Operating under a single mission, H Code Media helps brands tell their stories through a multicultural lens. With customized offerings that include digital ad solutions, integrated content and social offerings, and audience insights, the media sales team at H Code relies on DocSend to manage the RFP process and reveal buyer intent.
Engaging and building trust with multicultural communities
Helping different brands connect with specific audiences requires a strong understanding of the nuances of the media industry and the interests of multicultural communities. Over the past six years, H Code has quickly become a trusted leader in both.
“Looking back on the last three years, H Code quickly grew to the point where we just needed to formalize internal processes,” begins Matt Weisbecker, CRO at H Code. “The previous tool we were using, such as ClearSlide, were designed for simply presenting proposals; it didn’t give us any insights into how those proposals were consumed and who they were shared with post-meeting.”
H Code aggregates inventory across over 450 publishers to help brands build trust within Hispanic and Black communities. Its sales team talks to media agencies and clients on the media market side to understand the challenges keeping them from engaging and building trust with these multicultural communities.
“We then develop a strategy for them, whether it’s based on an RFP we receive or a proactive approach based on what we’re hearing in the market,” shares Matt. DocSend, he explains, is used in two primary ways: as a top-of-funnel strategy for converting unknown prospects into warm leads, and to respond to RFPs with custom proposals and content. They use DocSend as a deal room for both stages of the sales funnel.
DocSend is used two-fold by our sales team: (1) turning unknown prospects into warm leads, and (2) responding to RFPs with custom proposals. DocSend’s deal room allows us to know who’s viewed which documents, for how long, and what they’re most interested in -- this both spins up new sales opportunities and speeds up existing negotiations of deals.
Emerging as a thought leader in the multicultural space
“As the largest U.S. Hispanic digital media company, we seek to become a thought leader in the multicultural space,” Matt says. “We want to do this by publishing a series of specific reports, documents and content pieces in various formats. Some are case studies containing video + text documents, others are single files,” he continues.
“Either way, DocSend allows us to scale our sharing capabilities and track user engagement while creating a unique - and well branded - user experience for our clients, with minimal effort on our part.“
DocSend as a deal room gives Matt and his team flexibility to create a centralized space that can be shared with prospective stakeholders. “When used for a proactive outreach, I create a space in DocSend,” he explains. “I share that link and then know who accesses the files by asking for their email address.”
DocSend, he asserts, has been key to helping them turn unknown viewers into potential leads. “I send a lot of our research to prospects and occasionally it is passed along to other stakeholders within that organization,” Matt says. “With DocSend, this prospecting approach allows me to drum up warm leads and identify new decision-makers.”
DocSend allows us to track engagement and intent on our proposals while creating a unique - and well branded - user experience for our clients, with minimal effort on our part.
Following up on RFPs with a competitive advantage
The flexibility and ease of use provided by DocSend gives the sales team a strategic advantage in negotiations and follow-ups. “I create a deal room for every RFP submission I develop,” says Matt. That space often includes a PowerPoint presentation to support the custom media sales proposal outlining the overall strategy, along with case studies from similar partners and other helpful resources.”
“It helps me keep track of who’s looking at what and from which teams,” continues Matt. “I typically require an email to view, which helps me know that the people I’m engaged with are actually accessing it and interested. If we’re putting the work into building custom media packages or RFP responses, I’d hope my potential clients are taking the time to review it.”
DocSend’s document analytics provides an even deeper layer of buyer intent intel. When a prospective customer reads the concepts outlined in the PowerPoint deck, it’s often a signal they’re interested in an integrated campaign approach. On the flip side, “if they’re only looking at our media reach and nothing more, it indicates we might need to work on something more unique and custom.”
“DocSend provides a deeper layer of buyer intent intel. If we’re putting the work into building custom media packages or RFP responses, I now know if my potential clients are taking the time to review it.”
Tools to safeguard harmonious processes—inside and out
“We use Dropbox as our primary content repository internally. Then when sharing externally, I want to know who or if someone has interacted with that content - this is where DocSend comes in,” explains Matt.
When the sales team receives an RFP, an initial kick-off call is held to discuss which elements of the proposal they want to incorporate before sharing it with their sales planning and marketing teams.
As the different teams work together to compile all of the assets needed, they use Dropbox to house all marketing materials and sales proposals developed for each client. When the content is ready to be shared with customers or prospects, they push the materials to DocSend for the remainder of the deal cycle.
The biggest reward, Matt shares, is seeing people actually engage with the work his team puts together. “There’s peace of mind knowing people are engaging with the content we spend time, as an organization, building—because that’s not always the case,” continues Matt.
“With DocSend, we have the ability to measure who is viewing our content and I can get a better sense of how serious they are when it comes to our consideration,” concludes Matt. “DocSend allows us to focus on the warmest leads and most promising deals.”