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Please describe your job: What do you do?

I’m chief commercial officer and co-founder at Feefo. 

Whereabouts do you sit within the organisation? Who do you report to?

I co-founded Feefo Holdings with Andrew Mabbutt, the CEO. We’ve always run the business together and complement each other’s skills.

At heart we’re both salesmen, so we’ve taken great pride in beating every target we set and reporting amazing results to our Chairman. 

What kind of skills do you need to be effective in your role?

  • An excellent communicator
  • Ability to see the bigger picture
  • Multitasking (as well as I can!) 

Tell us about a typical working day… 

6am start: Walk the dog, brekkie & coffee if I have time.

9am: At the government offices for Visit Britain, pushing an initiative to capture the sentiment of visitors to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of our tourism industry.

11am: I’m on stage speaking about the potential for instant live reviews to the fashion and apparel world.

Midday: I’m lunching with The Times Travel (they’re doing a piece on the impact of fake reviews on the travel industry & how Feefo are helping to prevent this).

7pm: Hosting a dinner with Travel Weekly.

10pm: Usually at home settling down with my family, but tonight I’m packing for Vegas. 

Oh, and in between all this I have around 15 calls, connect with my team in the office & regularly check my emails.

feefo cco 

What do you love about your job? What sucks?

I love the people and the office we work in (a converted barn on a working dairy farm), and always thinking about the next new & exciting development.

What sucks? Not being able to roll out all our wonderful fresh ideas straight away.

What kind of goals do you have? What are the most useful metrics and KPIs for measuring success? 

I want to make Feefo as synonymous with reviews as Money Saving Expert is with cost savings.

Ultimately, when people want to know about a company or a product, they just ‘Feefo it!’

Questions I regularly ask: 

  • Are we hiring?
  • Are we looking where to open the next office (I have my sights on Beijing).
  • Are we still one step ahead of our competitors?

What are your favourite tools to help you to get the job done?

Google Alerts & Evernote. News apps and Twitter for keeping my finger on the pulse and on top of trending topics within the industry.

I especially like Twitter and LinkedIn for connecting and finding people who are likeminded to us (being genuine and providing the best possible customer service). 

How did you get started in the digital industry, and where might you go from here?

I actually started my career in the world of football and cricket, and then went into the world of finance.

While I never set out to go into digital, I was always following and excited by the fast paced and innovative digital marketplace.

I also always wanted to build my own business, coupled with the fact that I enjoy meeting new, interesting people led me down this path.

I’m a strong believer of “it’s not what you know but who you know”, and I was fortunate to know Mr Nick Wheeler (founder of Charles Tyrwhitt shirts, and Chairman of Feefo Holdings).

feefo

Which brands do you think are doing digital well?

There are a number of companies that continue to execute great brand awareness campaigns on social media, including Innocent Smoothies and Burberry.

Thomas Cook & Mark Warner also continue to deliver impressive fully integrated campaigns which cover all aspects of the user journey.

However, what’s particularly exciting to me is the truly digital disruptive companies, such as Netflix, WhatsApp, Uber and Airbnb.

WhatsApp has displaced telecoms companies, Netflix changed home entertainment and Uber has totally transformed the taxi industry.

Do you have any advice for people who want to work in the digital industry?

Digital is certainly an exciting industry to work in! If you enjoy new challenges, have a genuine passion for innovation & enjoy learning, you’ll love it.

The digital current moves quickly and it can be easy to get lost in all the action. However, if you stay focused, and take it all in your stride you’ll be successful.

If you want to learn digital marketing then nothing beats having your own blog or website. If you have your own website you can test new marketing tactics in a safe environment.

Some of the best digital marketers are self-taught from testing new innovative techniques on their own domain.

Networking is also hugely important in person and via social media. There are a variety of free digital marketing events where you can learn lots and meet likeminded people.

If you want to hear from two of Matt’s favourite disruptors, Uber and Airbnb, why not get a ticket for the Festival of Marketing 2016.