The idea of "surprise and delight" isn’t new to the world of marketing, but delivering a personalized experience at scale isn’t easy—some would say, it’s not even possible.

From the power of video to the magic of field events, we’re turning our attention to the one marketing strategy that amplifies all others: personalization.

In the latest installment of our Coffee Corner series, we’re breaking down practical strategies for personalizing the customer experience across each of the three key phases:

• Before a prospect becomes a customer
• First six months as a new customer
• Maintaining the relationship long-term

We heard from experts including:

• Kelly Cheng, Head of Marketing, Goldcast
• Sarah McConnell, VP of Demand Generation, Qualified
• Ernest Owusu, Sr. Director, Sales Development, 6sense
• Austin Sandmeyer, Head of Growth & Customer Marketing at Sendoso

You know personalization works. But the beautiful part is, you don’t have to be everything to everyone in order to execute a personalized strategy. By focusing on a small (but mighty) segment of your customer base, you can deliver a standout experience with all the right accounts.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Tips for deciding which accounts to prioritize
• How to send personalized gifts that never feel generic
• Why long-term rapport is crucial to ROI
• Using your data to unlock personalization at each stage of the journey

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In a perfect world, you would tailor each and every email to your prospect’s individual needs. But in a world where there are only 24 hours in a day (and so many dollars in your marketing budget), trying to personalize the experience for every account is an exercise in futility.

At Qualified, Sarah and her team focus their ‘surprise and delight’ energy on a small subset of accounts in their ABM campaigns, usually via direct mail. And they have a high bar.

Here are some simple steps to make sure your investment is worth it:

• Know your limitations. Several industries, government or educational institutions for example, have restrictions around what they can and can’t accept as a gift. Make sure you know the rules in your customer’s industry and/or partner with a vendor who does.
• Know your audience. A bottle of whisky might be an instant hit with a CISO and a ‘meh’ from a CMO. Dive into your data to find out what types of gifts will hit the creativity sweet spot, so that you don’t accidentally over- or under-do it.
• Know your champions. Who do you want in your corner when it’s time to make a decision? Get clear on who your small subset of internal influencers are, then target them with unique gifts catered to their preferences.

Every quarter, Sarah and the team at Qualified sit down and decide what the high value ‘surprise and delight’ piece of each campaign is going to be. From there, they dive into the data and set strict parameters on who the campaign can be sent to and who can utilize it inside the team.

It’s not enough to ship a couple dozen Starbucks cards and disappear behind an email address. To stand out and drive long-term return on your investment in personalization, you’ve got to build a real relationship.

Here are some tips to keep the magic of ‘surprise and delight’ alive, long after the gifts have been sent:

• Get laser-focused on the right accounts. Nothing’s worse than offering a gift for a meeting only to get ghosted immediately after. Instead, look at which accounts are already engaged and interested in your product. “You will see a higher conversion on the accounts that take those meetings turning into pipeline and revenue if they're actually interested in what you're doing,” says Ernest.
• Check out their LinkedIn. Seek out the latest news and updates to find relevant ways to build rapport with your outreach. For example, the team at 6sense sends congratulatory gifts any time a prospect experiences a job change—this can be anything from a gift card to pet toys, based on what they know about the person.
• Use video here, there, and everywhere. Okay, maybe not everywhere. But think about it: prospects are inundated with calls and emails, but not very many SDRs are sending out videos. Try using video not only in your emails but also on LinkedIn. Keep your videos short and focused on something unique to the prospect that you could potentially build rapport off of.

Last but in no way least: stay consistent.

Like all things marketing, once everyone starts doing it, it loses its effect. When that starts to happen with direct mail, or video, or whatever the marketing tool du jour is, real rapport is all you have left.

“We've noticed that, in this age where a lot of activity is kind of scaled out and not very personalized, these approaches go a long way,” says Ernest.

Sending out branded swag six months into a new customer relationship is a great way to set the scene. But beyond the merch and warm welcomes, what else can you do to pave the way for a long-term relationship with new clients?

The right field events help you bring it to the forefront:

• Enlist your subject matter experts (SMEs). Whether it’s a former customer turned evangelist, an internal technical expert, or a podcaster or influencer in your community, giving customers the opportunity to get personal experiences from relevant SMEs can work wonders for powering up rapport.
• Bring customers into your events. Invite them to join as speakers or attendees, or nominate someone on their team. It’s a great way to show them a little love, while elevating their position in the community.
• Make it a 360 experience. Whether it’s a baseball game or a spa day, giving customers the chance to meet each other and share best practices goes a long way. Take it the extra mile by sending out a small gift after the event to thank them for coming.

A couple great examples of high-impact customer events are the 6sense for 6sense and Qualified on Qualified event series teaching customers exactly how to win with their products by sharing their own success stories and pitfalls.

When it comes to keeping customers happy, community is everything.

Ernest runs two communities at 6sense, CMO Coffee Talk and BDR Leader Coffee Talk. (Honestly, is there anything better than caffeine? ☕)

He’s found that by giving customers an opportunity to connect with each other as their renewal date comes closer, they can get their questions answered in a way that feels organic and supportive, never forced.

The following strategies can help you keep your prospects close and your customers closer:

• Energize your communities. If there are already dozens of communities in your space, consider leaning specifically into your customer community. By giving them a regular opportunity to share best practices, you can encourage your champions to speak up about their success with the product.
• Launch a customer advisory board (CAB). Our panelists agreed that CABs are a premium way to collect customer feedback—and not just on bugs and updates. With a tight-knit circle of trusted supporters, you can get deep insights on strategic improvements while delighting top accounts with a behind-the-curtain look at the product roadmap.
• Engage the budget holder early. The last thing you want to do is re-educate someone who’s already bought into your product. If you're doing year-long contracts, aim to start having renewal conversations at least three months in advance.
• Put your product and customer data to work. Use data to understand where each customer stands in terms of adoption and prioritize your outreach accordingly. Again, you don’t need to attack everyone in your customer base. Focus on the right accounts, syncing product and personalization nuggets straight into your CRM.

Marketing pros like Austin regularly play back recordings of CSM calls, customer onboarding sessions, business reviews, and more, to pull out any insights into what the customer likes.

Once you’ve got the data you need to personalize the experience, get aligned with your CSMs and account managers to make it easy for them to personalize the experience on their end as well. For example, Austin will pop into Slack and share updates for his CSMs with a quick: here's some cool talking points that can help you understand this person more.

Looking to keep up with the latest trends, tips, and best practices? Coffee Corner was designed for marketers like you.

Every quarter, we dissect the latest top-of-mind topics across demand generation, content, and events. From increasing brand awareness, to developing programs that drive pipeline, scaling content creation, and more, we’ve got the insights you need to stay a step ahead.

Sign up for our next session diving deep into building community and fostering customer relationships. Or, watch the full episode on demand. See you inside!