Back Office to Boardroom

It's Okay to Be Wrong | Peter Mertens, Sprout Social

Peter was a competitive intelligence specialist when he first joined Sprout Social [https://sproutsocial.com/]back in 2017. Barely four and a half years later, Peter Mertens landed the role of Director of Market Strategy [https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-mertens-32913931/details/experience/].  It was clear to Peter that the executive team at Sprout — a team that plays in the uber-competitive social media space — was hungry for competitive insights. Lucky for him, analyzing broad trends and turning them into actionable intel was a muscle he'd already developed as a competitive intelligence specialist. It was these skills, and many more, that helped Peter get from the back office to the boardroom. He sat down with host Clara Smyth to talk about his career journey and much more in this episode of Back Office to Boardroom. Key Moments: (01:43) Peter's career journey from PR Agency to Sprout Social (03:50) How competitive intelligence helped him climb the ranks (06:24) The moment Peter knew he had "made it" as a CI professional (07:59) What it looks for CI to engage with the executive team (10:06) What to do when execs don't follow your recommendation (17:20) How competitive intelligence has evolved throughout Peter's career (22:38) Why you shouldn't measure success by how big your team is (28:38) Peter's newfound passion for coffee This podcast is brought to you by the Compete Network [https://thecompetenetwork.com/].  The Compete Network is your home for the best content, events, and resources on competing. From building your first battlecards to enabling thousands of reps, the Compete Network brings together the biggest names in the competitive enablement community. Check out past episodes of Back Office to Boardroom here [https://klue.com/shows/back-office-to-boardroom].

Let's Show Them What CI Can Really Do | Jennifer Roberts, ServiceTitan

Competitive intelligence pro, win-loss evangelist, and proud Minnesotan Jennifer Roberts [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-roberts-67ba0a16/] is Clara's guest on today's episode of Back Office to Boardroom. Jennifer has honed her compete skills for major brands like Expedia, Thomson Reuters and now ServiceTitan. Through win-loss interviews and working in concert with her key stakeholders, Jennifer has learned a ton about how to build and run a successful compete program. And today, she shares a few of the tricks she has up her sleeve. This podcast is brought to you by the Compete Network [https://thecompetenetwork.com/].  The Compete Network is your home for the best content, events, and resources on competing. From building your first battlecards to enabling thousands of reps, the Compete Network brings together the biggest names in the competitive enablement community. Key moments:  (00:23) Meet Jennifer Roberts (01:36) Jennifer's compete journey (03:49) The cost of not connecting with your stakeholders (05:26) How to build credibility (09:10) Building a culture of compete within an organization (12:17) The importance of win-loss for building credibility (14:08) What Jennifer would have done differently if she had a do-over (15:42) Nailing differentiation as a compete pro (18:50) Something surprising about Jennifer (19:50) Where CI will be as a profession in 10 years Check out past episodes of Back Office to Boardroom here [https://klue.com/shows/back-office-to-boardroom].

Self-Promotion with Humility | Gal Toren, JFrog

Clara Smyth is joined by JFrog's Competitive Intelligence Team Lead Gal Toren to talk about how having the courage to be vulnerable and humble has helped Gal become the leader and competitive intelligence expert she is today. This podcast is brought to you by the Compete Network [https://thecompetenetwork.com/].  The Compete Network is your home for the best content, events, and resources on competing. From building your first battlecards to enabling thousands of reps, the Compete Network brings together the biggest names in the competitive enablement community. Listen to past episodes and dive into more great compete content on the Compete Network [https://thecompetenetwork.com/].

Professional Puzzle Solver | Darrius Shaw, Procore Technologies

Host Clara Smyth is joined by Procore's Competitive and Market Intelligence Manager Darrius Shaw to take you through his career and what it took to get him from the back office to the boardroom. This podcast is brought to you by the Compete Network [https://thecompetenetwork.com/].  The Compete Network is your home for the best content, events, and resources on competing. From building your first battlecards to enabling thousands of reps, the Compete Network brings together the biggest names in the competitive enablement community. Check out past episodes of Back Office to Boardroom here [https://klue.com/shows/back-office-to-boardroom].

The Power of Saying No | Alysse Nockels, Palo Alto Networks

Alysse Nockels, Director of Competitive Intelligence at Elastic, joins host Clara Smyth for the inaugural BO2BR episode! In this episode, Alysse shares what she did to earn a seat at the executive table, why job titles aren't the key to accelerating your career, and the power of saying no. This podcast is brought to you by the Compete Network [https://thecompetenetwork.com/].  The Compete Network is your home for the best content, events, and resources on competing. From building your first battlecards to enabling thousands of reps, the Compete Network brings together the biggest names in the competitive enablement community. Check out past episode of Back Office to Boardroom here [https://klue.com/shows/back-office-to-boardroom].