STRATEGIC LEADER SPECIALIZING IN
THE WHOLE BRAND EXPERIENCE

My name is Melissa Galland.

I am obsessed with the big picture. It's not just about the quick sale, flashy graphics, and large advertising spends; authentic relationships and brand value fuel success in today's economy.

I am well-versed in data deep dives, working cross-departmentally to enhance the experience, identifying and targeting qualified customers, and finding and deploying creative marketing and sales enablement techniques that drive industry-leading results.

LET MY WORK SPEAK FOR ITSELF

It's easy for anyone to throw out buzzwords and sound savvy. Heck, I have tons of buzz words in my resume. As Frankie J would say, we need more than words...

FLOWERS ARE NICE BUT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IS MORE THAN THAT

Speaking of buzz words, CX has been getting thrown around like a hot potato for the past several years. I know because I am a certified CX Champion (from Forrester). Becoming customer-obsessed isn't as simple as buying them flowers.

Reviewing the qualitative and quantitative data obtained through surveys, analyzing extensive feedback from team members, and a comprehensive study of industry trends, I created a detailed journey map and customer personas. With a better understanding of your core customer and their pain points, it allows for increased customer satisfaction and, more importantly, your bottom line.

While flowers are not everything when you truly know your customer and can time delivery of a gift at the correct spot in the customer journey, the gift could mean even more.

Adair Homes saw improvement in both customer satisfaction scores and referral volume when shifting focus towards experience.

Results Include a 33% increase in referral sales and an 11% gross margin gain.

PERSONALIZED MESSAGING

Customer experience starts long before they are customers. By leaning on AI, you can provide prospects with content that is relevant and timely. Not only is this more beneficial for the lead, but it translates to an increased open rate & higher conversion to SQL.

ONGOING COMMUNICATIONS

Setting up a mix of automated and scheduled personalized emails throughout the entire process is key to providing clear communication and achieving higher customer satisfaction scores.

EDUCATIONAL EVENTS

It doesn't get more personalized than a live event with Q&A opportunities for the potential customer. When done right, an educational event can help bring a customer off the fence and in the door. The data gathered during the Q&A is also a great resource to better understand the questions potential customers may have, which can ultimately help create content strategy and sales enablement strategies.

DON'T JUST ASK, LISTEN

Survey a lot and survey often. Survey customers before the start of the journey, in the middle, and again at the end of the journey. The key comes in the regular ongoing analysis of the survey data to evolve marketing techniques and the experience.

Want to talk more?

melissa@doandbe.agency or 360.448.8575

CONTENT & SOCIAL STRATEGIES DESIGNED TO DRIVE QUALIFIED LEADS

A robust inbound strategy will help you attract, delight, and engage the right customers. Focusing on quality leads increases the sales team's ability to convert them into happy customers.

It all starts with creating great content and sharing it! Many tools, including Google Trends and Keyword, can help create customer-facing content.

Additionally, you can look to your customer and employee feedback to develop content for the areas you want to prioritize or solve. These tools can often be as helpful for lead generation as they are for enabling sales success.

Where you share will vary based on the industry. With careful testing and tracking, the right platforms will present themselves.

Results Include a 1,500% growth in website traffic while decreasing the CPA by 5%.

CREATING ORGANIC ENGAGEMENT

Sometimes your favorite piece of content will be a total flop on social media. It can be heartbreaking, but take that knowledge and try try again. The intent is to get the customers talking and clicking!

WE ARE BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

Social media is not just a place to post your content, talk about your business, pay for likes, and walk away. This is where you build community and relationships with leads that may or may not turn into customers. Meet Tonya, for 3 years she was one of the biggest fans of the social content for Adair Homes. A friendship was formed, and trust was built. It took years, but she continues to be a raving fan of the brand and now a homeowner!

TOTALLY HEALTHY IS A LITTLE BORING

What? Do you ever think about healthy food when hearing about organic content? Maybe it's because I am on a diet. A dietician will encourage a cheat day, but the good news is paid social that looks like organic content isn't cheating and has some fantastic results!

GATED & UNGATED CONTENT

When deploying inbound marketing strategies, gated content is how you collect information. The gate is essential, but for some pieces, you could and should open it up. This will ensure the casual browser can get their questions answered and become a lead when and if the time is right. Don't panic; everyone knows nothing is truly free. Use cookies and follow the lurker and use AI to target them.

THE CONTENT IS NEVER DONE

When customers are responding to your content, you can sit back and watch the leads roll in. Wrong! Rewrite the blog post in a long-form style of turn the high-performing downloadable guide into a video. The timeline guide showed below started as a 300-word post. Now is the highest conversion downloadable guide, multiple blog posts, a high traffic landing page, and integrated into a video with nearly 13k views.

RESULTS ARE WHY
WE ARE HERE

Making friends online is great and valuable to your business, but it's not why we do it. Social media strategies should be growing and improving every single year. When starting at Adair Homes, they had a few hundred followers on Facebook. Wayne Homes wasn't a local competitor but very relevant in the industry, and an inspiration.

BRANDING & DESIGN ARE KEY:

YOU ONLY GET ONE FIRST IMPRESSION

How long is too long to obsess over fonts? It's a trick question; you obsess over them until they are right. You think about it more when you are looking to create a consistent and professional whole brand experience.

When deciding on your branding strategy, there are so many things to consider. What does it mean to you? How will others interpret it? An inspirational board is always a great place to start with design. Do you have buy-in from the entire organization, or can you get it?

Once your branding guidelines, personas, and marketing playbook are complete, they will need to be shared throughout the organization. Even though it is called the "marketing playbook," it is not just for your marketing team. If your tone is "the wise aunt," for example, it will need to be present in the sales pitch, the office decor, the sales contract, and everything in between.

DESIGN IMPROVES
CX & SALES

A great benefit about deciding to be customer-obsessed is that when we make things easier for the customer it also will allow for a decreased cycle time from lead to closing.

THE EVOLUTION OF BRAND STYLE

Eventually, every brand needs a refresh. GM, for example, recently did a rebrand that sparked a ton of feedback from the design community. Much less controversial, has been the slow evolution of the Adair Homes branding guidelines.

CREATIVE VIDEOS TELL YOUR STORY

Everyone does explainer-style videos; they are a great way to explain your services or tell the brand story. Finding a look and feel unique to your brand can be a little more challenging but not impossible.

An image of a still from an explainer video.

THE CUSTOMER WALKS AMONG US

Making strategic choices with signage, layout, and decor are part of the whole brand experience. Every option needs to revolve around the marketing playbook and be designed to make it easier for the customer to understand and ultimately purchase the product.

PRINT STILL SERVES
A PURPOSE

The easy to track ROI and simplified user experience of digital can cause many marketers to want to forget about printing altogether. But this isn't Weekend At Bernie's, and it's not completely dead. Sometimes, we still need physical tools to enhance the sales and customer experience. By consistently updating the customer journey, secret shopping competition, and talking to your team, you can best understand which types of tools are needed.

BRANDING CAN CHANGE NARRATIVE

Sometimes it's more than a refresh that's needed. When an organization is dealing with issues, a new look and feel (and maybe even the name) can make a big difference. When combined with a dated look and feel with some internal division, the necessity for the AFS rebrand is apparent. Ultimately, the decision was made to integrate the name and a portion of the sister company's logo to promote unity.

IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT APPEARANCES

First impressions aren't limited to graphic or interior design. For branding consistency, it's essential to consider the tone used in blog posts, the sales process, and even contracts. The other consideration for tone is your target audience. Every piece of content should have a persona selected in the early planning stages.

Leading by example at an industry trade show.

SALES LEADERSHIP
THRIVES ON CONVERSION

Marketing alone will only get you so far, but it is integral to an effective sales strategy.

As a sales leader, I lean on industry data, relationships, and customer surveys to evaluate the product mix and identify revenue opportunities. Once the concept is established, it is essential to collaborate with the operations team to gain insights on hard costs to develop the proforma before finalizing pricing and taking the product to market.

To further ensure results, the sales team is continually focused on training and accountability. From secret shopping to communications review in the CRM (HubSpot), there are various ways to support the team and ensure key metrics are consistently met.

Results Include the development of a comprehensive Sales Training program and consistent delivery of a 28% gross margin to support industry-leading financial results.

PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE

As a revenue leader, it is essential to stay at the forefront of customer demand. Education on customer demand will influence both the product offering and the sales coaching strategies.

DEFINED PROCESSES & ACCOUNTABILITY

To have a high-performing sales team, I have been responsible for creating processes, leading training programs, evaluating, coaching, and cheering them to success.

IT'S NOT JUST A SONG,
YOU REALLY HAVE TO STAND FOR SOMETHING

The branding process isn't complete until your identity is clearly defined. That's more than approved fonts and colors; it's what you stand for.

If a mission statement and core values aren't authentic, potential customers will know. First, you must establish (and verify the validity of) your mission statement, values, and brand promise. The next step is to shout it from the rooftops; the good news is that if you create a culture that celebrates core values, it will drive company success.

CELEBRATE WHAT MATTERS MOST

The only way to ensure the customer experience matches brand promise is through clear messaging that inspires employees. Employee recognition programs, transparent communication from senior leadership, and ongoing internal communications are just some of the ways to drive success culture.

ONBOARDING & ONGOING EDUCATION

Spreading the company message starts on day 1 but keeps going long after. Collaboration between HR & Marketing will ensure a consistent tone in training new team members.

CLARITY IS KIND

The most successful team members will have a clear understanding of the company mission, values, and goals. How clearly have you defined your core values and related expectations?

MARKETING GETS A DAY OFF

With ongoing education, all the right tools, and an inspiring mission your team members will become brand evangelists. Of course, there is always more work for a creative marketer so maybe no day off just yet!

Are you looking to hire someone like me?