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Look! Up in the sky! Is it a bird? A plane? No, it’s a Conversation Intelligence Hero!
Invoca’s new Conversation Intelligence Heroes program gives our customers a platform to highlight the successes they’ve achieved with conversation intelligence technology. It also has perks like personal branding opportunities, VIP invites to regional events, access to private beta programs, and more.
As part of the program, we’re putting a spotlight on our most inspiring heroes. Today’s featured hero is Lorenzo Clark. He’s an ex-NFL player who now serves as National Vice President of Consumer and Business Digital Sales at Windstream Communications. He works for the Kinetic division of the company, which provides premium broadband, entertainment, and security services to residential and business customers in 18 states, primarily in rural areas.
Check out our Q&A with Lorenzo below, where he shares his career highlights, advice to younger marketers, and how Invoca helped him drive innovation faster than a speeding bullet.
Leaders like us carry the burden of ownership, so whether it’s spoken or unspoken, the success or failure will ultimately be attributed to us. Growing up in sports instilled many lessons that translated to the business world. One of them is to take the blame for the losses and give credit to the team for the wins. Fortunately, I’ve had more wins than losses and my career has benefited. Rumor has it that I somehow managed to earn a “sales and marketing guru” moniker on my name. I cannot confirm or deny starting that rumor.
In my first year at Kinetic by Windstream, we ran out of marketing spend in the fourth quarter because didn’t have the level of visibility we needed to effectively manage our budget. We produced a proof of concept with Invoca that projected a 200-basis point increase in sales conversion, a 400-basis point reduction in transferred calls, and a 15% optimization of the marketing spend. We exceeded those goals, produced a positive ROI, and we’ve been partners ever since.
With help from Invoca, we can now tie our marketing campaigns to purchases that are happening over the phone. This allows us to more effectively optimize their media spend and achieve these results:
We also use Invoca for Sales to automate quality assurance to get a complete view of sales agent performance. This has allowed us to coach agents more effectively and achieve these results:
Want to read more of Lorenzo and team’s incredible story? Check out the full Windstream case study here.
Back in 2007, I had the opportunity to join a startup customer acquisition company called Red Ventures. Although I led sales, I was fully immersed in marketing. Little did I know at the time that little ol’ “RV” would become one of the most advanced marketing companies in the world. I learned a lot from my forward-thinking, innovative teammates there and gained a strong understanding of the digital landscape. The marketing strategies I learned in that environment were priceless. Those learnings truly helped me transform from a sales leader to a sales and marketing leader.
Making the transition from the NFL to the business world was challenging until I figured out the parallels. In the sports world, we put our people first, we coach and develop them, and we find ways to win… same as in the business world.
What’s my crowning achievement? Was it launching a 1500+ agent call center for Sprint or another 1500+ agent call center for General Motor Onstar? Was it winning a 40 Under 40 Charlotte Business Journal award in 2010 for propelling Red Ventures to 30% growth and local community involvement? Was it creating and selling a fantasy sports management company? None of the above. The real highlight in my career has come in the form of leading an Employee Resource Group called the Windstream Black Professionals Network.
With the Windstream Black Professionals Network, I have the ability to provide a supportive environment for all African American employees. It’s been very fulfilling to promote opportunities for personal and professional development while enhancing cultural awareness and inclusion across the organization. Creating a Black Business Support Fund in the wake of 2020’s social justice movement to provide grant funding, free internet, and business consultation to black business owners who are the lifeblood of many black communities across our footprint is my crowning achievement.
I’m passionate about family and sports … and not in that particular order. We must work to live and not live to work. It’s easy to lose the forest for the trees but making memories that last a lifetime is the ultimate goal.
Three things come to mind:
Making non-data-driven decisions is the biggest mistake that I see marketers make. Publishing creative that appeals to themselves vs the masses is also a waste of time and capital. Partner with companies that can provide big data and data mining functionality to craft more engaging creative, partner with a company like Invoca to manage the spend, and you’re already ahead of the game.
Learn the foundational concepts of marketing first. Traditional marketing strategy has existed for years because it works. Learn how to effectively manage digital, direct, and other marketing channels but don’t be afraid to test strategies that appeal to Millennials, Gen Z, and even Gen Alpha customers to stay ahead of the curve.
Are you interested in becoming a hero? Turns out you don’t need to get bit by a radioactive spider. You just need to be an active Invoca customer and participate with the community in some of the following ways:
What do you get out of it? Below are some of the perks that Conversation Intelligence heroes enjoy:
You can register to become a Conversation Intelligence Hero here or scan the QR code below. Just remember: with great power comes great responsibility.
