May 6 @ 10:00AM PT
VP of Marketing · Outtake
Hi all, I'm Christopher C. Hines, VP of Strategy & Marketing @ Outtake:
Often my sales team goes up against competition that undercuts our pricing and heavily so. The buying decision quickly comes down to "who's proffering the cheapest price" -- platform value communication is rarely successful. How does one navigate this situation/How have you?
Outtake VP of Marketing | Formerly Cyera, Zscaler, Docker • 1mo
I love this question! I always find it best to avoid the price war if you can. And YES positioning/message can be invaluable here 🙏🏾 My general guidance to you is this. As yourself these questions: “Can I change the problem set to align closer to my core competency?” - if you’re trying to win a deal where the competitor has defined the problem set, you’ve already lost. Take back control! Define the problem set the customer SHOULD be thinking about, and win the deal that way. “Can I shift the con ...Read More
Outtake VP of Marketing | Formerly Cyera, Zscaler, Docker • 1mo
Treat AR like a bullseye program. Success in AR is the ability to get in front of the most influential analysts. Goal your team on getting this face time, and track how often that’s happening. You want to have multiple touch points each quarter with those folks. Some KPIs I track key analyst engagements Mentions in research AR-sourced opps (customers who are referred to you by an analyst) Track all of these well, but the real Valhalla is when you see your architecture, words you used, or your na ...Read More
Outtake VP of Marketing | Formerly Cyera, Zscaler, Docker • 1mo
As marketers your job is to know the market better than anyone else in your company. So, think like an analyst How big is the market in terms of total addressable market? At what rate is it growing? Aka compound annual growth rate Who is the ideal customer profile for this platform? Think both account level (demographics,, psychographics) and at the persona level (the titles that matter most) Who are the biggest players in the space? What are the top use cases? What are the biggest misconception ...Read More
Outtake VP of Marketing | Formerly Cyera, Zscaler, Docker • 1mo
Oh man, such a good one! I think AI will force Product Marketers to evolve. PMM should think like AI architects and the validators. - As an AI architect you define the AI workflows that will help you In your role as a PMM Product launch templates Messaging templates and docs Competitive Intel Guidance on new platform capabilities and integrations that will drive more business Content generation Sales enablement Research report development - use a tool like Hex to query your databases to develop ...Read More
Outtake VP of Marketing | Formerly Cyera, Zscaler, Docker • 1mo
You can certainly do this, but if you’re going to go that route I would recommend that instead look at competitors by solution bucket. Which competitors are coming up more for X for Y solution? What about A solution? Or B solution? for each - what are competitors doing well? Are there unique platform capabilities to call out? Are their certain tech integrations they have that make them super sticky? Where have you beaten them historically? Are expectations from the customer side evolving, and if ...Read More
Outtake VP of Marketing | Formerly Cyera, Zscaler, Docker • 1mo
I use a really clear template that looks like this
“We deliver (x) to help (Y) overcome the challenge of (Z) so that they may realize (A) benefit”
This template allows you to address each of the major components that should be included within a positioning statement, and in a way that is short and to the point
Outtake VP of Marketing | Formerly Cyera, Zscaler, Docker • 1mo
In terms of customer evaluations (proof of concepts or vendor down selections) the best way to find this out, is actually to ask channel partners! They have tons relationships with your potential customers. And, since they are super in tune with their accounts and what they are buying, you can use channel partners as your unofficial ears and eyes. Ask them who’s coming up in specific deals they are seeing in your space. Ask them what those companies are doing well. Ask them for areas where you c ...Read More
Looking for how frequency intel gets updated and what tools are used to get the intel as well as latest content to sales. Thanks!
Outtake VP of Marketing | Formerly Cyera, Zscaler, Docker • 1mo
We developed a competitive workflow where we use a combination of Claude Work + Slack + Hubspot (our CRM)connectors + our product + PR. Here’s what I mean by that. Claude Work is the AI tool we use. It has the ability to creates “connectors” with the key tech we use internally. We have a competitive Google drive which serves as the main context bucket for Claude to leverage. We then prompt Claude Work to pull from the connectors to capture the latest around our key competitors based on slack cha ...Read More
Outtake VP of Marketing | Formerly Cyera, Zscaler, Docker • 1mo
My favorite recent use of AI is Claude Work for team prioritization and execution. It’s an incredible tool because you can define connectors and pull data from each into Claude Work, then run analysis on it! So, tracking against my key outcomes is so easy now. I set 3 main outcomes for my team for the year, and quarterly goals that map to each. So, with that in mind, Every Monday morning I run a task with Claude Work that looks across my connectors and tells me (based on last week) what my major ...Read More
Outtake VP of Marketing | Formerly Cyera, Zscaler, Docker • 1mo
Ultimately the biggest differentiator is not your message, it’s how you evangelize and validate your perspective on the market..
You need to define the problem, define the evaluation criteria customers should follow, then discuss how your platform embodies this. But you showcase this through customers who love your product. The customer stories are the ultimate way to win.
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