The Rise of the Micro-Marketer: A Conversation with Schematic’s Bethany Stachenfeld

Right now in sales, getting someone’s attention is hard. Getting them to care is even harder. 

That’s one of the themes that emerged during my recent Sales Operator Series interview with Bethany Stachenfeld, Head of Growth at Schematic. Some of the topics we hit on were outbound, AI, personalization, and what’s actually working as sales teams try to stand out in the noisiest market we’ve ever seen. 

Bethany maintains a pretty straightforward outlook (and emphasizes a theme we’ve seen across the Sales Operator Series conversations): as more of the sales process becomes automated, the individual seller has to become more human, not less. 

I’m going to do a quick recap of our interview here, or you can check out the full episode. 

Everyone Has the Same Personalization Tools Now

Only a year ago, Bethany said, using AI and marketing automation effectively could help a seller stand out. Already, it’s table stakes. Anyone can generate a personalized email that references a prospect’s recent LinkedIn post or mentions their alma mater’s weekend sports victory. 

Personalized noise is still noise. Bethany described getting endless “AI-personalized” emails that essentially regurgitate what’s on her website or LinkedIn profile. The sender thinks they’ve created something highly customized, but the recipient experiences it as just another template. 

To be valuable, personalization has to actually make communication more relevant. In some ways, over-personalization has caused prospect email selling to come full circle, and smart sellers are back to crafting emails explaining who they are, what they do, and why it matters to the prospect. 

Learn What Works, Then Automate

Bethany shared that one tactic that’s been working well for her is talking to prospects on LinkedIn the same way she’d talk to someone she knows. That means no elaborate sequences or carefully engineered pattern interruption. Just a direct message that says, “here’s why I think we should talk.” 

She writes the messages herself, learns from the conversations, gets clearer about what works, and then starts automating pieces of the process. This is a really useful reversal of how we typically see programs like this run. Instead of automating the process and hoping it works, learn what works and then automate it. 

Salespeople Are Becoming Micro-Marketers

Bethany’s prediction for the next year or so is that sales people are going to become what she calls micro-marketers. 

Rather than marketers in the traditional sense, this means people who know how to build their own reputation, create useful content, nurture relationships, and stay relevant to a group of buyers. To me, this makes sense in a world where it’s increasingly difficult to differentiate. 

When ten companies build something that looks remarkably similar and delivers the same outcome, the experience becomes a deciding factor. Which vendor took the time to help me understand what I actually need? Who followed up thoughtfully and at the right time? Who brought the right people into the conversation? 

These things might seem small and intangible, but can make all the difference in a sales cycle. 

‍Big thanks to Bethany for taking the time to chat. If you want to see our full conversation and other episodes from the Sales Operator Series, check out our Youtube page.