WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:03.180 --> 00:00:05.950 Before practicing inbound, it's important to understand the 00:00:05.950 --> 00:00:07.760 fundamentals of inbound success. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:12.610 Consumers don't want to be sold to, they want to be educated, and inbound tactics 00:00:12.610 --> 00:00:16.960 can deliver the kind of information your prospects and customers need to 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:21.549 help them make smart, well informed decisions and ultimately help them grow. 00:00:22.229 --> 00:00:24.740 To do inbound, you need to be inbound. 00:00:24.900 --> 00:00:28.210 Here are four fundamentals to having an inbound business. 00:00:28.540 --> 00:00:33.565 Your company culture, your company buyer personas, the buyer's journey, 00:00:33.934 --> 00:00:35.894 and your inbound tool stack. 00:00:36.585 --> 00:00:38.875 Starting first with company culture. 00:00:39.425 --> 00:00:42.655 A strong company culture is less about the perks and rewards. 00:00:43.055 --> 00:00:45.985 A culture of a company is the environment that defines and 00:00:45.985 --> 00:00:47.375 informs how employees act. 00:00:47.745 --> 00:00:52.205 On behalf of customers and how the company hires retains and grows its 00:00:52.205 --> 00:00:55.785 people in the state of inbound 2017. 00:00:56.014 --> 00:00:59.254 We found that the executives who set the vision for their companies 00:00:59.475 --> 00:01:02.744 have very different perspectives on the state of their business compared 00:01:02.744 --> 00:01:06.455 to individual contributors tasked with executing on that vision. 00:01:06.915 --> 00:01:10.625 Executives need a better understanding of the day to day challenges 00:01:10.845 --> 00:01:14.725 employees face, and employees need to communicate more clearly the 00:01:14.725 --> 00:01:16.835 roadblocks in the way of their success. 00:01:17.465 --> 00:01:21.075 Without clear communication and alignment, a company will struggle 00:01:21.075 --> 00:01:24.925 to build strong and lasting relationship with its customers. 00:01:25.585 --> 00:01:28.795 At its core, inbound is all about being human. 00:01:29.325 --> 00:01:33.215 Inbound has huge applications for how you find and grow, 00:01:33.434 --> 00:01:35.295 recruit and retain your team. 00:01:35.704 --> 00:01:39.639 Your recruiting and growth process Both the candidate and the employee 00:01:39.639 --> 00:01:46.070 experience need to be inherently human, and that means being inherently inbound. 00:01:46.399 --> 00:01:51.039 Here's Katie Burke, HubSpot's Chief People Officer, on company culture 00:01:51.210 --> 00:01:52.160 and recruiting. 00:01:52.430 --> 00:01:56.459 So to me, company culture is really about defining what makes your 00:01:56.459 --> 00:01:58.320 company and your organization tick. 00:01:58.650 --> 00:02:01.009 So it's about your mission, it's about your values, and it's 00:02:01.050 --> 00:02:03.434 about the decisions that people make when no one else is around. 00:02:04.445 --> 00:02:08.365 So when I think about our culture at HubSpot, I think about really defining 00:02:08.375 --> 00:02:12.725 what is meaningful to us, what types of people succeed and thrive here, and 00:02:12.725 --> 00:02:16.395 the excellence that our customers can expect when it comes to our culture, our 00:02:16.395 --> 00:02:19.924 commitment to them, and how we make great decisions on their behalf every day. 00:02:20.180 --> 00:02:24.940 At far too many companies, human resources is honestly a compliance 00:02:24.990 --> 00:02:28.449 tool, and the way that we think about people operations at HubSpot is that 00:02:28.449 --> 00:02:30.129 our employees are our customers. 00:02:30.430 --> 00:02:33.850 So when you're running your business day to day, really think about designing 00:02:33.850 --> 00:02:37.269 not just a great customer experience, but also a great employee experience. 00:02:37.279 --> 00:02:41.340 So the way I think about making our employee experience inbound is what do 00:02:41.340 --> 00:02:43.210 we actually know about you as a person? 00:02:43.210 --> 00:02:44.334 What do we know about you as a human being? 00:02:44.454 --> 00:02:44.704 Human. 00:02:44.704 --> 00:02:45.524 What do you care about? 00:02:45.534 --> 00:02:46.274 What drives you? 00:02:46.284 --> 00:02:47.234 What motivates you? 00:02:47.515 --> 00:02:50.994 And when you start designing people's experience as employees around 00:02:51.015 --> 00:02:54.114 those details, all of a sudden you have an inbound experience that's 00:02:54.114 --> 00:02:57.284 significantly more remarkable, and you have happier, more productive 00:02:57.295 --> 00:02:58.424 people who work on your team. 00:02:58.734 --> 00:03:02.344 Your culture is part of the product that you offer, and the service and 00:03:02.345 --> 00:03:03.905 promise you make to your customers. 00:03:04.335 --> 00:03:07.035 It's not something that you can set and then forget about. 00:03:07.415 --> 00:03:11.905 Inbound is about being human and that means having empathy and being adaptable. 00:03:12.255 --> 00:03:15.655 So rather than thinking about your employee experience as something you 00:03:15.655 --> 00:03:20.394 can avoid to wait and innovate on, think about it as a fundamental promise. 00:03:21.065 --> 00:03:24.105 It's your promise to your customers and to your business. 00:03:24.185 --> 00:03:31.634 And so 00:03:31.915 --> 00:03:35.184 when I think about what companies should do as it relates to their culture, the 00:03:35.184 --> 00:03:36.824 first thing I would do is measure it. 00:03:37.155 --> 00:03:39.994 The second thing I would do is ask your employees what they care about. 00:03:40.264 --> 00:03:42.984 Far too many executives think they have all the answers, 00:03:42.995 --> 00:03:44.215 and it turns out we don't. 00:03:44.600 --> 00:03:46.590 Employees know what's important to them. 00:03:46.609 --> 00:03:48.609 They know what they were promised coming in the door. 00:03:48.609 --> 00:03:52.060 And so if you take the time to ask your employees what's working and 00:03:52.060 --> 00:03:55.369 what isn't and actually react to their feedback, you'll have a winning 00:03:55.369 --> 00:03:56.709 culture that really helps you grow. 00:03:57.560 --> 00:03:57.850 Use 00:03:57.880 --> 00:04:00.880 company wide anonymous surveys to collect this feedback. 00:04:01.250 --> 00:04:04.860 Just like you might collect a Net Promoter score from your customers, you can 00:04:04.860 --> 00:04:06.970 collect an employee Net Promoter score. 00:04:07.310 --> 00:04:09.890 You can use this as a culture development tool. 00:04:10.320 --> 00:04:13.409 And this type of feedback doesn't have to be anonymous either. 00:04:13.689 --> 00:04:18.220 If you're a small company, you can have meetings and get this feedback in person. 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:22.740 Your company culture will help all of your teams or departments align 00:04:23.150 --> 00:04:25.640 together with the inbound philosophy. 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:29.150 Several years ago, HubSpot published their culture code. 00:04:29.580 --> 00:04:33.200 The culture code is the operating system that powers the company. 00:04:33.719 --> 00:04:37.940 What's been so helpful with HubSpot's culture code is that it's documented. 00:04:37.940 --> 00:04:42.650 Let's hear from Dharmesh Shah, HubSpot's CTO and co founder, on 00:04:42.659 --> 00:04:44.580 documenting your culture code. 00:04:44.739 --> 00:04:45.979 A culture is important. 00:04:46.010 --> 00:04:48.375 Uh, well, you're going to have one whether you Right. 00:04:48.375 --> 00:04:50.525 A culture code of whether you write your culture down or not. 00:04:50.545 --> 00:04:54.495 Um, so our overall position is better to have a culture you want and like, 00:04:54.495 --> 00:04:57.625 and that attracts the kinds of people you want working in the company. 00:04:57.635 --> 00:05:01.594 It's also important, um, not just to have a culture, but to have 00:05:01.594 --> 00:05:03.695 it in a written form so you can communicate it out to people. 00:05:03.695 --> 00:05:06.745 It's like, here are the kinds of people that will likely enjoy working here, 00:05:06.775 --> 00:05:08.465 um, that we think will be a success. 00:05:08.485 --> 00:05:11.935 So all the things that we know about building great product and, and, 00:05:11.945 --> 00:05:16.164 and, uh, um, building great, strong customer relationships, we can apply 00:05:16.165 --> 00:05:19.290 to to culture and internal teams, and that's just as important, uh, who 00:05:19.290 --> 00:05:22.880 you build it with as is important, uh, as what you build, essentially. 00:05:22.960 --> 00:05:25.720 If you're not sure where to start with building a culture code, 00:05:26.109 --> 00:05:27.770 here's a suggested framework. 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:32.360 Start with your values, which should provide employees clarity on what is 00:05:32.400 --> 00:05:37.709 truly important for your organizational success, clarity on personal conduct, 00:05:37.710 --> 00:05:39.980 and what to expect from each other. 00:05:40.470 --> 00:05:43.520 I'm not exactly sure where to get started when creating values. 00:05:44.110 --> 00:05:46.900 Well, here's Katie Burke again with a few suggestions. 00:05:47.300 --> 00:05:50.930 The true litmus test of a company's values are whether your newest and most 00:05:50.930 --> 00:05:55.050 junior employees can actually recite what they are and actually talk about 00:05:55.059 --> 00:05:56.690 how they take place in the workplace. 00:05:57.070 --> 00:06:00.020 If you're not there yet, here's an exercise for you to do. 00:06:00.150 --> 00:06:02.860 Write down your company's values and actually get input on 00:06:02.860 --> 00:06:03.960 what's working and what isn't. 00:06:04.250 --> 00:06:07.950 When you think you're done, cover up the company name and ask yourself. 00:06:07.969 --> 00:06:11.500 Would this help a candidate differentiate you from one of your competitors? 00:06:11.870 --> 00:06:14.659 Would it help people understand what types of people grow 00:06:14.659 --> 00:06:16.120 your organization and thrive? 00:06:16.360 --> 00:06:18.460 If not, you have to go back to the drawing board. 00:06:18.460 --> 00:06:21.180 Your values are what make your company uniquely you. 00:06:21.440 --> 00:06:23.800 So if they're not unique, you have to actually innovate. 00:06:24.025 --> 00:06:25.075 Why not try now? 00:06:25.345 --> 00:06:27.225 Can you list out your company's values? 00:06:27.555 --> 00:06:29.185 Or maybe you're looking for a job. 00:06:29.485 --> 00:06:32.165 Can you list out what values you look for in an employer? 00:06:32.685 --> 00:06:35.855 As important as it is to know your company values, it's also important 00:06:35.855 --> 00:06:39.405 to make sure that you know and can speak to your own personal values too. 00:06:39.855 --> 00:06:43.484 Another part of your culture code framework is your people. 00:06:43.830 --> 00:06:47.679 What should clarify potential employees you're hoping to attract, and if 00:06:47.679 --> 00:06:49.359 that person will be a cultural fit? 00:06:49.890 --> 00:06:53.580 A cultural fit doesn't just mean you're hiring all the same type of employee. 00:06:53.969 --> 00:06:57.820 Diversity and inclusivity go hand in hand with inbound recruiting. 00:06:58.289 --> 00:06:59.330 Take it from Katie Burke. 00:06:59.719 --> 00:07:03.460 So at HubSpot, as we grow, we have over 30, 000 customers globally. 00:07:03.469 --> 00:07:06.740 And that means our customer base is incredibly diverse in terms of 00:07:06.740 --> 00:07:09.860 what it needs from our product, our service, and our team. 00:07:10.200 --> 00:07:14.050 As a result, we all know that diverse teams win, but it's really important 00:07:14.050 --> 00:07:17.300 that as you're growing your business, you think about the diversity of perspective, 00:07:17.310 --> 00:07:21.859 thought, gender, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation of your employees. 00:07:21.859 --> 00:07:25.555 Because the reality is Building more inclusive products means building better 00:07:25.555 --> 00:07:27.215 products that help your customers grow. 00:07:27.635 --> 00:07:31.345 Remember, helping your employees grow allows your customers to grow, 00:07:31.515 --> 00:07:32.925 which helps your business grow. 00:07:33.495 --> 00:07:37.814 Other parts of your culture code can be your policies to help establish the 00:07:37.814 --> 00:07:41.864 rules of conduct within an organization, outlining the responsibilities of 00:07:41.864 --> 00:07:45.905 both employees and employers, your benefits and career development. 00:07:46.330 --> 00:07:49.440 Which outline the perks that warrant the greatest investment to 00:07:49.440 --> 00:07:53.240 not only retain talent, but also attract talent in a competitive 00:07:53.250 --> 00:07:55.490 marketplace and your workspace. 00:07:55.930 --> 00:07:56.380 Yes. 00:07:56.390 --> 00:07:58.330 The actual physical workspace. 00:07:58.670 --> 00:08:01.100 This is where people will be spending most of their time. 00:08:01.520 --> 00:08:04.919 So is it an environment that's conducive to your company culture? 00:08:05.419 --> 00:08:09.949 How so this framework is a good starting point for building out your 00:08:12.135 --> 00:08:16.655 You might not be in a position to create your company's culture, and that's okay. 00:08:17.055 --> 00:08:21.305 Make suggestions, ask questions, and be sure to confirm that your company's 00:08:21.305 --> 00:08:23.845 culture aligns with you personally. 00:08:24.225 --> 00:08:28.025 You can always start by building a culture code for your individual team. 00:08:28.715 --> 00:08:31.985 If you're job seeking, be prepared to ask a company about its 00:08:31.985 --> 00:08:34.045 values, people, and policies. 00:08:34.515 --> 00:08:37.625 Build your own personal culture code to make sure you're looking 00:08:37.625 --> 00:08:40.515 for something that aligns with your own values and skills. 00:08:40.924 --> 00:08:45.064 And even if you're a team of one, these values are just as important to your 00:08:45.064 --> 00:08:47.075 customers as they are to your company. 00:08:47.515 --> 00:08:50.475 Wouldn't you want to invest your money or make a purchase with a 00:08:50.475 --> 00:08:54.535 company that you know is a good place to work, has clear values, know 00:08:54.535 --> 00:08:56.155 how they support their employees? 00:08:56.665 --> 00:09:00.305 Inbound is about being human, so make sure your recruiting and 00:09:00.305 --> 00:09:02.285 employee experience follow suit. 00:09:02.905 --> 00:09:05.855 Take the time to think through your company culture, and make 00:09:05.855 --> 00:09:09.624 sure that it's truly as unique as your brand and your promise. 00:09:10.314 --> 00:09:13.639 A solid company culture will help you make sure you're recruiting and recruiting. 00:09:13.640 --> 00:09:18.020 Inbound professionals focus on hiring for character and training for skill. 00:09:18.360 --> 00:09:20.480 It doesn't matter what type of business you have. 00:09:20.750 --> 00:09:23.700 You're in the business of helping people in some way. 00:09:24.070 --> 00:09:28.020 Are you bringing people onto your business that really care about doing just that? 00:09:28.800 --> 00:09:32.059 Another fundamental piece of an inbound business is the 00:09:32.120 --> 00:09:35.780 understanding and development of your company's buyer personas. 00:09:36.440 --> 00:09:40.000 Since inbound is customer centric, you need to know who you're trying to 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:42.560 reach and who you're trying to serve. 00:09:43.020 --> 00:09:45.610 You don't want just any traffic to your site. 00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:47.329 You want the right traffic. 00:09:47.589 --> 00:09:51.650 You want to engage with the right prospects and customers because those are 00:09:51.650 --> 00:09:56.830 the ones that will not only stick around, but also be evangelists for your brand. 00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:00.300 You want the people who are most likely to become leads 00:10:00.709 --> 00:10:02.939 and ultimately happy customers. 00:10:03.575 --> 00:10:05.155 So who are those right people? 00:10:05.665 --> 00:10:10.314 The right people are your ideal customers, and what we call your buyer personas. 00:10:10.735 --> 00:10:15.584 It's vital that your marketing and sales and customer service teams, really 00:10:15.584 --> 00:10:20.165 your whole organization, should have a shared vision of your ideal customer. 00:10:20.694 --> 00:10:25.930 You may have already given this some Maybe you have a list of common attributes 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:28.490 that you know your ideal customer has. 00:10:29.110 --> 00:10:32.910 If you have that, you've developed an ideal customer profile. 00:10:33.319 --> 00:10:36.919 An ideal customer profile is a great starting point for 00:10:36.919 --> 00:10:38.259 your persona development. 00:10:38.860 --> 00:10:40.440 But it isn't a persona. 00:10:40.930 --> 00:10:44.640 Ideal customer profiles identify a category of people. 00:10:44.980 --> 00:10:48.780 And within that category, there are usually subcategories. 00:10:49.090 --> 00:10:51.090 And that's where buyer personas come in. 00:10:51.885 --> 00:10:56.595 Buyer personas are semi fictional representations of your ideal customer 00:10:56.725 --> 00:11:01.325 based on real data and some educated speculation about demographics, 00:11:01.344 --> 00:11:03.905 behaviors, motivations, and goals. 00:11:04.324 --> 00:11:08.234 Personas are created through research, analysis, and taking a close look 00:11:08.254 --> 00:11:09.744 at who's already buying from you. 00:11:10.194 --> 00:11:13.304 They can help you get into the mindset of your potential buyers 00:11:13.624 --> 00:11:15.134 and create the right content. 00:11:15.620 --> 00:11:19.190 When you create the right content, you'll effectively attract your 00:11:19.190 --> 00:11:23.890 ideal visitors, convert them into leads, and close them into customers. 00:11:24.500 --> 00:11:29.420 They're the glue that holds every aspect of inbound marketing, sales, 00:11:29.460 --> 00:11:31.260 and customer service together. 00:11:31.680 --> 00:11:36.490 Here's Brian Halligan, CEO and co founder of HubSpot on the importance of buyer 00:11:36.490 --> 00:11:38.730 personas and how they helped HubSpot. 00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:41.329 I think buyer personas are as important as ever. 00:11:41.370 --> 00:11:42.680 People talk a lot about them. 00:11:44.665 --> 00:11:47.375 When we were first starting HubSpot, we had different personas 00:11:47.375 --> 00:11:48.545 that were interested in HubSpot. 00:11:48.555 --> 00:11:49.875 One we called Owner Ollie. 00:11:50.015 --> 00:11:53.465 And Owner Ollie, you know, it was a five person company. 00:11:54.105 --> 00:11:56.585 Ollie didn't have any time to do any marketing. 00:11:56.694 --> 00:12:00.565 Uh, and he was just trying to do, deliver his product, let's say. 00:12:00.595 --> 00:12:02.545 And it was oftentimes a services business. 00:12:03.315 --> 00:12:06.815 And Then we had another persona called Mary Marketer, and Mary 00:12:06.815 --> 00:12:10.525 Marketer was a marketer in a, it's called 50, 100 person marketing 00:12:10.525 --> 00:12:12.135 organization, small marketing team. 00:12:12.355 --> 00:12:13.945 But she marketed all day long. 00:12:14.755 --> 00:12:19.474 And both of these, both of these personas wanted very different things. 00:12:19.544 --> 00:12:22.405 Owner Ollie really just wanted HubSpot to do the darn marketing for him. 00:12:22.945 --> 00:12:26.465 Owner Ollie, if he wanted anything, wanted the world's simplest product. 00:12:26.485 --> 00:12:28.555 He didn't care about any analytics in the product. 00:12:28.995 --> 00:12:32.205 Uh, and he wanted just, uh, He wanted to do it for me. 00:12:32.215 --> 00:12:33.115 He wanted us to do it for them. 00:12:33.425 --> 00:12:35.285 Mary wanted very different things. 00:12:35.295 --> 00:12:36.985 She was kind of a power user. 00:12:37.255 --> 00:12:39.984 She was growing more technical and sophisticated over time. 00:12:40.135 --> 00:12:41.125 She wanted analytics. 00:12:41.125 --> 00:12:44.944 She wanted great email marketing, great social marketing, great everything. 00:12:44.985 --> 00:12:46.444 And she wanted it all tied together. 00:12:47.634 --> 00:12:50.484 Before Brian continues, I want to point something out. 00:12:51.035 --> 00:12:52.574 Rewind back if you need to. 00:12:53.234 --> 00:12:57.334 Brian is constantly referring to these personas as real life people. 00:12:57.584 --> 00:12:59.425 He knows their wants and needs. 00:12:59.564 --> 00:13:03.234 He talks about Ollie as if he's a friend and he knows his problems and 00:13:03.234 --> 00:13:04.864 what solutions might be best for him. 00:13:05.364 --> 00:13:07.094 That's the key with buyer personas. 00:13:07.475 --> 00:13:10.435 Getting into the mindset of your potential customers. 00:13:11.030 --> 00:13:12.480 All right, back to Brian. 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:14.630 We were trying to serve both. 00:13:14.690 --> 00:13:18.880 And at some point in time, boy, we're trying to build products for both of 00:13:18.880 --> 00:13:23.989 them, the requirements for both were very difficult to solve at the same time. 00:13:24.439 --> 00:13:27.759 And the more we tried to solve for both, the less we served either. 00:13:27.760 --> 00:13:29.830 So at some point we said, we're going to solve for Mary. 00:13:29.859 --> 00:13:31.099 The future is Mary. 00:13:31.489 --> 00:13:35.129 It's a company between five and, let's call it, five hundred employees, 00:13:35.269 --> 00:13:39.550 with small marketing staff, growing business, and They want to, they 00:13:39.550 --> 00:13:40.950 want to be a big company someday. 00:13:41.160 --> 00:13:44.120 Let's equip them with the tools and the knowledge they need. 00:13:44.525 --> 00:13:46.975 to really grow a modern go to market model. 00:13:47.465 --> 00:13:50.005 And that fed into our, by making that decision, our product 00:13:50.005 --> 00:13:51.635 organization could really focus there. 00:13:52.055 --> 00:13:53.595 Our sales organization could focus there. 00:13:53.735 --> 00:13:56.335 Our marketing messaging could really focus there. 00:13:56.555 --> 00:13:58.135 That's a really powerful thing. 00:13:58.315 --> 00:14:00.835 If you can get your entire company talking about your 00:14:00.910 --> 00:14:02.910 Ideal customers in the same way. 00:14:03.310 --> 00:14:06.290 This will help marketers know the best marketing channels to use 00:14:06.569 --> 00:14:09.489 and the right content to create, to attract the right people. 00:14:09.820 --> 00:14:13.169 This can help a salesperson know the right questions to ask during 00:14:13.169 --> 00:14:16.989 a sales presentation, or make sure you're evolving your product to 00:14:16.990 --> 00:14:18.529 better service your customers. 00:14:19.180 --> 00:14:21.270 So how do you create buyer personas? 00:14:21.825 --> 00:14:24.005 There are three things to keep in mind. 00:14:24.375 --> 00:14:29.045 Research, identifying trends, and creating persona profile stories. 00:14:29.465 --> 00:14:31.345 First, do your research. 00:14:31.575 --> 00:14:35.135 Buyer personas should be based off actual research, not assumptions. 00:14:35.465 --> 00:14:39.285 If any of those assumptions are inaccurate, your personas will be too. 00:14:39.744 --> 00:14:41.585 You don't have to spend too much time here. 00:14:41.715 --> 00:14:45.015 You're just trying to get a basic understanding of your ideal customer. 00:14:45.225 --> 00:14:47.755 When conducting research, there are a few questions that you can 00:14:47.785 --> 00:14:49.555 ask to develop your buyer personas. 00:14:49.985 --> 00:14:53.545 One way to start is by asking different questions that touch upon their 00:14:53.545 --> 00:14:56.025 demographics, goals, and challenges. 00:14:56.374 --> 00:14:58.935 You can ask these questions to existing customers. 00:14:59.324 --> 00:15:02.474 And if you don't have customers yet, ask people that you think would be the 00:15:02.475 --> 00:15:04.195 right fit for your product or service. 00:15:04.915 --> 00:15:07.625 Ask questions like, what is your job role? 00:15:07.985 --> 00:15:08.715 Your title? 00:15:09.285 --> 00:15:14.305 What industry or industries does your company work or is your role in? 00:15:14.795 --> 00:15:16.915 What are you working to accomplish? 00:15:17.435 --> 00:15:19.654 What are your biggest challenges? 00:15:20.605 --> 00:15:23.845 How do you learn about new information for your role? 00:15:24.715 --> 00:15:28.445 Do you use the internet to research vendors or products? 00:15:29.939 --> 00:15:32.510 You don't have to ask these questions word for word. 00:15:32.910 --> 00:15:36.370 Make the questions specific to your industry so you're getting 00:15:36.370 --> 00:15:38.219 specific answers in return. 00:15:38.699 --> 00:15:43.339 And you can ask these questions on the phone, in a survey, on social media. 00:15:43.749 --> 00:15:47.449 You might even have these answers already if you look through your CRM. 00:15:47.980 --> 00:15:51.545 A CRM holds All of this fantastic information about 00:15:51.545 --> 00:15:52.755 your leads and customers. 00:15:53.225 --> 00:15:57.635 Maybe there's common themes like your contacts, company size, or role that can 00:15:57.635 --> 00:16:00.175 help you understand common similarities. 00:16:00.765 --> 00:16:06.465 Just start collecting answers and always focus on the why or the motives of 00:16:06.465 --> 00:16:09.005 your buyer personas, not their actions. 00:16:09.425 --> 00:16:13.425 The followup question is to pretty much every question should be 00:16:13.645 --> 00:16:16.035 why, what really drives them? 00:16:16.324 --> 00:16:17.874 How can you better serve them? 00:16:18.245 --> 00:16:21.005 People aren't always good at describing this for themselves. 00:16:21.285 --> 00:16:23.045 So it's important to dig deep. 00:16:23.435 --> 00:16:27.645 Uncovering their motives can lead to a truly powerful inbound strategy 00:16:27.925 --> 00:16:31.685 that aligns with what your prospects and customers are looking for. 00:16:32.105 --> 00:16:35.685 Inbound evolves because buying behaviors evolve. 00:16:36.025 --> 00:16:39.844 So that means your buyer personas will need to evolve too. 00:16:40.204 --> 00:16:43.155 Be sure to revisit your personas from time to time. 00:16:43.885 --> 00:16:46.764 And once you've consolidated some research, start looking for 00:16:46.765 --> 00:16:49.154 trends, patterns, and similarities in inbound and outbound. 00:16:49.155 --> 00:16:53.444 Answers to research questions and indicate who your personas really are. 00:16:53.864 --> 00:16:56.504 Start simple and start with a primary persona. 00:16:56.744 --> 00:16:58.724 You don't need too many personas. 00:16:58.994 --> 00:17:01.754 That would be a lot of segments that you'd need to be marketing 00:17:01.754 --> 00:17:05.655 and selling and servicing and all right, you've done your research. 00:17:06.105 --> 00:17:07.535 You've identified those trends. 00:17:07.855 --> 00:17:12.315 The final step is to compile this research and create persona profile stories. 00:17:12.795 --> 00:17:16.485 You want this story to contain information about who your persona 00:17:16.655 --> 00:17:20.344 is, and using information about their background, their demographics, 00:17:20.345 --> 00:17:21.885 and their goals and challenges. 00:17:22.424 --> 00:17:26.514 Have information that will help anyone in your organization better 00:17:26.544 --> 00:17:28.404 understand who you're trying to help. 00:17:28.985 --> 00:17:33.265 Include common objections that they might have to your product or service, and 00:17:33.265 --> 00:17:35.435 use real quotes from your interviews. 00:17:35.885 --> 00:17:40.345 After all, what better way to represent your persona than to use their own words? 00:17:40.615 --> 00:17:43.275 This will make it easier for your employees to relate 00:17:43.275 --> 00:17:45.124 to and understand them. 00:17:45.530 --> 00:17:49.690 The persona story is something that your entire organization can align behind. 00:17:49.980 --> 00:17:52.010 It's something that new hires can review. 00:17:52.300 --> 00:17:55.370 So they know who they're trying to market, sell, or service. 00:17:55.680 --> 00:17:58.900 It's a way that you can make sure you're a song for the customer and 00:17:58.900 --> 00:18:00.859 having the customer voice in mind. 00:18:01.319 --> 00:18:02.770 If you know your customer. 00:18:03.895 --> 00:18:04.545 customers. 00:18:05.135 --> 00:18:07.905 Well, you can make sure that they're always represented 00:18:08.205 --> 00:18:09.685 in everything that you do. 00:18:10.055 --> 00:18:14.005 Here's Allison Elworthy, VP of customer success at HubSpot on how 00:18:14.005 --> 00:18:15.824 you can best represent your customer. 00:18:16.285 --> 00:18:19.134 It's really easy for business to drift away from the customer, 00:18:19.134 --> 00:18:22.694 especially those who are in upper level management or at the executive 00:18:22.695 --> 00:18:26.035 level when you're not interacting with customers on a day to day basis. 00:18:26.505 --> 00:18:30.524 Um, and what tends to happen is that you start to make decisions that are based 00:18:30.535 --> 00:18:34.670 either on On what's best for your team or the enterprise value of a company and 00:18:34.670 --> 00:18:38.460 not not what's best for your customer because you're not interacting with 00:18:38.460 --> 00:18:40.089 your customers on a day to day basis. 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:42.870 Um, so there's many ways in which you can solve for this. 00:18:42.879 --> 00:18:43.769 Uh, it helps out. 00:18:43.770 --> 00:18:47.530 We're actually hiring for a voice of the customer role, which is really exciting. 00:18:47.919 --> 00:18:50.480 Um, but you can just continue to remind yourself. 00:18:50.600 --> 00:18:54.350 At every decision and conversation that you're having and every business 00:18:54.350 --> 00:18:57.800 decision that you're having, the customer should be at the center 00:18:58.000 --> 00:18:59.670 of what you're trying to solve for. 00:18:59.950 --> 00:19:02.159 Um, it shouldn't be your bottom line revenue. 00:19:02.179 --> 00:19:03.609 The customer needs to come first. 00:19:03.995 --> 00:19:04.615 When it comes to 00:19:04.615 --> 00:19:04.985 creating 00:19:04.985 --> 00:19:09.274 a great inbound strategy, it's not enough to know just who you're trying to reach. 00:19:09.405 --> 00:19:13.745 You also have to know what purchase experience they're looking for. 00:19:14.204 --> 00:19:18.355 That's how you're going to align everyone at your business around the customer. 00:19:18.865 --> 00:19:22.304 Make the customer your number one focus and priority. 00:19:22.905 --> 00:19:24.875 That brings us to the buyer's journey. 00:19:25.345 --> 00:19:29.915 Every interaction your persona has with your organization should be tailored to 00:19:29.915 --> 00:19:32.014 where they are in the buyer's journey. 00:19:32.515 --> 00:19:36.545 The buyer's journey is the active research process someone goes 00:19:36.545 --> 00:19:38.655 through leading up to a purchase. 00:19:39.144 --> 00:19:43.014 Knowing your buyer's journey for your persona will be key to 00:19:43.014 --> 00:19:45.624 creating the best content possible. 00:19:45.985 --> 00:19:50.285 Instead of talking about moving through the funnel, the buyer's journey is 00:19:50.285 --> 00:19:52.735 tailored to your buyer and the stages. 00:19:53.465 --> 00:19:57.824 The three stages are the awareness stage, the consideration stage, and the decision 00:19:57.824 --> 00:20:02.404 stage that portray the experiences your potential customers go through. 00:20:02.985 --> 00:20:04.665 You've gone through the buyer's journey before. 00:20:05.265 --> 00:20:07.905 Everyone goes through it when looking to make a purchase. 00:20:08.255 --> 00:20:11.645 It's the path you take when you have a problem to solve, and then you do your 00:20:11.645 --> 00:20:15.325 research on the potential solutions and make your purchasing decision. 00:20:15.875 --> 00:20:19.335 If you're making a larger purchase for your business, it will clearly 00:20:19.335 --> 00:20:22.674 be a different buyer's journey than if you were buying a commodity. 00:20:23.134 --> 00:20:27.655 The awareness stage is when your prospect is experiencing and 00:20:27.655 --> 00:20:29.835 expressing symptoms of a problem. 00:20:30.225 --> 00:20:31.355 Or an opportunity. 00:20:31.805 --> 00:20:36.295 They're doing educational research to more clearly understand and frame 00:20:36.295 --> 00:20:37.905 and give name to their problem. 00:20:38.385 --> 00:20:41.905 This is not the point that a prospect is now aware of your business. 00:20:42.434 --> 00:20:44.715 They're now aware of their problem. 00:20:45.104 --> 00:20:48.855 Maybe they're ready to fire their existing process or know that their 00:20:48.865 --> 00:20:51.525 existing process just isn't working yet. 00:20:51.995 --> 00:20:56.675 Your buyer persona should describe the stage as, I am a buyer, 00:20:56.775 --> 00:20:58.365 aware that I have a problem. 00:20:58.905 --> 00:21:02.295 So fill these in as if you were your buyer persona, to better 00:21:02.295 --> 00:21:04.845 understand your buyer at this stage. 00:21:05.325 --> 00:21:09.954 I need to improve, I need to prevent, blank. 00:21:10.355 --> 00:21:12.475 I need to start, blank. 00:21:13.004 --> 00:21:15.144 I need to stop, blank. 00:21:15.504 --> 00:21:16.779 I need to optimize, blank. 00:21:17.040 --> 00:21:17.649 Blank. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:19.090 I need to solve. 00:21:19.470 --> 00:21:20.050 Blank. 00:21:20.429 --> 00:21:21.850 I need to learn more about. 00:21:22.100 --> 00:21:22.620 Blank. 00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:26.209 The terms that you start to insert are the phrases or keywords that 00:21:26.209 --> 00:21:29.819 your buyer persona would use to describe the awareness stage. 00:21:30.310 --> 00:21:33.249 During the consideration stage, buyers have clearly 00:21:33.250 --> 00:21:34.980 defined the goal or challenge. 00:21:35.230 --> 00:21:36.300 They've given a name to it. 00:21:36.525 --> 00:21:38.525 And they're committed to addressing it. 00:21:39.055 --> 00:21:43.485 They evaluate the different approaches or methods available to solve their challenge 00:21:43.485 --> 00:21:45.425 or capitalize on their opportunity. 00:21:45.835 --> 00:21:48.824 This isn't the point that they're considering your business. 00:21:49.165 --> 00:21:51.034 They're considering the different solutions they 00:21:51.035 --> 00:21:52.684 have to solve their problem. 00:21:53.174 --> 00:21:57.535 For consideration stage, your buyer would say, I am a buyer 00:21:57.605 --> 00:21:59.845 considering how to solve my problem. 00:22:00.425 --> 00:22:03.215 Fill these in as if you were your buyer persona. 00:22:03.665 --> 00:22:05.874 What tools are available for buyers? 00:22:06.015 --> 00:22:06.565 blank. 00:22:06.915 --> 00:22:09.625 What are blank industry solutions? 00:22:09.985 --> 00:22:12.165 What are my blank options? 00:22:12.615 --> 00:22:15.825 What blank options are there for blank? 00:22:16.425 --> 00:22:20.044 You'll start to notice the terms used here are solution keywords. 00:22:20.505 --> 00:22:24.544 You aren't inserting your company name in here, but you might be inserting 00:22:24.544 --> 00:22:26.459 terms that you describe blank. 00:22:26.600 --> 00:22:29.110 As the solutions that you provide. 00:22:29.720 --> 00:22:32.800 Finally, in the decision stage, buyers have already 00:22:32.800 --> 00:22:35.010 decided on a solution strategy. 00:22:35.360 --> 00:22:39.509 They might create a list of specific offerings in their selected category 00:22:39.740 --> 00:22:43.479 and decide on the one that best meets their needs, or they might go 00:22:43.479 --> 00:22:45.679 with the solution they find first. 00:22:46.129 --> 00:22:49.350 To get in the mindset of your buyer persona at this stage, 00:22:49.550 --> 00:22:50.830 you can use the following. 00:22:51.284 --> 00:22:55.995 If they say, I am a buyer deciding on a specific product and vendor, 00:22:56.194 --> 00:23:00.245 or I'm a buyer trying to make a decision between products and vendors. 00:23:00.834 --> 00:23:04.135 How would you fill these in as if you were your buyer persona? 00:23:04.980 --> 00:23:07.380 I need prices for blank. 00:23:07.940 --> 00:23:10.670 I need blank product specifics. 00:23:11.140 --> 00:23:13.720 I need proof that blank works. 00:23:14.290 --> 00:23:17.089 I need evidence that blank. 00:23:17.949 --> 00:23:20.470 I need insurance that blank. 00:23:21.369 --> 00:23:25.939 Prospects, website visitors, or leads might interact with you for the first 00:23:25.939 --> 00:23:30.020 time in any of the different buyer's journey stages, but you need to be 00:23:30.020 --> 00:23:32.410 prepared for each and every stage. 00:23:32.860 --> 00:23:35.140 The buyer's journey is something marketing you. 00:23:35.239 --> 00:23:40.340 Sales and customer services can use marketers can use the buyer's journey to 00:23:40.340 --> 00:23:42.670 create different content at every stage. 00:23:43.020 --> 00:23:46.090 You'll want to have content offers that answer your buyer personas 00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:50.489 problems, their needed solutions and content on your product or service. 00:23:51.110 --> 00:23:55.610 You can also use the buyer's journey to segment and better nurture your leads to 00:23:55.610 --> 00:23:58.050 help make the best purchasing decision. 00:23:58.570 --> 00:24:02.629 For sales, you can use the buyer's journey to better understand how to 00:24:02.640 --> 00:24:06.500 sell to your prospects and help guide them through the buyer's journey. 00:24:07.040 --> 00:24:10.610 If you know someone's at the awareness stage, you'll have a very 00:24:10.610 --> 00:24:14.540 different conversation with someone that's, let's say at the decision 00:24:14.540 --> 00:24:19.490 stage, and has already recognized possible solutions to their problem. 00:24:20.119 --> 00:24:23.299 And for services, think of your customers as having their 00:24:23.320 --> 00:24:24.909 own type of buyer's journey. 00:24:25.259 --> 00:24:28.895 When you're looking to upsell, resell, or cross sell, You don't 00:24:28.895 --> 00:24:32.534 want to send your customer back through an entire buyer's journey. 00:24:32.865 --> 00:24:37.044 Use this as a way to understand what your customer journey looks like. 00:24:37.784 --> 00:24:42.195 Once you understand your buyer personas and their buying journey, 00:24:42.284 --> 00:24:46.374 it's time to start using tools and tactics to do inbound. 00:24:46.745 --> 00:24:50.504 Your inbound tool stack should consist of different tools that can 00:24:50.504 --> 00:24:51.789 align your entire customer journey. 00:24:53.450 --> 00:24:57.610 It's not just customer service that will be using email, and it's not 00:24:57.620 --> 00:25:00.340 just helpful to sales to have a CRM. 00:25:00.709 --> 00:25:03.449 And it's not just marketing that needs reporting and data. 00:25:03.909 --> 00:25:06.659 The foundation that you'll need is a CRM. 00:25:07.269 --> 00:25:11.639 Remember, a CRM stands for customer relationship management. 00:25:12.009 --> 00:25:14.810 A lot of people think of a CRM being a sales tool. 00:25:15.100 --> 00:25:18.219 It is, but it isn't just relevant to sales. 00:25:18.700 --> 00:25:21.640 Here's Brian Halligan, CEO and co founder of HubSpot. 00:25:22.499 --> 00:25:24.100 CRM is a confusing word. 00:25:24.179 --> 00:25:27.439 A lot of people think it's, it's software for salespeople, but it's 00:25:27.469 --> 00:25:29.360 customer relationship management. 00:25:30.120 --> 00:25:34.719 And I, I think it's really, it's a platform that you use to manage 00:25:35.040 --> 00:25:37.430 the entire customer journey. 00:25:37.860 --> 00:25:42.589 Uh, and that entire customer loop from marketing into sales into service and 00:25:42.859 --> 00:25:44.839 from happy customers into prospects. 00:25:44.839 --> 00:25:45.669 And how do you get that? 00:25:46.520 --> 00:25:49.670 You know, self reinforcing loop cranking in your business. 00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:53.170 It's hard to do that if you've got one system for selling and one 00:25:53.170 --> 00:25:56.420 system for marketing and one system for service that don't talk to each 00:25:56.420 --> 00:25:57.759 other, that don't give context. 00:25:57.780 --> 00:26:02.070 What makes a serum so powerful is because it's a contact serum. 00:26:02.159 --> 00:26:02.989 database. 00:26:03.530 --> 00:26:07.370 A contacts database is central to every piece of your inbound business. 00:26:07.939 --> 00:26:11.469 You'll use it to keep track of all the different people who have a relationship 00:26:11.479 --> 00:26:15.139 with your business, to personalize every interaction you have with them, 00:26:15.389 --> 00:26:17.799 and to attract more contacts like them. 00:26:18.309 --> 00:26:21.749 Your contacts truly are the heart for every piece of your marketing, 00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:23.559 sales, and services strategy. 00:26:24.055 --> 00:26:27.885 Contacts are not just names and email addresses inside of a database, 00:26:28.195 --> 00:26:32.475 but individuals who you're creating relationships with a constant 00:26:32.475 --> 00:26:36.575 reminder of why inbound is, and always will be customer centric. 00:26:36.955 --> 00:26:39.625 A contact is anybody, your company market. 00:26:39.879 --> 00:26:46.230 Sells partners or engages with or employs when involving both marketing, sales and 00:26:46.230 --> 00:26:51.060 services in your contact strategy and having them use the contacts database, 00:26:51.400 --> 00:26:56.809 you're creating alignment and consistency with all parts of your inbound strategy 00:26:57.080 --> 00:26:59.529 that your contacts are interacting with. 00:26:59.719 --> 00:27:03.289 You'll also want to use different types of tools that best support the inbound 00:27:03.289 --> 00:27:07.459 methodology tools that will help you attract, convert, close and delight. 00:27:08.215 --> 00:27:12.054 But if buying behaviors continuously evolve, so will the tactics and 00:27:12.054 --> 00:27:13.875 tools that you'll use to reach them. 00:27:14.324 --> 00:27:17.364 That's why HubSpot's products are constantly evolving. 00:27:17.725 --> 00:27:20.804 It's to always solve for the way people want to buy. 00:27:21.225 --> 00:27:25.664 Here's HubSpot's Senior VP of Product, Christopher O'Donnell, on how he 00:27:25.665 --> 00:27:27.995 thinks of inbound and technology. 00:27:28.235 --> 00:27:32.705 We've always stated that inbound is fundamentally About being human 00:27:32.955 --> 00:27:37.264 and helpful, the technological landscape is adapting to 00:27:37.304 --> 00:27:39.304 exponentially increase companies. 00:27:39.335 --> 00:27:42.175 Helpfulness through AI and machine learning. 00:27:42.965 --> 00:27:44.355 It's not something to fear. 00:27:44.475 --> 00:27:47.625 It's something to embrace as both a customer and a business. 00:27:48.275 --> 00:27:51.585 As a customer, you're able to surface help and information you 00:27:51.585 --> 00:27:53.925 need faster and at your convenience. 00:27:54.275 --> 00:27:58.935 As a business, you can automate the tedious details and have more meaningful 00:27:58.935 --> 00:28:00.514 conversations with your customers. 00:28:00.750 --> 00:28:05.440 How and when they want all of this allows you to have more 00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:07.300 time to do the things you love. 00:28:08.020 --> 00:28:08.750 It's a win win. 00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:12.289 If you're going to do inbound, you need to get comfortable with 00:28:12.289 --> 00:28:16.489 change and be ready to adapt to the experience people are looking for when 00:28:16.489 --> 00:28:18.040 they're trying to make a purchase. 00:28:18.499 --> 00:28:22.879 As consumers, we're now looking for convenience more than we ever have before. 00:28:23.240 --> 00:28:25.490 We're looking for the most enjoyable experience. 00:28:26.210 --> 00:28:29.159 That's why we've seen so many changes in technology. 00:28:29.635 --> 00:28:33.625 Take chatbots for instance, HubSpot's co founder Dharmesh said, 00:28:33.685 --> 00:28:37.775 chatbots are the most important technology over the last two decades. 00:28:38.185 --> 00:28:42.764 Here's Dharmesh on how this technology ties into this inbound philosophy. 00:28:42.895 --> 00:28:45.615 The reason, um, chatbots are interesting is, is because of the 00:28:45.615 --> 00:28:49.215 technology they use, which is called conversational user interfaces. 00:28:49.215 --> 00:28:52.354 And the reason they're exciting is if you think about, uh, ever since 00:28:52.354 --> 00:28:55.624 the kind of dawn of software, for the most part, humans have been 00:28:55.624 --> 00:28:57.094 molding themselves to their software. 00:28:57.094 --> 00:28:58.254 It's like, Oh, I have to learn how. 00:28:58.639 --> 00:29:02.600 Photoshop works or how this particular application works and what conversational 00:29:02.600 --> 00:29:05.250 user interfaces allow us to do is essentially talk to our software, 00:29:05.260 --> 00:29:08.280 whether it's through a messaging interface or through a voice interface. 00:29:08.560 --> 00:29:12.499 So for the first time now, software will adapt itself to how humans want to work 00:29:12.499 --> 00:29:14.329 with software versus the other way around. 00:29:14.580 --> 00:29:16.260 And this is the first time as an industry. 00:29:16.610 --> 00:29:20.129 We actually have the technology to allow us to do that, where people can say, I 00:29:20.129 --> 00:29:23.820 want to get my traffic data for the last week or so, um, or, you know, tell me how 00:29:23.820 --> 00:29:25.379 many customers we signed up last month. 00:29:25.840 --> 00:29:28.210 And instead of saying, oh, I go to click here and click there and trying 00:29:28.210 --> 00:29:29.659 to get that answer out of the software. 00:29:30.105 --> 00:29:34.045 You simply ask the software like a normal human would, and now software 00:29:34.045 --> 00:29:35.295 is getting increasingly intelligent. 00:29:35.295 --> 00:29:37.555 It has the ability to respond to those kinds of questions. 00:29:37.815 --> 00:29:38.385 Very exciting. 00:29:38.545 --> 00:29:42.345 New tools and platforms have changed how organizations 00:29:42.365 --> 00:29:44.665 prospect and retain a customer. 00:29:45.295 --> 00:29:45.845 Today. 00:29:46.165 --> 00:29:50.765 Your entire company needs to be a part of delivering this great experience. 00:29:51.285 --> 00:29:56.805 Once a company puts inbound ideas into practice, everyone in the company, from 00:29:56.805 --> 00:30:02.375 your CEO to product development, to marketing and sales and services, every 00:30:02.375 --> 00:30:06.765 single person in the company will be aligned around this inbound philosophy. 00:30:07.015 --> 00:30:08.155 Your company culture. 00:30:08.405 --> 00:30:12.415 And strategies required to deliver value to your customers. 00:30:13.035 --> 00:30:16.405 All of those interactions need to match the buyer's journey and what 00:30:16.405 --> 00:30:18.245 your buyer personas are looking for. 00:30:18.745 --> 00:30:21.375 The inbound movement is just getting started. 00:30:21.725 --> 00:30:26.215 The move to the future requires forward thinking ideas to be embraced 00:30:26.215 --> 00:30:29.895 and experimentation to figure out which channels work best for your 00:30:29.895 --> 00:30:35.335 business and an openness to try new technologies and tools to foster better 00:30:35.335 --> 00:30:37.185 relationships with your customers.