Episode 1: Client Success
Summary
TLDRIn this insightful conversation, Braden Ashby, Director of Client Services at SEO Works, shares his unconventional career path from sales and public relations to becoming a leader in digital marketing. He discusses the challenges and rewards of client success management, emphasizing the importance of adaptability, communication skills, and continuous learning. Ashby also highlights the unique culture at SEO Works, including their commitment to transparency and client satisfaction through month-to-month contracts. This episode offers valuable advice for students and professionals exploring careers in marketing and client relations.
Takeaways
- 😀 Braden Ashby is the Director of Client Services at SEO Works, where he has been working for almost 3 years.
- 📚 Braden's career path was unconventional, starting in a call center and transitioning through various roles in sales and public relations.
- 💡 He emphasizes the importance of figuring out one's career path before completing a degree to ensure it aligns with long-term goals.
- 🚀 Braden's interest in digital marketing grew during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the increased importance of the digital space.
- 📈 At SEO Works, Braden manages a wide range of clients, from a fishing lodge in Alaska to a mortgage company, totaling up to 107 clients at one point.
- 🤝 Client success involves ensuring clients' campaigns are successful, acting as a middleman between clients and internal teams, and strategizing to meet clients' goals.
- 🧠 Soft skills, such as communication and organization, are crucial in client success roles, while a marketing or business degree can be beneficial.
- 🌟 SEO Works values transparency, results, and loyalty, operating on a month-to-month basis without long-term contracts to maintain high client satisfaction.
- 🏅 Braden finds his job fulfilling because he can see the direct impact of his work and values the company's ethical approach to client relations.
- 💼 SEO Works offers a commission-based structure, allowing client success managers to earn additional income by upselling services or retaining clients.
Q & A
What is Braden Ashby's current position at SEO Works?
-Braden Ashby is the Director of Client Services at SEO Works.
How long has Braden been working at SEO Works?
-Braden has been working at SEO Works for almost 3 years.
What was Braden's initial career path before SEO Works?
-Braden started in sales and worked in a call center before moving into public relations with a focus on sales roles, similar to a pharmaceutical representative.
Why did Braden decide to change his major during his studies?
-Braden wanted to figure out his career path before getting his degree and didn't want to get a degree in something he would never use. He was looking for a field where he could work with people and grow accounts in a marketing aspect.
How did Braden's perspective on digital marketing change during the COVID-19 pandemic?
-During the COVID-19 pandemic, Braden realized the importance of the digital space and decided to get more into digital marketing, as traditional social interactions were limited due to social distancing.
What does Braden manage as the Director of Client Services at SEO Works?
-Braden manages client relationships and campaigns, ensuring their success. At one point, he was managing up to 107 clients from various industries.
What is the role of the client success team at SEO Works?
-The client success team acts as the middleman and strategist for the clients, formulating plans based on clients' goals, budgets, and timelines, and ensuring they are being successful in the campaigns run for them.
What skills are important for someone in a client success role?
-Good communication skills, the ability to understand and interpret data, and being organized are important. Matching the right energy with the right client is also crucial.
How does Braden feel about the variety in his job?
-Braden enjoys the variety in his job, as it allows him to interact with people from different industries and learn something new every day.
What are some challenges Braden faces in his role?
-One of the challenges is being the face of the company when internal mistakes occur, having to communicate these issues to clients and manage their frustration.
What advice does Braden have for someone considering a career in client success?
-Braden advises that there is no one right way to approach a career in client success. Developing strong soft skills, such as communication and social skills, is important. Being self-aware and setting personal goals for improvement is also beneficial.
What is unique about SEO Works' approach to client contracts?
-SEO Works operates on a month-to-month basis without long-term contracts, allowing clients the flexibility to leave if they are not satisfied with the results.
What are the core principles that SEO Works is founded on?
-SEO Works is founded on the principles of transparency, getting results, and earning loyalty.
How does Braden describe his experience working at a larger company compared to SEO Works?
-Braden felt more like a cog in a big system at the larger company and less fulfilled. He appreciated returning to SEO Works where he could see the impact of his work and felt more at home.
What is the potential for growth in Braden's role at SEO Works?
-There is potential for growth both in terms of personal development and financial growth through salary and commission-based incentives for upselling or retaining clients.
Outlines
😀 Introduction to Braden Ashby's Career Journey
The host introduces Braden Ashby, a friend and professional in the field of digital marketing. Braden shares his career path, starting from sales and call centers to public relations with a sales-oriented role. He discusses his transition to digital marketing during the COVID-19 pandemic and his eventual position as Director of Client Services at SEO Works. The summary highlights Braden's desire to find a career that aligns with his interests and his exploration of various fields before settling into digital marketing.
🔍 Understanding Client Success and Its Importance
Braden explains the role of client success in a company, emphasizing the importance of ensuring client satisfaction and success in their campaigns. He describes the client success team as a bridge between the client and the internal team, responsible for strategy and communication. The summary outlines the daily responsibilities, the need for adaptability due to diverse client industries, and the value of strong communication skills in this role.
🤔 Balancing the Rewards and Challenges of Client Success
The conversation delves into the best and most challenging aspects of Braden's job. He enjoys the daily variety and interaction with clients, while acknowledging the difficulty of being the face of the company during negative situations. The summary captures the dynamic nature of the role and the personal growth that comes with overcoming its challenges.
🎓 Navigating Career Paths and the Value of Soft Skills
Braden reflects on his career trajectory and the importance of soft skills like communication and adaptability. He shares his experience of working with different types of clients and the realization that personality traits alone do not define success in client success roles. The summary emphasizes the importance of soft skills in achieving success.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Client Services
💡SEO Works
💡Public Relations (PR)
💡Digital Marketing
💡Client Success
💡Account Manager
💡Google Analytics
💡COVID-19
💡Commission
💡Month-to-Month Contracts
💡Transparency
Highlights
Braden Ashby's introduction as the Director of Client Services at SEO Works with a background in PR and marketing.
Braden's unique career path starting in sales and call centers, leading to his discovery of a passion for working with people and growing accounts.
The importance of identifying one's career path before getting a degree to avoid wasting time and resources.
Braden's transition to digital marketing during the COVID-19 pandemic, recognizing its growing importance in a socially distanced world.
Client success defined as ensuring clients' success in campaigns, acting as a middleman and strategist.
The role of a client success manager in formulating and executing plans tailored to clients' budgets, goals, and timelines.
The value of being a 'middle man' in client interactions, simplifying the process for clients.
The range of client industries Braden has worked with, from fishing lodges to mortgage companies, highlighting the diversity of his role.
The advice for students to try different things to discover their strengths and interests in their career path.
Braden's experience of feeling unfulfilled in a large company and his return to SEO Works for the personal impact and fulfillment it offers.
Transcripts
awesome so uh thanks again for joining
me everyone um so I brought in Braden
Ashby today um it's a friend of mine
I've known him for a while and he's
helped me a lot over over the years so
um I thought he would be the perfect
person to you know start off with and um
he's got a cool career so um I think it
it's it's going to be fun so um just
kind of like a little background so um
he is the dor of client services at SEO
Works he's been there for almost 3 years
right um all together all together um
but yeah so first off I just kind of
want to know like your background how
did you end up at SEO works and um I
kind of looked at your your background
you know you started in PR you know
studying PR went to marketing maybe kind
of touch on that as well
so yeah so it it was a different path
than most most just because I really
wanted to get into the workspace sooner
than later uh so I thanks for having me
first off I I I'm super excited to be
here um so it my my journey was a little
different than most I started out just
in in sales and just like a call center
uh here in Salt Lake uh I was working in
the call center taking all the calls and
I didn't enjoy it that much just because
it was just like dealing with a lot of
problems over and over and over again uh
that was when I was first my my first
semester at at Utah Valley uh University
and when I was working I was like man I
still don't know what I want to do maybe
I want to go into HR CU I love working
with people uh but then after a while I
realized I didn't want to work with
people's problems I wanted to just work
with people if that makes sense and so I
decided I I wanted to change up my my
major a little bit see where I wanted to
go but I really wanted to figure out
what my career was going to be before I
got my degree uh just because I didn't
want to get get a degree in something
that I was never going to use uh I know
like my for example my dad I I grew up
where my dad was working in it uh he's
he's the IT director for a company and
he got his degree in in like mechanics
where he was like a like a mechanic on
cars and stuff uh but then he ended up
going into it so it's just like I I
wanted to figure out a degree that I was
going to be happy with and in the field
that I was going to be in long term so I
started looking around and I found a
company where I was doing public
relations but it wasn't like the
traditional public relations of like
sending out statements and stuff uh it
was all more focused on like it was
almost a sales type role I was going to
doctor's offices and uh it was like a
pharmaceutical rep I was barbecue
informing the parking lots bringing them
lunches uh trying to put on events for
them so then they would refer patients
to our physical therapy clinics uh and
then after doing that for a while I
learned I I really enjoyed that and work
with people and and growing accounts
that way in a marketing type aspect and
so I wanted to expand a little bit more
especially when Co hit I was just like
oh man the digital space is way more
than uh way more important now than ever
especially because we were all like
social distancing and stuff I know
that's triggering for some people that
phrasing but I so I wanted to get yeah I
know it's like
stop uh I wanted to get more into the
digital marketing space and so I I went
and worked at another startup here in uh
in Utah in Utah County and was there for
a little bit and it just was not going
as well as I was hoping mostly just
because I wanted to have my own clients
instead of just one company that I was
marketing for I felt like I kind of
plateaued and so then I found SEO works
and they were hiring for an account
manager and I was like yep perfect
that's what I want to do and I ended up
here and it was everything that I ever
really wanted uh in the sense of I was
managing not only that at one point I
was managing 107 clients and they were
clients from like a fishing lodge in
Alaska to a mortgage company I know it's
a lot it was a lot of clients at once so
it it really helped me get to to where I
am now and I I learned that this is the
the place for me yeah I I like that a
lot um you know it kind of took a
journey of trying different stuff out to
figure out you know what what you really
like and I I think that's good advice
for you know you know people who are
still in school trying to figure out
what they want to do you know just try
things out and you you know see you know
where your strengths are and what you
enjoy so I really like that um I think
really quick to add to that I think it's
it was interesting because you may not
know uh everything about an industry
when you're looking from the outside in
because I remember when Co was happening
I was like man I want to do something
but do I want to do digital marketing I
saw digital marketing as social media
marketing and I was like I don't want to
do that like I do not want to be part of
the social media like the Tik Tok
Instagram like I'm not content creator
yeah like it's just so much and so I
remember telling my wife explicitly I
never want to go into digital marketing
and then now here I am where I've been
in digital marketing for over three
years uh just explicitly digital
marketing and it's a lot more to that
and so my eyes were opened a little bit
and I think anyone that's like I don't
want to go into this industry because of
this it's probably because you're
narrowing it on one aspect when there's
a lot more to it right yeah yeah I feel
like there's just a lot of different
roles out there that you know you just
don't know of like client Su ex yeah I
didn't even know that was a thing um
until I talked to you um but so for
those who are watching who don't really
know what client success is I know you
kind of touched on it do you want to
just kind of explain that a little bit
Yeah so client success is exactly what
it's titled and that's why it's titled
the way it is is our job is to make sure
that the clients are being successful in
the campaigns that we're running for
them the way our company does it and
every company's a little different and I
worked at some like another agency that
does it a little different as well but
the client success team is like the
they're the middleman as well as the
strategist for the client so we'll sit
down with the client get an idea of what
they're wanting to do uh get an idea of
what their expectations are as well as
like what their immediate needs are uh
and then we'll formulate a plan and just
figure out what's going to be best for
their budget for their goals because
every person's goal is different and
then uh like what their timeline is
trying to figure all that stuff out and
then we'll get the plan together give it
to the client and give it to our
internal team and have them start
running with it and so our client really
only has to interact with one person
when we're interacting with 20 to 30
depending on like the different teams
that we're interacting with um and so as
soon as we hear from our team and we
know things are going well then we'll
take all that data we'll compile it into
a report and we'll present it to the
client show them the wins the losses the
the potential for growth and where where
we see other opportunities um and so
it's I like it because it's just
different every single day uh you can
have one client like I said different
client in a different industry and
you'll learn something all about this
like electrical industry and then the
next client you're learning about dog
trainers and so it's just it's just
different every day MH yeah so so
basically what you mentioned it sounds
like you're kind of the middle man
between like The Specialist and then you
know the client so you're just kind of
relaying that information
over yep so yeah it sounds like you have
to have pretty good um like
communication skills um I don't know do
you have to be like the most outgoing
person or I mean what have you
seen yeah I've seen a lot of different
personalities come through like a lot of
times it's it's helpful to be an
extrovert because you can have these
conversations with clients but then I've
also seen some clients don't Vibe well
with that like I I'm a very much an
extra I love interacting with people and
like that's how I recharge my batteries
is coming into the office and seeing
people uh but some people just don't
vibe that way and I've had clients where
they're like hey this isn't a good fit
we need to go with another CSM and then
they go with someone that's kind of
introverted and they Thrive and so it's
just a matter of matching it with the
right client with the right energy uh
and everyone's different so you got to
make sure you're matching that yeah yeah
that's good to know because you know
initially you know I I like talking to
people but I'm not like as outgoing as
you are and so it it's good to know that
you know it it doesn't take just one
personality to work in that career you
know um yeah so yeah so don't let that
stop you you know if you're watching
you're like man I'm not like super I'm
not like the most outgoing guy like
Braden you know don't
worry so there's still there's still
opportunity in the career for you right
so I guess explain to me what is the
best part part about your job and maybe
like more of like the hardest
part yeah I think every like I said like
you said uh it's can be good for a lot
of people and maybe it's not good for
some people the best part for me like I
said is it's different every day I am
not the type of person where I want to
have my day be the same tasks over and
over and over some people really enjoy
task killing and checking things off and
being like man I did 50 tasks today
that's awesome I'm not that type of
person I have to like sit down and if I
had a good uh wholesome interaction with
someone that's when I feel successful
and when I feel uh fulfilled and so
that's probably the best part of my job
is just interacting with people and
having those good connections and
networking right uh I'd say the hardest
part is that you are the face of the
company that if someone makes a a mess
up on the internal team you have to take
it and you have to tell the client and
they have to be frustrated with you uh
and so that's that's probably the
hardest part is just client face
but besides that like obviously those
are few and far between you're not going
to have a ton of those but when you have
to present hard data you have to be the
person that can say I know this is hard
but here's some other opportunities to
grow and go from there but I think
that's probably the hardest part gotcha
yeah I mean I feel like that would be
hard if you know you know you have bad
Comm communication or something like
that um the client Cent is expecting
more or you know the results didn't come
out
too great so I can definitely see that
um so let's see how fulfilling would you
say this job is you know you you've been
here for a little
bit yeah I would say so there some
background with it as well I've been I
was at SEO works for 2 and a half years
my wife and I were expecting a baby and
uh we a company from New York where New
York always has phenomenal Insurance
reached out and said hey do you want to
come work here and I said I went to my
CE I said hey I want to come back but I
need to go have my baby somewhere else
and he said fair enough and he was okay
with it he was chill I left went and
worked there for a little bit got a lot
of experience working with some bigname
Brands and I didn't feel as
fulfilled because I I felt like a cog in
a in a big system and I've always been
the type of person where I want to be
able to see my impact and like my
decisions and so when fast forward that
was I was there for eight months and
then the CEO reached out and said hey
we'd love to have you come back and I
saides please I'd love to come back I
came back here and it's nice being able
to see my hand in a lot of different
campaigns and the success that they're
seeing um that's how I feel fulfilled is
if my clients are being successful uh
and I can see the impact that I've had
on it mhm yeah I like that a lot um and
so I guess moving forward um since you
do work you know with a marketing team
um do you is that do you need kind of
need like a a marketing skill set kind
of understand analytics um data is that
something that you
need uh it's it's a skill that's very
valuable to have I so my history my
story was that I knew of SEO and how it
stood for search engine optimization and
that it's important to have some of the
words that you're trying to show up for
and stuff but when I was interviewing
here I I thought I knew and now
everything's completely different I'm
like wow I knew nothing when I started
uh but I remember coming in and they're
like are you familiar with SEO and I
just said oh I know enough to be
dangerous and like that's how I got
through the door um but so you don't
necessarily have to have all the
experience in the world uh it is
valuable to be able to know how to read
data how to read Google analytics
there's a lot of really good courses
just even on the Google courses for ga4
and Google ads and a bunch of different
aspects that way uh those are super
valuably certified even if you're
running your own business just because
then you can read it yourself uh you
don't have to have someone try to
explain it to you um so I would say like
that's always kind of a given it's just
get certified in the Google tools but uh
yeah it's just as long as you got some
soft skills of being able to be
organized and communicate like you can
really go far mhm gotcha and so I guess
for you know a student who's still in
school trying to figure out what they
want to do like if if they're watching
this right now and they're like hey
client success sounds you know fun to me
um what like what kind of advice would
you have to someone you know should they
be pursuing like a marketing degree or
like a business degree and then like
overall what kind of advice would you
have for
someone yeah and I I think I've said
this before but there's no right way to
do something right um so there's not a
right way of saying hey you know what
this is if you want to go into client
success you want to get a degree in
business just business in general or if
you want to get into digital marketing
client success you need to have a
digital marketing degree M I have one of
my team managers that has a degree in
journalism and he works in digital
marketing and it's like there's a little
bit of difference a little overlap but
not so much uh so it's there's not one
right way to do things and I would say
if someone can get this the soft skills
of like I mean you can learn on how to
sell something and then you can go and
sell pretty much anything you can sell
solar you can sell Pest Control you can
sell all those different things cars um
but if you can learn the skills of being
able to talk to people and communicate I
think that's the first first part um
just a a story and I've said this before
uh to a couple different friends is that
I and I'm a huge soccer fan RI Salt Lake
is my team sorry for those of you that
are not a real Salt Lake fan or whatever
but they're in first place in the west
right now as we're recording this uh K's
a Kansas City fan and we just beat them
the other day so
s there's a player on the on Real Salt
Lake that was very aware of how poor his
social skills were and he's had people
pointed out to him say hey you need to
work on this even his coach said hey you
need to work on your social skills and
so one day he was driving and he went
through a dut Bros drive-through and
noticed that all of the people that were
working in Dutch Bros were very social
uh and he was like man I need to get I
need to learn how how to do that and so
he decided hey you know what I'm going
to get a part-time job as a barista at
Dutch Bros so I can learn all these
social skills the man's a professional
soccer player and he's getting paid all
the big bucks but he still decided to
get a part-time job so he can learn
these these soft skills of how to be
social and so that's something of just
be self-aware of who you are and what
you want to work on uh have some
personal goals my personal goal I would
love to be a little bit more a little
better at networking with people that
are smarter than me like there's a lot
of people that are not just a lot
everyone's smarter than me and I would
love to be in the room with a lot of
people that are way smarter than me so I
can learn from them um that's a goal
myself I think everyone needs to have
personal goals like that MH I like that
a lot um and
so I just have this random question that
just popped in my head so yeah you like
is there any commission for this job um
like keeping clients on or like you know
upselling them I don't know if that's
kind of a thing with that job or yeah
that's a good question yeah so a lot of
places you go to client success uh is
rewarded on two different things either
you can upsell if you can upsell awesome
you get commission for it uh or it's
based off retention where you're
retaining clients retaining people
coming so client success if it's for
like a a single product type thing not a
service but you're selling stuff uh you
could when I was working at800 contacts
as a salesperson people would call in
and say hey I just want like a six-month
package and I'd be like well here's a a
year-long package it's a better bang for
your buck and if they went with that one
then I'd get a bonus or so I'd get
something like that or some commission
and so being able to upsell people in
that sense is super awesome that's
something that uh motivates me I'm a
person that's like if I have my paycheck
and I can get it to be a little bit more
next time that's going to make me feel
awesome you know and so that's that's
why I really enjoy this this type of
position is because there's potential
for growth not just in like who I am as
a person but my paycheck so
so so you're saying SEO Works does
commission as well yeah gotta gotcha so
you got the salary and then commission
that's yeah that's awesome so it's kind
of like hybrid like like sales position
almost kind of yeah so as you're
tracking things making sure you're
scanning the the analytics and you're
like hey you know what would be really
awesome is if these guys added a couple
more pages of content to their site and
that's going to help them perform a lot
better you go to the client and say hey
I think you guys need to add like these
10 pages to your site it's going to cost
x amount they say they give you the
thumbs up and say yep go ahead and write
them then you get commission from that
sell right MH so I think that's that's
super awesome I'm I'm I'm the type of
person where I don't like to sell
something that someone doesn't need and
so that's why I really enjoy digital
marketing is cuz everyone needs to be
marketed somehow and so I'll go to
someone and be like yeah you need this
because it's going to make it so you can
get more return and it's kind of an over
for a lot of people right yeah yeah and
I mean it makes sense like if you go
above and beyond you know you get you
get compensated for it so um and then
also so I guess reaching out to the
people who are watching that maybe are
looking in the sales direction if you
know you don't want to go in the
traditional like sales route you can
look into this position as well probably
be a good fit um but I guess uh just
closing off we didn't really Touch Too
Much on SEO works if you want to just
kind of tell me a little bit more about
SEO works you know why did you decide to
come back you know what's
the
um I don't know what what do you like
about working for SEO works yeah I I am
like probably SEO work's biggest
cheerleader I will hype it up to any
person on the blog uh I really enjoy SEO
works the company itself because it was
founded on some really good principles
uh again like I'm the type of person
where I
don't feel comfortable selling someone
something just cuz I want to sell them
like I want to make sure that people are
being taken care of and we look out for
the clients and so when I came into the
company and I was talking to uh the CEO
and I was like hey why did you start
this business like why did you start the
company and his response was well
there's a lot of people when he was when
he was out working in the different
agencies there's a lot of agencies and
people that would almost brag about how
much they were charging people for how
little work they had to do and they were
just kind of like going back and forth
being like oh man I'm charging this
person hundreds of dollars for something
that's cost me cost me 50 bucks it's
awesome and he wasn't a fan of that of
the sense of like man I feel like these
people are being taken advantage of
right and so he wanted to be the hero of
the digital marketing world and that's
why he created the company and the three
principles that we live on are be
transparent get results and earn loyalty
uh so we're just always sending as many
reports as we can to the client showing
them all the work that we've done so far
um get results obviously we're going to
make sure that they are as successful as
possible and then earn loyalty we do
something super unique uh is where we
don't have long-term contracts we do
month to month stuff and so if someone
comes and as soon as they stop seeing
the results and they're like nope I'm
not going to see any turnarounds see you
they can peace out after 30 after like a
30-day period they can be done um and so
that's very unique in the digital
marketing space because a lot of times
people try to lock them in and be like
you're here for a year right uh but I
wouldn't want to work with someone that
doesn't want to work with me like I
would love to just work with someone
that we're having a good time and if
they want to peace out they peace out
and even month to month our client and
revenue retention rate is H around 94 to
96% uh so people want to stay with us
like they they really do enjoy us and
love us and so that's why I've really
enjoyed working here um that's why I was
really willing to come back I had the
experience with the bigger brands at the
other company but it just felt like home
coming back here and it just didn't feel
like I miss I miss the beat so I've
loved it gotcha yeah that's that's
really interesting you guys do month to
month cuz you know I was working for an
agency for a little bit and you know
they lock you in for at least like three
to six months right so and that's kind
of a shorter period right so yeah it
just shows that you guys do good work
you know you're confident in what you do
so you don't need to log people in for
longer um but yeah so uh I I think
that's pretty much it that's that we
covered a lot and um you know I that was
fun I I enjoyed talking to you and I
think um you gave some really good
advice for you know everyone who's
watching right now so thanks thanks
again for coming on I appreciate it
thanks for having me on this has been
awesome and I'm super excited for the
what you're going to do with this
podcast sweet thank you so much all
right see you
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