00:13:38 · Cletus McKeown
[00:13:38] S0: Yeah. Probably a million different ways. Another cool one we're doing is like speed delete. Everyone like says that. I'm going a step beyond that and figuring out like external signals. Like, there's a lot of tools out there that say they have external signals. But anyone who has, like, a real niche of who their ICP is, like, knows exactly what is a real signal. And you might not be able to find that on Perplexity or in, like, Lemlist or whatever. So you... I've... We built our own. So I came up with a list of about, I wanna say, like, 75 signals that tells me something is a really good brand that will be a fit. Maybe not their button... Maybe not they're buying right now, but, like, whether it's, like, what they're advertising on Meta or things in the news or we see that they signed up with a new investor or that they're working with x, y, or z brand. It's not just like a hiring signal. Like, you need to be, like, actually detailed. So we scrape that across the Internet every day, and then the ones that fit the qualification, I put into, like, feeder signals. And now those are the intent signals. And every single morning, if one of those brands we've identified as, like, being a fit shows an intent signal, we get a Teams notification. Microsoft, unfortunately. Bankers. And Teams notification a couple times a day, every morning and afternoon. And then our sales team says, like, oh, we're in conversation with them. Or, like, no, we wanna hit them up. And if either of those buttons aren't hit, within twenty four hours, it goes into automated campaigns we have on Outreach Tools. So that, like, sets up meetings for us. So speed to lead is like not just like, oh, when someone calls or they book or they, like, submit a form, like, getting back to them. It can also be for outbound. It could be for taking advantage of when they tell you they might be in the market for what you sell.
00:15:22 · Andres Figuera, Cletus McKeown
[00:15:22] S1: That is so cool, man. Because, yeah, because I feel that with the ability with that AI AI has nowadays, it's like you can find a thousand leads, but are they really the specific ones that you need to be able to convert them into a sale or anything like that? So super cool that you've been able to, like, create that whole process and really just focus on the ones that might actually bite, and you'll be able to fish out of the pond in order to to get a sale. And when it comes to trying out new strategies, new campaigns, what are the metrics you pay attention to to know if you should reiterate and keep on doing it, or if you just should leave it at that and not pay attention to what you're trying to do anymore and just try something else? [00:15:59] S0: Yeah. It depends on every company. For us, it's pretty far down the funnel. If I'm seeing that people are, like, that these leads are getting further along, even though the volume might not be huge, I know it's a viable channel, and I tend to give myself, like, ninety days to, like, cut or keep. So for us, it's further down, like, in the, like, financing process that I could tell if someone's a tire kicker or if they're real. And then I and I and I, like, make sure that I'm tracking, like, you have to have your data right in order to be able to do real tests. [00:16:30] S1: For [00:16:30] S0: sure. But, like, know very quickly if something is a dud or dud or a stud, is it, Chae? [00:16:35] S1: Yeah. I think it is. I think it is.
00:16:35 · Andres Figuera, Cletus McKeown
[00:16:35] S1: Yeah. I think it is. I think it is. [00:16:38] S0: Yeah. That's basically how I just test. I give it ninety days, and then I'm seeing if we're actually getting people further down. Like, there's a lot of channels where you might get a ton of leads, but it's all junk. And then that... If you're a smaller team, like, only probably have there's only two full time people on my team, but we have we have an army of freelancers and we have a lot of we have a billion agents, but like you only have so many hours in a day. [00:16:57] S1: No, I get that. I get that. And given and it's given the strategy or the campaign you're running the proper time to if it works or not. So ninety days, think it's a very reasonable time to check out if it's actually working and if it's not, just go try something else. [00:17:09] S0: Or you might have to be honest with yourself, you don't have the time to be trying these new things. [00:17:13] S1: It's true. It's true. And Cletus, now shifting the perspective towards the future, man, what would you like to say that you were able to accomplish by the end of this year, which is, I don't know, two months away now? [00:17:24] S0: Two months away. [00:17:25] S1: Yeah. But, yeah, what would you like to have... What would you like to say you were able to accomplish as the SPP of Growth and Marketing?
00:17:25 · Andres Figuera, Cletus McKeown
[00:17:25] S1: Yeah. But, yeah, what would you like to have... What would you like to say you were able to accomplish as the SPP of Growth and Marketing? [00:17:32] S0: That's a great question. We just finished fourth quarter goals too. So one thing I wanna walk away from the end of this year is having tried two, like, real wild card, high growth potential things. Like, even if both of them fail, but, like, really trying just to real stretch things. Everyone has the traditional channels, but if you're not, like, truly experimenting with something crazy, then you're probably wasting time. Like, when I was at Flowcode, I remember we got a couple cease and desists from, like, this one campaign we run. And everyone was pumped because we ended up getting two enterprise contracts from it. But, like, we literally, like, we went for it. And I think you have to do that if you ever wanna, like, start catching the momentum you really need to make a earlier stage tech company have the big kind of cross the chasm, as I say. [00:18:20] S1: I get that. I get... Yeah. Crossing the chasm. That's everything we wanna talk about on this show as well. It's like understanding how you're able to get to, like, the mainstream and how people will really pay attention. So that's nice, man. Like, you really should go for it. And after I hear how you think and where you've been, I have no doubt that you'll be able to do that, man. [00:18:37] S0: I have a couple crazy things that we're gonna try and you might see, but I don't wanna I don't wanna reveal them yet.
00:18:37 · Cletus McKeown, Andres Figuera
[00:18:37] S0: I have a couple crazy things that we're gonna try and you might see, but I don't wanna I don't wanna reveal them yet. [00:18:41] S1: So exciting. So exciting. And, Cletus, I'm noticing we're almost out of time here, but before I do finish the show, did wanna give you the space for you to let anybody who's listening to us, And if they're in the hospitality business or if they're looking for a loan and they're interested in using Bridge or talking to you guys, what would be the best way for them to contact you? [00:18:58] S0: Just bridge.co. Come... You can fill out a request in, like, two minutes, and it'll basically tell you whether or not we can help you or who you should be talking to. Because sometimes equity is the right place. Sometimes it's debt. If you're running a business, you probably don't understand, like, where you should be and what you should be using to like operate the business, you're doing the other part. So let someone actually help you. [00:19:22] S1: Oh, that's amazing, man. So if you heard it here first to anybody who is listening to us, just go to bridge.co and these people can help you even diagnose what you actually need if it's with them or if it's with somebody else. But with that said, Cletus, thank you so much, man, for your time telling us your story, telling us your learnings, where you've been and where you're going. Really excited to see what happens with Bridge, man. So really appreciate it. [00:19:41] S0: Appreciate it. Thanks for it.
00:19:41 · Cletus McKeown, Andres Figuera
[00:19:41] S0: Appreciate it. Thanks for it. [00:19:43] S1: No. No problem at all, man. It's been an honor. And to anybody who is here and listening to us, we appreciate you as well for hopping on these episodes to learn about the different personalities we're bringing on and all the different industries that we're seeing. So with that said, have a good one.