GE 291: Intercom COO Karen Peacock Shares Why Chatbots Are Crucial to Business Success! (podcast)

Hey everyone! In today’s episode, I share the mic with Karen Peacock, the COO of Intercom, a market-leading customer communication platform.

Tune in to hear what Karen learned working at Intuit and how she brings that knowledge and track record to Intercom, the one thing that small business owners never seem to do, and what her 3-point framework for success is.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

• [00:41] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Growth Everywhere Podcast!
• [01:36] Intercom helps sales, marketing, and support teams grow their businesses.
• [01:42] They help companies acquire, onboard, and retain customers.
• [02:02] They are most well-known for their messenger service.
• [02:20] If you have ever interacting with a live chat function in the lower corner of a website, you have probably been served by Intercom.
• [02:35] Surprising chatbot statistics, some customers increase their conversions by 82%.
• [03:15] Eric found an overnight improvement once he started using Intercom’s chatbot.
• [03:39] Intercom has over 500 Million conversations per month.
• [04:05] Everyone from startups to large, established corporations use Intercom.
• [04:45] Anyone who is part of an early-stage startup can apply to be part of their early-stage program where customers receive Intercom’s services for $49/month.
• [05:15] The more active users you have, the more it costs.
• [07:40] Karen attended Stanford Business School and moved into the world of startups.
• [07:50] When she worked at Intuit, she was Senior VP of Small Business.
• [08:30] This is how she cut her teeth and learned that she loved driving business growth.
• [10:03] Karen recommends focusing on the customer’s problem and not your solution.
• [11:52] In Karen’s experience, small business owners never seem to block out time for budgeting.
• [12:55] During her time at Intuit, they found a tool to help figure out/track cash flow for their customers, which solved their budgeting issues.
• [14:50] Karen’s framework for success: 1) Find a big problem and unmet customer need 2) Figure out how to solve the problem well 3) Do it in a way that you can build durable, competitive advantage.
• [15:40] Karen has written for the Intercom blog and for their onboarding books.
• [16:30] Having the right team is critical; hire great people.
• [17:00] When hiring someone, give them a take-home assignment and ask them the first thing they would do to drive growth for the business in their position.
• [17:40] Always do reference checks, including backchannel references that they didn’t list.
• [18:25] Only do backchannel references if you know it won’t affect their position at their current job.
• [20:00] Intercom has been heavily investing in their products and, as such, their pace of innovation is faster than anyone else on the market.
• [21:45] Intercom integrates well with all of the top marketing tools.
• [22:38] There are a lot of cultural similarities between Intuit and Intercom, as they are both customer-focused.
• [24:00] Make it clear what problem your product solves and how it does so.
• [25:33] Interact with your products and customers in real time.
• [26:38] For live  help from real people, Eric likes LTVPlus.
• [26:51] One tool that Karen has found useful is Moment.
• [28:25] A few books that Karen recommends are The Lean Startup, Mindset, and High-Growth Handbook.

Resources from the interview:

• Intercom
• Intuit
• Karen on Twitter
• LTVPlus
• Moment
• Must-read books:
  • The Lean Startup
  • Mindset
  • High-Growth Handbook

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