Episode 23

023 Michael Redd - Reaching the Right Audience Through Data, Product-Market Fit, & Creating An Irresistible Offer

Michael Redd is the Chief Marketing Officer at Quala, a customer success platform for SaaS businesses that is powered by intelligence mined from interactions between customers and frontline teams. Prior to his time at Quala, Mike led the Marketing team at Constant Contact.

Today, Mike joins the show to discuss Marketing strategy and how SaaS companies can uplevel their market presence. He touches on the evolution of Marketing, product-market fit, and the value of community for SaaS founders.

Episode Sponsor

Small Fish, Big Pond – https://smallfishbigpond.com/ Use the promo code ‘SaaSFuel’

Champion Leadership Group – https://championleadership.com/

Key Takeaways

01:10 – Jeff introduces today’s guest, Michael Redd, who joins the show to share his background in Marketing, his time at Constant Contact, and the work he’s now doing at Quala

09:44 – Advice Mike would give to other SaaS founders on how to best leverage Marketing

12:28 – The importance of community for SaaS founders and how Marketing has evolved throughout the years

17:18 – Reaching the right audience

20:59 – Jeff takes a moment to thank one of today’s sponsors, Champion Leadership Group

21:43 – How to create an ‘Irresistible Offer’

24:58 – Advice Mike would give to founders who are having difficulties converting potential customers

28:38 – How to know if you have product-market fit?

33:19 – What Mike looks for in building a world-class team

35:56 – Mike’s favorite productivity hack

39:57 – Mike expounds on how he’s able to continue learning while leading

42:27 – The best advice Mike has ever received

43:36 – Jeff thanks Mike for joining the show and lets listeners know where to learn more about Quala

Tweetable Quotes

“One of the things that we put quite a lot of energy into at Quala is what we call, ‘thought leadership,’ and giving back to our broader audience. It’s about creating value for them in a way that we can uniquely provide value with the goal that great brand recognition, ultimately over time, is gonna draw folks into our funnel.” (10:03) (Michael)

“More important is just getting all the input and people you can talk to, right? And, if you have a community with a lot of folks you know, you can go out and ask them questions you’re thinking about. ‘What’s the right product? What’s the right value proposition? Or you can have safe conversations on if you were a buyer in the market, what would get you to, ‘Yes?’ These are all huge questions for SaaS founders to get to very quickly so they can really nail the product- market fit.” (12:47) (Michael)

“In a world of resource prioritization, if you can focus more of that energy on the customers that are gonna be happier with you, stay longer, and ultimately drive more dollars for the business, that’s where you have to place the bets.” (19:20) (Michael)

“Again, there’s no substitute for getting back in touch with somebody. Especially for earlier stage founders, talking to as many customers and prospects as possible is just absolute gold so that you’re building the right thing.” (26:16) (Michael)

“I believe that you find great folks through other great folks. So networking is super important in staying connected out there, not just with your close friends and family and prior colleagues but trying to go to different meetups where you’ll rub shoulders with folks across any type of role.” (33:53) (Michael)