The Customer Engagement Lab

Today, we’re joined by Grant Strayer, founder of Gateway Subs. Grant Strayer built one of the highest-rated sandwich shops in Florida by making every customer feel comfortable (and by serving great hoagies). Grant shares his tips on how he and his teammates quickly develop rapport with each person that walks into their business.In this episode, you’ll learn about:Creating “good vibe” environments for customers Social faux-pas that make people uncomfortable How to best build rapport with your teammates

Today, we're joined by Cat Lim, Creative Director at Pyper Inc, Jan Aclan, Marketing Operations Manager at Multiverse.io, and Ryanne Koch, Sr. Manager, Customer Success at PandaDoc, for a marketing roundtable discussion.In this month's Lessons from the Lab, we try a free trial of Canva Pro, an online graphic design tool for creating social media posts, presentations, videos, logos, and more. The team will reveal their custom Canva creations and the marketing lessons they learned from trialing the tool. Plus, the group shares what "marketing made them buy" with clever advertising they came across in their personal lives.

Today we’re joined by sketch comedian turned business guy Chris Bogue. Chris Bogue is a Creative Advisor at RevPartners. Being on camera can be scary. How do you know what to say? What if you make a fool of yourself? Or worse, what if your audience ignores you? Well, you might want some help from Chris Bogue. Chris trained at Chicago’s Second City Improv, and he’ll help you loosen up on camera to entice your audience with confidence and charisma. Join Travis and Chris to learn how to overcome your fears and hesitations, eliminate awkwardness, connect with your viewer, and capture attention like a pro on camera.In this episode, you’ll learn:Improv comedy techniques that can help you on cameraHow to overcome your nerves by taking action with a video creation exerciseWhy you should always start presenting from the middle of a story

🔗 Links:Hayden | Sunny Collabs | https://www.sunnycollabs.comClaire | Big Brothers Big Sisters America https://www.bbbs.orgJuan | Juan Chamorro Videography | https://juanchamorro.com📚 CHAPTERS1:16 - Scroll-stopping TikTok Ads to generate views and comments5:31 - Basics on planning a video shoot for your company7:00 - Batched content to get 1-month of content in 2 hours8:34 - Video shoots gone wrong10:48 - Get on-camera talent relaxed and ready for the shoot14:10 - Biggest mistakes in planning a shoot16:07 - When should outsource your video marketing?19:50 - Ensuring quality with your video deliverables21:07 - Getting started with influencer marketing collaborations26:07 - Video marketing when you have no budget29:10 - Invest in video gear or hire a pro?36:10 - Publishing, promoting, and distributing video content41:11 - How to measure the effectiveness of video marketing46:17 - Selling a feeling with your video marketing to stand out50:04 - Creating an emotional vibe with your video editing🔥 Let's Connect:LinkedIn ➔ https://www.linkedin.com/company/pandadocTwitter ➔ https://www.twitter.com/pandadocInstagram ➔ https://www.instagram.com/pandadochqFacebook ➔ https://www.facebook.com/PandaDoc💸 FREE STUFFPandaDoc's Free eSign ➔ https://www.pandadoc.com/free-electronic-signature-softwareFree 14-Day Trial ➔ https://www.signup.pandadoc.com

Today, we’re joined by Cat Lim, Creative Director at Pyper Inc, Jan Aclan, Marketing Operations Manager at Multiverse.io, and Todd Clouser, Marketing at Lavender, for a marketing roundtable discussion. In this month’s Lessons from the Lab, we try Vidyard, an online platform for marketing and sales video hosting, enablement, and analytics. We’ll dive into it all – first impressions, what they’re doing right, and opportunities for improvement from a design, social, and operational perspective. In this episode, we cover the following: How to create a media company inside your organization (the right way) Best practices for creating video content on the fly BONUS: The team shares “What Marketing Made Them Buy”

Today, we’re joined by Dr. James Janack. James is a communication professor at Eckerd College specializing in rhetoric and oral communications. Have you ever listened to your voice on a meeting recording and immediately cringed? Us too. In this episode, Travis and James discuss all things vocal delivery, from the rate of speech to volume to tonality. They even listen in on a few product demos and cold calls to analyze what works and what doesn’t during this critical touchpoint. You’ll learn about: What most people get wrong with the vocal image and how to fix How to give your audience a more active role Lessons learned from ancient Greek rhetorical theory

In this episode, Travis chats with Andrew Pearson, the co-founder of LiveNotary (now PandaDoc Notary), about his sales journey and what it takes to survive and thrive post-acquisition. Andrew shares his story about LiveNotary and what's made him successful as a seller pre and post-acquisition.In this episode, you'll learn about the following:Major milestones to hit before getting acquired by another startupThe framework for post-acquisition success as an "acquired" sellerWhy a 'land and expand' approach is the long-term play for this scenarioCheck out PandaDoc Notary to see how he's selling/marketing the product today.https://notary.pandadoc.com/

Attracting new business with your marketing or sales efforts is all about getting noticed. And pattern interrupts are the best way to do that. In this episode, Travis chats with Nick Cegelski, the host of 30 Minutes to President’s Club – the most popular sales podcast in the world. Nick and Travis review pattern interrupts used in sales calls, emails, and content. If you’re looking for some new pattern interrupts to test out, tune in and take notes!In this episode, you’ll learn about:The history of pattern interruptsPattern interrupts you can try out for calls, emails, and contentThe framework for crafting new pattern interrupts

Today, we’re joined by Cassie Tucker. Cassie is the Founder of CAMM Media and co-host of the Marketing Happy Hour Podcast.Ever wonder why the ONLY people interacting with your company on social media are the people that work there? Or maybe you’ve poured your heart and soul into a thoughtful LinkedIn post that completely flopped, and you just can’t figure out why.We always blame the algorithm for poor engagement and stalled audience growth. But if we’re being honest, it might just be your content. In this episode, Cassie and Travis discuss how you can use authentic content to break through the noise and build an audience of loyal fans.By the end of this episode, you’ll learn about:How to use humor to engage your audienceWhy overly curated content flops and authenticity wins every timeFinding the sweet spot between relatable and controversial content

Creating local buzz for your brand can be challenging if you don’t know where to start. We’ve got you covered. In this episode of The Customer Engagement Lab, we chat with Zach Moore, Founder of Coastal Creative, to learn some of the creative marketing tactics his team leveraged to get people talking about their digital media agency at the height of the pandemic. The Coastal Creative team used networking and events to draw positive attention and interest to their brand, and you can do the same. By the end of this episode, you’ll learn:How to come up with ideas to generate hype around your products/servicesFast and simple ways to start networking in your local communityThe importance of balancing profit with community reinvestment

Kevin Kermes built a thriving online community in less than a year. Seriously! He went from 0 to 300,000 subscribers in less than a year. Developing a community is paramount to business success, but it’s no easy task. Kevin shares tips on creating an online community and building relationships at scale in this episode of The Customer Engagement Lab.We'll cover: Harnessing your Zone of Genius to kickstart your community buildingWhat’s the XYZ method, and how to use it to define your ideal audienceTopic Selection 101

Podcasts have been growing in popularity over the past few years, and many brands are experimenting with podcasts to connect with and grow their audience. When done right, podcasts can have a tremendous impact on your business. But is it a good idea for every organization to start a business podcast?Seth Kushner, radio veteran and the (former) host of the Tampa Bay Lightning Block Party podcast, joins the show to discuss who should and shouldn’t start a podcast. Seth and Travis will also discuss alternatives for companies that don’t have the time or resources to invest in podcasting.

In this round-table episode, we test a free trial of the popular note-taking app, Evernote. We’ll dive into it all – first impressions, what they’re doing right, and opportunities for improvement from a design and content point of view. Plus, the group shares what “marketing made me buy.”Cat Lim, Creative Director at Pyper Inc, Anna Gallese, Sales Readiness Program Manager at PandaDoc, and Todd Clouser, Lead Brand Marketing Manager at Refine Labs, join Travis in the studio for this marketing roundtable discussion.

Travis catches up Sally Weiss, Sales Enablement Program Manager at PandaDoc , to find out what really goes into successful sales enablement.In this episode:The true meaning of sales enablementThe plot of Sally White and the Seven Sales Dwarves The need for a therapy channel on Slack

If you think sales is an easy job, try cold calling an angry CMO at 1:22 in the afternoon. If you’re not too busy crying afterward, it might be time to discuss what it really takes to be in sales.On this episode, Travis speaks with Reid Anderson, Enterprise Sales at PandaDoc, about overcoming adversity in sales and how to be more effective at cold calls, demoing, and negotiation. In this episode:How to detach from the outcome and make the next dialPulling the truth out of passionate responsesFacetime cold calling: genius or worst idea ever?

We have the first true software engineer, developer, and software architect on the show today. And no, we’re not going to talk about tips for API products, but we will discuss changing tool providers, a distrust of advertorial websites, and the importance of quality materials in your swag. In this episode, Travis speaks with friend and former colleague, John Adams, Principal Engineer at Fanatics, about awareness and expectations for post-purchase. In this episode:Discussing awareness and product awareness w/ TwitterImportant steps to take post purchaseDistrusting advertorial websites

In this episode, Travis speaks with Jack Shonkwiler, (former) Director of Brand and Digital Marketing at PandaDoc, about the limits of copy, website features that should never be used again, and tips to building a brand while also enabling demand gen.In this episode:Pushing the limits of copyThe worst B2B website featuresBuilding a brand & enabling demand genNon-profit vs for-profit marketing

In this episode, we find out how and why Shawn Herring implemented a B2B secret shopper experiment at PandaDoc. We uncover the biggest gaps and challenges that customers experienced when trying to buy PandaDoc's software. Shawn explains how beneficial it is to carve out a marketing role that is completely dedicated to fixing the buyers journey.Shawn tells us about how coupling prospect and customer data with his secret shopper experiment allowed marketing and product teams to come up with lots of solutions to make buying and using PandaDoc as a first-timer simpler and more useful during a free trial.

Travis sits down with Nick Cisko, Customer Experience Lead at PandaDoc to talk about how he works to create a better buying experience for PandaDoc prospects. They discuss how if businesses want to really see, understand, and fix areas of customer friction -- then they need a dedicated CX person with no biases. Stick around for the end of the episode when Nick and I play a fun game to see where he stands on some of the hottest topics in CX.