by David Gittin, CTO
Exciting news! NimblePitch has been named winner of the Metropolitan Business League’s 2014 Extraordinary Startup Award. We are deeply honored to receive this award and we’re looking forward to celebrating with the RVA SWAM business community at the end of the month. According to MBL, “This award recognizes a new or emerging small business that has rapidly distinguished itself. This business has quickly proven itself separate from the rest and put itself on the path to long-term viability.” Governor Terry McAuliff will be the keynote speaker at the awards dinner and reception 7-10pm, Friday, Feb. 28 in the John Marshall Hotel Ballrooms. Please join us! Ticket information is here.Be sure to catch CEO Greg Hofbauer talking about the award on WTVR-CBS 6 on the evening of the 28th. We credit a large part of our success to the support of the Richmond business community as a whole. We’ve had help all along the way from organizations like the GRCC, the Venture Forum, and the Metropolitan Business League; co-working communities such as 804RVA and Dominion Resources Innovation Center; organized programs/events such as the Lighthouse Labs Accelerator (we are an Alpha Class graduate) and RVA Startup Weekend; local business leaders who were willing to take a chance on a startup; and a multitude of other events and opportunities put on by the committed entrepreneurs in the Richmond region. Above all, without the unfailing support of friends and family we would never have made it this far. Thank you!...
by David Gittin, CTO
Most people believe that what they’ve experienced is the norm: Sales: “This is what I’ve seen in the field, so it must be true for everyone, everywhere.” Marketing: “This is what the data shows us. The average buyer wants ______, so all buyers must want it.” Neither is 100 percent correct. Neither is 100 percent wrong. But how do you get the two points of view to concede the other side may have some good intel? It’s difficult finding the perfect blend of data and experience when egos are involved and people feel they must defend their turf (and titles). Several sales experts suggest it comes from the top. The company CEO, says Laura Posey, a business growth expert with extensive experience training sales teams, needs to develop – and articulate clearly – their vision for the company, so the company goals are crystal clear. Then that CEO must tell sales and marketing to come together and sell more. Seems obvious, doesn’t it? But non-collaboration happens seems to happen about as often as collaboration. Ultimately, lack of collaboration leads to failure. Marketing materials don’t work because marketers aren’t hearing prospects’ pain points, so materials are left back at the office or the prospect tosses them in the trash. Sales calls aren’t as successful as they should be because they don’t have the support they need from marketing. Collaboration means working together, it means talking to – and hearing – each other. And it means working toward a common goal. What is your experience with sales/marketing collaboration? How did the CEO’s articulated vision help or hinder...
by David Gittin, CTO
To close a sale, it takes synergy between all three: • A prospect with a problem that needs solving • A marketer to articulate why your company’s solution is better than anyone else’s • And a salesperson to answer questions and help the prospect understand how your solution fits the prospect’s requirements. Seems simple, doesn’t it? Sometimes, though, there’s a gap between those three. Sometimes that gap is a pretty big. Simply making an opportunity to learn about one another’s issues can result a better outcome for the customer as well as the company. In a small company, the silos aren’t as high. There is, by necessity, a lot of cross-pollination between groups. At the very least, they are more likely to run into one another at the coffee machine and engage in a little shoptalk. In larger companies, Sales and Marketing need to make an effort to talk, either through formal channels such as joint meetings, through educational channels such as attending each other’s conferences, and through informal socializing. If you’re in sales, don’t you want all information available to close the sale? Doesn’t your commission and bonus ride on using every tool? If you’re in marketing, don’t you want to know how well your ideas are working out in the field? So open up. Share. Everyone will win....
by David Gittin, CTO
Digital Storytelling means different things to different people. Some see it as some sort of computer-generated, media-rich information that is shared on the internet. Some think it is just video, or a platform for advertising, or an employee communication tool. Sure, it can do all those things, and it most likely will include video (we highly recommend it!), but mostly it’s a new way to think about how to tell your story. Remember those gawdawful filmstrips you endured back in middle school, with the narrative on the separate vinyl record that would ding when it was time to advance the film one frame? How are they different, really, from the slide show you bore your prospects with in a business meeting now that you are grown up? The lights are low, the progression is predictable, everyone is bored silly. Wake ‘em up with your digital storytelling Sure, include your video snippets, but don’t forget to make them interactive, like our CuePoint Videos™. Add multi-layered explanations to your photos, voice-overs, fly-throughs, 360-degree views, animations – whatever you need to tell your story, keep your audience of prospects awake and involved, and showcase how you are better than the rest. Be ready to jump around to answer questions from anyone in the audience, from CEO to engineer to end-user. Be nimble. Close the...
by David Gittin, CTO
It was great to be one of the winners in this year’s RVA Companies to Watch competition, a highlight event put on each year by Richmond, VA’s Venture Forum. We all live for applause, after all. A year ago we could only dream of such a public “Well done.” So, to the Venture Forum, thank you. In this past year we have listened to feedback from friends, family, customers and prospects. We have made improvements, and will continue to make improvements, many based on those comments. That’s the nature of any start-up, particularly in the tech world. We’re seeing success coming down the highway and, because of your help, we’re ready to actively catch it. To each of you, thank you. Without the unfailing support of friends and spouses we would never have made it this far. From friends, it’s been thoughtful, experienced advice. It’s been sharing a point of view and, sometimes, telling us what we don’t want to hear. We appreciate the friendly words, the interest, the willingness to listen to our news and to always be supportive. Thank you. From our spouses, it has been not just the words spoken, but also the words unspoken that have been a huge help. No pressure about getting a “real job”, no questions about when each of us will become a contributing member of the home team (or at least not many). They have kept their doubts to themselves. Their support has also come in the form of staying home while we are out networking, or going to an event where they don’t know a soul, just to show...
