Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: Welcome to Biz Talk. I'm your host, Ryan Herpin and today we've got a really fun conversation planned. So I really hope you're ready to grab your pen and pad because we're here to talk about what really happens behind successful marketing. The systems, data, CRM, discipline and strategy that turns attention into business growth.
My guest is Jorge Fuentes, HubSpot certified trainer and martech specialist at Fuentes Zapata llc. Jorge, it is such a pleasure to have you here on the show today. Thank you for being with us.
[00:00:55] Speaker A: Absolutely. Thanks for having me, Ryan. Excited to get going with our conversation and yeah, thanks for having me.
[00:01:01] Speaker B: You know, with the way I like to operate, I always like to dive right in and try to pick out as much of that knowledge and experience as I possibly can to share with our viewers. So, you know, dive right into this.
I kind of want to start with something a little bit more of a heavy hitter side here and it's a little bit of perspective that I know would help me and many of our listeners. But you know, You've worked across HubSpot implementation, marketing operations, paid media and B2B growth.
What first drew you into this side of marketing in the first place?
[00:01:29] Speaker A: Absolutely, Ryan. And to kind of talk about what drew me into this. I basically stumbled on this area of marketing initially when I started going into the digital agency world. The first remote agency that I worked for happened to be in B2B.
And as I came to realize, marketing was not all about creativity, as counterintuitive as that sounds, really, you can have great creatives out there, like images, videos, great content, but if all of that is not tied into a unifying system that is able to surface the visibility that you need into kind of knowing what's working, what the performance is like for your email marketing campaigns, your ads, your organic search, etc.
The that becomes a problem. And so that's why I got really passionate about this area of marketing. And by now, you know, it's kind of, you know, I have to have a systems thinking before going into actually suggesting any types of new campaigns and so on and so forth. So that's pretty much what excited me about it. And yeah, that's why I love doing what I do.
[00:02:38] Speaker B: You know, something that I found when it comes to working B2B specifically in the growth area of any kind of business, marketing is one of those things that changes so frequently. And with that being said, you've got to be the type of person to be able to maneuver quickly to learn new stuff to be willing to jump into unfamiliar territory and to adapt as things continue to change. But, you know, when business owners say they need more leads, what do you look for before recommending more advertising or campaigns?
[00:03:05] Speaker A: Absolutely. And I usually recommend that, by the way, if a business has been in business for at least two years, they already have a client acquisition process at least. Right. Something is already working. You may not have a client acquisition system that is, you know, up and running, working smoothly. Right. But you definitely have a way of getting leads and clients, by the way. So if, let's say that a business has, you know, it's. It's being sustained on referrals at the moment. Right. That means that you have satisfied clients. Right. And those satisfied clients can turn into testimonials. Testimonials can then be video testimonials, written testimonials. You can generate content out of that. And so you can start doing organic social posts, you know, on LinkedIn, Facebook, wherever you are, audience lives. And then from there, you can actually start also going into doing ads. Right. So you can see how the strategy needs to be, you know, whatever is already working, let's build on top of that and then go from there. Right. So that's the first thing I recommend. It's not, you know, just go ahead and do TikTok, go ahead and do XYZ platform. It's pretty much, you know, what is already working. What do we already have? We already have a way of getting clients. Right. Let's build on top of that and then, and then definitely go from there. Track it, definitely. But I would say that that's where most businesses, most businesses need to start when trying to do the next campaign. That works for sure.
[00:04:32] Speaker B: You know, I really love your approach.
Over my career of working with different businesses as a consultant, I've worked with a lot of people that really push different CRMs or strategy or technology or implementation of these new things.
You're one of the only people I've talked to that said, hey, let's see what's already working. Let's build upon that. Because like you mentioned, referrals, a lot of businesses or businesses that have, you know, been operating within a few years, a lot of their business typically comes from referrals. That means they are satisfying customers. Yeah. They're getting good results. And then someone talks about it, that brings somebody else in. And really capturing those testimonials and using it wisely can change everything. It can become a strong marketing strategy, and it gives you a really solid platform to build upon. But I've worked with so many people where it's like, oh, well, we're going to immediately start making these AI ads and xyz, which, yeah, they have a time, they have a place, but why not build off of something that's already working as you're working on other things to address the market differently? So I really like your approach with that. But, you know, that does make me curious. You know, what are the most common CRM or marketing system mistakes that prevent businesses from converting opportunities?
[00:05:46] Speaker A: Absolutely. And I would say, Ryan, that it all starts with the goal that you have in mind. Right. Like, for example, if you're just, just getting started with a new CRM, let's say HubSpot, right. And you're going to do an investment into the platform, Right. What are you going to use it for? Right. And then it's not only the goal that matters, but also the tactics that you're going to be using. So the how is just as important as the what the goal is, so to speak. Right. And so I've seen a lot of businesses running into issues when they get a new CRM system.
They don't partner up with somebody that knows how to implement the platform properly because your business might be running in a specific way. Right. Let's say that you're. You have this big spreadsheet of things that you're keeping up with. You may have a document that you're keeping up with regarding the tasks that you have to do the next day.
But when it comes to structuring all that into the platform's capabilities, I think that's where most businesses struggle because they don't seek help in implementing it. Right. And so I think that's, that's the first mistake that a lot of businesses make. And then once those, once, once we're past that, right? Definitely, once they get to actually using the platform, they.
[00:06:57] Speaker B: There's.
[00:06:57] Speaker A: They start running into adoption issues. Right. With the platform. Right. So let's say that your sales reps have never been in a CRM. Your marketing team has always worked on the side in platform, not within a CRM. So you got to get an onboarding, a great onboarding happening whenever you acquire this new system and things don't end badly, things start badly. So you got to make sure that they start well so that you can continue to do well with your new system for sure.
[00:07:24] Speaker B: You know, I would have to agree with you on a very deep level for that because a lot of businesses I've worked with, especially in the manufacturing side of things, you know, whenever launching a new program, CRM, erp, MRP system, whatever it may be, one of the biggest mistakes I typically see is they try to dive into something without an expert or somebody with experience and knowledge to help them set it up properly. Because how do people even know what CRM is really going to be the best fit for what they do?
I've seen auto repair shops use the wrong systems that don't really work well with their industry.
So there's a lot of different moving pieces out there, a lot of things that can either make or break the success. But at the same time, when you get an expert such as yourself to help identify the right system, to implement things properly, to get it structured well, then it's also the training aspect. We can't overlook the quality and importance of proper training to not only, yes, you can have a new system set up well, but unless you know how to really use it, is it going to add more benefit or could it really take away from the opportunity and efficiency of the business overall? So, you know, I find that to be extremely important. But, you know, you have managed CRMs with millions of contacts. What does a healthy CRM actually look like in practical terms?
[00:08:41] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. And the healthiest CRM, I would say, is one in which you can find whatever you're looking for very quickly. Right. And your team can do that very quickly. So a simplified CRM that is simple to navigate is the best, even if it has millions of contacts. If a sales rep can really easily surface the data that they want to see, the phone number, the email, getting in touch with the person, that's a great CRM, that's a healthy CRM. And then you also have the aspect of the data integrity, the data hygiene. Obviously you want to make sure you don't have duplicates in there. You want to make sure that there are unifying fields or properties that your team is recurringly using and that is useful for them. Right. And so if you get into the nitty gritty of the data cleanup, I would say that that's where you want to start. Once you already see that your team is actually using the platform. But the very first thing that has to be done is that it has to be simple, it has to be simplified. Whatever process you're doing for sales or marketing, it needs to be something that your team can run with very easily, that the onboarding and as you mentioned, the training as well is happening. Right.
And then that it is easy to have HubSpot be or your CRM be not only A platform that you have to do work in but that you enjoy doing the work in, basically because it's so easy to do it, so to speak. And simple.
[00:10:07] Speaker B: I really liked you actually answered what I was really planning on asking next. And I'm going to kind of highlight what I was going to ask and the way that you answered it because, you know, for a lot of small to midsize businesses, there's always a first step that's got to be taken when it comes to really a marketing system. However, you're going to put things in place, however you're going to structure stuff. And a lot of the time it's it's cleanup, right? It's organization, it's let's get all the information figured out, centralized and at least clean before we try to data dump into anything important and you address that. And I find that to be extremely, extremely overlooked when it comes to businesses that are talking about implementation of a new system structure, whatever it is, is they don't realize just how much cleanup really needs to take place first.
And then from there implementation's a lot more streamlined and there's a lot less risk. Would you agree with what I said there?
[00:11:03] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. Ryan and I see this recurring lead to be a recurring pain across businesses small and large. Even if they have a thousand contacts all the way to a couple millions of contacts in their database, it is a recurring theme and it is what I love fixing for them as well. But definitely, yes, as you mentioned, that is an issue that is recurring and it just happens to be a pattern across several portals that I see every week.
[00:11:28] Speaker B: You know, a lot of people, unfortunately, a lot of small to mid sized businesses, they're, they're trying to move forward as fast as they can and not necessarily seeing the wake that they're leaving behind. And then when it comes time to okay, we've reached our ceiling, how do we go past?
Then you've got to look back and clean up some of that mess. But to our audience, this conversation has so much value. But when we come back, we will look at HubSpot automation and how businesses can use technology without losing strategy, clarity or the human side of marketing. We'll be right back.
[00:12:08] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:12:17] Speaker B: Welcome back to Biz Talk. Stay connected to this show and every NOW Media TV favorite live or on demand, anytime you like. Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and unlock non stop bilingual programming English and Spanish on the move. Catch the podcast version at www.nowmedia.tv. from business and news to lifestyle, culture, Innovation and far beyond now, media TV is streaming around the clock. Ready whenever you are.
So before the break, Jorge and I talked about why marketing results depend on the systems behind the scenes. Now we're going to dive a little deeper into HubSpot automation and how businesses can use technology to make marketing more organized or measurable and more effective. Now I want to highlight those few words. Again, this is something that's, it's easy to overlook and it's extremely important. And Jorge is very much going to echo this.
When it comes to really anything in business, especially marketing, you want organized, measurable and effective.
It's impossible to measure what you do not manage. So things have to be organized and you can't really have good results unless you have well managed processes. So Jorge, it is such a pleasure to have you here with us today.
[00:13:34] Speaker A: Absolutely, Ryan, thanks for having me. And yes, I fully agree with that. You want to make sure that whatever you're doing, you're measuring it and it's visible that that's important. Right. There is that transparency in the data that and the results that you're getting and then that you can translate that into actual results. Right. So yeah, definitely excited to, to be here. Thank you. And yeah, let's keep on talking about it for sure. Sounds great.
[00:13:58] Speaker B: Now I've got a really kind of fun question here to start off with. You know, I, I, after talking with you, learning more about you, it's clear you hold an all time high record of 51 active HubSpot Academy certifications.
What does that level of training allow you to see that most users miss?
[00:14:16] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely, Ryan. And let me get started by saying that yes, I'm very grateful about having that many certifications. But also all of them have been useful. All of them.
You know, there are certifications for pretty much high level learning about marketing. There are also certifications that dive deeper into the HubSpot platform and actually being a good HubSpot partner to clients and so on and so forth.
But definitely that level of education coupled with the experience of looking at, I don't know, 20 plus portals on a weekly basis gives you an edge in seeing or recognizing patterns across different portals. Right? So that's pretty important, right? Because as I was mentioning in the last segment as well, I've seen companies as small as having 1,000 contacts or a couple hundred contacts in their database all the way to enterprise companies that have millions of contacts. And the recurring pain points are pretty much the same. The lack of visibility within the system is a recurring pain, especially when thinking about sales and marketing and how those two departments have to talk to each other or hand off things to each other. Right. There is always some form of disconnect that just, you know, gives a lot of room for improvement. And so that is what that level of education helps you see when you jump into portals.
That, you know, we're all human in the sense that we make mistakes, obviously. And when you make mistakes in a platform that is very systematic. Right. Or that can absorb those mistakes and pretty much like run with them. Right. If you want, that becomes an issue. So I guess that that level of education, just to put it simply, helps you see, have visibility into the mistakes that are recurring across portals and the pattern recognition aspect of it all. For sure.
[00:16:12] Speaker B: I love that you address the pattern recognition side of things because from my experience working with anything from startups all the way to international corporations, I get the same thing. And it's not even just the marketing or CRM side of things. It's whether it's operations, leadership, management doesn't matter. It's having the. You've seen so many different cases where you start to see the common denominators, see the common issues and problems. And there's so much benefit to that because just like you said, doesn't matter if it's a small company or big company. I see a lot of the same problems are ultimately the same thing. They just look a little bit different. The scale might be a little bit different, but clarity and alignment is a very similar issue you'll see in operations, in actual sales and management side of things, even inventory, goodness, it's the same kind of concept. So that's just like you said, one of the areas that really, yeah, the certifications are awesome and they're all useful, but being able to see the patterns helps you go into a new portal and check things out with an understanding of what's likely going to be the pain points already. So with that in mind, though, you know, where does HubSpot create the most value for a growing business? Is it CRM, automation, reporting, sales alignment or customer experience? What do you think?
[00:17:31] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. And I would say that while it does create value in all of those areas, the core continues to be the CRM aspect of it. Right. And when you know, you're saying like, what is actually a CRM or what can it be used for? But I would say that it's not only a database. So it is a database, but not only a database. It's also a way for you to track activity from the contacts that are in your database. Right. So let's say that you know you sent out.
It's also your marketing email tool. So you can not only track if they opened an email, clicked on an email, skim through an email. Right. But you can also see within the platform what that looks like and then that feeds into the reporting side of things and can make your decision making simplified. Right. And so that is what the platform is still. I would say the core of the platform is the CRM aspect of it. Just what CRM stands for, which is pretty much customer relationship management. That, that, that continues to be the, the core of it. And one of the reasons why I continue to see that HubSpot is at the forefront of of of it all is because they have been implementing AI in a beautiful way, at least in the past few months. Right. I think that it is one of the is doing continuous updates, continuously adopting the platform so that it is AI first or AI ready for businesses. Right. So that's another thing.
And definitely I think that's where HubSpot is thriving and that's where it adds the most value to businesses today. For sure. Regardless of the plan. For sure. Right. Like there are starter Pro enterprise plans, but I think even the free version allows you to embed forms on your website and keep track of your contacts activity. So yeah, that is pretty much where it adds the most value.
All of those areas are fantastic. Automation, reporting, et cetera. But the CRM aspect of it all is still the core and I would go for that as kind of like being the place where it continues to add a ton of value out there. For sure.
[00:19:30] Speaker B: In a world of ever changing technology and automation, a CRM nowadays is a requirement in my opinion.
When a business is so small you've got just a handful of customers, yeah, things can be done a little bit different, but in the effort and desire to grow, you've got to be, you know, in, in the world that's ever evolving of technology and AI. It does kind of raise a question for me. You know, I've seen a lot of marketing go the direction of just a crazy amount of AI resources and such and it really removes the human out of the conversation. It feels less personal and more just being sold to. But when it comes to a CRM that is advanced and does have automation, how can that automation improve follow up and efficiency without making the customer experience feel very robotic?
[00:20:19] Speaker A: Oh yeah, absolutely Ryan. And just to kind of like build on top of what you're mentioning right now. Yes, definitely. AI. I see AI being used in ways that it shouldn't be like it should be a magnifier of the human rather than it replacing the human. Right? And so I've seen, you know, companies trying to, you know, do called outreach to 10,000 contacts at a time because AI can help scale that, right? But instead of, you know, instead of using AI to narrow down to the, a couple Hundreds or maybe 50, that would be a great fit right now for, for their service, right. And so when it comes to, to HubSpot itself, you know, anything that you're capturing from the leads, right, that can serve as info and you know, in order to generate valuable segmentation so that you can speak to them in ways that are meaningful to them. Right. And so when I'm thinking about like, you know, segmentation has never been more important because right now, even if you get the, you know, people that are very similar that have the, you know, let's say the CMO job title, right, and you get tons of CMOs interested in whatever service you're providing, right, that still, you know, their journey in your website, specifically the activity that was tracked on them. If you have A CRM like HubSpot, of course that is meaningful to create segments on what they're actually interested in, there are signals that are telling you in that moment what they're actually interested in and what might be meaningful to them. Right? So it is, it has become even more important now than before AI, so to speak, anything pre chat GPT to be more human with your communication and you can scale that with AI for sure and with automation, but it still needs to be relevant to them and segment, that's where segmentation comes in. And A platform like HubSpot can help you implement that very easily for sure.
[00:22:14] Speaker B: Thank you for keeping that so simple and realistic. It's easy to get over complicated in the world of technology, especially when it comes to the millions of different options for CRMs and how things can be implemented. But for our viewers today who want to learn more about you and how you can help and serve them, what's the best way for them to find you and get in contact?
[00:22:34] Speaker A: Absolutely, Ryan. So the easiest way is to go to my website Fuentes about a co. Also I'm on LinkedIn as Jorge Fuente Zapata on LinkedIn and then I do have a Twitter account where I post regularly, which is the handle is at Ja Fuentesapada and also my YouTube personal YouTube channel which is YouTube.com Jorge Alberto Fuentes Apara just all together and yeah, excited to see anybody that wants to join me over there in my journey. And thanks for having me, Ryan. It was a pleasure to be here.
[00:23:07] Speaker B: The pleasure is all mine. And to our audience, I recommend if there are things you need to learn within a CRM, reach out to Jorge. It's very clear that he's got the experience, he's got the knowledge, he knows what he's talking about. And as you could clearly tell from this interview, he's passionate about doing it. So thank you for joining us today. You know, this conversation is a reminder that effective marketing is not just about launching campaigns. It's about building systems that help businesses understand their audience, organize their data, follow up with precision, and make smarter growth decisions. So for everyone that's watching, your next move is simple. Look behind the campaign review your CRM, your follow up process, your reporting, and the tools your team uses every day. The more organized your system becomes, the more powerful your marketing can be.
Again. My name is Ryan Herpin and this has been an episode of Biz Talk. We will see you next time on NOW Media tv.
[00:24:06] Speaker A: It.
