David Kirkdorffer (he/him)’s Post

RANT MODE = ON. I'm a little tired of self-aggrandizing posts on LinkedIn. Yes, #LinkedIn is a social platform So yes, sharing personal successes and failures is 100% appropriate. But when I consistently see posts from individuals that seem to tip too far into "it's more about me" than anything else, repeatedly, that's my rant. - We all do it from time to time. That's not my rant. - And I'm not immune from doing this. So, I apologize if I ever come across this way sometimes, too. So, what's the point of ranting about this? Good question. My rant won't change anything. Could it all be a question of tone and phrasing? Probably. Over time feigned humility will be seen through. Anyway. Whatever. You do you. Anything in the "real world" becomes present in the "digital world." So, our online presence will reflect who we are. Of course. And, what rubs me the wrong way may be inspirational to someone else. Maybe I just need to curate my connections. #rant #personalbrand

😩 Most startup demos fail. “Why?” Because they are unmemorable and leave prospects in doubt. “What can you do?” Great question. Answering it is why I wrote: "B2B Demos: The Ultimate List of Dos and Don'ts." 🛠️ It’s a guide that dives into creating memorable demo experiences for your prospects, ensuring your hard work turns into success. It takes thousands of marketing dollars and dozens of sales hours to generate a demo-request. Don’t blow it. In the UK, "white papers" lay out government policies, while "green papers" stimulate discussion on potential policies. This document is my "green paper” on building a better demo experience. 📈 It’s full of ideas to enhance your demo process and spark conversation. Check it out. This is V1. I look forward to your feedback to improve it in V2. Thank you. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 👋 Hi. I'm David. I've been building revenue growth for B2B tech companies through demand creation, messaging, content, and sales enablement for 25+ years. Currently, I serve as a Fractional CMO and advisor to B2B start-ups and scale-ups. Maybe I can help your company’s revenue growth, too. 🚀 If you'd like to get in touch: 📧 send me a DM, or 📅 schedule a chat - calendar link also in my LinkedIn 'About' profile. I look forward to hearing from you! #startups #b2bmarketing #salesenablement #demandgeneration

In the ever-evolving realm of AI, we must not only navigate the fast-changing landscape but also hope that our robot overlords don't develop a taste for sarcasm. 😁

QUIZ: What year is this company and solution from? "Exchange Applications' continuous customer management solution, including its ValEX (value exchange) software and related consulting and integration services, enables businesses to profitably retain and expand existing customer relationships. The software helps to obtain new customers by: - Analyzing databases and identifying growth opportunities, planning and optimizing investments in high-priority customers; - Creating targeted, real-time marketing campaigns; - Selecting the most effective channels of customer communication, and - Evaluating the impact on profitability. " Sounds like a very contemporary offering, right?? Today there's a growing category of B2B RevOps-focused tech messaging along the same lines. The description is from 1998. I led demand generation for this rocket ship. From 40 to 650 employees in 3 years. B2C customers of this company - including Federal Express, CitiGroup, Bank of America, and SaskTel - were then building what B2B firms today dream about. Technology changes. Business problems are more consistent. #b2bmarketing. #startups #revops

Stepping onto my little soapbox for a moment... Ready? The hardest part of working with ChatGPT4o, or Claude3 or any other AI is recognizing when we ask poor or misguided questions. If we don't recognize when our questions are poor or misguided, we won't realize the answers we get will be off the mark. And we risk being seduced by the speed and detail of the responses we receive. The second hardest part of working with AIs like ChatGPT4o or Claude3 or any other AI is articulating a well conceived and insightful question. The more insightful our questions, the more powerful and helpful AIs' responses become. It's like with any tool. The tool facilitates. In the hands of someone skilled, great things can happen. Put the same musical instrument in the hands of a skilled player or a beginner and see the difference. I see working with AIs as much the same - the same tool in the hands of different people gets different quality results. ...stepping off the soapbox. What do you think? Am I missing something?

🎙 Jeff Marcoux kindly invited me to his Marketing Hops Podcast. We covered a lot of #b2bmarketing ideas! Here are some *approximate* time & topic markers: 06:17 - Challenges in Leadership Roles 08:34 - Dimensions of Product-Market Fit 12:27 - Ideal Customer Alignment 15:26 - Evaluating Companies for Fit 17:48 - Messaging and Customer Benefit 21:03 - Understanding Customers 25:29 - Contextual Marketing 27:27 - Key Tools for Modern Marketing 39:20 - Learning and Tinkering with AI 44:41 - Career Advice for Early Career Marketers 47:26 - Balancing Work and Personal Growth 50:21 - Engaging in Remote Work 53:05 - More Thoughts on Career Development 🙌 Thank you, Jeff, for your focus on helping early-career marketers. Link to Podcast in 1st comment! #startups #demandgeneration

Pavilion invited me to share how to achieve full Product Market Fit (PMF). Everybody wants it. But what does it take to get it? In my presentation, I'll discuss: - The five dimensions of full PMF - Who is responsible for PMF - How to measure fit along each dimension - The impact of ICP on PMF Until a startup establishes full product market fit, b2b marketing, demand generation, and sales will be more expensive and less effective. I hope you'll join the session! Learn more? - Link in 1st Comment. #pmf #startups #b2bmarketing #demandgeneration

ChatGPT + Context. Here’s something ChatGPT is doing, the ramifications, and a solution. SITUATION Now and again, you’ll see ChatGPT indicate it’s “Updating Memory”. That notification tells you it’s taking note of something that it will apply in future discussions. It’s a featured designed to personalize and enrich the context of your ChatGPT dialogs. But it’s a two-edged sword. Humans switch context and switch “rules” from situation to situation seamlessly and easily. - Work: Boss vs. Employee; Client A vs. Client B; Trusted Colleague vs. Co-Worker - Home: Spouse vs. Sibling A vs. Sibling B vs. Parent - Writing Styles: LinkedIn vs. Email vs. Landing Page, etc… ChatGPT doesn’t do this seamlessly. You will need to guide it. RAMIFICATIONS The impact? ChatGPT will apply memory references to the wrong contexts. - Applying a personal LinkedIn writing style for your company Landing Page. - Applying Product A personas/ICP when you are in a dialog about Product B. - Applying one-time instructions all to future dialogs. As you can see, the impacts can be important. SOLUTION The easiest way to classify memory references is to: 1. Ask ChatGPT to list what it's accumulated. 2. Copy that into a document. 3. Create logical categories and organize the references. - For example: Personal; Work; Product A; Product B; Various writing preferences...  4. Place each memory reference into a category. 5. Upload the updated, categorized document. 6. Navigate to "Settings" -> "Personalization" -> "Manage" to see these memory references and delete duplicates that are not categorized, along with unwanted references. You can even create a memory reference so that ChatGPT henceforth asks you which category to use whenever it wants to save a memory reference. By naming categories of memory references you can recall specific categories to be applied to your current context. ADDITIONAL NOTES: 1. You might ask ChatGPT to open each new dialog with you by first asking you for specific contexts you want to work in. 2. You can request ChatGPT to disregard memory references at any point so as to “start fresh” on a topic or situation. 3. You can always ask ChatGPT to identify the memory references it's currently using for you. Anyway, I hope this can be helpful for you. If you work with several clients, business lines, or solutions… they each have a context. You would never think to mix them up. You need to alert ChatGPT explicitly when you switch contexts. Happy ChatGPTing! #chantGPT #B2Bmarketing #generativeai

Pavilion CRO Summit - Boston June 6, 2024. Dear diary, What a day it's been. Woke up extra early to drive into town. Fifty minutes to travel 8.2 miles. Checked in, got my badge and headed upstairs and into a hallway dedicated to some small tradeshow style popup booths and many tables with Pavilion folks chatting. I found Kathleen Booth to let her know I'd made it in. Saw Sam Jacobs and said a very quick hello. Met Boston Chapter co-leader Susan Whittemore and chatted briefly. Actually meeting people who I've Zoom-known, but not met, is really a treat! Before the crowd headed into the main ballroom where sessions would start, I found a good spot near the front. Soon everyone found their seats and then the day of sessions began. A day of short presentations all on CRO level go to market issues. The quality of the speakers was top notch. Each one brought valuable perspectives and insights. The panel sessions were excellent. Smart questions drove valuable shares from experts in their fields. During breaks and lunch more hellos to familiar faces, Lindsey Meyl 💚, Tracy Linne, Bill Kantor, Mark Goloboy... Then back to sessions, panels, and the afternoon ended with refreshments. A really impressive one day event. The team at Pavilion that put this together did a fantastic job. They did some novel things to make networking so easy that I think all the participants noted ideas to try with their one company events. 😀 If you're reading this, and you are not in Pavilion - but you're curious if it could be a good profession community for you and your career, hit me up. I'd be happy to answer your questions and tell you what's in it for you. If time allows, I might share some light notes from the sessions in the next few days. Congratulations Team Pavilion. A very impressive day. #community #gtm #b2bsales #b2bmarketing #startups.