What’s the biggest attraction for you at Dreamforce 2018?
Dreamforce has an infectious energy of other professionals that want to implement change. This energy and excitement attracts companies that want to improve and break new ground, rather than maintain the status quo.
Who are you keen to meet and huddle at the event? Which sections would you be attending?
I’m excited to meet with Mediafly’s customers, prospects and partners. Dreamforce is a rare time where you can get together with this many people in one place.
How do Salesforce trends and technology impact your business?
At Mediafly, we are a user of Salesforce, but also a Salesforce partner. We’re proud to be a driver of Salesforce trends, including the use of artificial intelligence in sales enablement platforms. By having the opportunity to see up-and-coming trends, we’re able to benefit our customers integrating these ideas and trends into future offerings of Mediafly.
How do you plan to extend the benefits of Dreamforce to your employees, customers and technology partners?
Salesforce and CRM is the hub of Sales Enablement. The role of Mediafly is to bring best-in-class sales presentation experiences to customers and partners. Dreamforce stimulates ideas and new capabilities that we bring into Mediafly.
With 6000-plus Martech and salestech companies to choose from, how should new businesses leverage customer review platforms to make better, unbiased decisions while buying enterprise software?
Customer review platforms are one of many sources companies should use to narrow down companies that could be the right fit for their needs. Nothing beats using the software in a real-world context in a pilot/demo situation so you know what you are getting before you buy.
Could you elaborate on the idea of “buyer-drive sales’ journeys? How does Mediafly impact these sales journeys?
Too many sales meetings and presentations focus on the seller, their products and solutions and the pretty PowerPoint presentations they created. A buyer-driven sales journeys occur when every sales meeting and presentation is focused on the buyer and their needs. Mediafly moves companies from static presentations about products and solutions to interactive sales tools that can deliver unique insights about the buyer in every meeting.
Do you think lack of CRM innovation is hurting the martech and salestech ecosystem?
CRM at its core is a central database where customer-related information flows from humans (sellers) and the integrated systems — marketing automation, training, sales enablement, etc. The future innovation of CRM will be in the form of new contiguous solution areas that are tightly integrated and further improve the relationship and engagement between buyers and customers and the awareness companies have about their customers and prospects so they can make more informed decisions. The growth of contiguous solutions does not appear to be slowing. In the next two years, I foresee CRM companies starting to acquire these solutions and making them an integrated part of the CRM core.
Would you provide us your take on turning AI-driven and enabled by 2020?
As it relates to sales enablement and customer relationship, AI and Machine Learning will drive many improvements. AI/ML can identify and make suggestions based on patterns and trends that humans and traditional algorithms might not see. In the near future, AI/ML will be able to identify buying trends across integrated systems such as Machine Learning, Sales Enablement, Training and web browsing so that each informs the collective. For example, marketing campaigns will be automatically adjusted based on what sales content was shown the most in a meeting. And what content a sales rep should present will be suggested by what emails and web pages a prospect has been viewing.
Thank you, Carson! That was fun and hope to see you back on MarTech Series soon.
Carson founded Mediafly in 2006 and has led the growth of its enterprise solutions that is being used by some of the world’s largest and most admired companies. Under his leadership, Mediafly has been ranked four consecutive times in Inc. Magazine’s “5000 Fastest Growing Companies” annual edition. When Carson is not traveling to be with customers, prospects, and shareholders, he spends time with his beautiful wife and two rambunctious children in Chicago.
Mediafly offers sales and marketing a modern selling experience that values the buyer and drives business growth. Using the Mediafly platform, marketing and sales teams at companies including PepsiCo, GE Healthcare, MillerCoors and Charles Schwab, are able to deliver custom, dynamic sales presentations quickly and efficiently, engaging customers with insights that are relevant to them.
Mediafly’s Evolved Selling™ solution transcends sales enablement by incorporating methodologies and technologies that enhance how brands engage with prospective buyers. Evolved selling starts with rethinking the way you interact with customers and empowering your sales team to leave the status quo behind.
The four elements of Evolved Selling are dynamic, interactive, informed and integration. Dynamic sellers can access and assemble content on the fly and pivot in the moment to meet the needs of the buyers. Interactive presentations allow sellers to capture input from the buyer that guide a tailored discussion. When sellers are informed with data from various sources, they can differentiate themselves in the field and teach buyers something new. Integrating a sales enablement tool provides a feedback loop that captures and analyzes each interaction to inform future strategy.
Mediafly’s Evolved Selling Solution offers: – Unparalleled ease-of-use. Mediafly’s intuitive customer interface acts as an extension of your marketing department. Fully branded applications enable a consistent and improved experience for your prospects and customers throughout the full buying cycle. – Real-time engagement. The Mediafly solution helps sellers become more efficient with their preparation and follow-up of meetings, while improving their effectiveness during each meeting. Sales reps using Mediafly strengthen engagement with buyers by pivoting in the moment to address their needs and share relevant and impactful insights.
The MTS Martech Interview Series is a fun Q&A style chat which we really enjoy doing with martech leaders. With inspiration from Lifehacker’s How I work interviews, the MarTech Series Interviews follows a two part format On Marketing Technology, and This Is How I Work. The format was chosen because when we decided to start an interview series with the biggest and brightest minds in martech – we wanted to get insight into two areas … one – their ideas on marketing tech and two – insights into the philosophy and methods that make these leaders tick.
