Your marketing experience prior to joining DCI runs deep. Could you touch on some of the highlights?
I was lucky enough to get my start in the financial industry just as credit card marketing was catching fire in Delaware. It was there where I discovered that the marketing department was the place for me – energetic, fun and driving revenue (measurable). My next move was to the agency side where I led new business and strategy for Devon Direct and later The Martin Agency. Eventually, I co-founded Fulcrum Analytics to focus on CRM and predictive model-driven marketing.
What was your biggest takeaway from all of that experience?
I learned early that great relationships are what create great agencies. In the world of new business development, executive relationships are everything. The same can be said for a client’s marketing strategy. If you want to build sales overnight and your brand over-time, you must first build strong customer relationships. It’s a simple truth but applying it to your business requires focus and commitment every day.
What is the difference between CRM and CX?
From my perspective, CX is the next iteration of CRM built upon transaction level data that includes not just how each customer behaved (through each channel interaction) but also what their perspective was about the quality of each interaction. We have new communications tools including AI-driven chatbots and programmatic direct mail, e-mail, mobile and social contacts… all of which can be highly personalized by robust CX data.
What brought you to DCI?
I had worked with Nick Lanzi and his amazing team side-by-side with many clients. I knew they understood the value of customer-to-brand relationships and I was excited about where his agency could take CX as a new platform for proactive customer communications. DCI is talented in multi-channel direct marketing and has the strategic and creative know-how to translate CX intelligence into powerful communications. They know how to create an impactful dialog with customers and I understand the expanding world of customer behavior and feedback data that can be used to make those dialogs highly personalized, timely and relevant.
As President of CX for DCI, what’s your #1 one challenge?
Helping more clients and prospects understand how to capture more valuable CX data and better apply CX principals across the marketing spectrum. Senior marketing executives need to be involved and diligent about leveraging CX-driven communications, especially in businesses where conversion rates are critical. Too often, CX becomes siloed within Customer Service or Operations.
What’s one of your goals outside of the marketing world?
I need to go back to New Zealand. I have three daughters who all live in interesting places but when I visited one of them in New Zealand, I became instantly captivated.
Queenstown. NZ
The only thing more impressive than the natural beauty is their sense of humor. It’s everywhere from the street signs to the advertising and to conversations everywhere. “Be amusing or pack your bags” seems to be New Zealand’s motto.
