What are Kore and Druid doing, that you're not?
I sat down with the top person at a Tier 1 bank the other day.
The individual is responsible for the global Conversational AI strategy of this European-based financial services giant.
As a former bank executive (Chief Digital Officer, Chief Transformation Officer), I always enjoy sitting down with current executives to discuss their approaches, strategies and challenges.
There is usually some affinity between us based on the fact that I've been in their chair. I've seen the horror, as the phrase goes. I know the pressures they're under.
It's almost like a joint therapy session for us both, even if I haven't met the executive beforehand.
I will regularly reach out to executives that I don't know to ask if we can meet for coffee to discuss Conversational AI (and, more often than not, digital banking, FinTech in general). My agenda is to learn and exchange, and it works like this:
I come armed with industry news, insights and strategies that I've seen (or implemented myself). The executive throws me question after question and I answer as directly as I can given the dozens of NDAs I'm subject to. Often I end up having to speak in high-level code ("there's a bank I know that has done the following"). The executive speaks this 'high-level code' fluently. They know I can't go into detail on commercials or any specific points – and they don't even ask. Likewise, they never reveal anything specific or confidential.
Occasionally I'll make a point or an observation and the executive will respond with a pointed word, like, "Really?"
That's a cue for me to expand – and for me to evaluate whether and how much more detail I can go into.
Often, it's a request for clarification because there's a strategic point behind their thinking. Sometimes it might involve a competitor and I simply explain that I can't go into detail. But other times, I can actually say "Look, let me reach out to them and see if they'll take a call with you?"
That's where the real magic is – and I spend a lot of my time informally creating these connections where it's possible and appropriate to do so.
There is also an underpinning agenda for me and it's one that is known and understood by the executive: This kind of activity occasionally leads to a consulting project with the bank.
That's not the main focus of a meeting at all though. It's an information exchange. The quid pro quo for me is that I get to ask the executive questions too.
One of the questions I really enjoy asking is along the lines of, "What vendors are you aware of in the space?"
It's super helpful for me because although I know most marketing and sales vendor teams are doing a shocking job reaching senior executives (not just in financial services, I should add) it helps when I can underpin this with real-time evidence (without naming any brands or executives).
I'll ask the executive if I can anonymously quote the list they give me and invariably they're perfectly fine for me to do so.
So, in this case, here we go. Tier 1 bank. Super smart, hyper-connected, very experienced executive.
Their answer:
For clarity, this was not "I've had a conversation with the vendor".
This was simply testing for awareness.
This particular executive is already working (and satisfied) with an existing vendor.
But what I was testing for was this: If they wanted to learn more, who would they be picking up the phone to? What brands are in the back of their mind? In this case, the executive does not know anyone at these companies.
So: What are Druid and Kore doing right, in this market-sample-size-of-one?
Well, I can't necessarily answer. It's difficult to put one's finger on it.
I think Kore has done a really, really good job activating and working with partners, so I think that will certainly be helping. They're also doing a lot of direct sponsorship and marketing activities that are likely to be cutting through.
When it comes to Druid, I have long been a fan of how direct they are with their customer case studies and their direct marketing activities. I think they've also done a bit of sponsorship to get the word out in the right circles.
I'm just speculating. I can't know for sure.
It won't be one thing, though. It will, I'm sure, be a complex mix of activity that's driving this response.
The one thing that doesn't work?
Messing about sending automated nonsense emails and LinkedIn messages to the executive. They do read email. They do read LinkedIn messages. They will even read your WhatsApp messages if you manage to get hold of their mobile number.
But they're reading for them, not for you.
They're scanning regularly through the 'spam' (as they see it) to determine if there's anything interesting for them.
It might be recruitment opportunities, speaking engagements, an invitation to participate in a judging panel... those sorts of things are interesting to them.
Every single "Hi there, we're a leading provider of ..." message is automatically moved to the "rubbish" folder in their brain within half a second. That's why you never get a response.
It doesn't matter how good your offer is, or how customised your automated message is.
If it's not about 'me', then I'm not interested.
So, the messages your company is sending out to the market ... read through them: Are they about the recipient, or are they about you? Yeah. 99.999% of the time, your messages are about you. That's why nobody is answering.
