Marketing Consultant Gives XPERTECHS Product Manager Freedom to Focus

By Sarah Olson

When Chris Freeman, a marketing professional at managed IT company XPERTECHS in Ellicott City, MD, moved into the role of product manager, he felt pulled in too many directions. As a product manager, Chris was tasked with developing new IT service product offerings, but he still had to maintain all of his marketing responsibilities. The result was that daily marketing tasks started to fall through the cracks, and Chris knew that he didn’t have the bandwidth to get everything done.

“For some of my responsibilities, it became more and more like throwing ideas against the wall and seeing what would stick, and it wasn’t working very well,” Chris explained. “That’s when we realized how helpful it would be to get an outside source to take the daily marketing tasks off my plate.”

Credentials, Experience and Track Record of Success

That’s when Chris met Lori Creighton, introduced through a mutual connection at another managed IT company, Accent Computer Solutions in Los Angeles. Chris was impressed with Lori’s success and experience working for a client in the same industry.

After he explored Lori’s website, read her testimonials, and had an online meeting with her in which she presented her plan for an XPERTECHS marketing strategy, Chris and XPERTECHS’ owner, Michael Mellott, knew this was the right direction to go.

“Courtney at Accent gave Lori a great review, and I trusted that,” Chris said. “Lori is also creative and thinks things out very well, so it’s like having a full-time marketing person on our staff.”

Increased Engagement and Sales Conversations

Now that Chris has been working with Lori for a little over a year, he can point to several accomplishments since she joined the XPERTECHS team. The company’s new cybersecurity offering has recorded an impressive number of sign-ups. On such a large, challenging project, Chris has enjoyed focusing on the development of the product while Lori planned the marketing and messaging.

Chris has also received positive feedback on the company’s social media postings, which Lori has organized and crafted into a more targeted strategy. The company’s president, Michael Mellott, has received compliments from clients and other professional contacts on LinkedIn posts that Lori drafted.

Focus on Priorities with Marketing Off His Plate

Most of all, with Lori handling day-to-day marketing tasks, Chris has enjoyed having more time to focus on his product manager responsibilities.

“I love having someone else to collaborate with throughout the day,” Chris said. “I don’t have to sit for a half hour on my own trying to focus and think of creative ideas and spend a lot of time writing articles or planning campaigns.”

Mutually Beneficial Relationship Developed from a Distance

Although they’ve never met in person, Lori is always a phone call, email, or video chat away. Chris and Lori have started to collaborate using Microsoft’s Teams app and it has made Lori feel like she’s really a part of the XPERTECHS team.

Lori’s expertise and years of experience have become an important asset to the company’s marketing strategy. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship that will help XPERTECHS grow and better serve its clients.

“It has been a rewarding experience to work with Lori. I appreciate everything she has helped us accomplish, and we are happy.”

--Chris Freeman, Operations Manager, XPERTECHS