust, Vulnerability Connects People
Jan 4 2024
Stories Forge Trust, Vulnerability Connects People
Communication skills are invaluable yet often overlooked. In this episode, Susan sits down with Matt Heinz, President of Heinz Marketing Inc. He's an established podcaster and marketing leader. They discuss practical ways we can become better communicators by creating and sharing our stories. They explore how opening up builds connection and trust—when we lead with vulnerability, we grant others permission to do the same. The resulting environment fosters mutual understanding between all personality types, whether analytic experts or creative collaborators. Matt and Susan examine how to reframe experiences from our past into bite-sized stories that offer wisdom. Gathering these over time not only boosts our own confidence but allows us to celebrate shared experiences with others. The ability to craft compelling stories makes communicating easier and more effective. This speaks volumes to HR facilitating healthier office cultures. Ultimately, honing our storytelling skills allows us to bridge divides and bond teams together. Tune into this insightful episode to gain tangible tools for improving how you communicate through personal stories. A quote from Matt that speaks volumes about him: “The definition of good work isn’t more work. It isn’t defined by doing the most work. The definition of work is about impactful work – for the work itself as well as what it enables for you and those you care about, as well as the broader communities in which we live and engage.” Matt Heinz President Heinz Marketing
Career Conversations That Drive Engagement and Success
Oct 31 2023
Career Conversations That Drive Engagement and Success
What if we viewed every employee as having untapped potential waiting to be uncovered?  Russell Kern joins Susan in this episode to discuss how shifting to strength-based coaching can profoundly transform organizations and lives. Through focusing regular conversations on nurturing strengths, managers become empowering partners in their employees' career journeys. Employees feel recognized for their unique abilities and supported to grow as individuals. Imagine the ripple effects across teams and companies when people are passionate about using their natural strengths daily. The data is clear - strength-based coaching boosts engagement, productivity, profits, and retention. They would like to hammer home that it is time to stop focusing on profits and focus on people. We hire PEOPLE to work with us for 30% of our lives. The strengths revolution starts with believing in human capabilities and caring deeply about enabling every individual to thrive. Get tips on how small changes by managers can unlock tremendous organizational success. The future is bright when we inspire greatness in one another. This is the first of several conversations to come between Susan and Russell.   A bit more on Strength-Based Coaching from Russell Kern: Strength-based coaching plays a unique and critical role in developing strong teams and improving organizational financial performance. It enables each team member to learn what their greatest strengths are.   In doing so, individuals can grow more in their careers by being encouraged to apply their natural abilities to their daily work.   This develops a feeling of being respected and recognized for who they are and the importance of their unique contributions to the team. This further helps to increase their sense of belonging and shows support for their personal and career growth, which directly impacts their engagement at work and their team’s performance.   In a study spanning 45 countries and 49,495 business units, Gallup found that strength-based workgroups saw increases in both sales and profits.   And on average, these workgroups also saw: ●     3% to 7% higher customer engagement ●     6% to 16% lower turnover (in low-turnover organizations) ●     26% to 72% lower turnover (in high-turnover organizations) ●     9% to 15% increase in engaged employees ●     22% to 59% fewer safety incidents   Furthermore, Gallup also found that teams that focused on developing their strengths had 12.5% greater productivity and 8.9% greater profitability than teams that did not.
Trust and Control:  Demand Generation for Today’s Buyers
Sep 13 2023
Trust and Control: Demand Generation for Today’s Buyers
We have a highly specialized guest who will help us navigate the evolving landscape of consumer behavior as it relates to demand generation. Deanna Shimoto, with over eight years of expertise in marketing and demand generation, joins us to share insights that couldn't be more relevant to our current business climate. As Deanna aptly puts it, "Buyers, consumers in general, are spending significantly more time digging in and doing their own research." This shift in consumer behavior is transforming the way businesses need to approach sales and marketing. In this episode, we explore the reasons behind this shift and how it's affecting various industries, including the car vending machine trend exemplified by Carvana. Trust, efficiency, and control have become paramount for today's consumers. Whether you're in B2B or B2C, understanding and adapting to these changing dynamics is crucial. We'll delve into the importance of trust, the consequences of broken trust, and the need to align your strategies with evolving consumer preferences. Join us as we uncover the keys to thriving in this new landscape of consumer behavior with Deanna Shimoto on "Rooted in Revenue." Be ready to look at transforming your business strategy and stay ahead in today's ever-evolving market. Links from this episode: Business Name: GrowthMode Marketing Website: http://www.growthmodemarketing.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannashimota/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/growthmode Twitter: https://twitter.com/Growth_Mode
Fostering Psychological Safety: A Key to Company Success
Jul 19 2023
Fostering Psychological Safety: A Key to Company Success
Psychological safety is crucial for organizations to thrive, contributing to talent retention and overall success. Companies that create a culture of psychological safety outperform those that do not. Join Susan Finch and Rob Brodo to continue their discussion on leadership simulations. Creating a psychologically safe environment requires leaders to establish trust and make employees feel comfortable taking risks, challenging the status quo, and expressing their concerns. It involves treating everyone fairly and focusing on building self-esteem and recognition. To be a better leader and foster psychological safety, Rob Brodo suggests five key actions: creating a stable and predictable environment,providing employees with options and choices,ensuring equity in treatment,understanding employee desires and needs,and establishing a foundation of trust.Repairing trust can be challenging but is possible in certain situations. It requires open communication, difficult conversations, and the leader's judgment on whether the person can be trusted again. Building trust also involves maintaining a respectful environment and avoiding mockery or humiliation. Advantix offers simulations and programs on psychological safety that cater to both large and small businesses. These simulations provide self-reflection, learning, and action-planning opportunities to enhance leadership skills and create psychologically safe workplaces. Links from this episode: Adventexe.com https://www.advantexe.com/psychological-safety-simulation  Rob Brodo on LinkedIn and Twitter Susan Finch on LinkedIn and Twitter   About Advantexe: Advantexe Learning Solution's mission is to provide world-class Business simulation-centric Business Acumen, Business Leadership, and Strategic Business Selling talent development solutions to organizations around the world to help them execute their business strategies and achieve their goals and objectives.  Their vision is to be the premier talent development resource partnering with their clients to close the talent gaps preventing them from flawlessly executing their strategic initiatives and achieving their short- and long-term business objectives.
Skills Needed to Drive Performance Through  Effective Coaching
Jul 11 2023
Skills Needed to Drive Performance Through Effective Coaching
Susan Finch and Rob Brodo from Adventexe delve into the crucial role of coaching in driving organizational success. Recent studies have revealed that companies with a strong coaching culture are classified as high-performing organizations, and you won't want to miss out on that kind of achievement. Rob shares invaluable insights on coaching dialogue, coaching effectiveness, and the overall approach. They debunk the misconception that each company's coaching needs are vastly unique, emphasizing the core principles that apply to leadership coaching across the board. However, they also stress the significance of aligning coaching strategies with your company's specific goals and objectives. Join them for this episode, "Skills Needed to Drive Performance Through  Effective Coaching." Rob also invites you to read his latest post on Five Business Acument Tips to Making Yourself Indispensible.   Links from this episode: Adventexe.com https://www.advantexe.com/new-manager-business-leadership-simulation Rob Brodo on LinkedIn and Twitter Susan Finch on LinkedIn and Twitter   About Advantexe: Advantexe Learning Solution's mission is to provide world-class Business simulation-centric Business Acumen, Business Leadership, and Strategic Business Selling talent development solutions to organizations around the world to help them execute their business strategies and achieve their goals and objectives.  Their vision is to be the premier talent development resource partnering with their clients to close the talent gaps preventing them from flawlessly executing their strategic initiatives and achieving their short- and long-term business objectives.
Preventing Management Failure: Immersive Simulations Offer Solutions
Jul 5 2023
Preventing Management Failure: Immersive Simulations Offer Solutions
Intrigued by Advantexe's business simulations, Susan welcomes back Rob Brodo from Advantexe as they explores their focus on new manager training. They both acknowledge that management failure can lead to business failure but believe it is preventable and correctable. Susan asks Rob about the challenges faced by new managers and the motivation behind creating simulations. Rob highlights the overwhelming nature of transitioning into a management role without guidance. Advantexe's simulations allow new managers to practice essential skills like goal-setting, coaching, conflict resolution, and leading change. Susan shares insights from conversations with author Helen Fanucci, author of Love Your Team, emphasizing the need for comprehensive training to support new managers and the difficult conversations necessary to grow. They discuss the complexities of the evolving work environment, where institutional knowledge and documentation quickly become outdated. Rob reveals that many organizations lack manuals and standardized procedures. The simulations benefit not only new managers but the entire organization by building leadership capabilities. Links from this episode: Adventexe.com https://www.advantexe.com/new-manager-business-leadership-simulation Rob Brodo on LinkedIn and Twitter Susan Finch on LinkedIn and Twitter Also mentioned, Love Your Team by Helen Fanucci on Amazon About Advantexe: Advantexe Learning Solution's mission is to provide world-class Business simulation-centric Business Acumen, Business Leadership, and Strategic Business Selling talent development solutions to organizations around the world to help them execute their business strategies and achieve their goals and objectives.  Their vision is to be the premier talent development resource partnering with their clients to close the talent gaps preventing them from flawlessly executing their strategic initiatives and achieving their short- and long-term business objectives.
Mastering Competitive Analysis for Sales Success
Mar 2 2023
Mastering Competitive Analysis for Sales Success
In this final episode of the Foundations of Business Series on Rooted in Revenue, Rob Brodo, the co-founder and CEO of Advantexe, and Susan Finch discuss competitive analysis as a foundation of business acumen. They first identify who the real competitors are and how to spot them. They also explain how scanning the environment, including social media platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter, can help companies stay up to date on their competitors and innovations in the market. Rob emphasizes the importance of building trust with customers and having continuous dialogues with them to keep track of who is entering the market and who might be a potential threat. By doing so, companies can use the information gained from competitive analysis to fine-tune their message to either existing customers or new prospects and establish a strategic competitive advantage. Overall, this episode provides valuable insights and practical tips for conducting competitive analysis, regardless of a company's size. Some of the points covered in this episode include: Sales is not just about selling a product or service; it's about building relationships with customers and understanding their needs.One of the most important skills for a salesperson is active listening. This means listening to the customer, understanding their pain points, and providing solutions.Salespeople should focus on creating value for the customer, rather than just trying to close a sale. When customers see the value in what they are buying, they are more likely to become loyal customers.Sales training should be an ongoing process, not just a one-time event. Salespeople should continuously learn new skills, strategies, and techniques to improve their performance.Technology can be a valuable tool for salespeople, but it should never replace human connection. Personalized communication and building relationships with customers is still the key to successful sales.The previous episode in this series is here: https://rootedinrevenue.com/e/transform-employee-performance-with-strategic-insight/  https://rootedinrevenue.com/e/breaking-down-finacial-metric-silos-ensuring-consistent-understanding-across-the-company/  https://rootedinrevenue.com/e/achieving-competitive-advantage-through-a-comprehensive-competitor-analysis/  Links related to this episode: https://www.advantexe.com/business-acumen-virtual-workshop Rob Brodo on LinkedIn and Twitter Susan Finch on LinkedIn and Twitter About Advantexe: Advantexe Learning Solution's mission is to provide world-class Business simulation-centric Business Acumen, Business Leadership, and Strategic Business Selling talent development solutions to organizations around the world in order to help them execute their business strategies and achieve their goals and objectives.  Their vision is to be the premier talent development resource partnering with their clients to close the talent gaps that are preventing them from flawlessly executing their strategic initiatives and achieving their short- and long-term business objectives.
Achieving Competitive Advantage Through a Comprehensive Competitor Analysis
Feb 22 2023
Achieving Competitive Advantage Through a Comprehensive Competitor Analysis
In this episode of Rooted in Revenue, host Susan Finch is once again joined by Rob Brodo, the co-founder and CEO of AdvantX. The duo is continuing their series on the foundations of Business Acumen, which covers the key components of understanding business strategy and financial positions. In this episode, they delve into the importance of recognizing the strategic and financial challenges and opportunities of executing a new strategy. Rob discusses how many companies are disconnected between their metrics of success and their strategy, and that goals and objectives are not connected to the priorities of the business. He emphasizes the need to align people to measure the success of the strategy and that it is not happening in many companies. For example, if an organization has a value proposition of being an innovator, then the goals and objectives should be around innovation. Rob explains that it is not just about setting goals and objectives, but also about having specific measurements to tell if they are achieving those goals. The conversation then turns to the importance of alignment across the enterprise on the value proposition, goals, and objectives. Rob highlights how the most successful companies in the world have this alignment, while struggling companies set up functions within the enterprise that compete against each other. This misalignment can lead to conflicts in financial metrics, cutting prices to get deals, and challenges in creating margins. The episode concludes with Susan and Rob discussing the need for coaching and interpersonal skills to align people to the strategy. The conversation is wrapped up by discussing the basics of conducting a competitor analysis and using that information to establish a strategic competitive advantage in the next episode. Listeners are encouraged to check out the full series of Rooted in Revenue on the website, where they can find Rob's insights on the foundations of Business Acumen, and to not miss the next episode on competitor analysis. The previous episode in this series is here: https://rootedinrevenue.com/e/transform-employee-performance-with-strategic-insight/  https://rootedinrevenue.com/e/breaking-down-finacial-metric-silos-ensuring-consistent-understanding-across-the-company/  Links related to this episode: https://www.advantexe.com/business-acumen-virtual-workshop Rob Brodo on LinkedIn and Twitter Susan Finch on LinkedIn and Twitter About Advantexe: Advantexe Learning Solution's mission is to provide world-class Business simulation-centric Business Acumen, Business Leadership, and Strategic Business Selling talent development solutions to organizations around the world in order to help them execute their business strategies and achieve their goals and objectives.  Their vision is to be the premier talent development resource partnering with their clients to close the talent gaps that are preventing them from flawlessly executing their strategic initiatives and achieving their short- and long-term business objectives.
Grieving and the Workplace: How HR is Addressing Employee Needs
Feb 10 2023
Grieving and the Workplace: How HR is Addressing Employee Needs
In this episode of the podcast, Susan Finch and Michelle Cramer from On Angels' Wings discuss the importance of HR support in the workplace. Michelle discusses her journey writing her book, Uncharted Grief, and her certification as a Grief Recovery Method specialist. Michelle shares her thoughts on the societal norms surrounding grief and how they impact employees in the workplace. She highlights the importance of allowing employees to grieve and the impact it can have on their health and financial well-being. Michelle also shares a story of a gentleman who struggled to find a balance between work and grieving after the unexpected death of his father. This episode sheds light on a crucial topic and highlights the importance of HR support for employees who are grieving. You’ll also hear the variations of grief, it’s not always about death. Listen in to gain insights and understanding on how to support your team and staff through the grieving process. This episode covers a few facets of this topic: Supporting Teams Through Grief: HR's Role in the ProcessNavigating Loss in the Workplace: Expert Advice for HRGrieving and the Workplace: Addressing Employee NeedsHR's Role in Providing Compassionate Support for Grieving EmployeesLinks from this episode: On Angels' Wings - https://oawphoto.org Susan Finch on LinkedIn - https://linkedin.com/in/susanmfinch  Michelle Cramer on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellelcramer-oaw
Breaking Down Financial Metric Silos: Ensuring Consistent Understanding Across the Company
Feb 7 2023
Breaking Down Financial Metric Silos: Ensuring Consistent Understanding Across the Company
In this episode, Susan is joined by Rob Brodo, the CEO and Co-Founder of Advantexe, as they continue their series on business acumen strategies. The focus of this episode is on comprehending financial position and key metrics, including the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow report. Rob explains that financial management is just a scoreboard for the company's strategy and that understanding these metrics is crucial in measuring the success of the strategy. He also highlights the importance of cash flow, as it is the lifeblood of any business. The conversation then shifts to the importance of everyone in the company having a basic understanding of financial management and its impact on the company. Join Susan and Rob as they dive into the world of financial management and its impact on business success. The previous episode in this series is here: https://rootedinrevenue.com/e/transform-employee-performance-with-strategic-insight/  Links related to this episode: https://www.advantexe.com/business-acumen-virtual-workshop Rob Brodo on LinkedIn and Twitter Susan Finch on LinkedIn and Twitter About Advantexe: Advantexe Learning Solution's mission is to provide world-class Business simulation-centric Business Acumen, Business Leadership, and Strategic Business Selling talent development solutions to organizations around the world in order to help them execute their business strategies and achieve their goals and objectives.  Their vision is to be the premier talent development resource partnering with their clients to close the talent gaps that are preventing them from flawlessly executing their strategic initiatives and achieving their short- and long-term business objectives.
Follow Up On the Leads, We’ll Do the Rest
Jan 18 2023
Follow Up On the Leads, We’ll Do the Rest
At least a few times a month I hear from a potential new client that their email marketing efforts produce no results. Once we sit and talk about their process, and how they follow up with the leads they get pretty quiet. This isn't uncommon. If you are struggling to create and execute targeted marketing campaigns that drive new business, you are not alone, especially for small businesses. It’s critical to the growth of your business, but you don’t have the time or the resources to do it and you cannot afford expensive marketing software or a high-priced marketing professional. Many of these small businesses are a team of one, two, or three trying to wear all the hats. They are great at what the company does, but they are not writers, they are not marketers, but they know they need to do this to get in front of existing customers and prospects.  Larry Caretsky, Founder of Commence - a trusted name in CRM is our guest today. Listen to this episode to hear how Commence has solved this common issue of starting, but then dropping the ball on everything after the email is sent through a campaign. There is an answer. Join Larry and Susan for, "Follow Up On the Leads, We'll Do the Rest." Links from this episode: Larry Caretsky - sales@commence.com Larry on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/larry-caretsky-b3a27824/ Susan on LinkedIn - https://linkedin.com/in/susanmfinch  Commence - https://commence.com  The Marketing Enablement Program - https://commence.com/service/marketing-enablement/
Making Use of What Marketers Are Doing Right
Jan 18 2023
Making Use of What Marketers Are Doing Right
We hear about all the ways marketers miss the mark - what they do wrong. What if we focused on what they are doing right and then expand the use of those tactics? Some companies have a team of one or less than five and each must wear several hats. If, as a group, you lay out what is working, analyze the results through Google Analytics and pulling in all the pieces, as a group, you can tackle what is next. It may be enhancing the most popular pages you have to ensure you move people along on the journey toward a conversation with your sales team. It may be creating a podcast or other content that appeals to your existing customers as the "inside group" rather than only talking to them when you want to sell them something new.  Jeanne Hopkins goes through ways to bring out the best in the existing marketing plan, letting go of what's not working and allowing companies to divide and conquer what needs to be done to engage, then celebrating the mountain of measurable successes as a group. Join us for, "Making Use of What Marketers Are Doing Right." Links from this episode: Connect with Jeanne on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeannehopkins/  Connect with Susan on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/susanmfinch   About Jeanne Hopkins, B2B Fractional CRO with growth marketing chops, Advice with Accountability, GTM, PLG; former @hubspot VP Marketing; Speaker; Author; Advisor; Mentor; Start-up Investors: Deep expertise in data-driven, high-velocity B2B and B2C customer acquisition, sales, marketing, and customer success organizations. Inbound (obviously)-based lead gen programs to support global demand for high-growth SaaS companies. Experienced in building GTM programs from scratch and turning around existing ones. Able to forge lasting partner marketing relationships with startups and enterprise-class organizations. Inbound marketing success in driving practical corporate, divisional and industry lead gen and nurturing programs. Success in growing and leading teams towards rapid results plus can enthusiastically manage many programs, people, vendors and campaigns concurrently, Proactive and highly productive w/analytical skills, thrive in a rapidly changing environment (start-up to corporate marketing), inspires excellence in others. Demonstrates concise, effective communication both written and spoken, able to handle ambiguity, a high workload, and an extreme amount of detail - all within budget. Building sustainable relationships that drive revenue via demand generation programs: Strategic, Technical & Creative - Co-chair MassTLC Sales & Marketing Group; Co-author, "Go Mobile"​, #1 best-selling mobile marketing book. Named to Sales Lead Management Association "Top 50"​ 3 years in a row and "20 Women to Watch" in 2015/14/13 & 2011; Named to VAR Guy Top Channel Leaders in 2015; MSPmentor People to Watch in 2014; BizJournal marketing experts; Speaker @ MarketingProfs B2B Forums, HubSpot Inbound 2011/12/13/14/15 Conferences, MIT Entrepreneurs Forum, AMA, Social Media Today, BrightTalk, MassTLC, Social Fresh. Advisor: OneScreen.io; Siemplify.co; Rank the Vote Digital Council; USEFULL (Coffee Cup Collective); Below The Fold (Acciyo) Author: Go Mobile!