Back for part two with Katie Smith on the Customer Success Playbook, and this time we’re tearing down silos. In this Wednesday edition, host Kevin Metzger guides a conversation focused on how to bring marketing and customer success into harmony. Katie—founder of Wild Path Consulting and fractional CMO—shares a blueprint for unifying teams, streamlining customer journeys, and turning internal collaboration into a competitive advantage.
Detailed Analysis: This episode is less about theory and more about execution. Katie Smith gets candid about why alignment between marketing and customer success isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s the lifeline of sustainable growth. Her argument is clear: the closer these departments work together, the more seamless and authentic the customer experience becomes.
Katie emphasizes that customer success is the closest link a company has to real-time customer sentiment. And yet, too often, that feedback gets lost in the shuffle. Her proposed fix? Cross-functional meetings, shared goals, and a top-down commitment to break the silos. She outlines how marketing can use insights from customer success to better tailor messaging, avoid overpromising, and reinforce consistent value.
The conversation gets practical with ideas on how to structure interdepartmental communication, including:
- Setting up regular syncs between CS and marketing
- Reporting loops where both sides share qualitative and quantitative insights
- Shared definitions of success, ideal customer profiles, and journey checkpoints
Katie also urges organizations to think beyond marketing and CS. Sales, product, ops—even the loadout teams in a manufacturing company—all contribute to the customer experience and need to be part of the marketing ecosystem. It’s a holistic view that turns internal collaboration into customer satisfaction.
And if you’ve ever felt the pain of over-promised marketing and under-delivered onboarding, Katie’s advice on co-created alignment is a must-listen.
Now you can interact with us directly by leaving a voice message at https://www.speakpipe.com/CustomerSuccessPlaybook
Please Like, Comment, Share and Subscribe.
You can also find the CS Playbook Podcast:
YouTube - @CustomerSuccessPlaybookPodcast
Twitter - @CS_Playbook
You can find Kevin at:
Metzgerbusiness.com - Kevin's person web site
Kevin Metzger on Linked In.
You can find Roman at:
Roman Trebon on Linked In.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kevin Metzger (00:05):
Customer success.
Alright, welcome back to theCustomer Success Playbook
podcast.
It's Wednesday and we've got theone big question today.
I'm Kevin Metzker.
Roman again is unable to join usthis week, unfortunately because
of some other work commitments.
But we are joined by Katietoday, the queen of the customer
(00:27):
journey.
And Katie, before we tackle themain questions question of the
day, the one big question, let'shave a quick, quick round of,
uh, personal questions to helpour audience get to know you a
little better.
Does that sound good?
Katie Smith (00:41):
Sure.
Sounds great.
Alright,
Kevin Metzger (00:43):
so if you could travel anywhere you haven't been
yet, where would you go and whydoes it intrigue you?
Katie Smith (00:50):
One of the trips on my bucket list is going to
Rwanda to see the, uh, gorillas.
So I just think it, they're suchan incredible, impressive animal
and, uh, to be in such adifferent part of the world, I
think it'd be a, a realadventure.
Kevin Metzger (01:07):
That's, um, it's not one we've heard before on
the show, and definitely, um,that's, that'd be, that would be
an exciting, an exciting trip.
I imagine it's something youprobably really want to go for a
couple, couple weeks to immerseyourself in.
Katie Smith (01:22):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's why it's a few years out.
'cause you've got a plan to haveall that time off and, you know,
as a, um, a solo person inbusiness, it can take a lot of
planning to take that time.
Kevin Metzger (01:35):
You live in Montana?
This is, it's, that's one of mydream locations to, actually, I
haven't visited Montana yet, butI, I.
I want to go to Glacier NationalPark, which is just one of the
places I really wanna visit.
But if I were to visit Montanabesides Glacier National Park,
where would you recommend?
I, uh, I, I go.
Katie Smith (01:56):
Oh my gosh.
Well, there's so many incredibleplaces.
Um, so if you were to start inGlacier, then you could travel
down to around Missoula andvisit the Bitterroot Mountains.
Um, they're beautiful, reallyincredible to go for a hike and
see some bear grass, which isthis really cool, and it, it's
like this big white.
(02:17):
Tufted plan.
It looks like it belongs in aDr.
Seuss book.
And then if you come across myway, I live, uh, just north of
the east entrance to YellowstoneNational Park.
Um, so there's a lot of greathiking.
Yeah.
I live right close to theYellowstone River, so spending
the day fly fishing on theYellowstone is.
(02:38):
Pretty iconic.
Um, and then any of the hikingand, and checking out all the
wildlife and the geysers inYellowstone is definitely
something that you should see atleast once in your life.
Kevin Metzger (02:49):
I actually got to do a tour, a bus tour when I
think I might have been, I.
A freshman in high school, um,where we went through, we
started in South Dakota and kindof went all over the Rockies
and, uh, we did spend some timein Yellowstone.
Got to see the glaciers.
Um, but it's something I'd loveto go do again as well.
(03:12):
So, yeah, that's a greatrecommendation.
Uh.
And, uh, outside of work, what'syour favorite activity or
interest that helps you restand, and recharge?
Katie Smith (03:24):
I've sort of even built in hiking or cross country
skiing into part of my work, um,when I need to solve a problem
or solve something, just gettingout into the mountains and, um,
going, doing that rhythmicnature of walking or skiing
really helps me solve, um, just.
Figure out problems solvethings.
(03:44):
So I always try to get out, butdefinitely cross country skiing
is, is my absolute favorite.
Kevin Metzger (03:50):
That's, that's awesome.
That's awesome.
I, I, I'm a big fan of skiing.
Um, I did mostly downhill whereI grew up in Pennsylvania, but
the process, the cross countryprocess, just the, it's it, the
rhythmic, it's rhythmic.
It's, it's almost like a tranch.
You get into.
Katie Smith (04:08):
Yeah.
Yeah, it definitely really helpsrecharge and um, and just gives
you a different perspective.
Kevin Metzger (04:16):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's beautiful.
I think I'm a little bit jealousof where you live.
Katie Smith (04:21):
It's, I'm, I'm pretty happy here.
I really love it.
Kevin Metzger (04:24):
Yeah.
You're from, from thereoriginally?
Katie Smith (04:27):
No.
I actually grew up in NewHampshire.
Kevin Metzger (04:30):
Oh, wow.
Katie Smith (04:31):
I came out one
Kevin Metzger (04:32):
I in New Hampshire too.
Katie Smith (04:33):
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
I, I moved out to Montana forone season to teach Nordic
skiing maybe 15 years ago, and Inever left.
Kevin Metzger (04:42):
Oh, wow.
That's amazing.
Let's dive into our key topicfor today.
I.
How can customer success andmarketing teams align their
efforts to provide continuouslong-term value for both the
customer and the company?
Katie Smith (04:55):
This is such an important question, and I think
the, the problem that we see iswhen marketing or other
departments operate in a silo.
What happens is youmiscommunication, you, you miss
what's happening with acustomer.
You know what they're feeling,what their needs are.
You can't act fast.
(05:16):
And then everybody's kind ofworking for towards a different
goal, and that's where you getall these breakdowns.
There's wasted time, there'swasted money, and then that
company culture just isn'tenjoyable to work in.
So, um.
What we really need to do ishave these teams have consistent
communication, two-waylistening.
(05:37):
It's really important whenmarketing needs to understand
that customer success is one oftheir, um, it's a direct link
to, to the customer.
It's, that's the closest you'regonna get.
They're hearing feedback,they're like your eyes and ears
on the ground.
And so thinking about yourpartnerships that way,
(05:57):
understanding the insights thatcustomer success is seeing, and
then coupling that, mirroringthat with, um, the marketing
techniques that you're using,the data that you're pulling
from your marketing techniques,sharing that with customer
success, making sure that youhave shared.
Goals.
You know, I think the biggestproblem for customers is, you
know, they get told one thingduring that discovery phase of
(06:19):
marketing, then they make itinto, uh, the sales cycle.
And sales may be promisessomething different.
And then by the time they get tocustomer success, there's all
these promises that may or maynot.
Be able to be fulfilled andcustomer success has to do a lot
of educating.
They have to do a lot of, youknow, wiggling around a promise
(06:42):
that can't be fulfilled.
And so then that makes it harderfor the marketing team to try
and get re-engagement.
You know, it just, it's just a,a breakdown all the way through.
So we need to have a consistentplan.
Um, we need to have meetingstogether.
We need to know what, whateverybody's saying.
We need to understand, you know.
(07:02):
What we can deliver to acustomer so that sales gives the
right, the right recommendationsand marketing and setting things
up.
We need to create a consistentenvironment throughout the
entire process.
And, um, you know, we're seeingthat the teams that do that are
the ones who are the mostsuccessful.
Um, they spend the least amountof amount of money they get the
(07:25):
biggest ROI.
So it's really thinking about.
This whole team, it's reallylike this full marketing
operations, thinking about everysingle person in the company is
on your team and you can gainvaluable insights from them.
You can create a plan togetherthat's actually going to work,
um, and it's going to serve thecustomer in the best way.
(07:46):
So it really has to be this lineof open communication and uh,
and everybody kind of coming tothe table.
Having a structure of ways thatyou can communicate up and down
that chain effectively.
Kevin Metzger (07:59):
Yeah.
Uh, I, I so agree about the, thedifference between having an
organization that runs in silosversus having an organization
that is trying to work togetherand really leverage, leverage
the teams cross teams.
Do you have any good suggestionsfor how to help ensure that, I
(08:20):
mean, I have some thoughts onit, but I like to hear what.
Katie Smith (08:24):
So that has, it has to come from the top, you know,
it has to come from the C-suite,um, top down because we're
dealing with different,different people's jobs, which
they have emotional and egoattachment to.
So, uh, it can't be, you know,it, this isn't really something
that you can, you know, teach upthat that kind of order and
(08:45):
structure needs to come from theC-suite.
So that's number one.
And then, um, you, you know,what's the risk of.
Of just having meetings withoutreally any clear, um, you know,
clear direction.
It just gets people frustrated.
We have to not just listen, butdo something with that.
So it's really creating astructure, you know, what are
(09:08):
the things we wanna learn fromeach department.
How, what is the informationthat we're trying to get?
What are the kinds of questionsthat we'll ask, and then what
does the sharing look like Soyou can work together to create
that, you know, the heads ofthese departments should get
together and align.
Um, and then create that, thatmeeting structure and that
reporting structure.
(09:28):
Your report, you know, marketingneeds to report down about.
What they're seeing is working,bringing people in, what kinds
of people they're bringing in.
And then, um, you know, customersuccess needs to report back up
to marketing about what they'rehearing for the people who are
getting them to marketing andsales.
So, so you need to create, andit's all, you know, it all
depends on your company.
(09:50):
Who are the people in yourcompany?
Um, the good thing is that youcan build that up to, to work
within.
The way that your unique teamis, you don't have to just shove
people into boxes, but it's, itneeds to be top down and then
there needs to be a structurethat's created, and it's going
to be hard at the beginning.
Creating change and creating newhabits is gonna be hard, so I.
(10:13):
All the directors at thatdirector level, that high level,
everybody needs to be committedand everybody needs to have some
kind of buy-in.
So it could be, um, everybody'sworking together to, for a
specific outcome and there's areward.
You know, we need to kind offigure out what will motivate
our people and then create somegoals around that, um, some
(10:34):
incentives so that we can helppeople.
You do work that is valuable forthem and also just build these
new habits.
'cause it is a new, it will be,in some companies, a very new
way of working, especially ifyou're coming from a very siloed
organization and you're tryingto create an integrated, um, you
could also work with like a, aleadership strategist or coach
(10:57):
who can kind of help help peoplecome together.
Bringing in extra help is alwaysgood.
Kevin Metzger (11:03):
Yeah.
Yeah, and I guess it's not just,it's not just aligning on the
goals and objectives, but it'sreally even I aligning on like
the ideal customer profile, whatthat customer journey should
look like.
Katie Smith (11:16):
Yep.
Then
Kevin Metzger (11:17):
identifying where the break points are and what's,
what's happening as it'sdesigned versus what's actually
happening.
Um.
I had a guest on earlier thisyear who was talking about the
actual cur customer profileversus the ideal customer
profile.
It's, it's interesting, youknow, you're mentioning
marketing and sales and customersuccess, and they're all part of
(11:39):
the selling process or thereselling process.
But in addition to that, youknow, one of the.
Biggest things in customersuccess in that I found is, um,
really the alignment withproduct so that product knows,
hey, this is what our customersare asking for to help drive
(12:01):
their business better.
So bringing product into thatdiscussion and then even making
sure that there, there's ops,uh, from a support perspective
saying, Hey, you know, it'd begreat if we offer the new.
Bright, shiny feature, but if wedon't fix this fundamental flaw
now, it's interesting'cause Ithink in customer success you
(12:22):
kind of sit and end up having alot of those conversations
coordinating and driving to makesure that everybody's on the
same page and getting what theyneed to out of those
conversations.
And that the communicationsflowing properly is when it
works.
It's beautiful.
It doesn't, everybody feels it.
You feel it across the, everyorganization within the org,
(12:45):
within the business feels it andhas a much harder time achieving
their, their objectives and thegrowth objectives of the company
as a whole.
Katie Smith (12:53):
Yeah.
Now we're seeing a lot offractional CMO.
That kind of cross companycommunication really can fall
under that umbrella.
I think of every department ason the marketing team on my
team.
Um, you know, one of my clientsis a metal manufacturer and we a
lot of.
What we've decided is we want alot of repeat customers.
(13:15):
So the guys who are in, youknow, they're the ones who are
doing load outs.
They're the ones who areinteracting closely with the
customer after the sale has beenmade.
They're on my team.
Um, I talk, hear from them.
They're the ones who arecreating an experience.
So, uh, you know, we talk withthem, we get insight from them.
(13:36):
They're on my team.
I think of everybody within thecompany who has.
Any kind of customer facingrole, even if you're in
manufacturing production, that'son my team.
I need to know what I wanna getahead.
Is there something happeningwhere we can't get product for a
while?
Do I need to get ahead of thatand let people know that lead
(13:58):
times are gonna change?
Do I need to know, are wegetting like a big order coming
in?
How much can we get?
You know, I need to know whatproduction can do so that I can
start that promise in themarketing phase, and then sales
can bring that through to the,the sales phase, and then
customer support can and servicecan deliver that.
So.
(14:19):
We all need to be working.
I need to know what's going on,which is, you know, I think
that's really important.
Marketing needs to, you know, beworking close with the CFO.
With finance.
We need to understand whatproducts are selling well, what
products aren't.
Is there seasonality?
Uh, we need to understand what.
Where the opportunities are inthat realm.
(14:40):
We need to be talking tooperations to understand what
kind of experience and promisewe wanna cultivate from the very
beginning.
If everybody can work togetherin this full communication team,
just like you're saying, then wecan create, we can create an
expectation, and then we canmeet or exceed it at every step
of the way.
(15:00):
And that's, that's the goal.
That's really the goal.
Kevin Metzger (15:03):
Yeah, it's, it's great.
When it happens, it really, it,it feels good.
You can, the business is hummingand, and it, it's, uh, it, it
just grows.
The business grows with it.
So, Katie, thank you for yourinsights.
Thanks for shedding light on howthese two critical teams need to
work together in harmony.
And on Friday we're gonna talkAI and market
Katie Smith (15:27):
excited for this.
Kevin Metzger (15:29):
Me too.
AI Friday is one of my favoritedays.
We're gonna talk about how youcan leverage it without losing
brand authenticity.
If you're enjoying the series,don't forget to subscribe, share
like, and we'll see you onFriday.
Until then, keep on playing.
Customer success.
Alright, welcome back to theCustomer Success Playbook
podcast.
It's Wednesday and we've got theone big question today.
I'm Kevin Metzker.
Roman again is unable to join usthis week, unfortunately because
of some other work commitments.
But we are joined by Katietoday, the queen of the customer
(00:27):
journey.
And Katie, before we tackle themain questions question of the
day, the one big question, let'shave a quick, quick round of,
uh, personal questions to helpour audience get to know you a
little better.
Does that sound good?
Katie Smith (00:41):
Sure.
Sounds great.
Alright,
Kevin Metzger (00:43):
so if you could travel anywhere you haven't been
yet, where would you go and whydoes it intrigue you?
Katie Smith (00:50):
One of the trips on my bucket list is going to
Rwanda to see the, uh, gorillas.
So I just think it, they're suchan incredible, impressive animal
and, uh, to be in such adifferent part of the world, I
think it'd be a, a realadventure.
Kevin Metzger (01:07):
That's, um, it's not one we've heard before on
the show, and definitely, um,that's, that'd be, that would be
an exciting, an exciting trip.
I imagine it's something youprobably really want to go for a
couple, couple weeks to immerseyourself in.
Katie Smith (01:22):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's why it's a few years out.
'cause you've got a plan to haveall that time off and, you know,
as a, um, a solo person inbusiness, it can take a lot of
planning to take that time.
Kevin Metzger (01:35):
You live in Montana?
This is, it's, that's one of mydream locations to, actually, I
haven't visited Montana yet, butI, I.
I want to go to Glacier NationalPark, which is just one of the
places I really wanna visit.
But if I were to visit Montanabesides Glacier National Park,
where would you recommend?
I, uh, I, I go.
Katie Smith (01:56):
Oh my gosh.
Well, there's so many incredibleplaces.
Um, so if you were to start inGlacier, then you could travel
down to around Missoula andvisit the Bitterroot Mountains.
Um, they're beautiful, reallyincredible to go for a hike and
see some bear grass, which isthis really cool, and it, it's
like this big white.
(02:17):
Tufted plan.
It looks like it belongs in aDr.
Seuss book.
And then if you come across myway, I live, uh, just north of
the east entrance to YellowstoneNational Park.
Um, so there's a lot of greathiking.
Yeah.
I live right close to theYellowstone River, so spending
the day fly fishing on theYellowstone is.
(02:38):
Pretty iconic.
Um, and then any of the hikingand, and checking out all the
wildlife and the geysers inYellowstone is definitely
something that you should see atleast once in your life.
Kevin Metzger (02:49):
I actually got to do a tour, a bus tour when I
think I might have been, I.
A freshman in high school, um,where we went through, we
started in South Dakota and kindof went all over the Rockies
and, uh, we did spend some timein Yellowstone.
Got to see the glaciers.
Um, but it's something I'd loveto go do again as well.
(03:12):
So, yeah, that's a greatrecommendation.
Uh.
And, uh, outside of work, what'syour favorite activity or
interest that helps you restand, and recharge?
Katie Smith (03:24):
I've sort of even built in hiking or cross country
skiing into part of my work, um,when I need to solve a problem
or solve something, just gettingout into the mountains and, um,
going, doing that rhythmicnature of walking or skiing
really helps me solve, um, just.
Figure out problems solvethings.
(03:44):
So I always try to get out, butdefinitely cross country skiing
is, is my absolute favorite.
Kevin Metzger (03:50):
That's, that's awesome.
That's awesome.
I, I, I'm a big fan of skiing.
Um, I did mostly downhill whereI grew up in Pennsylvania, but
the process, the cross countryprocess, just the, it's it, the
rhythmic, it's rhythmic.
It's, it's almost like a tranch.
You get into.
Katie Smith (04:08):
Yeah.
Yeah, it definitely really helpsrecharge and um, and just gives
you a different perspective.
Kevin Metzger (04:16):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's beautiful.
I think I'm a little bit jealousof where you live.
Katie Smith (04:21):
It's, I'm, I'm pretty happy here.
I really love it.
Kevin Metzger (04:24):
Yeah.
You're from, from thereoriginally?
Katie Smith (04:27):
No.
I actually grew up in NewHampshire.
Kevin Metzger (04:30):
Oh, wow.
Katie Smith (04:31):
I came out one
Kevin Metzger (04:32):
I in New Hampshire too.
Katie Smith (04:33):
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
I, I moved out to Montana forone season to teach Nordic
skiing maybe 15 years ago, and Inever left.
Kevin Metzger (04:42):
Oh, wow.
That's amazing.
Let's dive into our key topicfor today.
I.
How can customer success andmarketing teams align their
efforts to provide continuouslong-term value for both the
customer and the company?
Katie Smith (04:55):
This is such an important question, and I think
the, the problem that we see iswhen marketing or other
departments operate in a silo.
What happens is youmiscommunication, you, you miss
what's happening with acustomer.
You know what they're feeling,what their needs are.
You can't act fast.
(05:16):
And then everybody's kind ofworking for towards a different
goal, and that's where you getall these breakdowns.
There's wasted time, there'swasted money, and then that
company culture just isn'tenjoyable to work in.
So, um.
What we really need to do ishave these teams have consistent
communication, two-waylistening.
(05:37):
It's really important whenmarketing needs to understand
that customer success is one oftheir, um, it's a direct link
to, to the customer.
It's, that's the closest you'regonna get.
They're hearing feedback,they're like your eyes and ears
on the ground.
And so thinking about yourpartnerships that way,
(05:57):
understanding the insights thatcustomer success is seeing, and
then coupling that, mirroringthat with, um, the marketing
techniques that you're using,the data that you're pulling
from your marketing techniques,sharing that with customer
success, making sure that youhave shared.
Goals.
You know, I think the biggestproblem for customers is, you
know, they get told one thingduring that discovery phase of
(06:19):
marketing, then they make itinto, uh, the sales cycle.
And sales may be promisessomething different.
And then by the time they get tocustomer success, there's all
these promises that may or maynot.
Be able to be fulfilled andcustomer success has to do a lot
of educating.
They have to do a lot of, youknow, wiggling around a promise
(06:42):
that can't be fulfilled.
And so then that makes it harderfor the marketing team to try
and get re-engagement.
You know, it just, it's just a,a breakdown all the way through.
So we need to have a consistentplan.
Um, we need to have meetingstogether.
We need to know what, whateverybody's saying.
We need to understand, you know.
(07:02):
What we can deliver to acustomer so that sales gives the
right, the right recommendationsand marketing and setting things
up.
We need to create a consistentenvironment throughout the
entire process.
And, um, you know, we're seeingthat the teams that do that are
the ones who are the mostsuccessful.
Um, they spend the least amountof amount of money they get the
(07:25):
biggest ROI.
So it's really thinking about.
This whole team, it's reallylike this full marketing
operations, thinking about everysingle person in the company is
on your team and you can gainvaluable insights from them.
You can create a plan togetherthat's actually going to work,
um, and it's going to serve thecustomer in the best way.
(07:46):
So it really has to be this lineof open communication and uh,
and everybody kind of coming tothe table.
Having a structure of ways thatyou can communicate up and down
that chain effectively.
Kevin Metzger (07:59):
Yeah.
Uh, I, I so agree about the, thedifference between having an
organization that runs in silosversus having an organization
that is trying to work togetherand really leverage, leverage
the teams cross teams.
Do you have any good suggestionsfor how to help ensure that, I
(08:20):
mean, I have some thoughts onit, but I like to hear what.
Katie Smith (08:24):
So that has, it has to come from the top, you know,
it has to come from the C-suite,um, top down because we're
dealing with different,different people's jobs, which
they have emotional and egoattachment to.
So, uh, it can't be, you know,it, this isn't really something
that you can, you know, teach upthat that kind of order and
(08:45):
structure needs to come from theC-suite.
So that's number one.
And then, um, you, you know,what's the risk of.
Of just having meetings withoutreally any clear, um, you know,
clear direction.
It just gets people frustrated.
We have to not just listen, butdo something with that.
So it's really creating astructure, you know, what are
(09:08):
the things we wanna learn fromeach department.
How, what is the informationthat we're trying to get?
What are the kinds of questionsthat we'll ask, and then what
does the sharing look like Soyou can work together to create
that, you know, the heads ofthese departments should get
together and align.
Um, and then create that, thatmeeting structure and that
reporting structure.
(09:28):
Your report, you know, marketingneeds to report down about.
What they're seeing is working,bringing people in, what kinds
of people they're bringing in.
And then, um, you know, customersuccess needs to report back up
to marketing about what they'rehearing for the people who are
getting them to marketing andsales.
So, so you need to create, andit's all, you know, it all
depends on your company.
(09:50):
Who are the people in yourcompany?
Um, the good thing is that youcan build that up to, to work
within.
The way that your unique teamis, you don't have to just shove
people into boxes, but it's, itneeds to be top down and then
there needs to be a structurethat's created, and it's going
to be hard at the beginning.
Creating change and creating newhabits is gonna be hard, so I.
(10:13):
All the directors at thatdirector level, that high level,
everybody needs to be committedand everybody needs to have some
kind of buy-in.
So it could be, um, everybody'sworking together to, for a
specific outcome and there's areward.
You know, we need to kind offigure out what will motivate
our people and then create somegoals around that, um, some
(10:34):
incentives so that we can helppeople.
You do work that is valuable forthem and also just build these
new habits.
'cause it is a new, it will be,in some companies, a very new
way of working, especially ifyou're coming from a very siloed
organization and you're tryingto create an integrated, um, you
could also work with like a, aleadership strategist or coach
(10:57):
who can kind of help help peoplecome together.
Bringing in extra help is alwaysgood.
Kevin Metzger (11:03):
Yeah.
Yeah, and I guess it's not just,it's not just aligning on the
goals and objectives, but it'sreally even I aligning on like
the ideal customer profile, whatthat customer journey should
look like.
Katie Smith (11:16):
Yep.
Then
Kevin Metzger (11:17):
identifying where the break points are and what's,
what's happening as it'sdesigned versus what's actually
happening.
Um.
I had a guest on earlier thisyear who was talking about the
actual cur customer profileversus the ideal customer
profile.
It's, it's interesting, youknow, you're mentioning
marketing and sales and customersuccess, and they're all part of
(11:39):
the selling process or thereselling process.
But in addition to that, youknow, one of the.
Biggest things in customersuccess in that I found is, um,
really the alignment withproduct so that product knows,
hey, this is what our customersare asking for to help drive
(12:01):
their business better.
So bringing product into thatdiscussion and then even making
sure that there, there's ops,uh, from a support perspective
saying, Hey, you know, it'd begreat if we offer the new.
Bright, shiny feature, but if wedon't fix this fundamental flaw
now, it's interesting'cause Ithink in customer success you
(12:22):
kind of sit and end up having alot of those conversations
coordinating and driving to makesure that everybody's on the
same page and getting what theyneed to out of those
conversations.
And that the communicationsflowing properly is when it
works.
It's beautiful.
It doesn't, everybody feels it.
You feel it across the, everyorganization within the org,
(12:45):
within the business feels it andhas a much harder time achieving
their, their objectives and thegrowth objectives of the company
as a whole.
Katie Smith (12:53):
Yeah.
Now we're seeing a lot offractional CMO.
That kind of cross companycommunication really can fall
under that umbrella.
I think of every department ason the marketing team on my
team.
Um, you know, one of my clientsis a metal manufacturer and we a
lot of.
What we've decided is we want alot of repeat customers.
(13:15):
So the guys who are in, youknow, they're the ones who are
doing load outs.
They're the ones who areinteracting closely with the
customer after the sale has beenmade.
They're on my team.
Um, I talk, hear from them.
They're the ones who arecreating an experience.
So, uh, you know, we talk withthem, we get insight from them.
(13:36):
They're on my team.
I think of everybody within thecompany who has.
Any kind of customer facingrole, even if you're in
manufacturing production, that'son my team.
I need to know what I wanna getahead.
Is there something happeningwhere we can't get product for a
while?
Do I need to get ahead of thatand let people know that lead
(13:58):
times are gonna change?
Do I need to know, are wegetting like a big order coming
in?
How much can we get?
You know, I need to know whatproduction can do so that I can
start that promise in themarketing phase, and then sales
can bring that through to the,the sales phase, and then
customer support can and servicecan deliver that.
So.
(14:19):
We all need to be working.
I need to know what's going on,which is, you know, I think
that's really important.
Marketing needs to, you know, beworking close with the CFO.
With finance.
We need to understand whatproducts are selling well, what
products aren't.
Is there seasonality?
Uh, we need to understand what.
Where the opportunities are inthat realm.
(14:40):
We need to be talking tooperations to understand what
kind of experience and promisewe wanna cultivate from the very
beginning.
If everybody can work togetherin this full communication team,
just like you're saying, then wecan create, we can create an
expectation, and then we canmeet or exceed it at every step
of the way.
(15:00):
And that's, that's the goal.
That's really the goal.
Kevin Metzger (15:03):
Yeah, it's, it's great.
When it happens, it really, it,it feels good.
You can, the business is hummingand, and it, it's, uh, it, it
just grows.
The business grows with it.
So, Katie, thank you for yourinsights.
Thanks for shedding light on howthese two critical teams need to
work together in harmony.
And on Friday we're gonna talkAI and market
Katie Smith (15:27):
excited for this.
Kevin Metzger (15:29):
Me too.
AI Friday is one of my favoritedays.
We're gonna talk about how youcan leverage it without losing
brand authenticity.
If you're enjoying the series,don't forget to subscribe, share
like, and we'll see you onFriday.
Until then, keep on playing.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com