Empowering Behavioral Research: Quantifying the Qualitative | Jason Rogers from Noldus

Ernesto: Pathmonk is the intelligent tool for website lead generation. With increasing online competition, over 98% of website visitors don’t convert. The ability to successfully show your value proposition and support visitors in their buying journey separates you from the competition. Online Pathmonk qualifies and converse leads on your website by figuring out where they are in the buying journey and influencing them, in key decision moments with relevant micro experiences like case studies, intro videos and much more, stay relevant to your visitors and increase conversions by 50%. Add Pathmonk to your website in seconds. Let the AI do all the work and get access to 50% more qualified leads while you keep doing marketing and sales as usual. Check us on pathmonk.com. welcome to today’s episode. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Jason Rogers from Noldus, marketing, communications manager. How you doing today, Jason?

Jason Rogers: I am doing very well. Thank you so much for having me.

Ernesto: Awesome. it’s great to have you on. And while I’m excited, I’m sure our listeners are tuning in wondering what Noldus is all about. So, let’s kick it off and, tell us a little bit more, in your own words, what is Noldus all about?

Jason Rogers: Yeah, so, Noldus, ah, empowers behavioral researchers to improve the Kwalee of their data, and ultimately their goal is to make the world a little bit better place. we do that by being a hardware and software solutions provider for the quantification of behavioral, studies. Essentially, if you think behavior, it’s really no this and any species, we’re talking fleas, ticks, bedbugs, spiders, snakes, brats, mice, dogs, chickens, goats, cows, people, whales, you name it. If a researcher is a question about what something is doing, we have a solution for, we have about 180 people worldwide. Ah, our main offices are in the Netherlands. Our owner and founder, Lucas Moldis, hence the name of the company, lives in the Netherlands, and we have offices throughout the USA, Canada, throughout all of Europe, as well as in China.

Ernesto: All right, awesome. Great to hear that, from there, from Noldis. And so that way our listeners could get a good understanding there. Your company, Jason, what would you say is that key problem that you guys like to solve for clients then?

Jason Rogers: Yeah, so the main problem we solve is how to quantify aspects, of research that have traditionally been more qualitative. So, I would say, 80% of our customers are at academic university. we are more of a research niche focused, research based company. so for us, it’s really empowering researchers, giving them the tools to quantify, automate, do things better, do things faster, improve things, so that they can, so they can succeed, right? Get grants, get publications, create better products, etcetera.

Ernesto: Okay, perfect. Awesome. And then on that note, then, Jason, is there, is certain, then vertical segment, is there an ideal ICP there for Noldis?

Jason Rogers: you know, our, we, it’s kind of vague in the sense that, we work with neuroscientists, we work with psychologists, people in education, and people in med, SEM, or simulation training, human factors, usability testing. yeah, we, we have a contacts, conferences, customers and researchers, really throughout the world, doing a whole myriad of things. It’s fun, but, it often can be challenged because we have so many different aspects. We have a very broad, scope of applicability, even for being such a small niche market.

Ernesto: Okay, awesome. Great to hear that. and, so on that note, then, how would these, small niches usually find out about noldes? Is there a top client acquisition channel for you guys?

Jason Rogers: Yeah, traditionally, it’s been, either our website or, publications. for example, noldes solutions have been featured in over 1200 publications in 2024 alone. So that’s a big thing for us, empowering, researchers to publish better data than other researchers. Read it, say, hey, I want to be a part of that. I want that. I got to come to Nolan’s. we meet a lot of people at conferences, scientific conferences, Society for Neuroscience, for example, there are between 30 and 35,000 people at that conference. we go to, other scientific conferences throughout the world. And then, like I said, our website, really hopefully, gets people in and hopefully try to convert them to make some contact with our sales team.

Ernesto: Okay, awesome. And then, so, then so, and so that way, our listeners who are tuned in could go ahead and visit you guys. They could always check out@noldis.com dot. What role does the website then play for client acquisition?

Jason Rogers: Yeah, our website plays a huge role, and we’re in the process, actually, of, updating our website. It is a, six, seven years old at this point, and, it’s very product focused. our website, is changing, this kind of a sort of buzz, if you will, around the world about this, focusing on the customer journey. But it’s really, in a post pandemic world, focusing on what information do researchers need? where do they need it? At what point do they need it. And what’s most relevant for them. you know, the strength of our website is that we have a lot of information on there. it have to guide people through the process because there are a lot of different aspects to research. Most, of the time, their researchers are getting their money from grants, and so they have to make sure to get it right. They have to make the right decisions. And so, yeah, we have a lot of information, but the downside to that is that we have a lot of information, and so we have a global customer base. And so, we can’t have a north american message because then we isolate our european customers, and we can’t, have a german message because then we isolate our american customers, etcetera. So we have a really fun balancing act of personalization on a global scale, if you will.

Ernesto: All right, awesome. And then on that note that, is there any tools or tips or methods that you would recommend to our listeners as far as some website lead generation.

Jason Rogers: Calls and trips for tips for website, lead generation, I think that, Oh, that’s a really great question. I think that for lead generation, it’s really just trying to reach the customer where they are, not trying to scare them away, stereotypically speaking. And I can say this because this is where my own training as well, but scientists are stereotypically a little bit more introverted. And so if you try to push customer into, ah, talking to someone, if you push them into human contact before they’re ready, it often scares them away. And so, a lot of time for our lead generation. Even some of the nurturing is just providing them some information. we liken it, and this is not to offend our customers or anyone, but we liken it a lot to got to put the swede feed out and start baiting. You got to get the deer on the trail first, right. You can’t just set up a stand and start hunting. You’ve got to. You’ve got to farm along the way, right? You have to till the soil. You have to prepare everything. You got to get everything going, whatever metaphor you want to use along. But, the, main thing that we found also is that you just. You have to be authentic. You have to make customers feel seen and heard. You can’t push products. You can’t push your product. you have to focus on them, right. You have to show how they’re King Arthur in your Excalibur, right. And how with your tools, they can go out and make the world a better place. it’s a saying that everyone has heard me say at least five or six times, so I’ll say six or seven more. But, the classic thing is like, people don’t want washing machines. Nobody’s actively in the market to buy a washing machine. People want clean clothes. And so you have to focus on why that matters to them. You can’t hit them with features of a washing machine when all they want to do is just make sure that their clothes come out clean.

Ernesto: Definitely.

Jason Rogers: And it’s easy to, you know, it’s easy to build a flashy website to get some venture capital. It’s easy to, talk about all the features that you have or why you’re better than your competition, et cetera, et cetera. But customers are smart and you’ve got to be able to make it relevant for them, got to be there along their journey and make it seem that, make it show them that you’re authentic, you’re real, and that, you’re genuinely out to help them. And then you can make a genuine connection and then move on.

Ernesto: Perfect. Awesome. Thank you so much for sharing that. Some great tips there and methods for our listeners. and ah, well, let’s switch gears a little bit, Jason, and let’s talk about you, you being the marketing communications manager there for Noldis. What are some key tasks you’d like to focus on your day to day work?

Jason Rogers: Yeah, so I’m a little bit unique, particularly at Noldis. my tasks mainly are focusing on my team. but as Noldis is a global company, most of my team is in the Netherlands. And so I have, one team, member who’s in Curacao, just outside, next to the island, next to Aruba. So he is on the same time, but most of my team is on central european time. And so I start my days. my mornings are right about their lunchtime. And so most of my time and my energy is just making sure that they have what they need and that, in the time that we have to overlap, that we focus on them, and me removing any barriers that they might have to succeed, whether it’s our web developer or our content team, or our social media strategist, etcetera, etcetera. Usually then in the afternoons, I switch over to our, north american team and, help with our sales enablement, revenue enablement tasks, our sales and marketing synchronicity, what we jokingly call smarketing. Here at Noldus. I do a lot of voice of the customer work. So trying to bring the needs and concerns of the customer to. To sales, to R and D, to operations and support, etcetera. And then lastly, if there is any extra time, then I get to focus on the tests that I love and enjoy, which is doing my own research and, doing market research and trying to do some research projects.

Ernesto: And in between those times, then, because it sounds like you work with your teams, per se, how do you stay, then up to date with all the strategies in the marketing world, new trends? Is there a preferred channel that you like to stay up to date with all that information?

Jason Rogers: Yeah, you know, I get a lot of podcasts from. From colleagues, my marketing vice president and our north american sales director. They’re both really, always watching webinars and listening to podcasts. They’re both really enthusiastic and fantastic. And I myself am a little bit lazier. I get a lot of good stuff from Instagram or even outside of the norm. I’m a very visual person. So, you know, I like watching the videos of the Pathmonk interviews. I don’t particularly listen to just the webinar or the, podcast. I like to watch the video. I like to have something to stare at. So, but for me, I like to get source of inspiration from anywhere. Just last week, I was watching a documentary on how they made we are the world back in the eighties, and there was an interaction with Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones, and something sparked in my head. And so I was able to, bring that to the team on Monday morning. So, you know, if you’re open to it, you never know where inspiration may come.

Ernesto: Definitely. Okay, awesome. Thank you so much for sharing that, with us, Jason, and, well, let’s jump into our next section here, Jason, which is our rapid fire question. Browse. are you ready for them?

Jason Rogers: Sure. Hopefully.

Ernesto: Hopefully. All right, perfect. Awesome. Then first, off then is, what is the last book that you read, Jason?

Jason Rogers: You know, last book I wish I read. I wish I were more clever and I gave you something really fun. But like I said, I’m more of a visual guy. So I watch a lot of video shorts. But, the book I’m reading currently is the sheltering sky. So I don’t know if that’s not really a marketing book, more of an existential crisis book, but there you have it. Yeah, definitely.

Ernesto: I mean, that’s the point, right? It’s just work all the time. So awesome to hear that for our listeners. Next up is that if there would be no boundaries in technology. Jason, what would be that one thing that you want to have fixed for your role as a marketer today?

Jason Rogers: Well, no boundaries to technology. I think it would be instant access to a customer’s innermost thoughts and motivations. that sounds a little creepy, but it would be nice to be able to know exactly what customers need and so we could provide exactly what they need along the way. Or, you know, if there were also no barriers. I wish I could be able to operate like a wizard so I wouldn’t have to sit at Washington Dulles anymore or make that long flight across the pond. You know, it would be save on my commute times and, ah, I could be closer to my team. but, you know, that said, I’m genuinely thankful. I’ve worked remotely, I’ve worked from home for almost 15 years. And so, the technology over the last four years has improved dramatically, and I’m genuinely thankful for the technology we have. But ten years ago, it was a really big struggle to be a remote employer, and now remote employee, and now, now it’s just commonplace and normal. So I’m pretty thankful for that, definitely.

Ernesto: I’m as well, so thank you so much for sharing that. well, lastly, Jason, I mean, you have a lot of experience already in the marketing world, but what is that one piece of advice that you would give yourself if you were to restart your journey as a marketer today?

Jason Rogers: Yeah, thank you. And I’m, your conventional marketeer. So I’m trained as a behavioral neuroscientist and as a learning theorist. I have a PhD in psychology. I am an animal researcher, basic behavioral researcher. I did drug addiction research, and I was a customer at Noldust before I joined Noldus. And I have done services, support, sales consulting, and slowly made my way into marketing. So I’m not your typical marketeer. So, I’ve been doing this for about ten to 15 years. And so I think if I had to go back and tell myself something to do it all over again, it would be to, you know, say the weird thing to do the projects that need to be done, to don’t be afraid to, see something and do it because you know it’s going to be necessary down the road. Right. And, and do the projects that sometimes people don’t immediately see in front of them, but don’t be afraid to go out in front of them and do, and you can own that. You don’t have to make it a thing. You don’t have to be just just do it, own it, and when it’s ready, you have it available. And be okay with being a part of that process. I think if I could have gone back to reassure myself that it was okay to do that, then maybe I would have been a little less timid and doing things. maybe the way, I mean, you’re there.

Ernesto: I mean, you are here at Nolde’s, you know, being the leader. So, but thanks again for, for that advice. Not just for yourself, for, but for our listeners as well. And, well, Jason, we are coming to the end of the show here with us today. But I do want to grab the last word. If someone forgets everything about the interview today, what is that one thing they should remember about Noldus? Yeah.

Jason Rogers: That we are, we are a company of scientists working for science. And so if you’re interested in research, if you are interested in doing better research, then chances are you’ll find this. And, you know, that’s, that’s what we want to do. We want to make the world a better place. We want to make life a little bit easier. We want to make things better for all of us. And so we want to empower people to make those changes and do that for them.

Ernesto: Whether you guys heard it from Jason, you could always check them out at noldus.com. advance your behavioral research, save time, and obtain high quality data. Jason, thank you so much for being on with us to our listeners. Thank you so much for tuning in, and I’m looking forward to our next episode at.

Jason Rogers: Thank you. Thank you so much.