HELPING PEOPLE ISN’T JUST FOR NONPROFITS
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Sharen Murnaghan’s LinkedIn page features the line, “Always be helping.” When you look at Hubspot’s “About Us” page, you’ll notice their vision is to build a company where business is “empathetic, human, and personable.” Do these philosophies sound like they’re in alignment? She and Hubspot both believe that helping others is essential to business success, so it should come as no surprise that Murnaghan is Hubspot’s No. 1 salesperson. When two MIT graduates, Dharmesh Shah and Brian Halligan, realized that customers weren’t responding to tried-and-true marketing tactics — and that Shah’s unassuming blog was driving way more web traffic than sites with huge marketing budgets — they created Hubspot, a marketing and sales software company. Most companies were forgetting about the human element of sales. Instead of helping people, these businesses treated customers like numbers, all in the pursuit of their bottom line. So, Shah and Halligan started a company that would do the opposite. They decided to help other businesses forge human relationships with their customers and create an “inbound world.” Before joining their company, Murnaghan had a successful sales career in the publishing world, but she was ready for something new. She had an impressive amount of sales experience but almost no knowledge of digital marketing, an industry she knew was clearly on the rise. So, “armed with nothing but a desire
to learn and a willingness to work hard,” she enrolled in a digital marketing course, got a certification, and eventually found her way to Hubspot. She started in an entry-level sales position, and, after working hard and spending many hours on continued education, she became their No. 1 salesperson. She’s held the spot ever since. But what got her there? She found success by using the same philosophy that Hubspot was built on. “People don’t want to be interrupted by marketers or harassed by salespeople,” Shah and Halligan say of their empathetic approach. “They want to be helped.” Murnaghan’s interactions with customers hinged on her desire to help others, and she was determined to carry out that mission. Once, she connected a client’s daughter with friends in Canada after learning the girl was starting university there. What lessons can we glean from Murnaghan’s and Hubspot’s success? Perhaps it’s this: Don’t forget about the simple act of helping people. Make this a priority above selling a good or service. As you shape and define your company’s values, hire people who exemplify them. Like Murnaghan, if they live your values, they’ll wow your clients, help grow your brand, and bring you both to the top.
NOT FADS WHY YOU NEED TO KEEP UP WITH TRENDS
Do you remember fidget spinners? Those small, pinwheel- like toys claimed to improve focus by channeling users’ excess energy. Last summer, fidget spinners were a worldwide craze. In May of 2017, fidget spinners appeared in every single slot of Amazon’s top 20 best-seller list for toys. Then, just as quickly as they appeared, their popularity vanished. By October, an eBay listing sported 50,000 premium metal fidget spinners for a total price of $2,500. At one point, those fidget spinners would have sold for at least $15 each. Now, the eBay seller was willing to take a measly 5 cents per spinner just to get rid of them. Collecting dust in warehouses, on store shelves, and atop dollar store checkout displays, fidget spinners are haunting reminders of the danger of trends. Whether it’s “Pokemon Go” in 2016, Pogs in 1993, or tulips in 1593, fads appear suddenly and generate a lot of consumer demand and attention, but they don’t have lasting impacts on the market as a whole. More often than not, companies that try to ride the success of a fad end up taking a big loss. They’re left with overstock they can’t get rid of.
In 2017, livestreaming on social media rocketed into popularity. For years, consumers have sought to participate with the brands and businesses they support. As video content gained steam, livestreaming became the ultimate way to allow genuine real-time engagement. Major brands like Disney and BuzzFeed invested a lot of time in= livestreaming last year and earned billions of views within 30 days of posting new content. To tell the difference between a trend and a fad, Jeffery Phillips, senior consultant at OVO Innovation, recommends asking these four questions: 1. Is this emerging need likely to grow and to sustain itself over time? 2. Is the emerging need based mostly on novelty? 3. Is the need based on political, economic, societal, or technological changes? 4. Will what’s happening shift behaviors or create new needs, new markets, or new customer segments? It can be really tempting to jump onboard with fads, but you don’t want to build your business on something that isn’t sustainable. Look for trends that lead to new markets and learn how you can fill those needs long term.
Trends, however, change the marketplace by shifting the way consumers buy, and over time, they can alter the products and services customers demand.
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