Sept. 21, 2023

037 David Ross (Miro) on Coaching, Consulting, and Conversation

Today’s guest is David Ross, Principal Agile Product Evangelist at Miro. He joins host Ethan Beute as they navigate the shift from being a practitioner to assuming the role of an advocate.
Dave shares three specific ways he stays sharp, up to date, and in touch with the latest in his field, how he generated demand for his expertise and evangelism, and why his background in coaching and consulting lends itself so well to his evangelist role.

Takeaways:

  • The most crucial role of an evangelist is to engage in meaningful conversations with customers, understand their needs, and learn about them to serve them better. For a product evangelist, this often involves product use, under-use, or non-use!

     

  • Rather than prescribing solutions, ask powerful, open-ended questions and guide customers to find their own solutions, much like a therapist would. Communication skills, empathy, and a commitment to helping people are essential traits for this.

     

  • The work of evangelism and the role of an evangelist may be for you, even if you don’t plan for it, expect it, or even know what it is. Hear the process Dave undertook to pursue, learn about, and find joy in his relatively new position – and how he explains it to family and friends!

     

  • Use multiple channels to be of highest value. Dave shares how he built relationships with the sales and customer success teams to reach prospects and customers, engages in the Miro Discovery Center, attends key conference in the agile community, and teaches business agility and agile use cases internally.

     

Quote of the Show:

  • “You’re talking to people and trying to help solve their problems in a collaborative way.”

     

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