Rachel Ward

#announcements - September 12, 2025 at 11:45 PM

Added thank you!

#general - September 12, 2025 at 11:43 PM

Hello! We use Churnzero for 1-1 comms from CS but not for marketing comms. All mass comms still go through marketo in an effort to streamline all comms within one platform.

I can ask my CS team if this has happened to them. Will report back.

#general - September 08, 2025 at 03:16 PM

I’ve just had a re-org and now own customer education. I’d love to be a part of any conversations around it!!

#10-community - August 28, 2025 at 06:40 PM

Thank you would be great to see how others are showing the business value to senior leaders. I can assume but real world proof is helpful.

If next Friday works Mary can you pls share link

#open-share - August 28, 2025 at 01:39 PM

Congrats!

#10-community - August 28, 2025 at 01:38 PM

GM! Is anyone seeing any amazing business impact to company OKRs from their community? And if so, what are your metrics and how are you tracking them?

#9-lifecycle-expansion - August 26, 2025 at 02:43 AM

And would love to!

#9-lifecycle-expansion - August 26, 2025 at 02:43 AM

Hi! yes, if you get me after my Absorbies trip to Calgary (we are hosting 38 clients in Calgary for our awards program) which ends 9/12 I have time to chat. 🙂

#general - August 24, 2025 at 11:50 AM

I’m in!

#9-lifecycle-expansion - August 20, 2025 at 03:44 PM

You could also look at Iterable's content. There's some good stuff in there sometimes.

#9-lifecycle-expansion - August 20, 2025 at 03:43 PM

What Irwin said. I joined customer marketing communities ages ago to learn more about lifecycle and expansion marketing, but ended up being "one of the leading voices" mainly bc I was one of the few doing it. I've read a few books, but oftentimes they are CS focused by the time I get through the intro. Or sales/demand focused. If there are any good podcasts out there, I'd love ot know about them.

Perhaps (in all my free time) I will start one! Irwin, I nominate you as tribute. You would crush at a podcast on customer lifecycle!

#9-lifecycle-expansion - August 17, 2025 at 10:23 PM

Per usual, I have been very busy with events as we gear up for 4 back to back in the coming weeks. What is everyone else up to?

#9-lifecycle-expansion - August 17, 2025 at 10:22 PM

Thanks Irwin!

#jobs - August 07, 2025 at 04:25 AM

Thanks everyone! We've filled the position. Closing the loop here 🙂

#9-lifecycle-expansion - August 07, 2025 at 04:25 AM

No we did not record. It only ended up being 3 of us and we just chatted about AI

#jobs - July 30, 2025 at 01:18 AM

Thank you!

#jobs - July 28, 2025 at 08:47 PM

Contract opportunity: Marketing Logistics Coordinator (Virtual Event)
Remote – United States & Canada | $5,000 Flat Rate | Aug 12 – Sept 22

We’re hiring a Marketing Logistics Coordinator to support the planning and speaker coordination for our upcoming virtual user summit, Absorb Summit. This short-term contract is ideal for someone with a knack for managing event details, working with speakers, and keeping timelines on track.

Key details:
• Contract dates: August 12 to September 22
• Total hours: ~50 hours over 6 weeks
• Compensation: $5,000 USD flat rate
• Location: Remote (North America, US and Canada)
You’ll own speaker logistics from confirmation to dry runs to post-event follow-up. We’re looking for someone experienced in speaker or event coordination, or with a marketing background, who communicates clearly, stays organized, and knows their way around virtual tools like Zoom.

If you're detail-driven and enjoy bringing order to moving parts, my event manager and I would love to hear from you. DM me here or email at rachel.ward@absorblms.com|rachel.ward@absorblms.com

📎 Full role description attached

Hiring manager: <@U097E3T8NUX>

#9-lifecycle-expansion - July 03, 2025 at 05:29 PM

Hello! Only a few of us showed up so we did not record. We spent some time chatting about AI.

Will be sure to record the next one!

#9-lifecycle-expansion - July 03, 2025 at 05:27 PM

@shetal27 just wrote you a novel. LMK if you have any questions.

#9-lifecycle-expansion - July 03, 2025 at 05:26 PM

My next step is to work with our analytics team to run our campaigns against our CSQLs (upsell leads generated by our CS team... same audience we both target) to see if our campaigns are influencing close rates or deal acceleration.

This way I can showcase how we all work together to close deals AND it will potentially help my team understand which campaigns are most impactful since, until a month ago where all leads started running through our BDR team, AMs were not working our leads/opps.

#9-lifecycle-expansion - July 03, 2025 at 05:24 PM

The total bookings target is a loose goal because our Account management team has to close the leads. And currently they are on the struggle bus of life to close these. Mostly based on internal process gaps, deleting my opps, creating manual opps so I lose attribution, etc. So we keep this goal to monitor bc eventually it will be an indicator of quality, but currently I can't be held accountable for their performance gaps.

#9-lifecycle-expansion - July 03, 2025 at 05:23 PM

If you're interested in how we built this in SF, I can share the deck.

But essentially, bc we work off of contacts and not leads, we generate a task in salesforce (high priority for handraiser, normal priority for engagement, and low priority if we ever want to test something like an intent list in 6sense) that is assigned to our BDRs (we have BDRs focused on expansion... theyre really SDRs) and they work it till it converts or DQs.

#9-lifecycle-expansion - July 03, 2025 at 05:21 PM

Here is our current model (typical demand gen, not a lot of ooos-and-ahhhs here)

#9-lifecycle-expansion - July 03, 2025 at 05:20 PM

My c-suite is allergic to the word influence (though I still work to understand where we influence if only just to know which campaigns are performing), so we measure our expansion marketing performance by MQC value (will explain below) generated, pipeline generated (how are leads converting to opps), and then total bookings (closed-won pipeline from marketing).

• MQC value attainment: Based on a model built by my CMO, we use historical data (ACV of each product add-on and average close rates) to evaluate the value of each lead we generate. Example an MQC (marketing qualified customer, aka expansion lead) for Amplify might be valued at $28k and if it's a handraiser lead close at 30% but if engagement lead close at 20%. An Engage MQC, lower value, is worth $6k for example.
◦ We generate a forecast model that evaluates how many leads we need to generate per product add-on and cross-sell product bucket to reach our MQC value goal, which if BDR team converts at the forecasted rate to opportunity, should then get us to our pipeline goal and if AMs close at their forecasted rate will get us to our bookings target (CW revenue).

#9-lifecycle-expansion - June 30, 2025 at 02:43 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
12-1p ET / 9-10a PT
https://absorblms.zoom.us/j/95243756827?pwd=V0tTN9ZsAR88Tp6xTbu0NmUtZtLWgf.1

Meeting ID: 952 4375 6827
Passcode: 446791

For anyone who's email I do not have.

#9-lifecycle-expansion - June 28, 2025 at 11:23 PM

I’ll send everyone a calendar invite for Monday, join if you still can!

#8-references - June 23, 2025 at 11:24 PM

I cover for my employee but before our team existed the former CM manager had a partner in CS who would run it while out

#9-lifecycle-expansion - June 12, 2025 at 10:52 PM

We can also pick this up post summer!

#10-community - June 11, 2025 at 10:39 PM

Thank you! Cass is OOO but will respond soon I’m sure thanks team!!

#10-community - June 11, 2025 at 05:22 AM

Thanks so much friends!

#10-community - June 10, 2025 at 03:46 PM

Our community manager starts next week and will be focused for the next 8 weeks on research and building a plan! <@U08MKRP1E9J> is new to customer/client enablement marketing, we're stealing her from our CS team.

Anyway, we have to wait to launch till our new product is ready, so hopefully September time frame. That's where we are for now, so Im sure any conversations would be great for Cass (and me if avail) to join to see what others are doing and of course share our own learnings once we get up and launched!

#9-lifecycle-expansion - June 10, 2025 at 03:45 PM

@shetal27 not sure if you saw this thread: https://cmaweekly.slack.com/archives/C06JXSTARJR/p1748889786729939

#9-lifecycle-expansion - June 10, 2025 at 03:44 PM

I am PTO next mon-thurs
then traveling the following wed-fri for an offsite
then Im gone jul 10-22

otherwise yes 🙂 just have a few weeks where im not free

#9-lifecycle-expansion - June 10, 2025 at 02:20 PM

Anyone free the following dates/times for a meetup:
1. 6/23 @ 12-1p ET / 9-10a PT OR 4-5p ET / 1-2p ET
2. 6/30 @ 12-1p ET / 9-10a PT OR 4-5p ET / 1-2p ET
3. 7/2 @ 1-2p ET / 10-11a PT
4. 7/3 anytime after 2p ET

#9-lifecycle-expansion - June 10, 2025 at 02:16 PM

Could be a good roundtable idea @Mary Green (Owner CMAweekly)

#9-lifecycle-expansion - June 10, 2025 at 02:15 PM

We are working on an AI project right now so I might have something more interesting to share with you soon. But today, not so much. Just GPT and Co-pilot for writing and we use Scribe for documentation.

#general - May 30, 2025 at 05:37 PM

1. Different types of VOC content you might create (reviews, case studies, testimonials, etc.) a. third party reviews b. testimonials c. case studies d. infographic and blogs using the above e. video (external) and reference deflection videos (internal use) f. quantifiable customer ROI stats g. press release and media coverage of client successes
2. How you syndicate/distribute this content externally (social, ads, email nurtures, BDR outreach, etc.) a. social b. ads (we have seen a >20% conversion rate on ads using our testimonials and customer ROI) c. email campaigns/nurtures d. sales outreach e. sales enablement documents f. website (microsites/landing pages/leaf pages) g. sales email signatures h. event booth graphics and brochures i. PR and Media outlets/third party publications j. marketing content on website: ebooks/blogs/one-pagers/etc. k. in-app messages
3. How you distribute VOC content INTERNALLY so teams use it a. CSI (weekly sales training) b. Weekly AM/CS training c. GTM Buddy (Sales enablement tool) d. Internal newsletters e. Town Hall (we bring on customers for a live fireside chat in our company townhalls every other month) f. feedback loop with product and Client Sucesss

#general - May 30, 2025 at 05:35 PM

Thanks for sharing

#general - May 30, 2025 at 05:35 PM

interesting perspective!

Not sure how much I agree with PMMs in identity crisis. But definitely some good points for consideration!

#jobs - May 29, 2025 at 06:03 PM

Wonderful I’ll let Kate know :)

#9-lifecycle-expansion - May 22, 2025 at 01:22 PM

@shetal27

#9-lifecycle-expansion - May 22, 2025 at 01:22 PM

Hi friends! Just finishing up my last tradeshow of Q2 and have a bit of breathing room. 😄

Anyone interested in another expansion/lifecycle sync in the next week?

#9-lifecycle-expansion - May 22, 2025 at 01:21 PM

So glad a few of you made it anyway! 😄

#9-lifecycle-expansion - May 22, 2025 at 01:20 PM

Did anyone attend? I had registered so hoping to find the content in my inbox on demand (just got back from some travel)

#jobs - May 22, 2025 at 01:16 PM

Anyone here live in Canada or know anyone looking for a new CM role living in Canada? If so, my friend is hiring!

https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/plootocareers/jobs/4680109008

#open-share - May 02, 2025 at 06:33 PM

plus one!

#general - May 02, 2025 at 06:33 PM

interesting!

#9-lifecycle-expansion - May 02, 2025 at 06:32 PM

Sorry it's been challenging! Im sure you'll figure something out

#9-lifecycle-expansion - May 02, 2025 at 05:50 PM

I think we are all so busy with the way jobs are being cut and people are taking on more, it's tough!

#9-lifecycle-expansion - May 02, 2025 at 05:50 PM

Makes sense, since it's expansion focused. Let me try another where I actually show up 🙃 and then think about promoting it.

As for your calls, are you still doing a sign up where it goes to people's calendars?