The greatest motivation to move forward is to see your own company as your biggest competitor, says Yaniv Masjedi, a visionary and compelling marketing leader at Nextiva. The company’s Chief Marketing Officer since 2008, Yaniv Masjedi has been working to create strategies that drive awareness, strengthen the Nextiva brand, and share the story of the company’s unique customer-centric culture, known as “Amazing Service”.
Yaniv Masjedi also initiates and manages programs related to brand management, demand generation and advertising. Read the full interview with this marketing guru to discover his core business principles, what drives the growth of a company, and what are the key factors in measuring success.
My career began in sales, and having that background helped me tremendously when I decided to take the leap into marketing. With my sales background, I’m always thinking about how I can improve the experience for prospects, customers, and our sales team.
I was fortunate to work with Nextiva’s CEO, Tomas Gorny, before he started Nextiva. In his early companies, Tomas experienced issues with the available solutions for communication and collaboration; many other businesses were experiencing the same problems, and there was no solution on the market. Seeing a gap in the market, and a market in that gap, Tomas co-founded Nextiva.
In 2008, Nextiva welcomed its first customer. The world of business communications and phone service was dominated by large companies that were under servicing their teams, employees, and partners. Nextiva’s goal was to be markedly different.
We encountered a number of challenges upfront, which felt more like opportunities. It was tough to get noticed by customers and the industry, and at the same time, our competitors did their best to discredit Nextiva. That just fueled our fire to succeed.
It was our goal for Nextiva to be the first company that came to mind when searching for communication and collaboration solutions. We tried a lot of things, and we’ve always been able to quickly adjust. It’s one thing I’ve loved the most about Nextiva.
It has always been exciting to lead Nextiva’s marketing efforts. Being in such a competitive industry is a roller coaster, and at the same time, we like to see ourselves as our own biggest competitor. We aren’t striving to be like the other companies in our space because Nextiva is quite different from any other company. So, every day, we try to be better than the last, and that’s a great motivation for us. I would advise any CMO to strive to see their own company, and their own efforts, as their biggest competitor.
We’re also fortunate to be in an industry and a company where things evolve quickly. 2020 has been a prime example; COVID sent many offices home, and companies across the world sought solutions to enable remote work. We’re fortunate to have been one of the companies providing such tools, and it’s been a privilege to support so many businesses through these trying times.
The best decision and greatest success of my career was saying yes to join Nextiva. At the time, I was working for another company that was growing fast and seemed like a sure bet. I left that to join Nextiva, and I’ve never looked back.
Tomas likes to say that failure is like free tuition. There are mistakes and moves we’ve made that were incorrect – too many to count – and we’re constantly learning from them and looking towards the future.
Working every day with people who I genuinely enjoy working with, and people who make me and the company better.
As a company, Nextiva is in the best position it’s ever been. That’s exciting, and I’m optimistic that it will continue to go in that direction. It’s inspiring to see the impact we’re making on businesses, especially today, post-COVID. Seeing businesses staying connected with their customers and teams affirms our mission and vision.
At the end of the day, our growth is what motivates me the most. Nextiva started with just a few people in a small office, and today we have over 1,000 people globally. If Nextiva were a book, it feels like we’re in chapter one and this is just the beginning.
There are a number of key metrics. At the end of the day, as a business, we are always looking at growth and revenue. And when we look at growth, we’re also looking to see if customers are staying and valuing our products.
Marketing is unsuccessful without sales, and vice versa. Plain and simple. So, there has to be close alignment and support between the two teams. In marketing, we know it’s critical to support the sales organization and help drive our growth.
Nextiva really is unlike any other company. There’s positive energy in everyone you meet, and that echoes through everything we do. One of the main reasons for this is how we hire people at Nextiva. It’s important that our team members exude Nextiva’s three core values, which are caring, forward-thinking, and simplicity – and I think these values truly capture what matters most to us.
On top of those official values, we also live by Amazing Service – for both our customers and each other. These themes have set the precedent for exceptional company culture and focus on the customer experience, both of which are key to driving our vision forward.
Tomas has three core business principles: never have an exit strategy, work with people you enjoy working with, and always focus on the customer. These principles were true in 2008, and they still hold true today.
