Below is our recent interview with Introhive’s co-founder and CEO, Jody Glidden:
Q: Could you provide our readers with a brief introduction to Introhive?
A: We’re a SaaS-based relationship intelligence platform startup out of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Stewart Walchli, head of business development, and I, launched Introhive in 2012. Our mission is to help our clients succeed by making customer relationship management (CRM) tools more appealing to the professionals who rely on them. More often than not, that’s marketing, sales and business development teams.
Essentially, we use machine learning and data automation to take mundane CRM data entry and management off their plate, while also arming them with visualizations and insights into their business-relationship maps. So, they can not only make the connections they need faster, but easily keep an eye on their ongoing relationships.
We’ve grown quickly to more than 150 employees across Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, with eight global offices, including a flagship office in London that supports our business in EMEA.
We have more than 140,000 individual users around the world, and our clients include consultants PwC, Ernst and Young and Grant Thornton; law firms Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Howard Kennedy LLP and McCarthy Tétrault LLP; and Commercial Real Estate Firms Colliers International and Cushman Wakefield.
Beyond professional services, Introhive is seeing demand from other industry verticals including technology, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and life sciences.
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Q: You’ve recently launched a market expansion strategy in the Middle East; could you tell us something more?
A: Across our global customer base, we’re seeing a high demand for better relationship intelligence and automation. Our aim for expanding into the Middle East is to help customers in these new markets excel through greater adoption of their existing technologies and an AI-powered focus on relationship building.
We recently launched a series of seminars in the region with our partner and customer, PwC, and are seeing strong interest and engagement already with business leaders who are looking to leverage their international networks. Expansion into the Middle East is part of our broader expansion strategy across EMEA. With just PwC alone, we have users in more than 80 countries around the world. We’re excited to continue accelerating digital transformations for these type of forward-thinking organizations in the region.
We’re also exploring new partnership opportunities and recently created a partner channel network to offer local market expertise. Our next seminar in the region, a business transformation workshop with a practical exercise, is scheduled in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, April 3, 2019.
Q: How exactly does relationship intelligence automation help drive revenue?
A: In a nutshell, Introhive drives revenue by tackling three universal business challenges at the same time: 1) lagging CRM use; 2) poor data quality and; 3) lack of actionable sales insights (i.e. no visibility into who knows who, or how well) or proactive, expert guidance on how to make the most of the data you’ve collected.
The more detailed answer is that the platform increases sales productivity by automating mundane CRM administration, and meeting preparation, while at the same time delivering the insights professionals in marketing, sales and business development need to close more deals, faster.
Under the hood, Introhive’s AI-powered automation seamlessly fills up our customers’ CRM tools with clean contact and account data, and keeps it that way. The platform analyses information in their email eco-system to alert users of missing CRM data. Then, with the click of the button, data flows right into the CRM.
And after meetings, Introhive sends users a reminder note with options to tap and update meeting notes, opportunities, tasks, and assignments right from email.
Then, Introhive’s relationship intelligence and analytics engine gives users a bird’s eye view of all their business-relationship data, available on our app or portal, or in the users’ email or CRM. We’ve found that when our customers understand who knows who, and how well, it helps them find new connections faster, accelerate cross-sell, upsell and new business development opportunities, and make their current customers even happier.
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Q: What are the benefits of automating your CRM?
A: It keeps the information in your CRM up-to-date and accurate, eliminating costly data integrity erosion and clean up projects. And when professionals are armed with high-quality CRM data, they can be much more focused, efficient and strategic with their marketing, sales and business development plans.
Q: What can we expect from Introhive in the future?
A: Introhive is growing fast, both physically—our team has more than doubled in the last year—as well as into new market regions and spaces. We’re expanding into technology, telecommunications, architecture, engineering and construction, financial services and other industries where we see a need.