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Join Wendy Coulter as she dives into the Hummingbird Effect with Courtney Collins from Bobbit Construction. With over 30 years of experience as an agency owner, Wendy, alongside marketing strategist Hannah, hosts this insightful episode where they discuss innovative marketing strategies, overcoming industry challenges, and the transformative power of small changes in marketing. Courtney shares her journey in the construction industry, highlighting the impact of effective social media practices, the power of direct mail, and empowering her marketing team. Learn how seemingly small shifts can lead to big changes in your business and beyond.
00:00 Introduction and Podcast Launch
00:54 Meet Courtney Collins
02:35 Courtney's Background and Career Journey
06:41 Marketing Strategies in Construction
14:54 The Hummingbird Effect in Marketing
23:29 Empowering the Team
24:34 Boosting Team Morale
25:45 Engagement and Incentives
27:17 Innovative Strategies
30:20 Advice for Newcomers
33:08 Future Plans and Innovations
38:25 Leveraging AI and Tools
41:51 The Hummingbird Effect
48:01 Final Thoughts and Reflections
Creators & Guests
Host
What is The Hummingbird Effect with Wendy Coulter?
Welcome to "The Hummingbird Effect," a podcast dedicated to uncovering the subtle yet powerful ways that small innovations can transform your business. Hosted by Wendy Coulter, CEO of Hummingbird Creative Group, this show delves into the stories and strategies behind successful brand building.
For over 25 years, Wendy has helped CEOs and business leaders redefine their brands through innovation and compelling narratives. In this podcast, she shares the insights and lessons learned from her extensive experience, exploring how a strong brand orientation can significantly increase the value of your business.
Each episode features engaging conversations with industry leaders, business advisors, and innovators who have harnessed the power of branding to make a substantial impact. Discover how focusing on core values, mission, and vision can drive your brand beyond mere marketing tactics, fostering a culture that resonates with your audience and enhances your business's reputation.
Inspired by the concept of the Hummingbird Effect—where small, adaptive changes lead to remarkable outcomes—this podcast aims to help you understand and implement the incremental innovations that can elevate your brand and business.
Join Wendy Coulter on "The Hummingbird Effect" and learn how to evolve your brand, attract more customers, and ultimately enhance the value of your business through strategic branding.
Wendy: [00:00:00] [00:00:15] Hi, I'm Wendy Coulter, and I help CEOs and marketing [00:00:30] leaders unlock the power of their brands. I've been a agency owner for over 30 years, and I'm excited to have recently launched this podcast.
Thanks to my marketing strategist Hannah, who's with us today. Hi Hannah. Hi [00:00:45] Wendy. How are you doing today? Doing pretty good. How are you? I'm good, I'm good. I'm excited about this episode. Me too.
Hanna: I'm very excited to talk to Courtney and learn more from her.
Wendy: So today we're going to take a deep dive into the Hummingbird Effect with [00:01:00] Courtney Collins, with Bobbit, and we're excited to have you here with us today, Courtney.
Same.
Courtney Collins: I'm so excited. Um, of course, you and I have met a bunch of times by now, but it was Yes, the first time meeting you. This is our first time. We got to chat about how uncomfortable we look [00:01:15] on camera. So
Wendy: it's just, it's
Courtney Collins: all good.
Wendy: I know it's interesting because most people will be listening to this, but we do have the episodes on YouTube and so we are on video always.
And um, it's interesting, so yes. [00:01:30] Um, always fun. So, Courtney, tell us a couple of fun facts about yourself.
Courtney Collins: Oh my gosh, I don't know if they're fun, but I am a mom of two boys, um, two and six, ACE and Ryan. Um, so I'm a football mom slash basketball [00:01:45] mom. Um, and I love to play tennis. Um, I don't know any other fun facts about myself, but, um, those are the most fun things in my life right now.
Just keeping up with those two.
Wendy: So how do you keep up with tennis as the weather [00:02:00] gets colder? Um, I don't, I just
Courtney Collins: go to Pilates and that's my workout and that's it. Um, but no. Tennis is definitely a summer thing, but it's all good.
Wendy: I love Pilates. I did Pilates for a while. Oh my gosh. Just
Courtney Collins: my whole identity now.
Wendy: Yeah. It's, it's [00:02:15] so good. Yeah. It's so good. I need to get back to it myself. So I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing next. I've been I've lost a little weight, so it's time now to like tone up. Mm-Hmm. Just the time for Thanksgiving. Oh, yes. Yeah. Well. I figure the [00:02:30] holidays don't count. They don't count.
So those count, you don't even Yeah, for sure. So Courtney, you and I connected through a friend of mine who's been in the construction industry forever. Right. Um, and it was [00:02:45] great for him to introduce us. I absolutely have loved getting to know you and all of what you're doing at Bobbit, but just give us a little bit of information about your background and how you landed where you're at
Courtney Collins: today.
Sure. Um, it's a very. [00:03:00] Boring story because I've stuck with this industry my whole career. But, um, I started at North Carolina a and t and Greensboro undergrad as a mass communications major, um, with a concentration in pr and I got outta school and there weren't a bunch of [00:03:15] PR jobs, so I kind of ventured into marketing, which was.
And the kind of in the same area I felt, and I loved it. And so I worked as a events coordinator, I worked as a, um, marketing associate all the way up [00:03:30] the ranks, um, to just here recently. Duke Energy was my job. I was a marketing manager at Duke Energy before I came to Bobby. Bobby Construction and. It's funny because if you would've asked me two years ago if I've, if I would've ever [00:03:45] worked in a construction industry, I would've been like, heck no.
Um, I've worked in leadership development, I've worked in manufacturing. Um, I've even worked for, a utility, but construction just was, has never been on my radar. Radar. Um. [00:04:00] But I'm here now and I really like it. I really like working in construction. It's very different. It's like nothing I've ever done before in the sense of, um, a lot of the things we do in marketing for a construction [00:04:15] company's just a little unorthodox.
But I'm having the most fun.
Wendy: So that's great. That's great. Well, I think the infrastructure from the energy company ties to the construction as well. Mm-Hmm. Um, and so that's, [00:04:30] that's neat to see that path and kind of how you've, how you've come forward. It's
Courtney Collins: always amazing to me when I look back at how all my docs connected, right?
Because you. Um, you start off, you know, one way and then you jump to something new and you think, oh, this has [00:04:45] nothing to do with what I did before. But then you find those little red threads every now and then, like, oh, this was actually preparing me for this. That's right. Um, so, yeah.
Wendy: Well, and you and I also connected, I was talking to you one [00:05:00] day on the phone and just kind of.
Went down the path of the North Carolina Women Business Owners Hall of Fame and um, we both showed up in our gorgeous dresses dressed to impress to the gala this year. And [00:05:15] I'm super excited to have you potentially join my communications committee. Oh, yes. For that event.
Courtney Collins: Shameless plug the, that event. It was life changing in a lot of ways.
And, um, we'll see those things coming into [00:05:30] fruition hopefully for me later on down the line. But I will say it was one of the most impactful events that I've ever been to. Um, and, you know, just. Planting the seed, um, at the event, and then, you know, planting a [00:05:45] seed at the event and also watering that same seed at the event.
Like all the things happened there. I made a lot of connections and just seeing women just live out their stories and tell their stories, um, and live out their dreams and, and it be rewarded for, it was just [00:06:00] so inspiring, to say the least. But it just lit something up in me that I kind of expected.
Like you go to things thinking, okay, this is a. This is gonna be inspiring, but I could have never imagined that it would light the fire in me that it is so. Um, shameless [00:06:15] plug.
Wendy: I love that. I love that. I love light fire, so I'm so glad that you had that experience. Thanks, Anna.
Hanna: She doesn't like delight. A lot of things on fire within people, fires within people.
I like delight.
Wendy: Fire. [00:06:30] I
Hanna: love delight. Fires
Wendy: with
Hanna: mp. There we
Wendy: go. Yeah.
Courtney Collins: Wendy de pyro.
Wendy: Okay, this is all going wrong today. This is too funny. Um, okay, so you are at Bobbit today? Mm-Hmm. [00:06:45] And, um, your title is Director, marketing Director? Yes. Director of marketing? Yes. Um, big title. Big job, big company. I've been to the new digs and it's a gorgeous facility.
Yes. Love it. We have a new office. Yes, I know you're loving the new [00:07:00] office. Um, so talk to me a little bit about your day to day. Like what are you responsible for? You said it's kind of interesting and unconventional to be a marketing director in the construction industry. What does that mean? What's your day to day like?
Courtney Collins: Yeah, so [00:07:15] I think because, well first of all, shout out to my team. I have an amazing team, Ashley, Amber, and Taylor. Um, but we just juggle all the things, right? Like. Last week, the biggest thing in our world was we ordered jackets [00:07:30] and so we turned into like a JCPenney for a few days because people are coming in trying on the samples and like, what do you think about this one?
Is it hitting me? Right? You know, and then we're, so we're fashion consultants, um, and then sometimes we're event planners and sometimes we are fire put out or [00:07:45] sometimes we are. Um, front desk clerks sometimes and, and not in a negative way, but it's just we wear a lot of hats and it, we fill in the need for a lot of different things.
Um, so our team is [00:08:00] responsible, responsible for all things, website, all things, um, promotion, advertising, um, events, external and internal. Um, all of our sponsorships are usually driven by marketing. Um, all of the awards that [00:08:15] we submit for. So all of our projects that may be, um, go up for award, we, we submit the nomination.
Um, man, so many more RFPs, proposals, RQs, um, lunch and Learns, all the, all the [00:08:30] things like we just cover so much. So no day is the same. So when you say, what's my day to day like? It's a different day every day,
Wendy: which I love. Well, I know from talking to you though, that you're also very strategic and so we don't wanna forget that [00:08:45] as director of marketing.
Um, you've shared some strategies with me and so, um, I know we all get caught up in those tactical things, but talk a little bit about strategy and how you've seen that go in the construction [00:09:00] industry. Yeah,
Courtney Collins: yeah. No, it's my favorite thing to talk about now is how. I came into this job thinking that I had it all figured out and I would use my 11 years of experience to kind of like, you know, show up and.
Shake the [00:09:15] table at Bob it, and then the table shook me. Um, and so, and I say that because, you know, usually website or every industry I work for, website is your bread and butter for a lot of different reasons, right? And so when I came in, I was like, first thing I'm gonna [00:09:30] do is change up this website and we're gonna do this, and we're gonna do this with this website, and we're gonna start getting leads from the website.
And because that's just what I have historically done and it is what works. And it's just where you, it's a good start in place, right? And so I came in and [00:09:45] thought I would do that. I threw that in my strategy and then I said, next will be social media. Um, because I knew that our CEO Brian was very passionate about social media, but um, I also wanted to build more awareness around Bob.
And, you know, social media's a great tool [00:10:00] for that. And then I just had all, I just went down the line of all the things that I needed to do first and second, and third and fourth, and it was gonna go like this and this was gonna bring these kind of results. And then. Like I said, the table shook me in the sense that, um, [00:10:15] it wasn't a fail, but it just didn't bring about the results that I thought it would.
And it wasn't a priority, um, because historically it wasn't a priority. The website wasn't a priority. And then I [00:10:30] found out why I worked a job long enough to say, oh, I get it. This industry is based on results. I mean relationships and the relationships is usually what yield the results. Not how, um, your website is set up [00:10:45] to, you know, receive a lead, right?
And so usually that's what we run into. You fill out, you drop 'em to the website, they fill out a form, it turns into a lead. Um, and so what happened was I shifted. I had to shift and say, [00:11:00] okay, what is going to get the result that we want? Um, and so I just went to my next strategic. Priority, which was social media.
And so we were posting about [00:11:15] maybe once a week. Um, we would post when we had a project to highlight or we would post when a holiday would come up. Mm-Hmm. We would make a nice graphic for it, but we were just barely keeping the lights on because the team was so busy [00:11:30] churning out. Um. Proposals, right?
And so with a construction company, a lot of times your proposals feel like your bread and butter, but it is, and it is to some degree, but it's reactionary, right? Like. [00:11:45] You're reacting to someone's request for a proposal, right. And giving them proposal versus all of the proactive marketing you can be doing to even get put in that position in first place.
Right? Right. And that is your your events or your social media or just like what is hooking [00:12:00] you, you showing up in the spaces. Subject matter expert is all the proactive things that we were ignoring because we were in this reactive space. And so we were just barely keeping the lights on. And then I made a shift.
I started to push the team into roles, strategic [00:12:15] roles, um, so we could be more effective, but also get to some of that proactive stuff that we just weren't able to get to. Right. And so, um, by doing that and assigning [00:12:30] Amber, who's our social media, um, person, our communication specialist. I gave her the very lofty task of alright, three posts a week at first, and she was like, oh my gosh, how are we gonna find content?
I was like, we can do it three posts a week. Like [00:12:45] let's, it's. Every week we'll meet, and we still do this, we still meet every Monday and look at our week, um, and try to plan out content best we can. Um, and so just that shift, right, just a spike in [00:13:00] our, just how much we posted, of course, drove up our engagement and just, um, it drove the amount of followers we had and.
We were like, okay, this is good. This is, this is good. This is a thing. Um, but [00:13:15] now let's try to get more employee engagement. So we hosted a LinkedIn, training. In our new office, in our training room, and we served breakfast so we could get everybody in the room, Chick-fil-A breakfast, and [00:13:30] they were there and we showed them all the things that we wanted them to do and why it was important.
And the, the thing I think was most impactful about that training is we got to show them how we stacked up against our competitors. Right? And so we're like, we're number eight, right? We're number [00:13:45] eight in all of these areas. Like how can we move the needle? Right? And at that time, we had. Started to increase the amount we were posting, um, and we were posting pretty much every day.
And so by the time we had the training, we had some impressive [00:14:00] numbers to show that hey, we were number eight, but just by posting more now we're number four. And, and we were not only stacking ourselves up against the local GCs, right, general contractors. We were going after the [00:14:15] Clancy thas. We were going after Beringer the um.
The salmons like all of the big GCs, right? And we were like, and we are number three and four, and we came from number eight. And so it's like, this is where we are. And, and in some cases, some months we're number one and [00:14:30] that's just about the volume that we're posting, right? And so it was such a big win for us to show them like, Hey, look at how far we've come just from posting more.
But now we need you guys to engage with us. We need you guys to repost, we need you guys to help us. Get more [00:14:45] followers. And so once we shifted the mindset of the employees, um, all the results that we were wanting from the beginning started to roll in. Is this the part where you asked me about the Hummingbird effect or you wanna stop?
Let me stop talking and you asked me [00:15:00] something else.
Wendy: Yeah. Because I'm getting right to it and then No, I'm gonna, so thanks for the segue. Yeah.
So, um. You know, we work in, we work in marketing and [00:15:15] brand. Mm-Hmm. Is where Hummingbird Creative Group. Mm-Hmm. Really works the most. And, um, we believe that what truly matters is building that strong brand. Yeah. Um, and what we see is that that is like the hummingbird effect, where you can make these small [00:15:30] shifts in one area and it affects something else.
Mm-Hmm. In a really big way. Mm-Hmm. In the business. Mm-Hmm. And so kind of given what you've shared with us about, um, what you're doing with LinkedIn Yeah. And the social media. Can you talk about a [00:15:45] specific instance where a seemingly small change in marketing Mm-hmm. Led to an unexpected outcome in another area?
Courtney Collins: Absolutely. Um, so back on this social media train. You guys got the backstory. So, um, we started, [00:16:00] we took off there, right? And things are going well on social media land. I'm like, okay, how can we. Really start to use this as a tool for business development and for our project developers, right? And so, you know, [00:16:15] marketing can be a lot of handholding.
Um, especially your sales team. You're like, come on, Hannah knows nothing about handholding. It's just, you know, absolutely nothing. It's the nature of the job, handholding, spoon, feeding, [00:16:30] all the things. Um, and so I said, okay, let's. When we have a RFP coming up, let's, um, tailor our social media content to that [00:16:45] particular proposal in a sense.
So let's say we were, um, going after a fire station, and so that fire station proposal is due on Wednesday. On [00:17:00] Monday or Tuesday, we're gonna post. We're gonna project highlight a fire station that we did that's similar to the one we're going after. And not only are we gonna post that, we're gonna send an email to all of the people that are listed on the team as or listed on the proposal as the [00:17:15] team members so they can repost it on our social.
'cause what we know is you submit a proposal and people see your name and they go to LinkedIn and say, oh, Wendy, let me see what Wendy's done. And just. So happen if [00:17:30] that fire station is posted on there. You know, it's like, oh, they just did a project just like this. Right? And so that's, that was the idea of it.
And so that's, we started kind of curating these social posts based on the projects we were going after and sending the email saying, Hey, we just posted this, [00:17:45] please repost. It's a little nudge like, come on, repost. And it paid off in a great way because one particular time we did this. Um, we had just posted a Starbucks [00:18:00] and that we finished and it was great.
And, um, one of the project developers re posted it and his client actually, and this, this was just happenstance, this client, the, the guy that had us build the, the Starbucks, [00:18:15] reposted it with his comments and said, oh, great job on this. You know, they're a great partner. Under that post, which we reposted him of course.
Right. That's like right from the, the cow's mouth. So we reposted that and it, [00:18:30] it almost felt like spam. Somebody underneath that post said, Hey, I'm looking to build a Starbucks. Wow. And we were like, yeah, right. That's no way. That's real. And it was, and it was actual, it was an actual lead. And so for the first time that I know [00:18:45] of since I've been there, um.
We got a lead, a direct lead, which could have like, you know, hopefully, hopefully still turns into something, right? But that was the first time we got direct lead, a cold lead from social media. Um, and it actually [00:19:00] came in and, and we're still working it out now. Like hopefully we, we win the job, but, um. It yielded big results.
And I was like, I mean, you would've thought I had an Olympic torch the way I was running around the office. Like, oh my God, we gotta leave from social media. Um, [00:19:15] because it's taking a chance, right? It's just something that we just never really put all of our, our energy into and just making that small shift, just a, a bunch of small shifts, right?
Training the employees, um, you know, curating the messages, sending [00:19:30] out emails, nudging people to kind of like. Take us serious and repost and help us with engagement yielded this multimillion dollar opportunity.
Wendy: I just think it's an awesome B2B story, right? I mean, so thought leadership in B2B marketing is difficult, right?
But [00:19:45] you did something like super simple, um, and and related it to. Current project opportunities. Mm-Hmm. I think so many of, even some of our clients can learn from that. Yeah. We might have to, we might have to steal your [00:20:00] idea. Yeah. And present that to some of our, some of our B2B clients as a way to engage on social.
And it gives it structure too. That's a little bit different than just Right. The holiday post. Mm-Hmm. And, okay, we're gonna spotlight something Mm-Hmm. Every [00:20:15] couple of weeks, but really doing it intentionally. Yeah. I think that's awesome. And it's
Courtney Collins: all about, and as you know, synergy, right? Like ev you gotta get all the, the, the wheels turning.
Um, sometimes we just try to like, you know, ride the [00:20:30] coattails of something that's really working, like the podcast or the website or whatever. But you need. The podcast, you need the website, you need the, the social media posts, you need the emails, you need them all to be telling the same story, so whenever it hits the client that it [00:20:45] just reinforces everything that you've already put out there.
Right? A lot of times in building that synergy and it's like, okay, that's when you really get to see, you know, results. 'cause it's intentional.
Wendy: Right? Right. So talk to me about, [00:21:00] um, maybe other areas of the business. I mean, sales is always like directly connected to marketing, right? Mm-Hmm. Like that's, so you achieved that like ultimate goal to get a lead in through, um, your social.
And I think that. [00:21:15] That is fantastic, but what Als, what other areas might you have experienced like some impact on as a result of this, um, concept?
Courtney Collins: Yeah, so, um, off to social media train for a second. Um, recently we sent out [00:21:30] some postcards, which I was like, this is so archaic, this is not gonna yield the results.
This is super expensive. 'cause you know, direct mail can be really expensive and it's like, oh, this is just whatever. I'm gonna do it. They want this done. Um. [00:21:45] And they were, they used to do them in the past and then they went away from them and they wanted expressed interest, wanted to bring it back. And I was like, I don't know.
I just don't think for this amount of money is gonna yield the results we want. And sure enough, we did [00:22:00] a fire station postcard and um, our. Business developer Chris GOs has just been nonstop telling me, okay, we got another lead. We got another lead. And the interesting thing is they will get, they got the postcard in the mail and they would go to the website and fill out the form, [00:22:15] or they would get the postcard and call Chris up.
'cause we put his, his information on the postcard. And so, um, shout out to him for, for pushing me on that. Like, um, just because like I said, it's archaic and it's not something that you, you [00:22:30] expect results from. It's just something you kind of just do to. See what happens. But it, in this particular, um, industry in, in the, the fire station community, it performed really well.
Um, so [00:22:45] I think. It's beautiful and very shocking at the same time.
Wendy: Well, and I think it's like a multimedia approach, right? Where you're, you've got the social media going, you've got the postcards going, and so now it's about thinking about what other things [00:23:00] need to happen. Oh, yeah. Around a fire station proposal or around another kind of proposal, um, where you can duplicate it and come back around to it each time and have the same kind of success.
Yep. Um, [00:23:15] how's the team enjoying it? Like is it having an impact on culture and those kinds of things as well?
Courtney Collins: I think so. I think, um, so one, one of my just things I hang my hat on is just empowering my team. And so I think, [00:23:30] um, letting everybody feel empowered and, and letting them know like, Hey, I believe in you.
Take a change. Like give me, bring some ideas like. I have done this for a very long time, but I don't know [00:23:45] everything under the sun. Um, you know, a lot of my team members, um, were doing this in some capacity in the a in industry before, long before I got there. Um, and so just trying to capitalize [00:24:00] off what they like to do and, um, just empowering them as much as I can, um, to.
Bringing in fresh ideas or to just be vocal about what they like and don't like. Um, tell me why it won't [00:24:15] work. Poke holes in my ideas. Right. And we, we kind of approach things, um, as a team in some regards, but they all have their own path that they're directly in control of and they're empowered to take risk and [00:24:30] to, um, bring new energy and new breathe, new life into, um, their roles.
And so I think that has really. Um, helped our team a lot from a morale perspective, just because it's like, not everybody just tag teaming on, [00:24:45] um, every project that comes to their door or, or, um, deciding in real time who gets what. It's like they kind of know now, like, this is my area, this is, you know, this, this request came in, I got this.
Or, um, Hey, I wanna try my hand [00:25:00] at this. Is that okay? Like, yeah, like, let's do it. Let me know if you need me. Um, and I think that has kind of helped build this. Safe spaces, psychological safety that, um, I, I only hoped for when I was coming up or when I worked under people. It's just like, [00:25:15] do I feel safe to use my voice?
Do I feel safe to pitch an idea? Do I feel safe to critique something? Right? So, so I'm all about psychological
Wendy: safety. I love that. I love that. And what about [00:25:30] like the greater team, like, um, that. Those, those people who've worked on the fire station, um, projects and repost your post, are they getting more and more excited to continue to do that now that they're seeing [00:25:45] engagement?
Well, so
Courtney Collins: I, I'd say yes. Um, it does help that we have a $75 gift card for people each month for the employee that's most engaged with our content. So liking, reposting, um, that [00:26:00] type of thing. So that helps. But, um, so I would say they excited, they're excited about the gift card, but I also think, um, we try to do, um, you know, post around our culture a lot too.
And so I think they just enjoy like, Hey, this is a fun [00:26:15] place to work and mm-hmm, this is, I'm in this photo or repost or whatever. Um, I do think with the postcard situation, probably a lot of, like I told you because I was like, yeah. Um, but I, I do, I have seen us. Take risk in [00:26:30] other areas because I think they believe in our team.
Um, so now we're like doing a, a events newsletter that comes out and just basically tells all of our subscribers, um, when the industry events are and why you [00:26:45] should go to 'em and which event it's tailored to, which audience and what date it's on, and send you right to the link to register. So I think people find that really helpful, but I don't think that.
The confidence was there to pull something off like that, um, before the infrastructure of HubSpot and, [00:27:00] and, um, just the team itself and us having the, strategicness and the manpower that we have now. So I definitely am noticing a small shift in, in our capability, in our, the belief. In our capability, but also just [00:27:15]
Wendy: people wanna try new things.
Yeah. Well, and I think you're, if you're putting out a newsletter with all of the, um, activities that are going on in the industry, then that's positioning you as a thought leader. Mm-Hmm mm-Hmm. Um, and [00:27:30] so I think just that, that little thing, you're giving people information that they're seeking. Yeah. And so they're gonna start to, you know, recognize that you are a player there, which is really, really good.
[00:27:45] [00:28:00] Hannah, do you have any [00:28:15] thoughts?
Hanna: I have. From the moment you started talking, I think that you might have been the hummingbird effect for Bobbit and it, you came in with all these ideas, but you were humble enough to listen. And from all the stories that you've [00:28:30] told, your team's also humble enough to listen to you.
And you guys have grown sounds like a lot, um, not even from a sales perspective, but from a team perspective in the culture. So that's a really. Cool thing to, [00:28:45] to see and to hear about. And I've definitely, it, I always taken the be humble approach to things.
Courtney Collins: Oh yeah. No, I'm so proud of my team. Like I, I just, every time we go after a task [00:29:00] or take on initiatives or complete something, I'm always just like, you know, just beaming with pride because like they are the.
Executors, they're the doers. Like I, I take credit for nothing. Like, I'm like, what do you got? You know? And they, they [00:29:15] just run with all the things and it's, they're just powerhouses, all of them. I'm so proud of them and it's not easy. Mm-Hmm. To come under to, you know, have someone new come in, [00:29:30] new to the industry, new to the, to the, the company and you know.
I really was just determined or like, oh, let's, let's do all these things. And, um, so they, you know, [00:29:45] definitely humbled me, but also, like you said, were very humble and was like, alright, I'll take this chance with what she's doing or what she's asking me to do. Um, not only that, I'll, I'll take on what she's asked me to do, but I'll take it further.
Mm-Hmm. And that's, [00:30:00] um, you know, there's nothing that. I can give them where I feel like they wouldn't knock it outta the park. Um, and that's, that's, that's my only goal if I can say, you know, the marketing team at Bobbit, it feels [00:30:15] empowered to do any and everything that they wanna do. Mm-Hmm. That I'm, I'm a happy camper.
Hanna: Like, do you have any advice to anyone going into a new position or a new field? To get that buy-in. I know you did the training [00:30:30] and you brought numbers, but were there other things that you learned along the way that had them accept this change and give you the buy-in and you bought into them as well?
Courtney Collins: So I will say, you know, it was a [00:30:45] challenge, but I will say, um, consistency and there is some somewhat of disproving that you have to do. I hate to say it right, but that's just the nature of. Of life. Um, people kind of wanna see the proof [00:31:00] before, um, they jump in the boat with you. And so, um,
Hanna: well, no, that's a good thing too.
'cause it sometimes you can get kind of upset when people don't believe [00:31:15] you. But knowing that you need to go in and find what proof points are important to the people you're speaking with. Right. Especially in a construction industry where. I'm sure the results are really all that they're looking for.
Yeah. So I mean, just to remember that going in [00:31:30] and take it with a grain of salt when someone says, well prove it and just Yeah. Find a way to speak their language. Yeah. Like,
Courtney Collins: done. Okay. I'll prove it. Right. But also I think one thing that was helpful is, um, I always felt empowered by our [00:31:45] CEO Brian, um, and my direct.
Supervisor at the time was Denise Sutherland. I always felt empowered by them to try things. And so even when I [00:32:00] didn't have the buy-in, they were like, alright, I want you to do this, or I know you can do this, or no, you're, you're going on the right path with this data course with this mm-Hmm. And so it was kind of helpful when I did feel like, oh man, this is not, they're, it's not [00:32:15] going over well.
They would say, no, this is where I want you to be. This is what I want you, you're doing the right thing. This is why we brought you here. So that was invaluable. But if you don't have that, the proof is always in the pudding, right? Do the work and, and [00:32:30] stay consistent. Um, believe in yourself and know that if you're doing the right things, the results will come.
Right? You shake the, I always love saying, keep shaking the tree. The apples will fall. And that's what social media did for us too, right? It's like, all right. [00:32:45] We've been posting pretty consistently for months and months and months, and it took like nine months for us to get that first lead. Mm-Hmm. But you know, it came right?
It's just a bunch of shaking the tree, doing the right things and staying consistent. So, um, I don't know how much [00:33:00] advice that was, as much as it was my particular experience, but, yeah, it's, it's challenging, but you can do it. I'll say that much.
Wendy: Well, so I think you've done some innovative things in the space, right?
And we always talk [00:33:15] about innovation as part of the hummingbird effect and experimentation being. Like really important because you just never know what might stick. Mm-Hmm. Um, so we're coming into the end of the year. I'm gonna put you on the spot a little bit. Mm-Hmm. But I know, [00:33:30] um, in our office we're working on 2025 planning.
Mm-Hmm. With so many of our clients. Mm-Hmm. And what's the next, you know, big idea going to be that we're gonna. Put forth. Do you have any innovative ideas [00:33:45] that you're kind of batting around that you think could be really impactful next year?
Courtney Collins: Yeah,
Wendy: I'm full of ideas.
Courtney Collins: Um, no, and that, and that's just, I've always been that way.
I'm always like working on the, the next big adventure. And my husband is probably like [00:34:00] so tired of me hearing like, you know what? I can vent this, da da da da da i's just like, okay. But no. So, um, it's interesting because. We talked about when I first got into Bobbit, I had the strategy and I presented the strategy to the leadership team.
And they were like, all right, [00:34:15] sounds good. Go do it. And so then I came back and presented to them about three months ago and I was like, so about all these things that I said I was gonna do, I did a few of them, but here's the other things that we did that were more important. And once I was in the job long enough, I [00:34:30] realized, you know, needed to be done.
Um, and so it's funny because I still have that. Presentation. And then I'm like, all right, now that I've laid the infrastructure and now that we have the groundwork and I have the buy-in, like, [00:34:45] now I can get to some of these really cool, interesting things that I wanted to do. One of them being digital brochures.
Um there's a few vendors that I've been looking at. One of them is like, I think fully on. Um, but just the idea of that like. Like just [00:35:00] today a BD person came and was like, Hey, I need three brochures for this. And like we printed 'em off and gave it to 'em. But I'm like, man, we give these brochures. We don't know what is resonating with them.
We don't know how much time they spend looking at 'em. We don't know anything. And like, [00:35:15] I think it helps as a nice, like leave behind for sure. So I wouldn't, you know, totally get rid of Right. Your physical brochures, but. If we, if and when we send digital brochures all the time, it's like, wouldn't it be nice to know if they forward this to somebody, how much [00:35:30] time they spend on this page, what they clicked on, what they wanted to take a deeper dive into?
And so I think moving our brochures into a digital space, um, might allow us to a, get them out more quickly. 'cause it's just a lot of plug and play. Get that tracking that we [00:35:45] desperately need, um, and also really make us stand out in the space. Right. A lot of a EC. Companies just aren't doing a lot of digital stuff.
They're just really behind the times when it comes to their [00:36:00] marketing. So, you know, what a better way to stand out than to give them something that's, um, interactive and moving and flashy. And, and so that's the one thing that I'm just can't wait to, like, unleash, um, on our [00:36:15] industry, um, as well as integrated marketing.
That's another one. Um, like I said, setting the, the infrastructure with. CRM and, um, doing the work to get the API, so they, all of our systems talk to each other [00:36:30] so that we can send a one year anniversary email without even thinking about it to our clients and say, happy one year in your new building.
Right. And we never had to click a button, right? We, we set it up and it's on a workflow and it [00:36:45] just feels very, um, high touch and personal, but it's really just us. You know, having systems that talk to each other and using that data in a way that is, um, helps our, empowers our sales
Wendy: team. [00:37:00] So do you have, um, advice for people?
'cause you're talking about things that are gonna change and, and move and be different a year from now than they are today, right? Mm-Hmm. And so how do you [00:37:15] anticipate, especially with your own team, even, you know, advice on how to stay nimble and make sure that you can remain adaptable and not kind of get stuck in the same old, same old that I think.
Is all things construction sometimes, at [00:37:30] least when you think about it, right?
Courtney Collins: Yeah. Um, you know, first of all, keep the fire, right? Like me, I'm just always like, all right, what's, what's new and different? Like I, whether it's, you know, looking on LinkedIn or coming to events or, [00:37:45] um, joining, you know, a committee of like on associ in association.
So I'm in an s and PS and I'm on a communications committee, and we get to just kind of. Talk on these calls about like ideas and so it kind of [00:38:00] helps you stay fresh and, and nimble and, and get a spark from somebody else. Sometimes I think that community aspect of what we do in marketing is everything, um, because you've been doing this for a while and so every [00:38:15] time I talk to you, I can learn something, I can talk to you and learn something.
I think we should never stop doing that, number one. But also, um, I definitely say. Leverage. Don't, don't be afraid of the tools that are emerging. Leverage them. Right? So [00:38:30] ai, it's like the thing, right? So dive in head first, um, as much as you can, right? Without getting too lost in it because, um, it does allow you to stay a little ahead of the game.
[00:38:45] Mm-hmm. When you take advantage of these new things that are coming, or at least, you know, know enough about them to be dangerous. And so. My team uses AI a lot, um, for a lot of different things. Every platform that you probably use in marketing [00:39:00] has an AI component now, and so that's right. Mess around with it every now and then just to see like we're all smart and we all have think ideas in our brain, but let's see what the AI thing says, how it phrases it differently or, um, how you can integrate it [00:39:15] into what you do every day.
Wendy: Do you have any other thoughts? Hannah?
Hanna: I
Think something that you said earlier was really important. Um, and it might. Not have stood out to everyone as much as it stood out to me, but the brochure. Mm-hmm. And it's something that [00:39:30] works. Obviously you guys are successful, but you don't just accept that it works. You want to ask more questions.
Mm-Hmm. Same thing with the ai. Systems you were just talking about this works, you guys are getting results, but there's something in here [00:39:45] that can maybe get you further. So do you have any thoughts or advice or just words of wisdom on how to make sure to push yourself to keep asking questions and it not get [00:40:00] stagnant?
Courtney Collins: That's a good question. I think it's really, I. My DNA, um, and, and I think [00:40:15] some people it may not just naturally be there, and so that's why I think joining the associations and getting a part of a community where while it's not your first nature to ask questions and. Um, reinvent the wheel. [00:40:30] Um, in fact, some people would preferred that the wheel stayed Mm-Hmm.
A stone and, Mm-Hmm. Um, but I think the magic, whether you want it to or not, is it's, it rubs [00:40:45] off on you. When you get around people who are pushing these new ideas, you'll eventually be like, okay, I think I will try that. That actually did sound pretty good, right? Um, and so. Even myself, I'm guilty of it too.
Like certain things in my life. I'm not in a space to change right now, [00:41:00] but then I'll go into a space where Simone is doing something different and I'm like, all right, there's a case study for why I should maybe try it. Mm-hmm. So I think, um, either it's in you or it's not. And if you know that it's not in you, or maybe you don't know that [00:41:15] it's not in you, but whether it's in you or not, join associations.
Find community amongst other marketers. To stay fresh and stay on top of, you know, just things that you didn't want to try, but now they [00:41:30] made it sound good and you will, right? Or um, you hear whispers every now and then of things and you are like, oh, okay, what is that about? And you kind of just to end up learning more about it and say, okay, I think I might try it.
So I think, you know, being in communities just, [00:41:45] you can't avoid right. That rubbing off on you when you get around people that are like-minded, for sure.
Wendy: So I wanna take us back to Brian for a minute. Mm-Hmm. So, I remember having a meeting with you where you were sharing with me some of Brian's [00:42:00] ideas, um, around core values.
Mm-Hmm. And around just business strategy in general.
Hanna: Mm-Hmm.
Wendy: Um, has he surprised you? And is there anything that you foresee, [00:42:15] um. Happening from a business strategy standpoint where marketing can be a big part of something that maybe you're not sure about yet?
Courtney Collins: Yeah. [00:42:30] Yeah. That's my every day. Um, no, so I won't say he surprised me, but he is definitely, um, a powerhouse and just like there's, you're never gonna.
[00:42:45] Talk to Brian and not walk away feeling like, man, I gotta do more. Like he is like a ball of energy and just so inspiring. It's just like you, you never walk away from a conversation with him without feeling like [00:43:00] empowered, but also feeling like I need to do more. Um, and I say that because, you know, I'm constantly getting, emails or LinkedIn messages from him about like, Hey, did you see this?
I like this. We should try to do this. Or [00:43:15] this is, this is exactly what I want. I want something like this. Or I just left this group and they're talking about this and this and that. And so a lot of it, I'm like, yeah, we can take on that. I don't know how quickly we can roll it out, but we can do that, that that's in our [00:43:30] wheelhouse.
But every now and then he'll spend something my way that I'm like, so I don't know how that's gonna go over, but let me try. And so one of those things is, um. These little short [00:43:45] videos of how, like, how to videos. And he, this is like his new, golden thing is like, we gotta get these videos. And I'm like, I know.
But that takes a lot of, it's not just like, oh, it's a little short video. It's like [00:44:00] production editing. Like, you gotta record, you gotta, you gotta have content. Like what are these videos gonna be about? It's just like, you know, and so. Um, I'm still kind of trying to figure out how and where that fits in my team.
[00:44:15] Um, we can do it, I'm sure, but I'm still trying to figure out exactly how that plays into all of our roles and how to prioritize it and, you know, how does it make sense to approach it. [00:44:30] That's just one of the things that keep me up at night. It's like, all right, I know he really, really wants these videos, but how do I like.
Pull it off in a way that makes sense and that makes our team kind of embrace this new responsibility. Mm-Hmm. Without it being like, Ugh, this is a lot of work [00:44:45] because it is, but.
Wendy: So I think it could fall into your overall strategy around your LinkedIn. Mm-Hmm. Too. Yeah. Where you're talking about these very specific, um, opportunities that you [00:45:00] have.
Mm-Hmm. And so how do you create video content and the style of what he's looking for? Mm-Hmm. That supports that whole thing because, you know, with, with LinkedIn, um, video is, is really a great key Mm-Hmm. To unlocking [00:45:15] even more engagement, right? Mm-Hmm. And so I think you, I think you're gonna figure that out.
Oh yeah. I think that's gonna help that hummingbird effect, you know, go even further for you. Yeah.
Courtney Collins: So the funny thing is, that was one of my biggest strategies when I came [00:45:30] to to Bob, it's like, Hey, we need to get. You guys have been in this industry 30 plus years. We have a lot of people who've been here for 30 years.
Like, we need to leverage this subject matter expertise. And so, um, I was like, I created this thing. It's on my [00:45:45] calendar to this day now, we've never done it once, but it's content Thursday and Thursday was gonna be the day that we have people come in and sit down and record them talking about design build or whatever the heck.
And, um, we just, it didn't happen. It [00:46:00] didn't go that way. And. It is a, it's a overwhelming ask. Mm-Hmm. Because you think about the production and the setup and the quality of the, the materials that you need and, you know, have I ever done this before in this capacity? But I think you're [00:46:15] right. It's like it goes back to what I wanted to do.
Um, although he's more speaking about internal videos or internal short, how-to videos. Mm-Hmm. But I think it absolutely opens the doorway to what I always wanted. Mm-Hmm. Which was video content of us [00:46:30] speaking about. How we are elite in this space or in many spaces and how we do things differently and why choose us.
Um, but setting the stage, I think, internally first and like figuring out the kinks for the internal videos, [00:46:45] I think is a
Wendy: great
Courtney Collins: way to go about this initiative. Um, because I mean,
Wendy: just asking one of the guys to tell you about the fire station project. Mm-Hmm mm-Hmm. Um, you know, or another project. Yeah. The school project, right.
Or, [00:47:00] you know, the municipality project, whatever you might be pitching next. I think it just adds, you can add another component and see how it goes. I think it's really hard to get buy-in Mm-Hmm. Sometimes, especially in the B2B space [00:47:15] from the team. To do video. Mm-Hmm. They have to be on video. They have to feel comfortable with video.
Mm-Hmm. We know just sitting here today that it's not always the most comfortable Right. Space to be in. Um, and you'll have a few [00:47:30] people who are more comfortable with it than others. Right. Hannah? Yeah. Very true. Yeah. We have, we have one person on our team who hides whenever the camera comes out. Right.
And that's not the right person to put on video. Yeah. Either. [00:47:45] So I, I think it can be a great extension of your hummingbird effect, and I'm excited to hear about how that might go. Um, do you have any last thoughts around Hummingbird Effect and how you've seen that in place at [00:48:00] Bobbit?
Courtney Collins: Um, no really last thoughts on how I've seen it play out at Bobbit, but I will say how I've seen it play out in myself.
Um, it's just, it's, it's kind of [00:48:15] interesting to go, like I said, connecting the dots. For me, it's just, it's been awesome to see that in my life at this point. Um, but more so to see the reward of, you know. My [00:48:30] career just from keeping my head down and doing all the things that I knew were the right thing to do, and, you know, making small changes here and there to, um, put myself in a position to, um, be nimble and to move [00:48:45] in certain ways.
Um, just seeing it pay off has been very cool and just almost like, you know, you almost get that imposter syndrome, like, wow, is this me? Like, almost like an out of body experience, but. I, I, [00:49:00] I guess I leave, I wanna leave a message to any and everybody who may be feeling that right? To live in the space for a little bit, right?
Like of like uncomfortableness, but continue to challenge and look for that [00:49:15] uncomfortableness, right? You're gonna get to a place where you're like, okay, I've been doing this for 11 years. I know what I'm talking about, but. The magic happens when you move into stuff that you don't know what you're talking about.
Um, and so you're making those small incremental changes to yield big [00:49:30] results. In the end is, is what's gonna. Um, really blow your socks off.
Wendy: So, so I think Hannah's right. I think you're the hummingbird effect. Yeah, for sure. For sure. That's, well, I just wanna say thank you so much for giving us your time [00:49:45] today and sharing your insights and your stories.
This has been so fun. Well, good, good. And, um, thank you to all of the listeners, um, for joining us today. And like Courtney, go out and find your [00:50:00] hummingbird effect. Thank you. [00:50:15]