Ken Chow, CRO, Qrvey.
Tell us about your company, your role, and top priorities or initiative over the next six months.
I’m the Chief Revenue Officer for Qrvey, Inc. We provide SaaS software companies a platform that allows them to embed analytic functionality into their products. My role is to oversee the success of our marketing and sales operations. Over the next six months, my major focus will be on optimizing our lead generation programs to drive more product demonstrations to qualified prospects. In addition, I’m focused on implementing a standardized sales flow and ensuring that the team has the tools and training they need to convert profile-qualified leads into active opportunities.
Given the current and/or projected state of the economy, what has been the greatest challenge(s) you’ve faced so far or anticipate in 2023?
As we recognize the stress companies are under to save money, we’ve simplified our pricing terms to remove as much friction as possible, and to allow for customer growth without penalty. This means removing any per-user fees, and simplifying our terms. In addition, we’ve adjusted our marketing content to focus on showing SaaS software firms, who’s products are inherently more prone to churn, how they can add end-user value to their products, so that their offerings are less likely to be trimmed as part of corporate cost-cutting.
Are current market conditions or concerns about the economy later this year impacting your marketing plans and if so, how?
As mentioned above, we’ll be carrying forward with our themes about adding value and “making the cut” (what we actually call our content theme). We’ll also be driving awareness of our pricing structure, which is specifically designed to allow our customers to grow with predictable costs.
As a B2B marketer, what tends to be pressures you experience that B2C or B2G marketers may not understand or appreciate?
In B2B there are three main differences which differentiate the approach. First, the B2B buying process is done via a consensus or different stakeholders. While there may be one main decision maker or signatory, we need to build a value consensus within Development, Product Management, IT, Operations, and in some cases, Finance. In B2C, you’re typically selling to an individual with a single set of buying criteria. Second, building this value consensus in B2B always requires definitive data and proof points, whereas many B2C sales tend to be more emotional. Lastly, the buying cycles in B2C, because of this more structured process, is a much longer selling cycle than in B2C, where impulse buying can be a major factor.
Does PR play a role in your overall marketing strategy and if so, where does it provide the most value OR where does it fall short?
For smaller firms, the greatest challenge is just making sure you’re being included in the search and evaluation process when buyers begin their journey. Without regular and well-targeted visibility, it’s very hard to gain that “critical mass” of market awareness. The hardest part for most firms in generating PR is understanding how to craft stories that hook people, and how to pitch them to publications and networks. It makes the process hard to understand and measure.
Do you or your team currently leverage ChatGPT or another AI tool? How so?
Yes, indeed. We’ve included some basic AI processes in our product from the start, such as natural language processing that yields sentiment analysis, but when ChatGPT and other conversational AIs took off, we began in earnest to test the integration of these programs into our product. They will allow end users to quickly identify outliers, patterns, and forecasts, and even to suggest other questions or ways of visually presenting the findings. Together, these functions will make it even easier for business users to quickly derive actionable information from even the most complex data.
What is the last book you read? What are your summer plans?
The last book I read was “The Punch Escrow” by Tal M. Klein, a near-future sci-fi thriller and gift from my youngest son, who shares a lot of my taste in fiction. This Summer, I’ll be focused on visiting old friends from whom I’ve been separated by the pandemic. There is no more important way to improve your life than to stay connected to the others who matter most to you.
Learn more about and connect with Ken here on LinkedIn.
