Podcasts Other Startup Selling: Talking Sales with Scott Sambucci Ep. 28: Converting Free Trials, Soft Contracts & Why Sales Prospects Love Video: An Interview with Showpad’s Louis Jonckheere

Ep. 28: Converting Free Trials, Soft Contracts & Why Sales Prospects Love Video: An Interview with Showpad’s Louis Jonckheere

Published: Jan. 26, 2017, 4 p.m.

About this episode:  Louis Jonckheere is Co-founder and Co-CEO of Showpad. Showpad activates millions of pieces of content for over 850 companies around the world, including Johnson & Johnson, Fujifilm, Audi, Intel, and Kimberly-Clark.    Topics we discussed included:

  • What types of content works best to drive sales prospect engagement?
  • How Showpad uses a 14-day free trial and “Soft Contracts”
  • The importance of video for your sales and communication
  • Company culture and hiring practices
  • Customer engagement and customer success
  Podcast Topics & Notes: 0:00 - Introduction to this episode   3:00 - How Louis answers: “What do you do? What is Showpad?”
  • 90% of sales and marketing content is going unused
  6:00 - Using modern sales tools to gain better insight into customer engagement with marketing tools   9:00 - What’s the ONE content piece a startup should build and use for sales? (Hint: It’s video!)   12:30 - Using video messages with clients   14:30 - Account-based sales and marketing & designing a landing page for each customer (a.k.a “Showcase”)   17:30 - Using Facebook Live, social media & texting   20:30 - Why a 14-day free trial (vs. 30-day free trial or freemium) and “Soft Contracts”   24:45 - Customer Success & Engagement   28:00 - Company culture & hiring techniques      35:00 - Corporate social responsibility as a startup & The Showpad Cares program   39:00 - Biggest lesson and mindset transition from early stage CEO to growth mode, and Showpad’s decision to move to the US   43:00 - Where to go for peer support, help and advice     Websites & Resources mentioned in the podcast:      
Find Louis across the interwebs here: