April 24, 2025 • 18 mins
Trade shows are back in a big way, and Pax 8 Beyond 2025 is one of the most important events on the MSP calendar. In this episode of the WIN Podcast, host Carrie Richardson talks with Andrew Mora from Cork about what it really takes to turn a sponsorship into a sales strategy.
Mora pulls back the curtain on Cork’s full event playbook—from how they pivoted messaging to lead with their platform (not their warranty product), to how they staff and train their team, design their booth for real engagement, and schedule qualified meetings in under a minute. He also shares tips for overcoming poor booth placement, making swag work smarter, and using CRM automation for fast follow-up.
Whether you’re a vendor investing in your MSP event strategy or an MSP partner trying to find vendors worth your time, this conversation is packed with practical insights you can use right now.
Key Topics Covered:
- Pax 8 Beyond 2025: what to expect and why it’s different
- Cork’s shift from cyber warranty to platform-led growth
- How to plan, staff, and execute a high-performing event booth
- Lead capture and follow-up strategies that actually work
- Common mistakes vendors make (and how to avoid them)
Guest: Andrew Mora, CRO, Cork
Host: Carrie Richardson, WIN Podcast
Carrie Richardson and Ian Richardson host the WIN Podcast - What's Important Now?
Serial entrepreneurs, life partners and business partners, they have successfully exited from multiple businesses (IT, call center, real estate, marketing) and they help other business owners create their own versions of success.
Ian is certified in Eagle Center For Leadership Making A Difference, Paterson StratOp, and LifePlan.
Carrie has helped create and execute successful outbound sales strategies for over 1200 technology-focused businesses including MSPs, manufacturers, distributors and SaaS firms.
Learn more at www.foxcrowgroup.com
Book time with Carrie here!
Be a guest on WIN! We host successful entrepreneurs who share advice with other entrepreneurs on how to build, grow or sell a business using examples from their own experience.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carrie Richardson (00:00):
Good afternoon, everybody.
Welcome to the WIN podcast.
With me today is Andrew Morafrom Cork.
Cork is a sponsor of PAX 8beyond this year.
Nice to see you Andrew.
Tell us a little bit about whatwe can expect at Pax 8 Beyond.
Andrew Mora (00:16):
Hey Carrie thanks for having me on the show.
What I would expect is anelectrifying show.
It's one of the newer shows onthe circuit.
last year they had 2,500attendees.
this year it's gonna be about3,500.
They always put on a killer endof show party.
Last year was ludicrous.
I happened to be front row,rocking my socks off.
(00:36):
I think you'll get a lot ofeducation.
they've done a really good jobof understanding what partners
are trying to get out of shows,which is really important.
They try to encourage vendorsnot to bring a sales pitch, but
more of a value pitch.
The breakout sessions, last yearreally catered to specific
categories, and topics thatpartners are seeking, it was
(00:56):
really cool how they've takenfeedback from the first show and
really implemented it into thesecond show.
They did a really good job ofhaving a general floor and a ton
of vendors, not only on theirmarketplace, but people outside
of the PAX 8 ecosystem.
So they really try to encouragethat friendly, like we're all
together type of community,which I thought was really cool.
Carrie Richardson (01:20):
Having spent some of your career with PAX 8,
what kind of planning goes intoan event like beyond?
Andrew Mora (01:27):
That's a really good question.
So on the internal side, for PAX8, they literally start the day
after the show ends.
it's been going on for a year.
Try to figure out your itineraryand some of the topics you want
to cover because there's so muchto do in that three day span.
If you don't have a plan, youcan get lost.
I was throwing up almost 15,000steps each day.
(01:48):
This year I'm guessing it'sgonna be even bigger.
From the perspective of havingto get from the normal halls to
the vendor halls, back to thebreakout sessions.
if you've ever done a show inVegas, it's similar to that
where there's definitely somewalking.
So wear some comfortable shoespeople don't realize that
standing on cement floor for 8hours is like a backend knee
killer.
Carrie Richardson (02:07):
I'm definitely feeling it more now
that I'm in my fifties than Iwas when I was doing my first
shows.
You're relatively new with Cork.
Tell me a little bit about thechanges that Cork has gone
through in the last four to sixmonths.
Andrew Mora (02:21):
Cork was known as a warranty company.
In 2024, we saw a lot of ourpartners leveraging the platform
as their go-to market strategy.
And then the warranty was asecondary play for them.
So we essentially just flippedwith the actual community and
started leading with theplatform and then having the
ability to add warranty on as asecondary play and a secondary
(02:42):
revenue stream for our partners.
we've added a lot of investmentinto the platform I think that's
where it's changed tremendously.
If you saw it six to 8 monthsago, there wasn't really a
platform tied to it, noweverything is based through the
platform and it's tied to that.
We've added a couple newfeatures that are a standout.
So I think it's just theplatform, first type of program
(03:03):
that we're going with.
Carrie Richardson (03:04):
how do you demonstrate that on the floor at
an event like PAX 8?
What can people expect when theycome up to the booth?
Andrew Mora (03:12):
Great question.
We ask the question If anypartners are dealing with cyber
insurance policies orquestionnaires, and usually the
answer is yes.
we have some interestingfeatures and tools that we can
demonstrate in less than 30seconds, To show some value time
savings for partners.
From those aspects.
And then there's some otherthings dependent on What they're
actually trying to do, Anddeliver.
(03:34):
that's what I think is reallycool about Cork it's not a one
size fits all.
I'm historically from a backupbackground, That's very
straightforward.
It's a very black and white toolwhere Cork is a, it's not a one
size fits all.
It's tailored to the specificpartner and their go-to-market
strategy and how they'redelivering things to their
customers.
Carrie Richardson (03:52):
How do you pivot the messaging from leading
with cyber warranty to leadingwith platform?
Andrew Mora (04:00):
Really good question.
I did a lot of research beforeand realized their engineering
team was pumping outintegrations faster than I've
ever seen in the 11 years I'vebeen in the channel, which was
really impressive.
Usually coming from the vendorside when someone would say, can
I get this type of integration?
Can I get this feature request?
Usually the generic answer fromthe sales perspective is, yeah,
(04:21):
that's on the roadmap.
It's coming in however manymonths down the road where Cork
delivers'em in seven days orless.
And so just from that aspect,They're doing something on the
platform front that is Reallyinteresting and really cool.
Then once I got into the hood, Iwas like, okay, this is gonna be
a really easy switch for thecompany.
Carrie Richardson (04:42):
talk to me a little bit about your growth
team and how they approachedrebranding or re-messaging.
Andrew Mora (04:50):
We have a total of six sellers, I saw their pitch
before and it was.
Very close.
They were including theplatform, but it wasn't
leveraging the platform.
it was more like Hey, we havethis thing and we Built it to
deliver a warranty.
then I started to ask partnerswhat they're using Cork for.
they were like, yeah, we use itfor quite a few different
(05:10):
things.
But the majority Of our partnerbase was leveraging the platform
from a monitoring perspective.
'cause essentially we just takeall their tools and put it into
one place.
And we're simply checking, is iton or off?
That's where it falls into thecyber insurance play from the
questionnaire perspective.
Do you have backup?
Do you have MFA?
Do you have EDR?
Essentially we take care of thatfront end piece of it.
(05:32):
You think you have an idea ofwhat your product is as opposed
to what it's actually doing outin the wild.
And what people are actuallyusing it for Is totally
different.
And that's where I think werealized, hey, this is being
leveraged in a different waythan we thought it would be.
But it's Really been beneficialfor the company
Carrie Richardson (05:47):
you've got a team of six sellers.
When you go to an event with3,500 MSPs at it, who do you
staff it with?
Andrew Mora (05:56):
So we're gonna go with our CEO, myself, just'cause
I've had a lot of history withPAX 8, so I know a ton of their
partner base.
And then we're going with two ofour sellers.
Usually what ends up happeningIs partners wanna ask questions
about the product.
How does it work, how do I getinvolved?
I wanna be able to answer thosequestions, get'em on demos.
I wanna be able to simplifyeverything from a journey, and
(06:18):
take all the fluff out of itThere are so many vendors and I
only have so much time.
to be remembered That's what Iwant to capture With the sales
squad.
So I'm coming with a full squadof salespeople.
Carrie Richardson (06:29):
do you have a process that everyone follows at
the booth for triaging leads orcollecting cards?
how do you prepare and what'syour follow up activity look
like after?
Andrew Mora (06:40):
We wanna get you on a demo or get you scheduled for
a demo.
We have four questions it'sreally simple.
It's our web signup form.
But we fill it out for you.
Usually PAX 8 will have a couplescanners, depending On your
level.
we'll have notes onspecifically, Hey, we got this
in a demo.
So we understand where they arein that process, they were
interested in these features,those features.
The partners are gonna bebombarded with all the vendors
(07:00):
right after.
that's why we try to go for thatdemo piece, to have that
schedule to say this is what youwanted to do.
For those people that didn'tstop by the booth, we typically
do some kind of drip campaign,To entice them to look at why
people were actually visitingour booth.
Our.
follow up will be a week afterthe event.
if they stop by the booth, Askthem, how do you want us to
(07:22):
follow up?
phone, email, what's the best?
And then if not, typically we'lldo a couple phone calls and a
couple email reach outs Througha sequence, With specific
messaging.
We'll Come together as a teamand we'll figure out what were
the highlights For example, wewere just at NerdioCon and
people weren't really stoppingby the booth, so we were asking
them, do you have any issueswith filling out cyber
(07:43):
questionnaires?
that was like the instant hookbecause The distaste in their
answers were very pleasing tous.
We had the solve for that, Ithink it's really understanding
what's catching on.
What is really.
Enticing for people tounderstand?
What is really going to takethat community to the next
level?
That's what partners are alwayslooking for, right?
Is what's gonna help my businessfrom a money perspective a
(08:05):
revenue perspective a securityperspective.
What's gonna Protect myperimeter?
what's gonna make me moreefficient What's gonna make my
life easier?
So I'm not doing the mundanethings that I hate to do.
Carrie Richardson (08:16):
How do you prep a brand new.
Sales team member who's going toa conference for the first time,
Andrew Mora (08:23):
so I tell them to pace themselves.
It's definitely a marathon.
This is like a bigger show andyou're constantly talking, Drink
a lot of water, right?
Carrie Richardson (08:32):
especially in Denver.
Andrew Mora (08:33):
In Denver, people don't realize, it is definitely
dry here.
so bloody noses are a thing.
definitely drink a lot of water.
I really try to tell them toUnderstand That it is a long
timeframe.
some of the shows with theattendees, you have a little bit
of downtime.
Where this Is literally go theentire time.
What I also tell people thatit's one of their first bigger
(08:53):
shows is to learn other things,learn other products.
this is the opportunity where ifyou don't have a breakout
session, you do have a littledowntime.
There's a lot in the communitythat is impactful.
what's interesting is all of ourproducts.
help each other.
there is synergy within someproducts they may be on the left
of boom, you may be on the rightof boom and you can help each
other.
But I do tell them Be prepared.
it is a different type of thingjust because of the sheer
(09:16):
volume.
it's wild.
I also tell them the bar is sohigh on that one, like all shows
aren't like this.
So keep that in mind, Capitalizeon this one.
cause you do get 3000 pluspartners with so many vendors
and different looks.
Which is really cool.
Carrie Richardson (09:31):
Do you go take a loop around to see what
everyone's booths look like, seewhat kind of swag people are
handing out?
Andrew Mora (09:37):
Absolutely.
The socks.
I don't know why MSPs love thatstuff, but socks.
I also like to see the design oftheir booth Is it a little bit
different?
What's catchy?
I like to put myself in thepartner shoes'cause we all go to
the same types of shows Whatwould they really look at?
What are they gonna See?
Is this a good spot?
Do I have a good spot, From thebooth side of it, I do 100% take
(09:58):
a lap.
the other side of it is, where'sthe, like the water, where's the
beverages?
They put ice cream in secretplaces.
finding all those little things,You have to walk around look for
'em.
'cause it is so massive.
Carrie Richardson (10:10):
I did not find the secret ice cream.
Andrew Mora (10:12):
Exactly.
Carrie Richardson (10:13):
Did they have it year one?
Andrew Mora (10:14):
They didn't.
in year two is when they hadthese little, they were
basically like the ice creamswhere you slide the glass on the
top.
So they just had little of thosein pockets everywhere.
Last year they had the arcade,but then they also had a, like a
actual F1 racing sim, they havesome cool things that are just
outside of the everyday TheGaylord, where they hosted is in
(10:35):
the middle of nowhere.
if you've never been thereyou're like, where am I thought
I was gonna see the Rockies.
And you don't really leave.
Carrie Richardson (10:41):
I think that's the point.
I think that every Gaylord waspurpose built to trap people
inside of it.
Like the one in Nashvilleespecially.
Andrew Mora (10:49):
I've heard That's the coolest one.
Carrie Richardson (10:49):
My kids love it there.
We have an event, Channel Con Isgonna be at the Nashville
Gaylord this year.
The way I understand it, youbring your team to PAX 8, you
create some buzz around thebooth.
You collect contact informationusing an iPad or something
similar directly into a webform.
(11:11):
The web form captures theinformation and pulls it
directly into what.
Andrew Mora (11:16):
Our CRM, goes directly into our HubSpot and
creates that appointment.
So everything's already on thecalendar.
We try to supersede Hey, can Ifollow up with you to set up an
appointment?
You wanna do it in a month?
You wanna do it in a coupleweeks?
You let us know what works bestfor you.
So it's a very low pressure typeof thing, how can I do this?
And get you on the calendar inless than 30 seconds.
Carrie Richardson (11:34):
do you round robin the opportunities through
your team or does the person whotalks to the person at the booth
take the demo?
how do you make it fair?
Andrew Mora (11:41):
Great question.
that's why I bring most all of'em, We split up The country in
territory.
So it actually just sticks towhere you are.
what makes it tough, Istypically on your badge, it
doesn't give you the location.
For the most part it's all handson deck, get the information and
then we'll split'em up afteraccordingly to territory.
with this type of show.
(12:02):
It's smack dab in the middle ofthe country.
So you have people from allover, not just in the States and
Canada, but also they had 15countries, represented last
year, for us it's just get thepartner taken care of, make sure
It's a good experience.
then we'll split it off in theback end.
Carrie Richardson (12:17):
What do you do when you go to an event and
you've got what you wouldconsider a poor location?
how do you combat that?
Andrew Mora (12:24):
That's a really good question.
I don't know if I should giveaway the secret.
Carrie Richardson (12:26):
Okay.
You can just tell me after, thenwe won't tell everyone else.
Andrew Mora (12:30):
my CEO's really good at this.
What he does is he'll grab acocktail table and set it up.
In the front of the booth.
he'll put all of our, Papermaterial with some of the swag
on it, and then he'll just postup on there and bring people to
the table.
It seems to The pressure off ofcoming into the booth and people
are like more apt to coming upto a cocktail table.
(12:51):
If you have people that know abunch of people at PAX 8 or know
a bunch of people at name theshow, Have them walk around and
have them bring people in.
partners get so involved withthings that they don't see you.
They mean to come find you, butyou're in the back corner by the
bathroom and they didn't knowthat, They found the secret ice
cream that cuts it off rightbefore your booth.
I definitely recommend to getout walk around and pull people
(13:12):
in, let'em know where you're at.
Carrie Richardson (13:14):
Go stand by the secret ice cream and
eventually you'll get everyone.
Andrew Mora (13:18):
I did actually run into two people that said they
didn't like ice cream atNerdioCon, which I was pretty
heartbroken on.
I do also think vendors reallyrely on their booth And just
stick there.
So I think getting a littleuncomfortable And producing for
yourself also goes a long way.
the partners do have intentionsto talk to you.
It's just, they're so busy too.
And so you have to proactivelygo out there.
(13:39):
I would also recommend to reallyutilize the app.
if someone were to say, HeyCarrie, can you meet me at noon
here?
You're there.
And then you can't find them.
You can hit'em up on the app andfind out where they got caught
up
Carrie Richardson (13:50):
that's good advice.
Andrew Mora (13:52):
That one really helped.
It's so big and I want to go tothe Rewst breakout, or I want to
go to this breakout, or thatbreakout.
I wanna see Matt Lee, break intoa computer like he always does
then you're like, it's in theblue room, in the diamond
hallway, and you're like whereis that?
The app definitely helps
Carrie Richardson (14:06):
Oh, gimmicks Pro or con, are people gonna
wear costumes?
Do you like that sort of thing?
You know what I love?
I love the money booth.
Andrew Mora (14:15):
I saw how much money you made the last time.
That was amazing.
I like some things, like thecostumes are A little much for
me.
Even though I do like the peoplethat do some of the costumes,
The things that I really likeare the claw machines.
I think those are fun.
I do like when you add a littlebit of difference, Sometimes
they're good and sometimesthey're not.
Sometimes the putting ones are alittle tough.
(14:36):
A differentiator is a plus.
cause we all do the same thing,right?
We all have A light upbackground and whatever.
Carrie Richardson (14:42):
Rockefeller!, I got a pull up banner this
year.
Andrew Mora (14:44):
This thing has a million parts.
It has screws and lights and Allthese battery packs One of the
things that MSPs absolutely loveis massive Lego sets, right?
They love'em.
it's wild.
Carrie Richardson (14:56):
they like ribs too, but I'm not bringing
those to the booth.
One of those barbecues would bea good giveaway though.
Andrew Mora (15:02):
what I try to figure out, we did a Concord
which was a really big Lego, Thepartner even bought a box to
bring it on the airplane to takeit back to Canada.
The barbecue would be cool, butlast year, black Point gave away
a motorcycle, Like a Ducati andthe partner happened to be in
London that won.
So it was better for them justto buy him one there then to
(15:25):
ship it.
And I think if you're gonna dosomething massive, Have it as a
display and then ship it to thewinner, That would be my
recommendation.
Carrie Richardson (15:32):
If I look at the PAX 8 vendor list this year,
there's 142 at last count.
I haven't heard of at least ahundred of them.
There's gotta be a lot of peoplecoming into the channel, brand
new to the trade show circuit,and I can stop them from buying
2000 pounds of coffee.
That is not necessary.
(15:53):
You're not gonna talk to everyperson that comes to the event.
Andrew Mora (15:56):
One thing that is a hitter for us is we have these,
Screen cleaners.
People love these things.
for your computer, you justclean your screen with'em.
They love'em.
Carrie Richardson (16:06):
I could use one of those right now.
Andrew Mora (16:07):
Yeah.
So I would say if you're gonnado a giveaway, think of
something practical that's alittle bit different.
Carrie Richardson (16:12):
We will see you at PAX 8 beyond.
Andrew Mora (16:15):
Yeah, we have A little treat for everybody when
they walk in, My CEO's reallyinto race cars.
So we were able to negotiatewith Rob, To get a couple race
cars, Sprinkled throughout TheGaylord.
I think you'll see some brandedrace cars,
Carrie Richardson (16:27):
doesn't Huntress have a race car too?
Andrew Mora (16:29):
they all do DNS filter, Huntress Blackpoint
Carrie Richardson (16:32):
feel like we're missing an opportunity
here.
we could be doing a channel raceof some kind.
That would be a good fundraiser.
Andrew Mora (16:40):
That would be really good.
Carrie Richardson (16:40):
Come on you guys.
Andrew Mora (16:42):
That's what I'm saying.
Carrie Richardson (16:45):
Who should be coming by the booth to say hello
to you
Andrew Mora (16:47):
Essentially, we throw all your security tools
into one environment, validatethat they're on, and that
they're deployed correctly.
We also back that with Awarranty and actual financial
protections.
the ICP from a partnerperspective is anybody that's
deploying EDR, RMM, backup andMFA, right?
So that's literally all of youguys.
(17:07):
Our real goal is we wanna risethe community from a security
perspective and make sure theyare protected with validation.
Carrie Richardson (17:15):
Great.
Thank you very much for being onthe WIN podcast today, and I
look forward to seeing you inDenver in June.
Andrew Mora (17:22):
Absolutely.
Thank you for having me.
Good afternoon, everybody.
Welcome to the WIN podcast.
With me today is Andrew Morafrom Cork.
Cork is a sponsor of PAX 8beyond this year.
Nice to see you Andrew.
Tell us a little bit about whatwe can expect at Pax 8 Beyond.
Andrew Mora (00:16):
Hey Carrie thanks for having me on the show.
What I would expect is anelectrifying show.
It's one of the newer shows onthe circuit.
last year they had 2,500attendees.
this year it's gonna be about3,500.
They always put on a killer endof show party.
Last year was ludicrous.
I happened to be front row,rocking my socks off.
(00:36):
I think you'll get a lot ofeducation.
they've done a really good jobof understanding what partners
are trying to get out of shows,which is really important.
They try to encourage vendorsnot to bring a sales pitch, but
more of a value pitch.
The breakout sessions, last yearreally catered to specific
categories, and topics thatpartners are seeking, it was
(00:56):
really cool how they've takenfeedback from the first show and
really implemented it into thesecond show.
They did a really good job ofhaving a general floor and a ton
of vendors, not only on theirmarketplace, but people outside
of the PAX 8 ecosystem.
So they really try to encouragethat friendly, like we're all
together type of community,which I thought was really cool.
Carrie Richardson (01:20):
Having spent some of your career with PAX 8,
what kind of planning goes intoan event like beyond?
Andrew Mora (01:27):
That's a really good question.
So on the internal side, for PAX8, they literally start the day
after the show ends.
it's been going on for a year.
Try to figure out your itineraryand some of the topics you want
to cover because there's so muchto do in that three day span.
If you don't have a plan, youcan get lost.
I was throwing up almost 15,000steps each day.
(01:48):
This year I'm guessing it'sgonna be even bigger.
From the perspective of havingto get from the normal halls to
the vendor halls, back to thebreakout sessions.
if you've ever done a show inVegas, it's similar to that
where there's definitely somewalking.
So wear some comfortable shoespeople don't realize that
standing on cement floor for 8hours is like a backend knee
killer.
Carrie Richardson (02:07):
I'm definitely feeling it more now
that I'm in my fifties than Iwas when I was doing my first
shows.
You're relatively new with Cork.
Tell me a little bit about thechanges that Cork has gone
through in the last four to sixmonths.
Andrew Mora (02:21):
Cork was known as a warranty company.
In 2024, we saw a lot of ourpartners leveraging the platform
as their go-to market strategy.
And then the warranty was asecondary play for them.
So we essentially just flippedwith the actual community and
started leading with theplatform and then having the
ability to add warranty on as asecondary play and a secondary
(02:42):
revenue stream for our partners.
we've added a lot of investmentinto the platform I think that's
where it's changed tremendously.
If you saw it six to 8 monthsago, there wasn't really a
platform tied to it, noweverything is based through the
platform and it's tied to that.
We've added a couple newfeatures that are a standout.
So I think it's just theplatform, first type of program
(03:03):
that we're going with.
Carrie Richardson (03:04):
how do you demonstrate that on the floor at
an event like PAX 8?
What can people expect when theycome up to the booth?
Andrew Mora (03:12):
Great question.
We ask the question If anypartners are dealing with cyber
insurance policies orquestionnaires, and usually the
answer is yes.
we have some interestingfeatures and tools that we can
demonstrate in less than 30seconds, To show some value time
savings for partners.
From those aspects.
And then there's some otherthings dependent on What they're
actually trying to do, Anddeliver.
(03:34):
that's what I think is reallycool about Cork it's not a one
size fits all.
I'm historically from a backupbackground, That's very
straightforward.
It's a very black and white toolwhere Cork is a, it's not a one
size fits all.
It's tailored to the specificpartner and their go-to-market
strategy and how they'redelivering things to their
customers.
Carrie Richardson (03:52):
How do you pivot the messaging from leading
with cyber warranty to leadingwith platform?
Andrew Mora (04:00):
Really good question.
I did a lot of research beforeand realized their engineering
team was pumping outintegrations faster than I've
ever seen in the 11 years I'vebeen in the channel, which was
really impressive.
Usually coming from the vendorside when someone would say, can
I get this type of integration?
Can I get this feature request?
Usually the generic answer fromthe sales perspective is, yeah,
(04:21):
that's on the roadmap.
It's coming in however manymonths down the road where Cork
delivers'em in seven days orless.
And so just from that aspect,They're doing something on the
platform front that is Reallyinteresting and really cool.
Then once I got into the hood, Iwas like, okay, this is gonna be
a really easy switch for thecompany.
Carrie Richardson (04:42):
talk to me a little bit about your growth
team and how they approachedrebranding or re-messaging.
Andrew Mora (04:50):
We have a total of six sellers, I saw their pitch
before and it was.
Very close.
They were including theplatform, but it wasn't
leveraging the platform.
it was more like Hey, we havethis thing and we Built it to
deliver a warranty.
then I started to ask partnerswhat they're using Cork for.
they were like, yeah, we use itfor quite a few different
(05:10):
things.
But the majority Of our partnerbase was leveraging the platform
from a monitoring perspective.
'cause essentially we just takeall their tools and put it into
one place.
And we're simply checking, is iton or off?
That's where it falls into thecyber insurance play from the
questionnaire perspective.
Do you have backup?
Do you have MFA?
Do you have EDR?
Essentially we take care of thatfront end piece of it.
(05:32):
You think you have an idea ofwhat your product is as opposed
to what it's actually doing outin the wild.
And what people are actuallyusing it for Is totally
different.
And that's where I think werealized, hey, this is being
leveraged in a different waythan we thought it would be.
But it's Really been beneficialfor the company
Carrie Richardson (05:47):
you've got a team of six sellers.
When you go to an event with3,500 MSPs at it, who do you
staff it with?
Andrew Mora (05:56):
So we're gonna go with our CEO, myself, just'cause
I've had a lot of history withPAX 8, so I know a ton of their
partner base.
And then we're going with two ofour sellers.
Usually what ends up happeningIs partners wanna ask questions
about the product.
How does it work, how do I getinvolved?
I wanna be able to answer thosequestions, get'em on demos.
I wanna be able to simplifyeverything from a journey, and
(06:18):
take all the fluff out of itThere are so many vendors and I
only have so much time.
to be remembered That's what Iwant to capture With the sales
squad.
So I'm coming with a full squadof salespeople.
Carrie Richardson (06:29):
do you have a process that everyone follows at
the booth for triaging leads orcollecting cards?
how do you prepare and what'syour follow up activity look
like after?
Andrew Mora (06:40):
We wanna get you on a demo or get you scheduled for
a demo.
We have four questions it'sreally simple.
It's our web signup form.
But we fill it out for you.
Usually PAX 8 will have a couplescanners, depending On your
level.
we'll have notes onspecifically, Hey, we got this
in a demo.
So we understand where they arein that process, they were
interested in these features,those features.
The partners are gonna bebombarded with all the vendors
(07:00):
right after.
that's why we try to go for thatdemo piece, to have that
schedule to say this is what youwanted to do.
For those people that didn'tstop by the booth, we typically
do some kind of drip campaign,To entice them to look at why
people were actually visitingour booth.
Our.
follow up will be a week afterthe event.
if they stop by the booth, Askthem, how do you want us to
(07:22):
follow up?
phone, email, what's the best?
And then if not, typically we'lldo a couple phone calls and a
couple email reach outs Througha sequence, With specific
messaging.
We'll Come together as a teamand we'll figure out what were
the highlights For example, wewere just at NerdioCon and
people weren't really stoppingby the booth, so we were asking
them, do you have any issueswith filling out cyber
(07:43):
questionnaires?
that was like the instant hookbecause The distaste in their
answers were very pleasing tous.
We had the solve for that, Ithink it's really understanding
what's catching on.
What is really.
Enticing for people tounderstand?
What is really going to takethat community to the next
level?
That's what partners are alwayslooking for, right?
Is what's gonna help my businessfrom a money perspective a
(08:05):
revenue perspective a securityperspective.
What's gonna Protect myperimeter?
what's gonna make me moreefficient What's gonna make my
life easier?
So I'm not doing the mundanethings that I hate to do.
Carrie Richardson (08:16):
How do you prep a brand new.
Sales team member who's going toa conference for the first time,
Andrew Mora (08:23):
so I tell them to pace themselves.
It's definitely a marathon.
This is like a bigger show andyou're constantly talking, Drink
a lot of water, right?
Carrie Richardson (08:32):
especially in Denver.
Andrew Mora (08:33):
In Denver, people don't realize, it is definitely
dry here.
so bloody noses are a thing.
definitely drink a lot of water.
I really try to tell them toUnderstand That it is a long
timeframe.
some of the shows with theattendees, you have a little bit
of downtime.
Where this Is literally go theentire time.
What I also tell people thatit's one of their first bigger
(08:53):
shows is to learn other things,learn other products.
this is the opportunity where ifyou don't have a breakout
session, you do have a littledowntime.
There's a lot in the communitythat is impactful.
what's interesting is all of ourproducts.
help each other.
there is synergy within someproducts they may be on the left
of boom, you may be on the rightof boom and you can help each
other.
But I do tell them Be prepared.
it is a different type of thingjust because of the sheer
(09:16):
volume.
it's wild.
I also tell them the bar is sohigh on that one, like all shows
aren't like this.
So keep that in mind, Capitalizeon this one.
cause you do get 3000 pluspartners with so many vendors
and different looks.
Which is really cool.
Carrie Richardson (09:31):
Do you go take a loop around to see what
everyone's booths look like, seewhat kind of swag people are
handing out?
Andrew Mora (09:37):
Absolutely.
The socks.
I don't know why MSPs love thatstuff, but socks.
I also like to see the design oftheir booth Is it a little bit
different?
What's catchy?
I like to put myself in thepartner shoes'cause we all go to
the same types of shows Whatwould they really look at?
What are they gonna See?
Is this a good spot?
Do I have a good spot, From thebooth side of it, I do 100% take
(09:58):
a lap.
the other side of it is, where'sthe, like the water, where's the
beverages?
They put ice cream in secretplaces.
finding all those little things,You have to walk around look for
'em.
'cause it is so massive.
Carrie Richardson (10:10):
I did not find the secret ice cream.
Andrew Mora (10:12):
Exactly.
Carrie Richardson (10:13):
Did they have it year one?
Andrew Mora (10:14):
They didn't.
in year two is when they hadthese little, they were
basically like the ice creamswhere you slide the glass on the
top.
So they just had little of thosein pockets everywhere.
Last year they had the arcade,but then they also had a, like a
actual F1 racing sim, they havesome cool things that are just
outside of the everyday TheGaylord, where they hosted is in
(10:35):
the middle of nowhere.
if you've never been thereyou're like, where am I thought
I was gonna see the Rockies.
And you don't really leave.
Carrie Richardson (10:41):
I think that's the point.
I think that every Gaylord waspurpose built to trap people
inside of it.
Like the one in Nashvilleespecially.
Andrew Mora (10:49):
I've heard That's the coolest one.
Carrie Richardson (10:49):
My kids love it there.
We have an event, Channel Con Isgonna be at the Nashville
Gaylord this year.
The way I understand it, youbring your team to PAX 8, you
create some buzz around thebooth.
You collect contact informationusing an iPad or something
similar directly into a webform.
(11:11):
The web form captures theinformation and pulls it
directly into what.
Andrew Mora (11:16):
Our CRM, goes directly into our HubSpot and
creates that appointment.
So everything's already on thecalendar.
We try to supersede Hey, can Ifollow up with you to set up an
appointment?
You wanna do it in a month?
You wanna do it in a coupleweeks?
You let us know what works bestfor you.
So it's a very low pressure typeof thing, how can I do this?
And get you on the calendar inless than 30 seconds.
Carrie Richardson (11:34):
do you round robin the opportunities through
your team or does the person whotalks to the person at the booth
take the demo?
how do you make it fair?
Andrew Mora (11:41):
Great question.
that's why I bring most all of'em, We split up The country in
territory.
So it actually just sticks towhere you are.
what makes it tough, Istypically on your badge, it
doesn't give you the location.
For the most part it's all handson deck, get the information and
then we'll split'em up afteraccordingly to territory.
with this type of show.
(12:02):
It's smack dab in the middle ofthe country.
So you have people from allover, not just in the States and
Canada, but also they had 15countries, represented last
year, for us it's just get thepartner taken care of, make sure
It's a good experience.
then we'll split it off in theback end.
Carrie Richardson (12:17):
What do you do when you go to an event and
you've got what you wouldconsider a poor location?
how do you combat that?
Andrew Mora (12:24):
That's a really good question.
I don't know if I should giveaway the secret.
Carrie Richardson (12:26):
Okay.
You can just tell me after, thenwe won't tell everyone else.
Andrew Mora (12:30):
my CEO's really good at this.
What he does is he'll grab acocktail table and set it up.
In the front of the booth.
he'll put all of our, Papermaterial with some of the swag
on it, and then he'll just postup on there and bring people to
the table.
It seems to The pressure off ofcoming into the booth and people
are like more apt to coming upto a cocktail table.
(12:51):
If you have people that know abunch of people at PAX 8 or know
a bunch of people at name theshow, Have them walk around and
have them bring people in.
partners get so involved withthings that they don't see you.
They mean to come find you, butyou're in the back corner by the
bathroom and they didn't knowthat, They found the secret ice
cream that cuts it off rightbefore your booth.
I definitely recommend to getout walk around and pull people
(13:12):
in, let'em know where you're at.
Carrie Richardson (13:14):
Go stand by the secret ice cream and
eventually you'll get everyone.
Andrew Mora (13:18):
I did actually run into two people that said they
didn't like ice cream atNerdioCon, which I was pretty
heartbroken on.
I do also think vendors reallyrely on their booth And just
stick there.
So I think getting a littleuncomfortable And producing for
yourself also goes a long way.
the partners do have intentionsto talk to you.
It's just, they're so busy too.
And so you have to proactivelygo out there.
(13:39):
I would also recommend to reallyutilize the app.
if someone were to say, HeyCarrie, can you meet me at noon
here?
You're there.
And then you can't find them.
You can hit'em up on the app andfind out where they got caught
up
Carrie Richardson (13:50):
that's good advice.
Andrew Mora (13:52):
That one really helped.
It's so big and I want to go tothe Rewst breakout, or I want to
go to this breakout, or thatbreakout.
I wanna see Matt Lee, break intoa computer like he always does
then you're like, it's in theblue room, in the diamond
hallway, and you're like whereis that?
The app definitely helps
Carrie Richardson (14:06):
Oh, gimmicks Pro or con, are people gonna
wear costumes?
Do you like that sort of thing?
You know what I love?
I love the money booth.
Andrew Mora (14:15):
I saw how much money you made the last time.
That was amazing.
I like some things, like thecostumes are A little much for
me.
Even though I do like the peoplethat do some of the costumes,
The things that I really likeare the claw machines.
I think those are fun.
I do like when you add a littlebit of difference, Sometimes
they're good and sometimesthey're not.
Sometimes the putting ones are alittle tough.
(14:36):
A differentiator is a plus.
cause we all do the same thing,right?
We all have A light upbackground and whatever.
Carrie Richardson (14:42):
Rockefeller!, I got a pull up banner this
year.
Andrew Mora (14:44):
This thing has a million parts.
It has screws and lights and Allthese battery packs One of the
things that MSPs absolutely loveis massive Lego sets, right?
They love'em.
it's wild.
Carrie Richardson (14:56):
they like ribs too, but I'm not bringing
those to the booth.
One of those barbecues would bea good giveaway though.
Andrew Mora (15:02):
what I try to figure out, we did a Concord
which was a really big Lego, Thepartner even bought a box to
bring it on the airplane to takeit back to Canada.
The barbecue would be cool, butlast year, black Point gave away
a motorcycle, Like a Ducati andthe partner happened to be in
London that won.
So it was better for them justto buy him one there then to
(15:25):
ship it.
And I think if you're gonna dosomething massive, Have it as a
display and then ship it to thewinner, That would be my
recommendation.
Carrie Richardson (15:32):
If I look at the PAX 8 vendor list this year,
there's 142 at last count.
I haven't heard of at least ahundred of them.
There's gotta be a lot of peoplecoming into the channel, brand
new to the trade show circuit,and I can stop them from buying
2000 pounds of coffee.
That is not necessary.
(15:53):
You're not gonna talk to everyperson that comes to the event.
Andrew Mora (15:56):
One thing that is a hitter for us is we have these,
Screen cleaners.
People love these things.
for your computer, you justclean your screen with'em.
They love'em.
Carrie Richardson (16:06):
I could use one of those right now.
Andrew Mora (16:07):
Yeah.
So I would say if you're gonnado a giveaway, think of
something practical that's alittle bit different.
Carrie Richardson (16:12):
We will see you at PAX 8 beyond.
Andrew Mora (16:15):
Yeah, we have A little treat for everybody when
they walk in, My CEO's reallyinto race cars.
So we were able to negotiatewith Rob, To get a couple race
cars, Sprinkled throughout TheGaylord.
I think you'll see some brandedrace cars,
Carrie Richardson (16:27):
doesn't Huntress have a race car too?
Andrew Mora (16:29):
they all do DNS filter, Huntress Blackpoint
Carrie Richardson (16:32):
feel like we're missing an opportunity
here.
we could be doing a channel raceof some kind.
That would be a good fundraiser.
Andrew Mora (16:40):
That would be really good.
Carrie Richardson (16:40):
Come on you guys.
Andrew Mora (16:42):
That's what I'm saying.
Carrie Richardson (16:45):
Who should be coming by the booth to say hello
to you
Andrew Mora (16:47):
Essentially, we throw all your security tools
into one environment, validatethat they're on, and that
they're deployed correctly.
We also back that with Awarranty and actual financial
protections.
the ICP from a partnerperspective is anybody that's
deploying EDR, RMM, backup andMFA, right?
So that's literally all of youguys.
(17:07):
Our real goal is we wanna risethe community from a security
perspective and make sure theyare protected with validation.
Carrie Richardson (17:15):
Great.
Thank you very much for being onthe WIN podcast today, and I
look forward to seeing you inDenver in June.
Andrew Mora (17:22):
Absolutely.
Thank you for having me.
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