Darin Dawson wants to rehumanize communication. And the planet.
“I just think people are better face to face.”
Today, almost all of us rely on email, texting, message boards, and other faceless methods to get our work done. Unfortunately, these messages lack the body language, vocal signals, and human connection that we rely on to fill the communication gaps.
And emojis can’t cut it.
Darin Dawson, President and Co-Founder of BombBomb, which makes it easy to record, send, and track video emails within familiar systems like Gmail, Outlook, Salesforce, Zendesk, a web app, mobile apps, and other tools you already use, has built a career on this idea.
In my 25-year career, I’ve not worked with any other professional than Darin. We met at the local NBC television station here in Colorado Springs (I ran marketing, he ran internet sales). Five years later, I joined him and cofounder Conor McCluskey on a very young and very small BombBomb team.
I dropped into his office for this conversation for The Customer Experience Podcast. Below are some of his ideas on rehumanizing business communication and the world.
Rehumanizing the Planet with Darin Dawson
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Hear the entire conversation with Darin right here …
Customer Experience is Driven by People
Off the top of every episode, I ask every guest to describe or define “customer experience.” I got a unique angle from Darin.
In this video clip, he describes the importance of people in the experience …
Doing Business on a Handshake
Darin defines the customer experience as being created and delivered anywhere and everywhere a person has contact with a business: trade shows, phone calls, emails, the product, etc.
He believes strongly that all people come off better in person than via more impersonal means. When someone talks about loving a company, it’s often a personal interaction they’ve had that left them with their warm and fuzzy impression.
“I come from a small town,” Darin reminisces. “As I was growing up, neighbors dropped by for quick or long conversations. The handshake was all you needed to seal a deal, and you did what you said you would do. That really lived on with me.”
The Secret to Herding Cats
Being a leader is about getting everyone on the same page and aligned toward the same goal. You can have opinions. You can disagree vehemently. But at the end of the day, everyone needs to agree and move forward.
Darin tries not to be an “overlord.” Occasionally, he has to step in and make an executive decision. But ideally everyone on his team should come to a consensus. If you have the right team, you can come to a consensus and know that it is the right direction.
Sometimes there’s an outlier who has not bought in to the idea or is holding out. Maybe they’re not being truthful or open about their concerns or with moving in the same direction together. And that causes issues.
Darin believes that disconnect drips out into how your brand is felt – how it’s built relative to the customer experience.
Here, he explains the importance of consensus and alignment to create better experiences …
In this clip, Darin talks through sales and marketing alignment specifically …
Maintaining the Culture through Growing Pains
A lack of alignment can be especially dangerous while you’re scaling and adding people. New team members have ideas, and you want to hear them. You want a diverse culture that’s bringing new approaches, concepts, and ideas to the table. But how do you align those and still get everybody on board, sell the vision, and keep the culture intact?
At a certain tipping point, a company’s founders can no longer be the purveyors of its culture. If you want to maintain your culture, you need to make sure during hiring and onboarding that your new staff own your core values and push them forward.
That plays into how people experience your brand. Customers should be able to tell you what your core values are and what they mean to your business – it should come through in their experience with your people and your product.
Bringing the Personal Touch Back to Business
BombBomb’s core values are about building relationships with your fellow human beings. Darin believes that each person’s interpersonal communication is unique and differentiating. But we’re stripping that uniqueness out of our business email, texting, and social media, which often remove the messenger from the message.
That’s what he wants to change. If he gets in front of someone, chances are they’re going to buy from him. Years ago, he knew if he could get in front of more people more often, he’d have more opportunities. Everyone is better in person.
He sought to make business communication a transformative experience for the recipient, for prospects and customers to say, “wow, I like that person.”
Given that humans communicate more nonverbally than verbally, tone, inflection, and body language matter a great deal. When Darin interviews people, he judges them largely based on their ability to present or talk, how they carry themselves, how they connect with people, and what it’s like simply to be with them.
“Hanging out with people is where it’s at,” he says. “That’s what this life is about. What we most look forward to on the weekend is being with the people we care about.”
Darin seeks to create more relationships like that in his business life and make it a more rich experience by using more authentic personal communication.
In this video clip, he shares something that no one can disagree on …
Making a Dent in the Universe
When Darin and his cofounder, Conor McCluskey started BombBomb, they decided they wanted to “make a dent in the universe.” Not only did they want to rehumanize people’s communication, they wanted to humanize the planet.
That meant rehumanizing the people who are dehumanized. They invest in nonprofits, people, and projects working to rehumanize people. They address education, job training, and food insecurity both overseas and locally. They donate to organizations that help with homelessness, especially families who are on the streets. Sex trafficking and slavery are also on their radar.
Providing better access to healthcare, especially for women, is also a big priority. “If you can’t get healthcare, you are being deeply dehumanized,” said Dawson. “At this point, we should be able to have healthcare. But we can either complain about it or we can change it in our backyard. We found a way to do that.”
BombBomb’s technology helps people building better relationships by rehumanizing their business communication. The business, then, is a vehicle to help rehumanize the planet.
“We’re going to do our best to do it,” says Darin. “And you can hold me accountable.”
Here, Darin explains the broader rehumanizing vision …
This post is based on an interview with Darin Dawson, President and cofounder of BombBomb. Get face to face more often with the people who matter most to your life and your business – try video email free.
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Coming Soon To The Customer Experience Podcast
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- Sales leaders like Jeremy Donovan (SalesLoft) and Charles Green (Trusted Advisor)
- Customer experience expert Joey Coleman (Never Lose a Customer Again)
- Branding expert David Brier
- Marketing leader Samantha Stone (Unleash Possible)
Podcast questions or guest recommendations? Email: Ethan at BombBomb dot com
Want to rehumanize your communication? Here’s the definitive guide.
Whether you’re in sales, marketing, customer success, leadership, or another role, you can get face to face with the people who matter most to your success. Communicate, connect, and convert more effectively. Accelerate the sales process and improve customer experience.
All it takes is a smartphone or webcam – and it’s easy to do once you know how to do it.
