The Intriguing Potential of Nozbe’s “Experts” Program
Gregg Blanchard /
There are a few ideas that I’ve chewed on over the years around SendView, but rarely as different parts of the same whole.
For example, we want folks to use the platform more because more usage correlates to more value they get from the product and the likelihood they’ll keep paying for it. We also want to partner with more agencies because they’re constantly working with email clients at the point where competitive insights are most useful. Then there’s the affiliate angle. I’ve tried to crack the “reward people for telling others about us” concept a few times but never quite found a way to make it work for the right voices in the email space (or at least never had the time to give it enough of a go).
Today when I was listening to Nathan Barry’s recent work session with Michael Sliwinski from Nozbe, I started hearing some similar challenges their team has tried to solve. Specifically, the correlation between someone getting setup up really well on the platform and that user sticking around.
So I pulled up their site and poked around when I found an idea I thought was really clever: Nozbe Experts.
Interestingly, within a few minutes Michael shared that he saw this effort as a bit of a failure, but Nathan started to drill into this idea because he saw its potential as a channel for growth.
Nozbe Experts
This program combines a handful of different marketing concepts under a single program, many of which were the ones I sketched out at the top of this post.
1. A Name
First, I love that it has a name to help it feel more concrete. Names aren’t always needed, but I like the way they kept it simple with a single, descriptive word.
2. Certification
Having a certification tied to this feels like another strong move. It’s not just a group of smart people, it’s a group a smart people who you can trust know the product really well.
3. Affiliate
Next, these Experts also get access to an exclusive tier of Nozbe affiliate commissions. Nathan correctly hit on the fact that this tier may not be enough incentive (25% vs 30%), but I love that this is an option they’ve woven into this program.
4. Selling Point
The existence of this group is a nice selling point. For potential users, it’s great for them to know experts are available to work with. For the experts, that visibility is a nice perk that can help recruit folks to the program.
5. Voice at the Table
You’ll notice below in the feature table that the group gets regular strategy sessions with the Nozbe CEO. This tie back to the product roadmap is really smart and a win-win for both the Expert and Nozbe.
Add it All Up
Add it all up and you have a group of:
- Savvy, trusted experts in Nozbe’s market…
- Understand the value of Nozbe on a deep level…
- Sharing ways to improve the product…
- Telling their clients / others about Nozbe…
- Helping (some) Nozbe users become less likely to churn.
When I look at this list, I agree with Nathan: There’s a ton of potential in that combination. I really love that they dug into this during the last half of the video.
That said, I can empathize with Michael that they tried this, but only had one person really knock it out of the park and feeling like it was a failure. I’ve had similar concepts I’ve chased that, at the time, felt like a strong direction but didn’t panned out. But I also very much agree with Nathan the direction can be right even if there were a couple things missing. In this case, incentives (to increase conversion) and increased direct sales outreach (to increase awareness).
There is no perfect channel, but it gave me a lot to think about how we’ve tried to work with partners in the past, the incentives we’ve offered, and how much effort I put into this channel. Like Nozbe, it feels like there’s both more meat on this bone and a better way to tell this story for SendView.
Kudos to Michael for being so open to feedback and Nathan for his approach.
Good stuff.