Introducing Convo for Marketing & Sales Leaders

At Haute Dokimazo, one of our core competencies is facilitating Spontaneous Think Tanks for our community and for clients. Throughout 2020, we began running more of them for marketing and sales professionals (not just event professionals).

Three key learnings surfaced for us:

Marketers told us that they are investing marketing dollars on programs and virtual events, but often the sales team isn't supporting them. Why?

• They don't "get" it or they can't sell it.
• The programs suck.
• The programs weren't properly rolled out to sales.
• We're doing too many programs for sales to support.

Sales teams told us they don't need programs that drive more leads. They need more programs that drive conversions. Why?

• We can't support the volume of unqualified leads marketing is putting into the pipe.
• Our sales team is struggling with making the connections they used to make over in-person experiences (dinners, events, F2F meetings). Virtual events aren't doing anything to replace that.

The real business challenge:

You can't create connections right now.

Strong connections come from shared experiences, but we aren't having those at the moment. Shared experiences create an emotional reaction, but we aren't having those, either.

You've been told you can't make connections this way. You can't really meet new people this way. There's too much noise. There's no way to break through.

But you’ve been lied to. 

This is the perfect time. It’s easier than ever before. 

There isn't too much noise. There is silence and opportunity.

There are no closed doors. When has it EVER been this easy to be invited into someone's home? We see kids, dogs, bedrooms through the screen. You're being told that the virtual world is flat. But now, business is personal. Emotions drive business decisions. And now it's amplified.

You have not figured out the magic formula to help people genuinely connect.

We have. And this year, we're going to share it with you. And best of all, we're going to measure it.

As a marketing or sales leader, you participated in and ran dozens (or more) virtual events in 2020. As we round the corner into 2021, you’re eager to plan what’s next. Your agencies are feeding you ever-more-complex (and more expensive) solutions. 

We believe what you need is more impactful, deeper connections that are only created through a shared experience anchored in conversation. And it doesn’t cost that much.

What if 2021 was the year that you stopped viewing the screen as a boundary and began viewing it as a portal?

A portal to what’s possible. A portal to adventures you couldn’t even take in person? It’s like TV, but not just live… it’s participatory. You are actually THERE with them, and they know it, they can talk to you, and you are part of something magical. 

Convo by Haute Dokimazo

Convo is a research study and 4-quarter business relationship-building program for sales & marketing leaders at growth-driven organizations. We are inviting 200 marketing leaders and their sales counterparts to participate in this year-long program together. You will personally experience incredible adventures that are anchored in conversation. You will experience how sales and marketing teams can work together to bring target accounts to a program and have deep conversations with them. By joining the program, you are also signing up to be a research study participant as we seek to measure the impact of shared experiences on pipeline generation and deal acceleration in a business setting.

Why did we create Convo?

• We spent 2020 creating virtual adventures to amaze and connect people. 
• We spent 2020 creating peer-led conversations to solve problems. 
• We spent 2020 teaching sales teams how to identify and invite customers to these events, and then how to follow up with them virtually to drive opportunities. 
• We spent 2020 teaching marketing teams that webinars didn’t have to be boring. 

We’ll spend 2021 showing you how by inviting you into this four-quarter program to experience it for yourself, and measuring the results. 

Who should join Convo?

Executive leaders of marketing and sales teams who want to fill the void between their two organizations and turn pipeline into revenue faster. This program is targeting Fortune 1000 and similar companies who use technology to scale but human connection to drive business. 

How much does the program cost?

You must apply to participate as we only have 400 openings for the program. There is no monetary cost to participate in this year-long program. Your investment is only time. When you join the program with your colleague, you will both be committing to:

• Join a quarterly 3-hour live virtual adventure and peer-led conversation about marketing + sales challenges (10am to 1pm Central on Feb 23, April 27, July 27, and Sept 28), and complete a post-event survey
• Share one original piece of content (written or by video) about emotions in business or connections in business, and 
• Join a 1-hour strategy session related to a marketing/sales technology topic
• Participate in a research study seeking to measure the impact of shared experiences on pipeline generation and deal acceleration in a business setting

In return, you get to: 

• Join 4 virtual events that don’t suck.
• Share your knowledge with peers who are trying to solve the same challenges you have,
• Find people who have already solved things you’re trying to solve and get their advice/perspective,
• Be part of a community that is there when you need it and doesn’t try to force engagement
• Get access to the research study results in February 2022

And if you choose to, you’ll have the opportunity to participate in an in-person international Capstone Event in November or December 2021. 

Explain the Summit more to me, please!

Sure! Let’s say we want to talk about data and analytics. We could make the analogy with migratory patterns of Great White Sharks and create a webinar with a shark doctor sharing video and explaining how they capture data and how they use it. Then go into a panel discussion about marketing and sales data. 

Or we could host a live experience on Zoom from the decks of a research vessel off the west coast of Mexico as they research sharks live from a shark cage and then bring them onto the boat and tag them. Live. As we watch. As we participate. And then have a conservation with the shark doctor about migratory patterns and eco-conversation efforts. And then go into conversations about marketing and sales data. 

Which event would you rather log into? Yeah, us too. So join us on February 23th to experience a live Great White Shark adventure and conversation about marketing and sales data. Sign up for the full program now, or wait until the February event to commit, but either way, we’re excited to show you a new way to connect with your participants and drive incredible, valuable, profitable relationships in 2021. 

So here’s what we need to know from you

For your programs: Are you ready to see if it's actually possible to measure the impact of shared experiences on pipeline generation and deal acceleration in a business setting?

For your company: Are you and your marketing or sales leader counterpart ready to fill the void between your organizations and try new things in 2021 to drive growth?

Learn more and apply here.

Liz Lathan, CMP is co-founder and CEO of Haute Dokimazo, sparking profitable relationships anchored in genuine connection through rousing shared experiences and conversations. Explore the #HugLife community for event professionals and Convo, a new year-long program for marketing and sales executives. Subscribe to our Journal of Human-Centric Marketing to get weekly content.

Haute Dokimazo is part of Haute Companies, a family of companies that believe in human connection, from events to media (podcasts, videos, and more) to direct mail to swag to entertainment talent management to strategy session facilitation. Contact Liz at [email protected]