Mastering Lifecycle Marketing: Insights from Will Pearson and Brent Cebulla of Scalero

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Will Pearson: Good. Thanks for having us.

Ernesto: It’s great to have you guys on today’s episode and curious to learn more about what stuff Sclera is all about. You guys are co founders. There was sclero. Interesting to know what it’s all about. Let’s kick it off with that. Right? In your own words, maybe a little bit from both of you. Yes. Different, different opinions, your own words. What is the company all about?

Will Pearson: Yeah, so Scleros, a lifecycle marketing services and software company. So what is lifecycle marketing? That’s the branch of marketing that encompasses email, sms, push notifications, anything that involves marketing toward your existing database customers. That is part of lifecycle marketing. So we offer services that help companies with their lifecycle marketing programs. And we also have a couple of softwares that help with email marketing creation.

Brent Cebulla: Yeah, Brad really covered it. I think the only thing I’d add is that we just want to be that go-to resource for anyone who has a lifecycle marketing issue and we’re going to solve it, either through services or through software. But we want to take on all those challenges, Robert.

Ernesto: Definitely. I mean, it’s super important in today’s world. I think, after Covid hit, everybody went on to more streaming into marketing and having a better life cycle, and that you guys are tackling that, that’s super important. Right. So our listeners can get a better understanding of sclero. What would be a key problem that you guys would say that you saw for clients?

Will Pearson: Yeah, for sure. So when people come to us, there’s usually a few different pain points. So the first one is usually they’re on some kind of software that’s too complex for their internal team to run. So certainly there’s probably platforms that a lot of your listeners have used in the past, things like Mailchimp or ah, klaviyo. And both those platforms tend to be on the easier to use side of things. From there, the class of tools gets more and more complicated. So the more complicated your tool is, the less likely your team internally can really kind of handle all the complexities of that software. And we’re a great partner to help you navigate that tool. The other kind of use case somebody might use us for is they just want to outsource their lifecycle marketing. Maybe that their team is too small, maybe they want to work with somebody that is super familiar in this space. Either way, they want to outsource this or at least partially outsource some of the functions in email marketing. Email marketing can be kind of complex, right? You have to run a good email marketing program, you need to have good design, you need to be able to code emails, you need to be able to do a little bit of data engineering, and get the right data into your softwares like Mailchimp and Klaviyo. You need to segment correctly and execute within the platform. So there’s just a lot going on and we can fill in the gaps, definitely.

Ernesto: And talking about segmentation. Right. Is there a certain vertical that you guys like to go for?

Will Pearson: We’re pretty agnostic, I would say. The more complex the business model, the better fit it is for our services. We certainly have many e-commerce companies that we help, but another good fit is companies that have some complexity of their business model. Something like a marketplace where you need to communicate both your supply side and your buy side is a great fit. Usually those kind of companies have really complex marketing automations that they’re trying to set up. And we’re a good partner to help them think through some of those challenges.

Ernesto: M awesome, great to hear. Now, you guys being the co-founders, what would you say is a top client acquisition channel for you guys?

Will: Happy to take this, Will. So probably a third of our leads are coming from those software that we just talked about that maybe a client is having a hard time operate. They might reach out to the software and say, hey, do you know any great service companies that can help us navigate this platform? Another third is client referrals. So we really work to do good work for our clients and they’re happy and they want to see us succeed. They will refer us. And then the final third is probably a combination of classic outbound and inbound. So we’ll do plenty of outbound cold emailing and then we get some inbound traffic as well, that will reach out and inquire about our services.

Ernesto: All right, perfect. Now I am here on your website, Sclero IO. Gorgeous looking website. I love the scheme, the color schemes of it, the format that it has. What role does a website play for client acquisition?

Will: Yeah, so our website, it probably generates five to 10% of our leads, which is in our type of business is huge. Our contracts are three to twelve months minimum. So five to 10% boost is huge. I would say we put a good amount of energy into it, creating lots of content, thinking about keywords to really focus on.

Ernesto: What

Will: We really want for our users hitting the site is to get a very comprehensive view of who Sclero is and what we offer and I think we do a good job achieving that, definitely.

Ernesto: Yep. I like the way it is set up CK buttons on the real quick. So it’s nice to have to see that. Now. I know this year was a big boom in the AI talk, right. In terms of you know, marketing and how can we use it. Did you guys get, get into that? Are you guys using any tools or methods, in regards to that?

Will: Some of our software products are we have one software product, it’s called cannoli, that takes figma designs and translates that into email code. And there’s kind of two portions of that. We call that our parser that’s trying to read the figma design, file and translate that into email code. And some of that we’re just kind of doing through traditional programming. And some of that we’re trying to use AI to be able to determine how to code things in the design. So that’s quite nice. That’s a nice software product. for us it solves kind of two things. one, some people just have that challenge of going from design to code and we have a software that helps with that. And then two, it’s also kind of a lead generation tool, for us. we have a couple hundred of people sign up for that tool every month. and we know that they’re struggling with lifecycle marketing. Clearly they’re looking to use a software like that and so they come on inbound and we’re able to try to see if they want other more help, than just that specific problem, that we might be able to solve. So without AI, we wouldn’t really be able to, solve that design to code challenge m quite as well as we are able to. It’s a nice application.

Ernesto: Right off the bat, I think everybody is this. Yeah, go ahead, Will.

Will: Yeah.

Brent : The other way we’re thinking about AI is internal workflow. So for example, we connect on slack with all of our clients and communicate there, for fast paced communication. and we created automation, that takes a slack message and automatically turns it into a project management ticket, which we use notion for. we’ve worked on building that out so that it gets assigned to the right person, it has the right project description, and really save the time from the project, manager to have to fill in all the details, from there. So AI is helping us also just move much more efficiently on the services side.

Ernesto: Would totally agree. Right. It came, it came and it came in strong and you’re not using it, then you’re falling a little bit behind. So glad I could see that. Well, let’s switch gears a little bit for our listeners and talk about you guys as a leader. Both of you co founders of Sclero, what does a, day to day work look like for you guys?

Brent: Yeah, sure. For us, Brett and I have managed to more or less split the responsibilities of our services. so in the early days, we were really much in the weeds, executing building emails, designing emails, doing everything for our clients. now these days we’re able to take a step back and really focus on the relationships, with our clients. And then, for me, I’m really focused on growth, all the time. So whether that’s through outbound partnerships, expanding contracts, things like that, that’s the stuff that really, really excites me. I love working on that. If I’m working after hours on that, I don’t mind it. I enjoy that. so just thinking through what’s next. How do we keep growing? where is this company headed to? what blind spots do we have that might slow us down, in the future?

Ernesto: Awesome. What about you, Brad?

Will: Yeah. For me, all of what will said, the only thing I would add is I think we’re in a fortunate position where we don’t really need to be involved on, being in the weeds and some of the day to day tasks that you know, our, account management or dev or design teams are working on, but we can, we have a little bit of time, too. And I think, you know, as leaders, your job is really to set the pace, create urgency, create a culture of learning, making sure your staff wants to get better, wants to deliver great products and great service products. And, so I think, you know, from time to time, will and I will still kind of dive in, roll up our sleeves, and get involved on accounts. And it’s less about the accounts and more about making sure your staff understands the pace that you’re setting and trying to learn from some of the things that you do.

Ernesto: Awesome. Great to hear that from you guys. You know, knowing where to go. Right. I mean, you guys have been together for four years now.

Will: Yeah, four years. And we worked for about five years.

Brent: Together, at a different company. So we’re close, close to a decade.

Ernesto: Working together, which is why it’s been working. Right. You guys know the way you guys work, so that, that’s awesome to hear. All right, well, I’m gonna jump into some rapid fire questions. so we have two guests, right? Both of you? So one answers, and then the other one go goes right after. All right, you guys ready? All right, first off, let’s start with Will. And then, Brad, what is the last book that you read, Will?

Brent: Yeah, I I read books to often take my mind off the day to day. so I do read some business books, you know, here and there, but, in the evening, got really into reading british crime novels. M so I’ve been reading this series that has, like, 19 books in the series. Ah, it’s called Detective Kim Stone. just great. Page turner flies by. they’re fantastic. on the business side, I’ve been, been reading a book called profit first. this kind of different approach to managing the finances, of a business, and just kind of challenging ourselves to, think differently around that.

Ernesto: Awesome. And what about you, Brent?

Will: Yeah, I’m a terrible reader. but the last book I really enjoyed was, a book called see people, and that covers how the Polynesians were able to populate the islands in the pacific. Really fascinating book. Highly, recommend.

Ernesto: Very great to hear them. all right, thanks, dubbace. let’s start with you now, Bran. What is one single thing that your company is focused on at the moment the most?

Will: Well, we’re focused on. So we do lifecycle marketing really well, and, we’re now at the stage where we’re thinking about how can we support our clients and prospects in ways beyond lifecycle marketing. there’s a couple of obvious things. we can pivot into web development, maybe supporting paid media and social. but the one that we’re going to go with is expanding staffing, services. So we want to help companies with, direct placement or dedicated freelancer placement, for a variety of business needs. it can range from maybe they need some ongoing web and application development to maybe they’re trying to solve some kind of accounting process. Our company, we’re set up, in the United States as well as Europe and Latin America. So we think we can really help companies with offshoring and solving some of these problems and that’s going to be kind of our next thing that we’re focused on here.

Ernesto: Awesome. Would you concur with that?

Brent: yeah, that’s absolutely conversation ah, we’re having every day, for sure. I think to add to it, what we’re focused on is, developing our internal team as well. we have 36 people now, and most of our management team has been promoted internally from junior roles into more senior roles. And we take a lot of pride in that, allowing people opportunities to grow. you know, if we, as we expand the business and expand services and other softwares, you know, there’s opportunity for the team to take on more challenges and different types of challenges as well. So it’s really setting them up for success, so that we can scale, and keep growing.

Ernesto: Definitely. That’s, that’s always important. Right. now let’s, let’s start with you. Now, will, if there would be no boundaries in technology, what would be that one thing you want to have fixed for your role?

Brent: Yeah, I think it’s really understanding user behavior in even a deeper way. without bordering on being creepy. What I mean by that is personalization targeting. It’s obviously getting much better and more interesting over the years, but there’s still so much, kind of batch and blast type of approach in email and other channels. so for example, wouldn’t it be just much better for the consumer and the marketer if we didn’t send that message for somebody who wanted food delivery until that moment where they were hungry for food delivery instead we’re sending constant messages reminding people, who we are, maybe the previous purchases, things like that. I think there’s just so much more to get into with personalization, and sending that message at the right time. Definitely.

Ernesto: What about yourself, Bram? What do you think would work for you? No boundaries in technology.

Will Pearson: Yeah, I think I have a similar answer, but a little different twist. I think, for me, I’m kind of into this idea of, of like, the matrix and just understanding, you know, the perfect times and moments to reach out to people and what to tell them and say. And I’m thinking of that more as kind of a founder context. You know, I have, I don’t know, 100 contacts or so that I want to regularly keep in touch with. And, that’s hard for me to manage myself. it’s hard for me to know when to reach out. It’s hard for me to know what’s going on in their life. And obviously, a lot of these social media platforms have kind of solved for that the last ten years. But I think moving forward, I’d love to see it taken up a notch and have kind of an own personal CRM that knows the exact moments to connect with people. And, that might sound kind of artificial, but I think for me, it would really enrich my life to know, the right moments to connect with people and kind of make that easy for me.

Ernesto: Definitely. All right, perfect. And, well, coming close to an end here, but I love asking this question. I’ll start off with you, Will. you guys have a lot of experience, right? Focus now on different sites of the company stellara, but what is one piece of advice that you would give yourself if you were to restart your journey again?

Brent: Yeah, there’s really no magic bulletin, in marketing or even the workforce in general. Right. Don’t take shortcuts. it’s just the game of fruitful testing, optimizing, trying things, failing. something I worked yesterday, it might not work today. so don’t be a know it all. Just, always be willing to learn, experiments, and get better from it.

Ernesto: I mean, what about yourself, Brent?

Will: Yeah, for me, I would say marketing is easy, and you engineering is hard. So I think it’s always wise to invest in your engineering capabilities, no matter how small that might be, whether it’s just learning HTML and css or whether you want to really understand programming. getting better at engineering will pay dividends. Pay dividends, in marketing, even though it might not seem like it will when you’re learning.

Ernesto: Okay, awesome. Great advice there for. For everybody. Well, we’re coming to the end, here of the show, but I do get. I do want to give you guys the last word. If someone forgets everything about the interview today, what is that? One thing they should remember about Sclero.

Will: Yeah, I think, I’ll try to keep this simple. I think for a lot of people, when they discover Sclera, they’re like, man, I didn’t know a company like you exist. we have challenges communicating with our existing customers. I can’t believe there’s a sclero there. So just know that sclero helps you, manage communicating with your existing users and customers, and, that’s it.

Ernesto: Awesome. Well, guys, you guys heard it there from will. You guys want to say something, maybe a little bit different than Brent?

Brent: Yeah. I’ll repeat what I said early on. If you do, you have an issue in lifecycle marketing. no matter what, how small it might be, it could be these design doesn’t feel right or you don’t think you’re targeting the right audience. You know, anything small, if there’s no. If there’s an issue in lifecycle marketing, just call sclero. We can, we can help try to figure it out for you guys.

Ernesto: Heard it there, right? You can check them out at Scalero IO. They’re the best lifecycle marketing studio out there. Check them out. If you have customers you don’t know how to do it, they know how to do it, and they’ll help you out. Will brent, thank you so much. On. For being in today’s, pathmonk.com Presents episode to our listeners. Thank you so much for tuning in. Looking forward to our next episode at Pathmonk Presents.

Will: Thanks for us.