Influencer Marketing and Integration Strategies feat. Adam Sierra | Weave

What happens when a passionate employee who studied business and entrepreneurship in college leads the influencer marketing program at a thriving business? Spoiler alert: magic ensues. Our guest this week is Adam Sierra, an instrumental part of the team at Weave, the all-in-one patient communication and engagement platform.

Together, we uncover the power of partnerships and discuss the importance of human connections in business. We shed light on the critical role of patient communication for small business owners, especially those in hearing care. Debunking the misconception that influencer marketing is exclusive to large corporations, we delve into how micro influencers are a game changer for word of mouth growth. You'll also learn about Weave's novel approach of allowing hearing care providers to text their patients, offering a truly personalized experience.

The journey doesn't end there. We traverse the challenging terrain of customer service and reveal how Weave's integration with Sycle has revamped the patient experience. You'll hear about the multitude of ways Weave can streamline your business operations, from managing your phone system and Google reviews to scheduling reminders. And to put the cherry on top, we explore the concept of the E-Myth and how robust systems and processes can empower business owners to run their establishments more efficiently. Tune in for this insightful and enlightening conversation with Adam Sierra!

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Transcript

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Strategic Partnerships and Influencer Marketing

Blaise Delfino 0:06

You're tuned in to the hearing matters podc ast . The show that discusses hearing technology, best practices, and a growing national epidemic: Hearing Loss . Before we kick this episode off, a special thank you to our partners . Weave - the all-in- one patient communication and engagement platform . Sycle - built for the entire hearing care practice . Redux - faster, drier, smarter, verified . OtoSet - the modern ear cleaning system . Welcome back to another hearing matters pod cast . I'm your host, Blaise Delfino, and joining us today is a good friend of mine, but also an individual who works at Weave . Yes . That is right everyone . Weave, the all in one patient communication and engagement platform, Adam Sierra . Adam, welcome to the Hearing Matters podcast .

Adam Sierra 1:04

What's up, Blaise . Good to see you .

Blaise Delfino 1:05

It's so great to see you, my friend . Now, this is an episode, Adam . Personally, I've been really excited for . Over, you know, the past twelve months, you and I have had the opportunity to work on some really cool projects together, spread awareness of the importance of hearing healthcare, but most importantly, the importance of automating different processes and systems within an audiology practice . Adam, we're gonna dive right in . Tell us about your background, your position at Weave, and why partner marketing today, in today's landscape, is so important .

Adam Sierra 1:42

One hundred percent . Well, thank you for having me on . I'm super excited to be with you guys today . A little bit about me . I'm a young buck in the game . I'm twenty nine right now . I graduated from college several years ago, and Weave was my - I've been with weave for four years now, went straight out of college . And I've loved it . I've had a lot of different roles here . I started out in sales and that was right going into the COVID pandemic that I was doing sales and I learned a lot doing that . In twenty twenty one, I led an account manager team, so I helped our current customers get more out of weave, and I really enjoyed that . But the thing that I enjoyed most is a project that I got to take on where I got to work with influencers and key opinion leaders (KOLs) if you're not familiar with the term . And that was the thing that I really enjoyed the most . And I had the opportunity last year in 2022 to actually start doing that full time with all of our verticals . And so I'm over our influencer marketing program here at Weave . I work with our partners and industry thought leaders . You know, what keeps me at weave and what I think got me really intrigued by weave . I was driving down I-15 in Utah, for those that are familiar with the Salt Lake area, there's a ton of billboards . And one of them was for weave . And I had just dropped my mom off at the airport . I was about to graduate college, like I was a little bit lost and figuring out what I wanted to do with my life . And there was this billboard that said weave on it that said, "people not employees . And I was like, that Sounds like like a place that I, I would wanna work . So I applied and interviewed and I got the job, and that's really the culture that's kept me there ever since . You know, that DNA is still very much there . In the four years that I've been there, we've gone public . We're on the New York Stock Exchange now . And, you know, having come from where we started out in somebody's spare bedroom in Lehi, Utah to being there, that's what we'll talk about today is how somebody gets to that point and spoiler alert, it's through partnerships is a big part of it .

Blaise Delfino 3:30

Absolutely . And, Adam, if anyone is so passionate about KOL programs and influencer marketing, it is absolutely you . I've personally learned so much from you . And the team at weave, for those tuned in right now, all of our hearing care providers, weave really does put their people - they treat them as people, and as Adam said, not employees . And I've personally experienced that not only as a customer, but as a partner in better hearing as well . Adam, we live in such an interesting time in that influencer marketing today is so different what it was, even twenty, thirty, forty years ago, even if it existed, quote unquote, back then . How do you define strategic partnerships, and how do they really differ from other conventional types of business partnerships ?

Adam Sierra 4:25

Influencer marketing is definitely a buzzword right now . And some of the people listening to this that are, you know, managing an Audiology practice, or, you know, some other kind of of business, they might be like, "yeah . Like, where does this play into it for me ? It plays in a lot because the underlying dynamic here is very human . There's a good book called "Influence by I, I can't remember the author's name . I have it over here . By Robert Chiavini . And I think it's a must read for everybody . It talks about the underlying dynamics, but one of the things I learned through this, a couple other books, what helped the human race to be successful, like way back in the day when we were caveman fighting off saber tooth tigers, was collaboration and being able to trust each other . Right ? We're designed to trust each other . If you can trust each other, then you can actually get a good night sleep and not worry about getting eaten by a saber tooth tiger because there's some guy that's keeping watch and keeping the saber tooth tigers out . Right ? It's very deeply in our DNA to trust other people . If we look at the dynamics in these markets, I went to school for entrepreneurship . I got a business management degree with an emphasis in entrepreneurship . So I'm really passionate about entrepreneurship . At weave, we are very passionate about entrepreneurship . Our customers are small business owners . And, you know, we're here to help people support support people in in pursuing their dreams . And you know, the underlying factor there is that somebody who, let's say, is a healthcare professional, they may have went to school to work on ears, or work on dogs, or work on eyes, or work on teeth, but they probably didn't go to school to manage a business . And so what we've seen in these industries specifically is by way of conferences and by way of webinars and other media . They've really trusted and had to partner with key industry thought leaders, and that's helped them be really successful . Right ? You know, if you're hustling and grinding and working to get your business off the ground, and you can find people that you trust, that you know have really solid advice about how to do this particular thing, that's gonna make all the difference . You know, I was talking with one of my industry thought leaders in the dental industry . He speaks to dentists . He's really committed to helping dentists successful . And his dad comes to him and he's like, "well, why are you helping your competition ? " And he looks at his dad and he says, "T . Only 50% of Americans go to the dentist . Indifference is my competition . " And it's, you know, it's this dynamic where rising tide is gonna lift all ships

Blaise Delfino 6:51 Adam Sierra 6:51

Yes .

Blaise Delfino 6:51

--

Adam Sierra 6:51

and, you know, it helps us all together . So the underlying answer is it's deeply human And having advocates and allies in your corner is really what takes a business from good to great and can help you go, go to the next level .

Blaise Delfino 7:03

Well, that is definitely one of our favorite reads here, Adam . "Good to great . So thank you for bringing that up . And to your point, it really is rising tides, lifts, all ships, and instead of competing, encompassing and embodying that philosophy of let's collaborate . How can I help you ? And Gary Vaynerchuk really coined that years ago as well where he would be talking about the collaborative aspect versus competing because, truly, it sounds very cliche, but the only competition we all have is the person in the mirror . It really is . And I feel like as I grow as a thought leader but also as an entrepreneur . As the years go by, it's like that maturity aspect of, yeah, it is all - I am my own competition . So thank you for bringing to light, Adam, what influencer marketing is . It definitely is a buzzword, but it's only going to grow as we enter two thousand twenty four and beyond . I'm curious to know, there might be some individuals who are sort of not understanding of the

Defining Influencer Marketing

Blaise Delfino 8:12

concept of influencer marketing . Tell us some of the the misconceptions, I should say, about strategic partnerships and influencer marketing, and how have you personally addressed those within the dental industry, now the Audiology industry ? Just curious to know about some of those misconceptions that you've heard or that you know of .

Adam Sierra 8:33

The biggest misconception is that it's a trend and that it's, you know, just for selling makeup or for selling skin care . Right ? Let me, let me bounce this off you . What was the like, if you were to go out in the town that you're living in and you wanna look for a new restaurant, what's the way that you're gonna find the new restaurant ?

Blaise Delfino 10:02

As a human and being that we communicate, you know, verbally and nonverbally . But I'm gonna ask a friend or someone I know where should I go to eat ? Or, I'm going to post on social media . I'm gonna ask somebody . I'm gonna be social, if you will .

Adam Sierra 10:17

One hundred percent . You know, it always comes back to getting a recommendation from somebody that you trust and that you believe in . Right ? So I, I think the biggest misconception is that one it's there's probably two . The biggest one would be that it's not for me . If you peel back the, you know, the pastel colored Instagram post, and you peel back, you know, some of the the buzziness and the trendiness of it, really what this is is it's just people going to bat for you . We all need people going to bat for

Blaise Delfino 10:44

us . Yes .

Adam Sierra 10:45

Right ? And that looks different in, in different spaces . You know, there's a, a company just down the street from here that does home security systems . And they have this whole thing where if you if you post about them and your experience in a Facebook group, they'll give you a free month . If you put up a sign in your yard, they'll give you another free month . To me, that's influencer marketing .

Blaise Delfino 11:07 Adam Sierra 11:07

There's a lot of other things you can call it, but those are micro influencers who are out there influencing on your behalf . Right ? Another good one I've seen in medical practices . They have these it was a dental practice that I worked with, and I hate to give so many dental examples, I'm getting to know the Audiology community a little bit better . But they had these these ten dollar Starbucks gift cards printed out and it had the practice's name on it and their website and their logo and everything . And if they ran into a patient that they really loved or that had a really good experience, they would actually give them one of those gift cards and it would be like, you know, leave us a review on Google or something like that . I'll tell you right now, you know, the the practices that I love, I'm gonna talk about

Blaise Delfino 11:51

Yes .

Adam Sierra 11:51

Right ? Yeah . There's there's an optometrist that I went to . I've got terrible eyes as you could tell . And I'd been looking for a good optometrist for a long time . I found one right by my house . I had such a good experience at that practice . Anyone - anytime anyone in the office mentions they're looking for an optometrist, I'm gonna be like, you, you have to go see this guy, and I think there's two or three people that have gone to see the doctor because of that . That's the underlying dynamic for a small business . Right ? And that's how you grow .

Blaise Delfino 12:19

One hundred and ten percent, Adam . And when we talk about weave, you know, being created in a spare bedroom, I think you said . You know, it's that entrepreneurial spirit and that idea to paper to then expressing what Weave is and what weave does . Well, it's the same concept here with weave's customers who are small business owners, private practice owners, dental, optometry, and you're really leaning more so towards into helping hearing care providers . But by helping hearing care providers, you're really helping the patient because we'll get to the platform a little bit more when it comes to that communication aspect of it, but I love that word micro influencers and we

Creating the Best Customer Experience

Blaise Delfino 13:03

know that if someone has a bad experience at a business, at a restaurant, they're going to tell everyone and anyone about it . Let's be honest, I think the average is what ? Eleven people . If someone has a good experience, it's going to take a little bit longer to gain that momentum . Whether it be Google reviews, things of that nature . But it's also that your patients as a private practice owner, whether it be dental, optometry, audiology, veterinarians, it can take some time, but your micro influencers quote unquote, it's your customer .

Adam Sierra 13:39

And I think that comes back to creating an excellent experience . And if, you know, hopefully, I'm not stealing your thunder . But for me, the ultimate punch line in working with influencers or micro influencers or strategic partners, it really comes down to the experience, the customer experience . Right ? The way that we got to know each other is hearing your experience about using weave in your practice . Right ? You talked really eloquently about how a patient who's experiencing severe hearing loss, a phone call may not be the most accessible method for them .

Blaise Delfino 14:12

Right .

Adam Sierra 14:13

And so with weave, the practice is able to actually text that patient from the practice phone number and have a conversation . That opens up a whole lot of possibilities and makes your practice accessible to a whole lot more people . And, you know, when I heard that experience, I was like, that's a that's a way for us to help people have a really excellent experience, you know, being mindful of what people are going through and what they're seeing, and how can we go the extra mile to make this something that's really gonna stand out and really be special to them . That's how you win customers and allies and advocates, not just for a short while, but for a lot for the long time .

Blaise Delfino 14:48

Adam, when my wife and I got involved in the family practice, it was two thousand and seventeen, and Autumn, who you've you've spoken with . We would always say, oh, thank you . I think so too . She's incredible . She keeps this entire show . Really, she is the glue, if you will . Yeah . And just super fun to work with and super bright . So She would always talk about how by the year twenty twenty, the majority of consumers are going to make their purchasing decisions based on experience . What's interesting

Solving Your Business' Problems

Blaise Delfino 15:23

is in twenty twenty, the pandemic hit, to that point and to dovetail off what you said with how the family practice got involved with weave, Audiology Services, we were products and are products of the product . And we had so many problems that we needed to solve, and Weave solved all of those . I think two episodes ago, I believe, was talking about a patient who was getting renovations done at their home . And the organization that they were working with, they were just not happy with the communication, with the business, nor the experience . And they needed work done on their hearing aids . They called our office . We were on the phones, so the phones were completely jammed up . But they received a text message and said, "Just confirming we received your call . Our front office staff is busy right now, but we will call you back as soon as we are completed with the patient we're on the phone with . And they said, you know, "I'm experiencing this awful experience with this very large organization . You're a small business in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, but this is like a - you guys are like a huge organization . Like, you're acting as if . " Because of Weave's integration with Sycle as well . Do you know how that made me feel as a small business owner to know that we solved the problem, and we were able to help our patient get into better hearing, get their hearing aids cleaned and checked, and that they had a really positive experience . So it's - to our audiologists and hearing care providers tuned in right now . What are some problems you're trying to solve ? And how can you implement weave into your systems and process as it relates to your practice to better serve your customers ? So, Adam, I kinda went down a rabbit hole there, but I wanted to share, you know, we really - we were trying our best to - what does the phone system look like ? How could it be the best experience possible and Weave nailed it .

Adam Sierra 17:24

Yeah well, you - I could go on for hours about this one . We're gonna have to turn this into a movie !

Blaise Delfino 17:29

We'll make it happen .

Adam Sierra 17:30

You know, I always tell people that I've got the best job in America and the reason is I have the great fortune of being able to go around and meet with people like you

Private Practice is Lonely

Adam Sierra 17:38

who are the most successful small business owners in the country . And some of the things I've learned from that is you, you talked about what problems are they trying to solve ? Good grief, man . We could go on and on about that forever . Private practice is lonely . You would know this better than anybody . Right ?

Blaise Delfino 17:53

Oh, yeah .

Adam Sierra 17:54

You, you talked about the, you know, someone who maybe is calling into, like, this large organization . Well, the large organization has fifteen person IT department . Right ? When you're a small business owner, you are the IT department . You know what I mean ? One hundred percent . So that's one of the reasons that people like Weave, is it gives them that large organization infrastructure at a small business cost . Right ? We bring a lot of different tools into one area, the phone system, the texting, the Google reviews, the scheduling, the reminders, etcetera, etcetera . So that you're one not having to manage all of these different platforms at the same time . But two, you have something like you're talking about with the missed call text where, you know, some people could yeah . Maybe they could just hire a person or two or ten to do that, or you, you have a system that can do that, you know, free of charge or, you know, in as part of your something that's really affordable, it's gonna fit into your budget . Other problems that they run into, staffing is a pain right now . I've heard that across pretty much every industry that we work in . Post COVID practices are busier than ever .

Blaise Delfino 19:00

Yes .

Adam Sierra 19:00

They are . So there's there's more patients coming in it's harder to hire and retain staff . But the feedback that we got was definitely it's helping us to be effective, and it's helping us to work with the staff that we have . Yeah . You know ?

Blaise Delfino 19:13

Adam, I will I will echo that . One of my favorite books is called "The E- Myth . And that book talks all about creating these systems and processes that you, as an entrepreneur, business owner, what you do is you just quote unquote, oversee them . And that's really what Weave does and and did for us, you know, as a, a former private practice owner, and many of my friends and colleagues are private practice owners, you know, to have a system that all you need to do is manage it and it works for you and it best serves your patients, which in our case are individuals who present with hearing loss, communication can be difficult . So as we talked about, talking on the phone may not be the best option, but guess what ? Text messaging is, and I will tell you time and time again, the appointment reminders, but also just texting patients of, "Hey, how how are you doing today following those reprogramming adjustments we made ? And they're patients that say I would much rather you text me because I work - I'm busy and and I work full time . They appreciate that so much . And the fact that you can even do this on desktop, again, we could go on for hours about all the the features and benefits of weave, but this is just the beginning of this mini series about the importance of implementing a tool in a system like weave into your Audiology practice .

Adam Sierra 20:38

Yeah . I think there's a lot to be said about how to implement something like this . There's a lot to be said about, you know, various different use cases . My advice for, you know, anybody who is running a small business,

Weave Can Help Grow Your Practice

Adam Sierra 20:51

find a platform that you can trust and that you can partnership . Hopefully, we can earn your trust and and we really wanna work with you . We're obsessed with our customers here . We're obsessed with the people that we work with . And asking yourself, "Okay . Like, we have this thing that we're using . We have this tool that we've found to be really powerful and helpful . How else can we be leveraging that ? " As you run into a problem, you know, let's say, AR is taking too long to turnover . You want your invoices to come in more quickly . Is there a tool that we're already using that can help us out with that ? Well, it turns out, in our case, we have Text To Pay, where you can actually text somebody a secure payment link, from the office phone number to their their cell phone . They can do it with Apple Pay in, like, two taps, and then they've paid off the invoice . Right ? I've had - I've had practices that are, you know, reducing their invoice turnover time by, like, the thirty days .

Blaise Delfino 21:42

That's huge .

Adam Sierra 21:43

Because of leveraging that tool . So see what you already have . There's probably more to it than, than you're already experiencing .

Blaise Delfino 21:50

Absolutely . So, Adam, we've been talking about your passion for building an influencer program, working with key opinion leaders in different verticals . I'm excited for Weave to continue to serve hearing care providers and the hearing healthcare industry in totality, super excited for you and your team . When when it comes to, you know, successful strategic partnerships and working with, with KOLs

Establishing Successful Strategic Partnerships

Blaise Delfino 22:18

. What has made those relationships successful ? And what has made those strategic partnerships successful ? And how do both parties benefit ? Double barrel question .

Adam Sierra 22:32

The answer is in what you asked . It's relationships . Right ? There's two different approaches to influencer marketing . They're both valid, but they work very, very differently . There's a transactional approach and there's a relationship based approach . When I started a year ago doing this full time, we had, you know, we had historically had a really large partner marketing motion at weave, and during the pandemic, because events scaled back, that program also scaled back because it was very based around events . And so when I took over this in twenty twenty two, our team - we, we were getting together and very quickly we realized, one, we need to build this out for the twenty first century . And incorporate, you know, things like we're doing right now, the digital media . But more importantly, the thing that we weren't gonna change is what we did historically is relationships . These industries that we're in, the - the audiology industry, the hearing healthcare industry, relationships are everything . It's relationships with your suppliers, relationships with other practices that you may need to refer to that are specialty, relationships with your patients . Every relationship is an investment . And sure, like, you need to have your business is not a nonprofit . Right ? You need to know if, you know, if you're doing a a campaign to get, to get more patients or to sell more of a particular product, that's how you're gonna measure it . It's worth it to invest in taking someone out to lunch and becoming friends with them, that's gonna, you have no idea how that's gonna pay dividends in the long term . Right ? So, you know, so to answer your question, you can never really have too much of a relationship . There's this really tacky cliche that your network is your net worth, which I know makes me cringe a little bit every time I say cliche like

Blaise Delfino 24:13

But that's true .

Adam Sierra 24:14

It's one hundred percent true .

Blaise Delfino 24:15

Yeah . One hundred percent . And, Adam, going about this and this is something that you and your team do very well, you are authentic about relationship building . When you give expecting to receive something in return, that's what we call manipulation . When you give expecting nothing in return . That is just straight up Bob Burg, go giver, go giving, and the universe or your source is absolutely going to pay you ten times because you are authentic about it . It's not like "Alright . I'm gonna give this patient free wax guards, and they're gonna refer me ten patients . " Like, don't go into it with that mindset . Adam, there are hearing care providers tuned in with us right now, but also fellow entrepreneurs in different industries . What would you recommend to any organization that is interested

Creating a KOL Program

Blaise Delfino 25:08

in implementing a key opinion leader, a KOL or influencer marketing vertical into their organization, whether it be small business or large business .

Adam Sierra 25:20

Start . That's the best advice I've got for you to start . It doesn't have to be something where you're gonna spend a million dollars on it and hire twenty people . If you can set aside twenty dollars, work with your twenty dollars . Buy a couple of Starbucks gift cards . If you've got no budget for it, start building relationships with people who are really influential in your space and your community . Right ? There's so many different ways to go about this . Like, if I was you know, if I was running a hearing healthcare practice in Lehi, Utah, you know, who are the community leaders ? Get to know the mayor . Are there, you know, are there businesses you could partner with and do a a special offer or something like that like, there's so many ways to do it, but the biggest thing is not getting in your own way . Kinda like you talked about earlier . It's not overthinking it . Like I said, this is deeply human at the root of it . Doesn't have - you don't have to buy a new platform for it . You don't have to you know, the the, like, the first couple months that I did this, like, I was just running it out of a spreadsheet . You know what I mean ? So start with what you have right now . Start with the desire to grow your business and find one person that you trust that you can work with . See what's going well . See what can do better and go from there .

Blaise Delfino 26:35

Adam, to echo that thank you for for those inspiring words and it really does come down to one word - Start . And I think our entrepreneurs and business owners tuned in right now will absolutely say, "heck yeah . Let's get started right now . And to your point, you know, start with that twenty dollars . Go to Starbucks . When you thank your patients for doing business with you . You know, when I was fitting patients full time, Adam, we would send handwritten thank you cards to every patient that we fit with hearing aids, handwritten . It wasn't printed, it was handwritten . "Thank you, Mrs . Smith, for trusting us with your sense of hearing . Welcome to our hearing family . And that essentially - you are creating that KOL and that influencer marketing vertical, again, micro influencers . But guess what ? To me, my patients are number one . To me, I think they're macro influencers truly . Because when you understand that eighty percent of new business comes from twenty percent of current business . You need to take care of your people, and if you take care of your people, your people are gonna take care of your business . Adam, do you have any ? Because again, we're gonna have you back on the show, this has been super exciting to talk to you who I feel as though is a KOL in the influencer marketing space, my friend . You are incredibly bright, super excited, and so passionate about what you do that it always fires our team up .

Adam Sierra 28:06

Oh, no . I appreciate it . And thank you for having me on, too . I mean, that's it it's super exciting to be on something like this . Like, I grew up working on a farm and to be able to be talking with cool people like you is really fun and enjoyable for me right now . I love doing things like this . No . Like, feel free to hit me up on on socials . Like you said, I am really passionate about this, but at Weave we're super passionate about our customers . We're passionate about small business owners . We're built for the dreamers . That's literally built like written on the walls of our office here in Utah . Find somebody who's gonna root for you, find somebody who's gonna be excited about what you're doing because there's a lot of people out there . Like we want you to succeed . If you're listening to this and you're an entrepreneur and you're a small business owner, we're rooting for you . We're in your corner . And however we can support you, we're here for . And, you know, as you continue to work with strategic partners, as you continue to work with thought leaders and influencers, like we said earlier, keep it simple and start . And you're gonna find that it's gonna grow your business, and make your life a lot more rich, too .

Blaise Delfino 29:08

Adam, again, thank you so much for your trust in the hearing matters podcast and for your partnership . Being a former private practice owner, but the family practice still uses Weave to this day because it creates the best possible patient experience . And again, when you are running a small business, it is always about the customer, but in the Audiology space and Hearing Healthcare, it's all about the patient . How can you create the best experience possible ? And in my humble opinion, it is absolutely integrating Weave into your practice . Again, thank you so much for joining us . We had Adam Sierra who is the head of influencer marketing at Weave . And to learn more, visit getweave . com Again, that is g e t w e a v e dot com . And until next time, Hear Life's Story !