ActiveCampaign Has Robust G2 Evaluations

Final month, our SVP of Product, Kelly O’Connell, spoke on the inaugural US SaaStock occasion. She joined a whole lot of SaaS professionals targeted on development by offering the perfect software program available on the market of their respective classes, which she shared with us was extraordinarily inspiring.

On the convention, Kelly provided her recommendation on the right way to efficiently obtain product-led development, which is ActiveCampaign’s north star. Every part we do, we do as a result of it should make our product higher, and in flip, will make our prospects’ companies higher—serving to them scale efficiently. Throughout a part of her dialogue, she walked the viewers by way of what a customer-driven roadmap seems to be like and the right way to rework to a product-led firm.

A part of how ActiveCampaign achieves that is by way of getting suggestions straight from our prospects, implementing their concepts into our platform instantly, and understanding what they need in future updates and iterations. B2B software program market G2 helps us seize this buyer suggestions by way of their assessment website. Our management group reads each single buyer assessment that is available in so we are able to all perceive the right way to make modifications and enhance sooner or later.

At SaaStock, G2’s CEO and co-founder Godard Abel and our SVP of Product Kelly O’Connell sat down to speak about our partnership, how ActiveCampaign achieved greater than 10,000 4 and 5 star critiques on G2, and the way we use this buyer suggestions to propel our platform ahead each single day.

Try the complete interview beneath!

Godard: Hello! I’m actually excited to be right here stay at SaaStock with my particular visitor Kelly O’Connell. And Kelly is the SVP of Product at ActiveCampaign, an unimaginable advertising and marketing software program firm. And I’m glad she’s right here to share just a few of her secrets and techniques to success for product groups and for patrons. However first, how’s SaaStock been for you so far? 

Kelly: It’s been nice. It’s my first SaaStock. It’s been actually nice to satisfy with founders and leaders in development. It’s nice to characterize Chicago with G2. I feel we’re the one Chicago firms right here. 

Godard: Sure. Now thrilling to have two – you’re additionally a unicorn. Two Chicago unicorns. Yeah. Representing proper right here at SaaStock in Austin. 

Kelly: Sure, it’s been actually enjoyable! Vitality is nice. It was good to hearken to a few of your talks earlier as we speak, and I’ll be talking tomorrow. 

Godard: Wonderful. I can’t wait on your presentation tomorrow. 

Kelly: Thanks. 

Godard: And ActiveCampaign. You’re a chief in advertising and marketing software program, advertising and marketing automation software program. And I feel one of many issues we do love and I’ve met your founder Jason, however we love all of your joyful critiques on G2. I feel you’ve effectively over 10,000 4 and 5 star critiques. 

Kelly: We do. G2 is a superb wealth of knowledge to us on how our prospects are feeling, whether or not they discover worth, the place they really feel ache and so simply actually an enormous assist to our innovation, our providers, and our firm.

Godard: And I do know you might be doing nice on G2, however I additionally know your market of selling software program could be very aggressive. I feel there’s actually a whole lot, perhaps, if not 1000’s of martech distributors listed on G2. And so how does G2 enable you to differentiate? 

Kelly: I feel the sheer variety of nice critiques we’ve seen. I imply, over 10,000 4 and 5 stars critiques is wonderful. However I feel additionally having that perception of the place prospects are discovering worth and, extra importantly, the place they’re discovering ache, simply merely serving to our processes, our groups, our product roadmap, the place we must always focus. And that slew of insights is simply crucial to success. 

Godard: And the way do you make sense of all of the product suggestions you get? And I’m certain you get it throughout channels, not simply from G2.

Kelly: Oh, yeah.

Godard: However how do you, as a Chief Product Officer, how do you make sense of all of the suggestions?

Kelly: It’s one thing that has been necessary to Jason and due to this fact the tradition of the corporate for the reason that starting of 2003 once we began the corporate. And so each assessment, NPS response, CSAT, flows into the complete group. Jason reads each one. I learn each one.

Godard: Wow.

Kelly: And I feel it’s so necessary to listen to prospects in their very own phrases. Far more insightful than studying a report or one thing like that. That could be a summarization. And so I feel simply that ongoing, fixed pulse of buyer voices and suggestions is so crucial. Now, clearly we use it to grasp what ought to we construct, the place ought to we spend extra effort, extra power, the place folks would possibly want worth. How will we lean into that extra? However it’s a fixed pulse with the shopper every single day at ActiveCampaign.

Godard: And that’s wonderful. I imply, Kelly, you mentioned you learn each assessment your self. 

Kelly: Yeah.

Godard: That’s a variety of data. 

Kelly: It’s. And I ping product groups if I see one thing, they need to have their eyes on it. So it builds dialog. So we circulate every part into Slack. There’s a fixed feed after which there may be dialog in there of: Ought to we attain out? Ought to we speak to them? Ought to we be taught extra? 

Godard: And do you reply to a variety of the critiques? 

Kelly: We do. So, we even have our product group responding to all NPS responses and G2 critiques. Possibly a discovery or a fast 1:1 is what we have to perceive extra about the issue. Our product groups are straight participating.

Godard: That’s cool. So that you assign it out and also you be certain the best product individual will get the suggestions after which can also reply. 

Kelly: After all, yeah. We don’t need it to only cease at that one response. We wish to have a dialog with these prospects who’re basically elevating their fingers to get suggestions.

Godard: And one other pattern I feel we’re all speaking about right here at SaaStock is AI. I like that you simply’re having actual human conversations. I feel that’s nonetheless extra valued. 

Kelly: Sure. 

Godard: And I feel it’s so necessary on your tradition of buyer success at ActiveCampaign. So I think about you’re going to maintain doing it. However do you suppose AI is a option to make sense of all that suggestions?

Kelly: Completely. I feel AI will help discover messaging or enable you to get a soar begin, you recognize, edit as an alternative of create. However I feel that genuine human connection continues to be completely crucial. However AI clearly can detect themes and assist with perhaps the right way to make sense of all of it.

Godard: We’ve launched a Market Intelligence product, led by our Chief Product Officer Sara Rossio. 

She’s attempting to assist enterprise leaders – together with her peer product leaders like your self — draw much more perception from all the shopper suggestions.

Kelly: I feel that will be invaluable. You understand, once more, I feel that ongoing pulse is necessary, but it surely will also be what’s final in your thoughts or one thing. So, seeing these tendencies and values is crucial. 

Godard: Switching gears to speak about constructing firm tradition. It’s one thing we’ve fostered at G2 with our PEAK tradition, which stands for Efficiency, Entrepreneurship, Authenticity, and Kindness. At ActiveCampaign, since its founding approach again in 2003, you speak about constructing a buyer centric tradition. When did you be part of Jason on the firm, Kelly? 

Kelly: Eight years in the past. 

Godard: Wow, eight years. And clearly you’ve spent a few years constructing this very tradition, buyer centric tradition. However what recommendation do you’ve? I imply, there’s so many entrepreneurs right here at SaaStock, so many younger firms. How do they construct a buyer tradition like you’ve? 

Kelly: I feel what we realized is as you scale, it’s really easy to get daring into constructing boundaries and silos between capabilities and perhaps even learn a report back to see what’s happening along with your prospects. And I feel it’s been pushing by way of that and breaking these partitions down and getting everybody nearer to the shopper. How do you get everybody participating with the product, with the shopper, even in the event you’re scaling groups and scaling capabilities? And I feel that’s been really easy to fall into. Oh, I work in finance, I don’t want to speak on to prospects. However if you begin constructing that empathy extra straight and also you hear the shoppers and the phrases that they use, I feel it simply builds such a special tradition of what’s necessary. What are we constructing? And so I feel that has been tough however one thing we’ve been actually intentional about how we get extra folks straight, seeing what prospects are saying. 

Godard: I feel that’s fascinating, Kelly. It appears like at ActiveCampaign the secret’s to get everybody, each worker, so even folks in finance, however everybody having conversations with prospects. However do you’ve some mechanisms, instruments to encourage everybody, assist everybody do it? 

Kelly: I feel we proceed to iterate there. So, one factor we simply began earlier this 12 months is my org, the product org is all participating usually in degree one assist. So, they’re seeing ache factors and questions, and that ongoing interplay is even informing our roadmap in actually fascinating methods. One other factor is we constructed kind of a central product enablement group that’s going to steer the complete firm by way of certification on the product, available on the market, on prospects. In order that was created this 12 months.

Godard: Oh wow. That’s actually thrilling. So I feel that’s nice recommendation, Kelly, is to essentially even have mechanisms, proper, to be sure that each worker will get that publicity. And I like your concept of degree one assist, your product folks. They do assist. I bear in mind studying about Jeff Bezos’ Amazon biography. Apparently even Jeff Bezos does that at Amazon. He goes in a name middle for a day and actually learns on the entrance traces. And admittedly, it’s additionally an excellent reminder for me at G2. That’s an awesome concept, Kelly — even getting our product folks into the assist. 

Kelly: It’s actually eye opening. I’m going in each different week for just a few hours and reply tickets. And it feels nice. It feels nice to see their successes and get their wins with them. But additionally, as you notice, wow, this query retains developing again and again. We should always do one thing about that. It’s actually eye opening. 

Godard: So great. Thanks, Kelly, for sharing all this recommendation on this unimaginable buyer centric tradition you construct at ActiveCampaign. And we’re actually excited to see the subsequent 10,000 joyful ActiveCampaign critiques. And we’re so excited you’re a chief on our platform. And I feel it’s all 100% a results of this buyer tradition you’ve, as a result of entrepreneurs love ActiveCampaign, and I can see that’s not by likelihood. It’s due to this very concerted effort, you recognize, you set in to construct the product precisely how the shopper desires it. So, thanks, Kelly. Fantastic to satisfy you right here. 

Kelly: Thanks a lot. We actually recognize your partnership. 

Godard: Thanks. And revel in the remainder of SaaStock.