Corporate gift switch increases influenced pipeline by 38%

Turning direct mail into a science didn’t happen overnight for Tealium. It’s the result of an innovative demand generation team switching up what they send and how they use Sendoso.

“We appreciate how innovative Sendoso is when it comes to adding new functionalities,” explained Tealium Demand Generation Manager Audrey Lewis. “It just had a huge interface change, which has been amazing for easily customizing sends. I love it.”

She adjusts her direct mail strategy with each Sendoso update, but it’s her innovation that is setting the data analytics software company apart. 

Lewis credits Tealium’s new Sendoso enablement strategy with a 38% year-over-year increase in pipeline (2021 vs 2022) influenced by Sendoso programs.

So what’s the secret to Tealium’s success?

Lewis’s winning strategy is twofold. It includes an impressive enablement effort and trading eGifts for higher-value physical gifts to garner more attention.

Tealium was originally using eGifts to incentivize meetings during the pandemic, but so was everyone else. Lewis stepped into her role and knew something needed to change. 

“Prospects were getting a lot more eGift or email offers at the time. It just wasn’t standing out as much.”

So Tealium changed course and opted for a high-value corporate gift to stand out. Lewis reworked their meeting accelerator program. Instead of eGifts, they began offering self-heating Ember mugs to prospects and later included travel coolers.

The strategic move paid off. The Ember mugs and coolers have helped surpass the goal for the number of meetings set in key accounts in 2022 alone by 24%.

“These specifically have generated a lot of positive responses from prospects because it is a higher value item that they can enjoy outside of the office.”

Because of its success, Lewis is now looking ahead to bigger and better items in Q4 of 2022 along with gifts that feature Tealium customers like Patagonia apparel.

The reworked program required the sales team to use Sendoso’s Address Confirmation tool. However, Tealium encouraged sales to send out a personalized email requesting address confirmation to build a stronger rapport with prospects. Tealium also used the Salesforce integration in Sendoso to track the results and trigger direct mail shipping. 

The innovative move did more than book meetings. It changed how demand gen and sales worked together. 

Over time, Lewis created a direct mail roadmap for sales development representatives (SDRs). Her goal was to help sales understand Sendoso’s unique capabilities so they could capitalize on the potential to generate meetings, create pipeline, and close deals faster.

Tealium was using Sendoso to send one-off eGifts with no follow-up attached before Lewis’s strategy was implemented. The results weren’t enough to inspire direct mail nonbelievers.

That changed with Lewis’s strategic new program. The success earned her an 80% increase in buy-in from the sales team and eventually led to international buy-in.

Sendoso is now a key part of sales enablement at Tealium. The transition took planning and time. However, Lewis said anyone can recreate their success by following these steps.

Step 1:  Outline key use cases. Create a roadmap for sales, their goals, and how to accomplish each one with the help of Sendoso. This process aligns with Tealium’s internal policies and Code of Conduct and Business Ethics. Tealium’s specific goals included:

• Breaking into key accounts
• Reigniting stalled opportunities
• Accelerating opportunities
• Creating meetings
• Sending reminders to increase meeting attendance

Step 2: Develop a robust Highspot resource center.  Tealium included instructions on who, when, and how to send the corporate gifts available depending on each use case. 

The team also preselected items from Amazon for branded swag by using the Custom Brand Shop.

“I can’t say enough good things about the Custom Brand Shop. Sometimes I just search it for inspiration,” explained Lewis, who uses the Sendoso feature to customize swag with the Tealium logo and brand elements for events.

The Highspot play outlined all the direct mail options available for sales, from eGifts with Sendoso Choice to perishable items like food in Sendoso Direct.

Step 3: Each of these items included a pre-written email template complete with pun-filled messaging. The clever email copy tied in with the gift and any whitepapers, ebooks, or on-demand videos they included in the email to express Tealium’s value.

Step 4: Don’t skip this one! 

Tealium held extensive training with the Sendoso customer service manager (CSM). The training included the Tealium marketing manager walking through each direct mail touch. 

“Our CSMs, we’ve had two, have been beyond helpful. We did an entirely new training with Sendoso’s newest features. And I think having that recorded and available for people to go back and watch is super helpful.”

Managers learned how to link their Salesforce accounts to Sendoso, use the Chrome extension to discover gifts via Amazon, and choose what messaging to include. 

Lewis can’t stress enough the importance of continuous training.

“I always talk about what’s new with Sendoso to keep Sendoso very top of mind.”

Tealium keeps Sendoso fresh with:

• Quarterly update calls on what’s new in Sendoso and strategic use cases
• Monthly Office Hours and training sessions
• Weekly emails with ideas to help sell
• A roadshow focusing on how to best work with marketing

There’s even a Tealium Slack channel dedicated to all things Sendoso. SDRs and account executives can share their best practices and inspire the rest of the team.

Running a successful direct mail marketing campaign takes more than inspiration. Budget is also a consideration. 

The marketing budget supports the entire meeting accelerator program. It also supports targeted account-based marketing campaigns that feature a direct mail play. 

“Sendoso has proven to be a really valuable tool for us. So we do have a budget behind this.”

The winning strategy has even expanded overseas.

Her EMEA and APJ counterparts left another corporate gifting company after seeing Lewis’s results with Sendoso.

“They ended their contract early. We persuaded them to come over to Sendoso and use it, and they’ve been really liking it.”

Lewis pointed out the Highspot play, sales enablement, and Custom Brand Shop to help convince the overseas teams to make the switch. The team was also intrigued by Sendoso Direct because ordering from the marketplace eliminates worrying about inventory.

Yet it was Sendoso Direct and her customer service experience that sealed the deal.

“I told them specifically how responsive and helpful our CSMs are. They’re always there to help with different ideas,” explained Lewis, who credits her CSM with helping advance Tealium’s direct mail strategy.

“It’s the innovation at Sendoso. When they say ‘a capability is on the roadmap,’ it really means it’s coming out in the next couple of weeks. And in a time of consistent digital transformation, staying innovative and agile is what I appreciate about Sendoso the most.”

Tealium’s Senior Digital Marketing Manager Gianna Saal spearheaded the company’s EMEA region to adopt Sendoso. After hearing about Sendoso from Lewis’, she checked it out for herself, and then demonstrated for her boss how easily the team could send customized experiences to leads. 

Impressed with the capabilities, they decided to make the switch and get a fresh start on sending.

“With Sendoso, everything is so straightforward and easy to use that I just jump on the platform and know I can complete a task within a couple of minutes,” said Saal. “This is really lifting a lot of weight off our shoulders.”

The EMEA team had also found value Sendoso Direct because ordering from the marketplace eliminates worrying about inventory.

Yet it was Sendoso Direct and her customer service experience that sealed the deal.

“I told them specifically how responsive and helpful our CSMs are. They’re always there to help with different ideas,” explained Lewis.

Saal’s team had struggled with adoption in the past, so she didn’t want to squander the chance of revitalizing a direct mail strategy with Sendoso. 

To ensure SDRs knew how to use the platform, she put a strong focus on enablement. She said that the Sendoso team’s best practices, messaging, and proactive support made for a great onboarding experience.

Next, she wanted to take advantage of Sendoso’s tech integrations – something that was lacking in Tealium’s previous sending strategy. 

“Salesforce integration wasn’t available when we started [using the previous sending platform], so we just never connected it once it was added. With Sendoso it’s super easy to use,” Saal said.

She decided to put Sendoso to the test when Tealium’s EMEA region held an event involving the future of work. Hoping to improve attendance, she was looking for an item that reflected the event’s theme. 

Saal was amazed by the variety of sending options offered by the Marketplace. “I didn’t expect to find a plant on your platform,” she laughed, explaining how she realized a succulent would be the perfect representation of career growth.

“It’s the innovation at Sendoso. When they say ‘a capability is on the roadmap,’ it really means it’s coming out in the next couple of weeks. And in a time of consistent digital transformation, staying innovative and agile is what I appreciate about Sendoso the most.”

Thanks to an intuitive user experience, easy integrations, and the right approach to enablement, Gianna has helped revive direct mail as a major facet of Tealium’s marketing strategy.