Final month, our SVP of Product, Kelly O’Connell, spoke on the inaugural US SaaStock occasion. She joined lots of of SaaS professionals centered on development by offering one of the best software program available on the market of their respective classes, which she shared with us was extraordinarily inspiring.
On the convention, Kelly supplied her recommendation on efficiently obtain product-led development, which is ActiveCampaign’s north star. All the things we do, we do as a result of it should make our product higher, and in flip, will make our prospects’ companies higher—serving to them scale efficiently. Throughout a part of her dialogue, she walked the viewers by what a customer-driven roadmap seems to be like and remodel to a product-led firm.
A part of how ActiveCampaign achieves that is by getting suggestions instantly from our prospects, implementing their concepts into our platform instantly, and understanding what they need in future updates and iterations. B2B software program market G2 helps us seize this buyer suggestions by way of their overview web site. Our management workforce reads each single buyer overview that is available in so we will all perceive make modifications and enhance sooner or later.
At SaaStock, G2’s CEO and co-founder Godard Abel and our SVP of Product Kelly O’Connell sat down to speak about our partnership, how ActiveCampaign achieved greater than 10,000 4 and 5 star opinions on G2, and the way we use this buyer suggestions to propel our platform ahead each single day.
Try the total interview under!
Godard: Hello! I’m actually excited to be right here stay at SaaStock with my particular visitor Kelly O’Connell. And Kelly is the SVP of Product at ActiveCampaign, an unimaginable advertising and marketing software program firm. And I’m glad she’s right here to share a couple of of her secrets and techniques to success for product groups and for patrons. However first, how’s SaaStock been for you to this point?
Kelly: It’s been nice. It’s my first SaaStock. It’s been actually nice to fulfill with founders and leaders in development. It’s nice to symbolize Chicago with G2. I feel we’re the one Chicago corporations right here.
Godard: Sure. Now thrilling to have two – you’re additionally a unicorn. Two Chicago unicorns. Yeah. Representing proper right here at SaaStock in Austin.
Kelly: Sure, it’s been actually enjoyable! Power is nice. It was good to hearken to a few of your talks earlier at present, and I’ll be talking tomorrow.
Godard: Wonderful. I can’t wait to your presentation tomorrow.
Kelly: Thanks.
Godard: And ActiveCampaign. You’re a chief in advertising and marketing software program, advertising and marketing automation software program. And I feel one of many issues we do love and I’ve met your founder Jason, however we love all of your completely happy opinions on G2. I feel you will have properly over 10,000 4 and 5 star opinions.
Kelly: We do. G2 is an excellent wealth of knowledge to us on how our prospects are feeling, whether or not they discover worth, the place they really feel ache and so simply actually an enormous assist to our innovation, our companies, and our firm.
Godard: And I do know you’re doing nice on G2, however I additionally know your market of promoting software program may be very aggressive. I feel there’s actually lots of, possibly, if not hundreds of martech distributors listed on G2. And so how does G2 enable you to differentiate?
Kelly: I feel the sheer variety of nice opinions we’ve seen. I imply, over 10,000 4 and 5 stars opinions is wonderful. However I feel additionally having that perception of the place prospects are discovering worth and, extra importantly, the place they’re discovering ache, simply merely serving to our processes, our groups, our product roadmap, the place we should always focus. And that slew of insights is simply important to success.
Godard: And the way do you make sense of all of the product suggestions you get? And I’m positive you get it throughout channels, not simply from G2.
Kelly: Oh, yeah.
Godard: However how do you, as a Chief Product Officer, how do you make sense of all of the suggestions?
Kelly: It’s one thing that has been necessary to Jason and due to this fact the tradition of the corporate for the reason that starting of 2003 after we began the corporate. And so each overview, NPS response, CSAT, flows into all the workforce. Jason reads each one. I learn each one.
Godard: Wow.
Kelly: And I feel it’s so necessary to listen to prospects in their very own phrases. Far more insightful than studying a report or one thing like that. Which may be a summarization. And so I feel simply that ongoing, fixed pulse of buyer voices and suggestions is so important. Now, clearly we use it to grasp what ought to we construct, the place ought to we spend extra effort, extra power, the place individuals would possibly want worth. How can we lean into that extra? However it’s a fixed pulse with the shopper each day at ActiveCampaign.
Godard: And that’s wonderful. I imply, Kelly, you mentioned you learn each overview your self.
Kelly: Yeah.
Godard: That’s a number of info.
Kelly: It’s. And I ping product groups if I see one thing, they need to have their eyes on it. So it builds dialog. So we movement every thing into Slack. There’s a fixed feed after which there may be dialog in there of: Ought to we attain out? Ought to we speak to them? Ought to we be taught extra?
Godard: And do you reply to a number of the opinions?
Kelly: We do. So, we even have our product workforce responding to all NPS responses and G2 opinions. Perhaps a discovery or a fast 1:1 is what we have to perceive extra about the issue. Our product groups are instantly partaking.
Godard: That’s cool. So that you assign it out and also you be certain the suitable product particular person will get the suggestions after which can also reply.
Kelly: After all, yeah. We don’t need it to simply cease at that one response. We wish to have a dialog with these prospects who’re basically elevating their fingers to get suggestions.
Godard: And one other development I feel we’re all speaking about right here at SaaStock is AI. I really like that you simply’re having actual human conversations. I feel that’s nonetheless extra valued.
Kelly: Sure.
Godard: And I feel it’s so necessary to your tradition of buyer success at ActiveCampaign. So I think about you’re going to maintain doing it. However do you assume AI is a option to make sense of all that suggestions?
Kelly: Completely. I feel AI might help discover messaging or enable you to get a leap begin, you realize, edit as a substitute of create. However I feel that genuine human connection continues to be completely important. However AI clearly can detect themes and assist with possibly make sense of all of it.
Godard: We’ve launched a Market Intelligence product, led by our Chief Product Officer Sara Rossio.
She’s attempting to assist enterprise leaders – together with her peer product leaders like your self — draw much more perception from all the shopper suggestions.
Kelly: I feel that will be invaluable. You realize, once more, I feel that ongoing pulse is necessary, nevertheless it will also be what’s final in your thoughts or one thing. So, seeing these traits and values is important.
Godard: Switching gears to speak about constructing firm tradition. It’s one thing we’ve fostered at G2 with our PEAK tradition, which stands for Efficiency, Entrepreneurship, Authenticity, and Kindness. At ActiveCampaign, since its founding approach again in 2003, you discuss constructing a buyer centric tradition. When did you be part of Jason on the firm, Kelly?
Kelly: Eight years in the past.
Godard: Wow, eight years. And clearly you will have spent a few years constructing this very tradition, buyer centric tradition. However what recommendation do you will have? I imply, there’s so many entrepreneurs right here at SaaStock, so many younger corporations. How do they construct a buyer tradition like you will have?
Kelly: I feel what we discovered is as you scale, it’s really easy to get daring into constructing limitations and silos between capabilities and possibly even learn a report back to see what’s happening along with your prospects. And I feel it’s been pushing by that and breaking these partitions down and getting everybody nearer to the shopper. How do you get everybody partaking with the product, with the shopper, even in case you’re scaling groups and scaling capabilities? And I feel that’s been really easy to fall into. Oh, I work in finance, I don’t want to speak on to prospects. However whenever you begin constructing that empathy extra instantly and also you hear the purchasers and the phrases that they use, I feel it simply builds such a distinct tradition of what’s necessary. What are we constructing? And so I feel that has been troublesome however one thing we’ve been actually intentional about how we get extra individuals instantly, seeing what prospects are saying.
Godard: I feel that’s fascinating, Kelly. It feels like at ActiveCampaign the hot button is to get everybody, each worker, so even individuals in finance, however everybody having conversations with prospects. However do you will have some mechanisms, instruments to encourage everybody, assist everybody do it?
Kelly: I feel we proceed to iterate there. So, one factor we simply began earlier this yr is my org, the product org is all partaking commonly in degree one help. So, they’re seeing ache factors and questions, and that ongoing interplay is even informing our roadmap in actually attention-grabbing methods. One other factor is we constructed kind of a central product enablement workforce that’s going to steer all the firm by certification on the product, available on the market, on prospects. In order that was created this yr.
Godard: Oh wow. That’s actually thrilling. So I feel that’s nice recommendation, Kelly, is to essentially even have mechanisms, proper, to ensure that each worker will get that publicity. And I really like your thought of degree one help, your product individuals. They do help. I bear in mind studying about Jeff Bezos’ Amazon biography. Apparently even Jeff Bezos does that at Amazon. He goes in a name heart for a day and actually learns on the entrance traces. And admittedly, it’s additionally a great reminder for me at G2. That’s a terrific thought, Kelly — even getting our product individuals into the help.
Kelly: It’s actually eye opening. I am going in each different week for a couple of hours and reply tickets. And it feels nice. It feels nice to see their successes and get their wins with them. But additionally, as you understand, wow, this query retains developing time and again. We should always do one thing about that. It’s actually eye opening.
Godard: So fantastic. Thanks, Kelly, for sharing all this recommendation on this unimaginable buyer centric tradition you construct at ActiveCampaign. And we’re actually excited to see the following 10,000 completely happy ActiveCampaign opinions. And we’re so excited you’re a chief on our platform. And I feel it’s all 100% a results of this buyer tradition you will have, as a result of entrepreneurs love ActiveCampaign, and I can see that’s not by likelihood. It’s due to this very concerted effort, you realize, you set in to construct the product precisely how the shopper needs it. So, thanks, Kelly. Great to fulfill you right here.
Kelly: Thanks a lot. We actually recognize your partnership.
Godard: Thanks. And revel in the remainder of SaaStock.
