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B2B Agility with Greg Kihlström™: MarTech, E-Commerce, & Customer Success
#60: Anticipating and adapting to change with Kathleen Pomento, ProcureAbility
00:22:40
Agility requires not only adapting to change but also anticipating it. This means understanding the evolving needs of your customers and the broader market landscape, and adjusting your strategies accordingly. Today, we're going to talk about...
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The Agile brand.
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B
Welcome to the B2B Agility podcast, where we look at the factors that drive success in B2B marketing with a focus on the people, processes, data and platforms that make B2B brands stand out and thrive in a competitive marketplace. I'm your host, Greg Kilstrom, advising Fortune 1000 brands on martech, marketing operations and CX, best selling author and speaker. Now let's get on to the show.
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Agility requires not only adapting to change, but also anticipating it. This means understanding the evolving needs of your customers and the broader market landscape and adjusting your strategies accordingly. Today we're going to talk about navigating the complexities of marketing in the procurement services industry, especially in times of economic uncertainty, and how mentorship plays a crucial role in and developing future leaders. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome Kathleen Pimento, CMO at Procurability. Kathleen, welcome to the show.
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C
Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here.
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A
Yeah. Looking forward to talking about all this with you. Before we dive in though, why don't you start by giving a little background on yourself and your role at Procurability?
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C
As you mentioned, I head up marketing for Procurability. It's the leading procurement services firm here in the United States. And we're also global. We have clients around the world. We are owned by Jabil, which is one of the largest manufacturing firms. And what I do here is marketing strategy. Every single thing I do and my team does is to support the business goals. We advance business goals, lead gen. We really are here to serve the business. So those are the things that every day I wake up, you know, thinking about is how we're going to build brand awareness, how we're going to build brand equity, and most importantly, Legion, which again, I am working tirelessly as well as my team to feed the sales funnel and to create those opportunities for engagement.
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A
Great, great. So, yeah, let's dive in here. We're going to talk about a few different things, but I want to start with strategic marketing in the procurement services industry. So, you know, some may not. I'm sure most people listening to this have procured something, so they're familiar with it to at least to that degree, if not, if not more. But, you know, what are some of the unique marketing challenges and opportunity, you know, opportunities that you face in this industry and how do you look at tailoring strategies to address those?
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C
Yeah, I think this is a really interesting question because people often think of procurement as either a check the Box exercise or some corporate red tape they have to go through. And when you think about it, every firm has to buy something, right? You procure something. If you are hired by a firm, they don't go out and go to best buy and buy a laptop. They have these multi year contracts that are something that they negotiate, they renegotiate. They're looking at supply chain resilience, getting one thing from China. Look what happened during COVID 19. What happens is that's your one supplier. There's going to be an issue if there's any sort of supply chain disruption and that could be anything from geopolitical tensions, tariffs, inflation, stagflation, obviously, you know, any sort of pandemic situation. But yeah, we, we go in and ensure that people understand the value of procurement because it's not just about cost savings, it really is about value enablement. When we go in, we are able to transform these organizations within these businesses to really be from tactical to strategic. And that allows them to really bring value to the business and therefore be brought in earlier in the process. So it's not just, hey, can you sign off on this po? We've already negotiated the contract, we found the supplier, like no, bring us in early. And this is where you can really add value is you know, being able to negotiate terms, find the right suppliers, build long term relationships because that's, that's really where the, the magic happens.
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A
Yeah. So I mean to that point then, you know, I, I think there are some misconceptions as you said, about it being a, you know, check the box thing. How much do you find, you know, in selling procurability and your company specific services? How much do you find yourself or you know, your, the marketing needing to convince people of the strategic nature of procurement?
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C
Yeah, we don't have to convince CPOs.
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A
Okay.
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C
The chief procurement officer, they understand what type of value they can extract from their organization. A lot of times like all of us, like we are, you know, putting up fires during the day, we are just challenged with kind of, you know, doing the daily activities that to bring in an expert really allows them to kind of take a step back and look at their strategy, look at their approach. We also help communicate the strategic value to the business in anything we do. Myself included. I have to speak the CEO's language. I could use vanity metrics like impressions, but that doesn't mean anything. I need to communicate what's working. What are the lead funnel and channels we're using MQLs to SQL ratios obviously like the lead Gen, like, you know, things that are in the pipeline and of course wins, like all of those things, like that's the data driven analysis. That really is what I try to communicate because that is so important. And, and that's the same thing with procurement is we help them communicate with their cfo, their CEO, the coo, a lot of times, and we do that in a way that we tailor the messaging. So as you can imagine, each of the key stakeholders, and there's many for procurement professionals, they all have their own KPIs, they all have their challenges, they all have the ROI that they're expecting and we really help them not only deliver the value, but communicate it as well.
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A
Yeah, yeah. And so, you know, of course a lot of what you're talking about too, I would say applies even more broadly to professional services, let's say. So, you know, a lot of people listening, you know, SQLs, MQLs, all of that, you know, they're dealing with, with those things as well. You know, how, how are you seeing, certainly not only within the procurement industry, but more broadly within the professional services. Like how are you seeing things evolving or have they been evolving over the last few years? And you know, how does this affect things like, you know, client acquisition, client engagement?
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C
Yeah, so there's probably a lot to unpack in that question. Of course.
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Yeah, it was a big question, but.
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It'S a good one for professional services. It's a very unique thing that we do. We're not selling a tangible product. We are selling expertise, intellectual capital, and with that comes longer sales cycles, the importance of building meaningful, authentic relationships. We're not looking to be a transactional vendor. We are looking to be a strategic long term partner. And that takes time, that takes time to build that because really you're asking people to trust you, they're bringing you in and if they hire you, they want you to perform because it reflects on them. And then obviously they want you to be able to deliver what we can. So for me, it's about them and not us. We need to understand, we need to listen, understand what their pain points are, what are their challenges, what should they be thinking about, what should they be planning for? How can we help them kind of move the needle to the next step? And we do that in a number of ways. But one of the ways I like to do is in those agnostic case studies. So here's the success we've had at other clients, right? Like they were where you are at point A, they're now at point B. Like, let Me show you how they got there. Right. Like those are real world examples that are hyper focused on their needs. Not just in the vertical as, as far as an industry, but just what they're trying to achieve. And you know, it's not about force feeding these professional services or service offerings. It's really about building that relationship, building the trust, credibility, authenticity, our authority on the matter and being able to communicate that with them and showing them what we can do to help them advance their own goals as well as again, being seen as that strategic partner within the business.
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Yeah, I mean, I would imagine those proof points, I mean I, you know, I know from, you know, even in my experience, you know, the volume of, of customers isn't necessarily high in professional services. So you need quality of, of, you know, references and, and case cases and things like that. So yeah, I would imagine that's a, like, how, how early do you start thinking about that in the, in the relationship of like, okay, well, you know, I guess you're, you're, from the beginning you're thinking about how you're going to demonstrate value to that particular, you know, customer. But you know, when does, when does the consideration of like, how can we tell this story, you know, to others and share how we're able to help companies like this? You know, when does that come into play?
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C
Yeah, and I think, I think you make a good point. A lot of what we do in marketing is storytelling. It's data analysis, it's innovative thinking, it's creative thinking, it's psychology.
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Right.
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So there's a lot of things that kind of go into that and we start thinking about it well before we've actually identified a particular client. And I'll give you an example. One of the things that we lean heavily into is thought leadership. This is again a value add well before someone even contacts us. We have really smart people here at Procurability and they're thinking about things that either a CPO knows they should be thinking about but she just doesn't have the time, or we're thinking about things way ahead of them that they're like, yes, I really want to have that conversation because that's where I need to be and that's where I need to be focusing my time. So our thought leadership is not a hard sale. Like we just have really smart people talking about the timely, relevant topics of the industry of the day and that's what we lead with because again, that's what we're selling. We're selling, selling that expertise that we bring and that Expertise is unique to us. And all of the topics that we talk about, every single thing is geared towards, you know, how do we move them from tactical to strategic, how do we help them advance their goals? And you know, that content is gold for us because whether it's website, social media, organic, paid lead magnets, whatever it is. But I will say it is absolutely vital to me that even if a person reads a blog, reads a white paper, listens to a podcast, watches a webinar, that they walk away feeling it was a valuable use of their precious time. There should be actionable insights, it should be unique, it should be forward looking. And even if they never call us, which I hope they do, and oftentimes they do, whether it's in 12 months or 18 months, when they have a need that arises, I want them to feel like that investment was a good one.
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A
Yeah, yeah. So, you know, building on, on thought leadership. Another thing I wanted to talk about is mentorship. And you know, I know that's something that you do quite a bit. You were recently recognized as mentor of the year by Consulting magazine. So congratulations for that. And you know, what are, what, what have you found as maybe some of the key princip practices that are most effective when, when mentoring others? And you know what, what advice would you give to people out there that you know, would like to mentor? Maybe don't know where to start.
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Yeah, I, my passion is mentoring. I absolutely love it. It's something that I have done my entire professional career, probably even before that at school. And it is about really creating that space for people to grow versus kind of telling them what to do. And I would say for anybody that's interested in becoming a mentor is do it, don't wait. Everybody has something unique to offer, whether you've been in the workforce six months or, you know, 30 years, anywhere in between. Like you have something unique to offer someone. And it really is a gift to be able to give people that, that time. I've grown so much by, you know, my various mentees, learning from them. You know, it is just such, it makes such a difference in people's lives, not just their professional lives, their personal lives. Mentored a woman since she was about 13 through Big Brothers and big sisters, and she became the first person in her family to ever go to college. She's now an entrepreneur, she's a mother, she's super successful. And I just could not be more proud of her. And I just, I have these mentees that teach me so much. But one thing I would say is if you are looking to become a mentor is that it's not just about mentorship. It's about advocacy. What I mean by that is mentoring is a huge piece of that. But you also have to advocate. You have to say their name in a room that they're not in. You have to create those opportunities. You have to introduce them to people, really advocate for them is, I think, another key piece of the mentorship part.
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Yeah, yeah, that's a great point. And yeah, no, I just know I learn way more by teaching than I do any other way. So there's all. I mean, obviously it's not about that specifically, but it's, you know, it's nice to have a win win. Right. So. But yeah, definitely. I mean, that's, that's wonderful that, that you've been able to do that. And, and you know, I would imagine things, you know, anything from, you know, again, just going back to the thought leadership thing. It's. I think there's a lot of really smart people that don't think of themselves in that way. There's lots of other ways to mentor people and lots of things that they can do. But that's one that, you know, that comes to mind for me is just there's a lot of people that they actually have amazing things to say. They just don't necessarily have the confidence and to do that. And, you know, a little mentorship can go a long way as an organization. You know, how do you, you know, I think there's, there's, there's often one or two people within an organization that are, you know, those mentor. Those mentors. That comes naturally. How do you foster a culture of mentorship and, you know, to do anything from, you know, either the, you know, thought leadership to any type of develop talent development and, and, you know, really kind of create the environment that fosters more mentorship.
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C
You have to live it and not just speak it. We have a formalized mentorship program where we match up mentors with mentees very thoughtfully. We have them fill out surveys so that, you know, what are they looking for? We think about, you know, is it somebody that they already report into or, you know, maybe two levels up? Like, we want to kind of separate that opportunity for them to create a network, but also create that safe space. And it is, I think, very important to formalize that. It's one of the easiest ways that you can invest in your people is to have each other learning from each other and helping each other and supporting each other. So I absolutely believe, and I'm Very involved in our mentorship program here, but it's also. It has to be organic. You have to let the relationship evolve naturally. You can't force it. You create that space, and then you listen. Like, I always listen more than I speak because I want to know what the mentees want to get out of the relationship. And that's how we coach them. We say the mentees are driving the relationship, which I think is really important, because I want to know what they want to talk about. You know, and I've often helped with really small things and built trust for the big things. And I think that's, you know, something to. To look for is, like, not, like, how can I force feed something that I'm thinking about? Like, let me know what you're thinking about. Like, what are you challenged with? What do you want to, you know, learn? And I do that with multiple mentees. Like, somebody I'm working on, you know, public speaking with, you know, somebody I'm working with, you know, like, the next step to help someone potentially get promoted. Someone else is actually. Their friend's wedding is going to officiate, and we're practicing and working through that content. I mean, whatever they want to talk about, I will talk about. So, you know, that is. That's really what I try to bring to it, is just show up, be present, and be vulnerable. I tell stories of things, you know, failures that I don't really look at failures. These were things that really helped me learn and to grow as well. And I'm always happy to share, you know, any of those personal stories with my mentees as well.
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Yeah, I think it's there. I could see how there could be a temptation to think about, you know, your own experience and be like, oh, if I could do this over again, I would do it like that. But they're not you. Right. So it's. It's that humility, or, I mean, you. You use some other great words as well, but, you know, it's that humility to say, well, you know, maybe what I want is not, you know, what's best for them or even what's best in general. So that. Yeah. So I. I mean, I would imagine not only does that teach better mentorship, it probably teaches better leadership in general. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So let's go. Going back to the topic of. Of marketing, you know, you had touched a little bit on, you know, in times, uncertainty, lots of volatility in general. Let's just say it's hard for clients to make decisions and make particularly financial decisions. When you know, there, there's a bit of hesitancy, uncertainty. What are some strategies that marketers can use to overcome that? I mean, you know, certainly there are things going on in the world that, you know, can't be changed or circumvented, but business still generally needs to happen. So, you know, how can, how can marketers overcome that to the degree that they can and you know, get clients to make some decisions and kind of build confidence?
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C
I think the key again is really aligning with the business. It's speaking their language and it's aligning what you're doing to what they want to see as far as the organization's goals and achievements and where they want to be. You know, there are a lot of things going on right now as far as, you know, market volatility, comic volatility, supply chain disruption that I mentioned. There's all these things happening, right. Nothing happens in a vacuum. So there's always going to be something external that is going to impact what you're doing internally. And the way to make that is to connect the dots for them is that sure, there are investments to be made, but they either are an offensive play, meaning they're bringing in business, they're growing, you know, geography wise. And then there's defensive plays, market share and competitive analysis. Those types of things where you have to kind of be in the game just to, just to compete. But I think it really is about tying everything you do to the metrics of the business and the goals of the business. We don't sit, I don't do anything that isn't directly advancing the business goals. We're not over here creating marketing collateral. No one's using or creating these events that nobody wants to attend. No, like we are doing very targeted things. One example is we are hosting a CPO Innovation Roundtable in March around the Valspar Golf Championship next year in Florida. That is a very specific unique experience. Experience. Invitation only. And it is something that we do is these tailored experiences versus just hosting events. And do we do webinars? Absolutely. But those are also very thoughtfully done. They're done with thoughtful partners, thoughtful SMEs. And again, it's really talking about topics that people want to hear about. It's really timely. And again, we are adding our own unique perspective and forward looking insights.
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Yeah. And then how do you, from an internal team perspective, you know, there's lots of, you know, anything from AI coming into the workplace to you know, the kind of the downstream effects of industry volatility, economic volatility how do you prepare a team for, you know, the unknown, essentially? You know, how do you, how do you prepare a team that is able to be agile and adaptive and as well as the, you know, the structure to be adaptive to what may come.
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C
It really is key to be agile. We have a whole strategic marketing plan we outline, you know, either by social media listening or by what we're hearing at clients and prospects, by what I'm talking about SMEs. We create a thought leadership calendar. But I leave 15 to 20% of Wiggle Room because we're not just going, you know, we're not just being reactive, but there are things that come up throughout the year. So for sure we're doing that. But I would say in the broader scheme of things, to become agile and to remain agile, the two things that I focus on, I focus on intellectual curiosity. I know that there is always something more for me to learn, for us to learn as a team, for us to learn about how we go to market, about our clients. I'm constantly learning. And I think you have to have that intellectual curiosity and humility to understand that and live that. And then I also think it's about smart risk taking. So I am constantly seeking new ideas, insights, and I'm not afraid to try bold strategies. But I'm also, you know, not afraid to either double down on that or pivot if it's not working the way that I think it's working. And every single thing we do is data driven. So I look, I look at the numbers, I look at, you know, what's happening, look at the market again, like, things are always, you know, shifting. But I think by doing that, like no matter what, even if it's a strategy, you pivot away from, you've learned, you've evolved, you are working to win business. Those are the things that we're constantly looking at as a team. To remain agile is trying to get ahead of the game, we look at, and we're pretty good at figuring out what people are going to be talking about in six months. So here we are over here working on multifaceted thought leadership campaigns, social media plan, PR influencer. I mean, the whole gamut to really play into how are we going to get that content in front of the right people?
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Yeah, yeah, I love it. Well, again, I'd like to thank Kathleen Palmento, CMO at Procurability for joining the show. You can learn more about Kathleen and Procurability by following the links in the show notes.
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C
Thank you. It's been a pleasure.
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Thank you.
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Thanks again for listening to the B2B Agility podcast. If you enjoyed the show, please take a minute to subscribe and leave us a rating so that others can find the show more easily. You can access more episodes of the show at www.b2bagility.com. That's b2bagility.com. While you're there, check out my series of best selling Agile brand guides covering a wide variety of marketing technology topics. Or you can search for Greg Kilstrom on Amazon. Until next time, stay focused and stay agile.
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The Agile brand.