Digital Converstations featuring Greg Dickinson CEO of Omedym
Host: Billy Bateman – Billy Bateman is the co-founder and VP of Operations for ChatFunnels, the digital conversation analytics, and optimization solutions provider. He has a background in digital marketing, operations, and entrepreneurship. Billy grew up in Idaho and graduated from Brigham Young University and has a Masters of Business Administration from Boise State University. While at BSU, he completed Boise State’s Venture College Entrepreneurship Program and became a mentor and entrepreneurial lead on a technology commercialization project. He is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys fishing and hunting. He currently lives in Springville, Utah, with his wife, Chelsea.
Guest: Greg Dickinson– Greg Dickinson is the founder and CEO of Omedym, an Atlanta-based SaaS company that is digitizing the product demo. A serial technology entrepreneur, Greg and his team at Omedym are on a mission: to change how companies deliver and customers access information, throughout the customer journey.
Greg earned his B.S. at James Madison University, and his M.S. at Pace University. Since moving to South Carolina, Greg continues to embrace the directive sometime attributed to Abraham Lincoln: “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle”, and has become increasingly involved with Clemson University, as a guest lecturer and mentor, and developing and sponsoring capstone projects for the school’s computer science department
Overview: In this episode our host, Billy Bateman and guest, Greg Dickinson Ceo of Omedym discuss the importance of creating searchable videos, learning to recognize buyer signals and using data to customize each conversation.
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Billy: All right, everybody, welcome to Digital Conversations. Excited to have you listening to the show today. Today we have Greg Dickinson, the CEO and founder of Omedym. Greg, excited to have you. How are you today?
Greg: Great, Billy. Thanks for having us. And looking forward to it.
Billy: Yeah. Really excited to have you on the show, to learn more about Omedym and your approach to engaging customers and really helping them get answers to their questions right away. Which was seen as a big trend in what buyers want today. So first, I want to start off and let you introduce yourself. Tell us a little bit about you and Omedym, Greg.
Greg: Super. Yeah. So, you know, I’m a software person by trade. I’ve been in the business for about 30 years now. As soon as I got out of The United Air Force. I got right into this opportunity In fact, I worked for a company in your neck of the woods down there in outside Salt Lake City, Venafi back in the early 2000s, I was with Ariba, Venafi, different software companies, starting another one in 2007 in the risk management space. And I started Omedym about a year, year and a half ago now. And we’re really focused on the fact that if you Billy you look at the tech stack, right? You look at sales tech stack, the one area that was void of investment, void of automation was the software experience, the product demo. So that’s what we’re focused on. How do we bring that demo a lot higher in the funnel where the buyers want it. And how do we enable companies to scale the demo and get the product to people’s hands? After all, you know, the SaaS world, your buyers are on your Web site for one reason, to buy your software. And so we want to enable businesses to be able to do that in a much more scalable, leveraged, automated fashion. That’s what we’re all about. That’s why we thought great to be on your podcast, which you’re all about digital, digital transformation.
Billy: Yeah. Your product, I’ve worked with it a little bit. We have some of the same customers which is how we got connected. And it’s really it’s really good stuff. Can you tell us before we really get into that? Tell me just what is one thing that if I was to meet Greg, that I would not expect that you do?
Greg: Yeah. So I’m a woodworker. So I actually make furniture and I’m not going to say I’m good at it. But, you know, I’ve been in the software business, and you know, Billy from work that every day your mind is just on the job, right? 24/7, 365. So I kind of start working because when I’m working with wood and saws, I don’t want to cut off any fingers. So I got to stop thinking about work and start thinking about something else. So it really gives me a way to get out of the work force for a little bit. And I’ve made a lot of stuff. But I ask where I joined. I just got I continuously I think part of it also is I like the toys.
Billy: Yeah. What’s your like? The one thing you’ve made. This is “this is my best thing yet”.
Greg: Yeah. So in our kitchen and our house is a 12 foot black walnut table that I made. I get people come over to “wow” the table and I’m like, no, no, I don’t do it for money. I’m not making you one. I’ve also made things like clocks. So, you know, it’s also made us stay United States Mac app with all the quarters, you know, those quarters at state quarters. So display. So fun stuff that just gives me something to do and and kind of take my mind off work.
Billy: I build fly rods and I feel the same way when people are like, “oh, you want to build one for me,” . . . you can not pay me enough.
Greg: That’s right. That’s right. There’s a hobby. Holy cow.
Billy: So let’s get into it. One of the things that we’ve seen and we’ve talked about is that like people want information now and we’ve seen this shift away from point Drift and Intercom. They’ve been pushing this with using bots to connect with people right away rather than fill out a form and wait for somebody to call you back and then walk you through a demo. You’re probably even going to have to be qualified before you get the demo. So that back drop. So, how is Omedym helping companies with their marketing and sales?
Greg: So it follows that track. We got connected by mutual customers using chat bots; drift and intercom, etc. The real goal is, when you have someone you’ve done a lot of work to create interest, come to your Web site. And that person is looking for information. And, the chat bots connect right away. Whether it be information or whether to check with the sales rep allowing that person to have a “conversation”. And we’re doing the same thing, but we kind of take it to the next level, which is the product demo. So if someone’s on your Web site, the traditional way is with demo button and everyone knows what happens right on your audience is just cringe because they all know that when you click that button, request a demo, a forum pops up and you got to fill it out and someone gets back to you 24 to 48 hours, or heck a week later to schedule the demo. On the Web site, you want to see the product right away. That’s the first use case that we’re all about is, let’s remove that requested demo form. Very similar to what chat does you know, we got some similar customers that use chat as the beginning of getting them into our products so they can begin to immediately experience a product. What our software really does, is it provides a way for you as a customer. Record your demo. And put on our platform, and then that allows your prospects to ask a question, just like chat. Just ask a question and we call it x-ray technology, where they ask a question that brings them inside the video to the exact moment where that feature or that functional value is being demonstrated or talked about.
So it really brings that product right up to the top of the funnel so that your marketing organization can engage. And, you know, you listen to a lot of the leading marketing firms that talk about what today’s goal is, not necessarily how many, but can you keep them on your Web site? Well, if you can get them in your product and your practice, what you’re selling that accomplishes the goal of marketing, increase, dwell time, decrease bounce rates. Right. And really drive those you know, we call DQL’s, you know demo qualified leads, but empty wells, deaky wells by allowing that product to be that that customer acquisition tool. That’s how we’re. That’s why, you know, you and I get to work through a to go because what you’re doing with your chat box customers. Right. Is really, you know, kind of the complement to what we’re doing work hand-in-hand on within that within that framework.
Billy: Yeah. We have seen that working with the bot to get them into Demo on Demand is a great way to do it. Just do it really, really easy qualify? Make sure this is what they want and get them in there. And then demo and demand is great job of just letting people see what they want to see. And then you can also you guys have an integration where you can use the bot to re-engage people after they’ve been in the product and seen some of what you whatever you can do,.
Greg: So that you can carry on that conversation. Someone comes in, let’s just say they start with a chat. They’ve asked a couple of questions and now they want to see the product instead of it being scheduled for tomorrow, let’s do it right now. And then they’re in the product. They’ve asked four or five questions and now they’re supposed to ask “the buyer question” – how long’s it take to implement? Well, maybe you want to re-engage a chat bot at that point to say, hey, you asked a question. Do you want us to connect you with a sales rep or implantation specialist? So taken the smarts of what Chat is really doing for your business and tying that to the product experience again. Move that buyer further down the funnel in an automated, scalable way.
I think the other area that people forget about is that our research shows that with all of our customers (tens of thousands of demos that have been given with our technology), 42% of people request a demo before 9AM after 6PM or on weekends. So think about that chat. Does the same thing Drift all time? Advertises that notion of, hey, we booked the meeting while you were sleeping, right? So think about giving a demo, that complement of heck, you know that that small business in you know, in a town that doesn’t can’t do their buying during the day because they’re running their business now. You put those two things together and they can actually get the product experience, learn about it, get the interest they want, see how it can add value to their business without you having to, you know, kind of engage with them. And by the way, you’re not there at Sunday morning at eleven o’clock when they may want to, you know, have the time to go do that. So we see a lot of similarities. And it’s all about this now, right. This this this world we all live in where I think whether it’s Amazon or Google or whatever. Right. Taught us that, you know, information is readily available for right now. You don’t need to wait a long time. You can get the information you need right now.
Billy: Yeah. I agree with you. What you do it really allows people just to get the answers to their questions right away, rather than having to wait for the traditional process. And, you know, if I want this demo Saturday, I’ve got to wait till Monday at the earliest to get it. I can just get a taste right now. And the great, great thing we’ve seen is, you know, like people they want the answers says now. If they can’t get the answers on your site and your competitor is making it easier, chances are they’re going to have that first conversation with them. So you want to make it easy to have a conversation?
Greg: And Billy, the other thing that’s kind of relevant too. And I think this is why Drift added some video to their technology and others are as well as that. You know, nine out of ten people, if you ask them, prefer to watch, not read. So, you know, it’s really you’re getting ready to buy software. Let’s just say Billy decides, he wants to buy automated podcast software. Right. How to kind of completely run the whole podcast business? You reading three or four pages about what the software can do. It is OK. But gosh, really, you’d want to actually go in and say, does it do recording, which shows you I do that. Can I do error correction? Does that. Can I do scheduling? Oh, does that. And now you’re able to see yourself using the software. Does it add value to that? That is the question.
So I think that’s where that change is happening, that that this notion of having to read through ten or five pages and think of not just at the beginning of the marketing funnel, but sales, same thing. Right. You want to stay connected with that buyer once you’ve already engaged and they become a prospect and now you don’t get hundred percent their time anymore. You only get 5 percent of their time. What are they looking at when you’re not connected to them? What about when they’re at the decision table or the consensus table or the validation table on a Friday afternoon? Decide which vendor to go with? Would it be better if you had a digital channel that they could refer to for the information, whether it’s a PowerPoint sales deck or it’s that, you know, that Demo they saw a month ago to gosh, gosh, does that software do that in the podcast world?
So it kind of continues on from marketing to sales, customer success, upsell retention. It’s all about the product. And how do you keep that product in front of your buyer along that journey? Think about support. Same thing, right? You. Would it be better to tell Billy how to go fix his podcast software or show him how he can configure your analytics, etc.? So, you know, we see that continuum happening where, you know, we’re all, you know, just become more tuned with watching. And what we do to make that tie from the prospect or customer back to the company is all that interaction. The questions they ask, the topics they look at, the videos they consume, we save all that. So the customer, our customer knows Billy came and looked at podcasts. He had these four questions. You looked at these three topics. He spent 11 minutes and oh, by the way, he invited another buyer on his team to look at the same stuff. Now, I have all that data, so I know a lot about Billy. And when him and I talk, I can have a much better conversation with him and help him with his buying. It’s all about helping buyers buy, at the end of the day.
Billy: Yeah, and having all that information that’s powerful for the sales rep to know exactly what I was looking at, what my journey was. Then they can really tailor their interaction to my journey already. And so I know you’ve already looked at these things. Do you have any questions? That’s really makes the sales reps life a lot easier? If I know what people are or have already looked at and what despite, what’s peaked the interest for them? So that’s a great.
Greg: Experience for both. Right. I mean, think about, you know, if Bill is young and he’s starting a family and he’s looking at a car and he goes the car lot and the salesman starts talking about speeds, 0 to 60 he like gosh, no. I’m actually want to know about safety. Right. I want to know about the airbags and the car seats and the safety. That would be an awkward conversation. Right. But if you have you know, if you have software and you know that Billy was all of the questions he was asking were around safety in car seats and, you know, all those areas, the salesman now can have a pointed conversation with you around what you’re interested in, not just throw stuff out there and hope we see what sticks. Right. So it’s better for both, the buyers it’s not wasted, for sales person it’s not wasted. And that’s kind of, you know, why you’re in the business you’re in because chat does the same thing. Right. That data is is capped so that the salesperson now knows. Right. Those we call buyer’s signals. Right. What was the firing of that conversation?
Billy: For sure, we use a lot of that with chat and help people help our customers see, OK. Here is the journey this person took. And now that you’re chatting with them, utilize that information to make it easy. Yeah. And then video to go back to your customer success. With our customers we’ve found it easier to just send them a usable something like Loom and just send them a video like, oh, here’s how you solve your problem. And it’s better for everybody. It like oh, I can just watch this video and follow the steps much easier than fifteen points in an e-mail.
Greg: Yeah. No. I mean, it’s like, you know. Hey, let me send you the 30 pages structures to your gas grill or let me send you a video to help with the gas go together. I guarantee 99 people out of 100 are going to look at the video to your point. Right. When we were looking at some stuff which if you sent us videos. Right. And what our customers at that, it need to scale that process do is. You could just record all of those, put them in a success portal and your prospect just says, how do I can figure X? How do I add a report? How do I had a user? How it brings him to the exact right video and exact minute within. Maybe that’s why very kind of called x ray because it looks inside the video finds the most relevant content. So yeah, the listen, whether we’re, you know, space or not, the bottom line is that all your you know, your audience should be thinking about the fact that, that’s what people were looking to consume. Right. Not just in marketing, but, you know, down the pipeline as well, down that customer journey, because video is just a much better medium for us to learn and retain.
Billy: For sure. Totally agree on that. So before we wrap up, I wanted to ask you, do you have any stats to validate your success for customers using Omedyn?
Greg: Yeah. So we’ve got a couple. Right. But I’m not gonna mention the names. That’s not that’s not fair. Reasonable. But we’ve got some customers on a couple fronts. Right. First and foremost, I talked about earlier that the industry standard for that requested demo bounce rate is eighty five percent of our customers move that down into the low teens. Right. So there are much more likely prospects are much more likely to engage without that form being between them. We also have seen where a lot of our customers, I’d say the vast majority kind of offer a choice. Now Billy goes to a Web site. It says, you know, ask us a question or know demo. Now you click on it. And what comes up a. You want to schedule the demo the old fashioned way, right? Hey, you want schedule or do you want to see that one right now? We see that about 70 percent actually want to see the demo right now. And even they’ll actually give up their email address in that case. Right. So they’re still willing to opt in if the reward is instantaneous reward is right now. And the other thing that we’re seeing is that when someone experiences and this is a, you know, kind of directly to the to the salespeople that listen to your podcast, it all. O boy, you know, if I if I moved the video or marketing people move, I moved the video, I lose the ability to connect. Right. The answer is actually just the opposite. You’re working with those prospects that would about that would have left your Web site. Once they are engaged with your content of 25 to 30 percent will actually then sign up for the meeting. So they’re doing what we call self-discovery. They’re actually qualifying themselves in. The sales team now gets a much better, better lead. So those are metrics that are actually supporting this notion that we’re not trying to replace anybody we’re augmenting. Right. No different than a chat bot is not there. We place sales is to augment right sales and help them do their jobs better and help the buying experience save for us and the metrics support that. So it’s all about how you make that make it easier for the buyer to buy. Right. So you can sell.
Billy: Yeah, that’s. That’s great. The easier you make it for people just to say this is what I want, the more people you’re going to get to engage. You know, putting that email up and saying you’re gonna have to wait hours or days to see it, that bounce rate is high for a reason. Because we want the answers right now.
Greg: Oh, yeah. There’s some metrics around that. For how long? If you don’t if you don’t respond within like minutes, right. Then your likelihood of winning them as a prospect goes down by a ton, companies have done that research.
Billy: Oh, yeah. Yeah. They at the new doctor Oldroyd’s study five minutes or less and you go up by 400 percent if you wait more than five minutes. So. Yes. Thank you. Greg, thanks for having us being on the podcast. And before we let you go, if there was one piece of advice you’d give anybody about using video for sales and marketing, what would it be?
Greg: Yeah. So, you know, do it. Right. So I think you augment your sales, your channels, your you know, your go to market strategy with the ability to have and I call it, you know, intelligent video or, you know, searchable video. Because static video, people’s attention span is you average watch time on YouTube is two minutes and 37 seconds. So if you do a 30 minute video and the material you want them to see or they want to see is a 10 minute market or 15 minute in a market, they will never watch it. People just don’t watch the 30 minute videos anymore
So my advice is whether it’s our technology or someone else’s, allow that person to have that content pull to them based on their interests, their questions, whether it’s topics, phrases or questions. So, you know, find out more and we’ll all of our stuff is on our Web site. If you’re driving, you can’t remember Omedym. And think of this. My demo spelled backwards. omedym.com. Everything on our Web site. No registration forms, no just demo away. Give us some feedback. That’s how we learn. Is hearing from everybody what’s working, what’s not.
Billy: Ok. Thanks, Greg. And we’ll remember if you want to find out more omedyn.com or connect with, can they connect with you on Linked-In, Greg?
Greg: Absolutely. Greg Dickinson
Billy: Yeah. All right. Well, thanks again, Greg. And we’ll be talking.
Greg: All right. Thanks Billy.