![[Fully Managed] Matt Fiel from Penrod Ep. 72](https://penji.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/BLOG-IMAGE-Matt-Fiel.jpg)
Introduction
Daniela: Hello everybody. Welcome to the First 100 Podcast. This is a podcast where we’re gonna be exploring the journey of entrepreneurs, business owners, agency leaders, and so many more people as they share with us the strategies, the challenges, and the triumphs that have led them to secure those first 100 customers. I’m very excited today because we have a very special guest, Matt Fiel. Hi Matt. How are you?
Matt Fiel (MF): Hey, good. I know it’s recording, but it’s actually pronounced File.
Daniela (D): File. Okay. Sorry. No, it’s weird that it’s, with the way it’s spelled, the way you said it is grammatically right. But when my family came over, something got miscommunicated and we’re pronouncing it incorrectly, but good to know. I’ve mispronounced a bunch of names, so my apologies. But Matt File then. You’re good. Very happy to have you. To break the ice a little bit, as we get started, can you tell me a little bit about yourself, what you do, about Penrod and all this stuff so that our audience can also get to know you a little bit better?
Matt’s Role at Penrod
MF: Yeah, of course. So I’m the EVP of Marketing here at Penrod. What I focus on is our go-to-market strategy. I’m a one-person marketing team. So that involves a ton of different things from strategy to tactics. Understanding what industries we’re gonna play really well in, what our visual brand should be, what our voice should be like, and then taking that into more tactical things—everything from web development to copywriting to visual design, graphic design. I wear a lot of hats as a one-person marketer, but I really do enjoy being able to tie together the strategy and the actual tactics that we’re doing.
D: Amazing. That sounds like a lot of work. So yeah, it is. It’s amazing that you can handle all of that yourself. Now, Penrod is a very specific type of work. You always work in a very specific type of industry. You really niche down and what you focus on mostly would be like the sales part of the healthcare industry, right?
MF: Yeah.
D: So how did that come about? How did that start and where did that focus shift?
Choosing a Niche: Healthcare
MF: It was started about 11 years ago. I started around five years ago. You’re totally right that when people think of Penrod, they really think of Salesforce, and Salesforce Consulting is a really competitive space. So around the time that I was starting, we were asking ourselves a question about where we wanted to be in the future. That was, within this Salesforce niche, what are we actually best at doing? We looked into the projects that we were really successful with. We looked into where we had the most growth potential and it came down to where we could tell the best stories about the work we’ve done with Salesforce.
We could have focused on different product specializations like Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, or Marketing Cloud. But we decided to do something a little different—something that’s not seen in this consulting space too often. We decided to differentiate ourselves by focusing on one single key industry: healthcare and life sciences.
This decision doesn’t come without risk. By committing to healthcare, we were making a deliberate choice to turn away certain opportunities by focusing on that specific industry—things like banking, automotive, media, and advertising. Those are all industries that use Salesforce. But we decided to focus on healthcare and do it really well. As a marketer, I can tell you it’s really challenging in those early days to disqualify a promising lead that had a solvable pain point, simply because they didn’t align with our industry focus. That moment of actually turning business away is the true litmus test of choosing to honor your long-term strategy instead of chasing a short-term win. That’s where a lot of companies fail.
Our belief is that in the Salesforce industry, deep industry specialization creates authenticity when you’re telling stories. When your expertise is laser focused on just one sector, your marketing becomes more effective. Healthcare companies have unique challenges, and Salesforce isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. That focus on the healthcare industry really helped us differentiate ourselves.
Marketing Differentiation in a Competitive Field
D: Amazing. I was gonna ask you about this because you were focusing so much on niching down to the healthcare industry. What actually happened when you did this that differentiated the marketing strategy to help you stand out? Because like you said, the Salesforce world is very competitive.
MF: Yeah, so really at the time I started, the website we had was pretty high level and generic. It had references to a ton of different industries, was speaking at a very high level. We were hoping that the copy would resonate with Salesforce users regardless of what industry they were in. But we made a concerted effort to change all the terminology, to focus on presenting ourselves as experts in healthcare, not just Salesforce.
If you go to our homepage, it literally just says “Salesforce solutions for healthcare.” When someone visits, it’s very clear what we do. If they’re not in healthcare, they know we’re not a good fit. But if someone is in healthcare and uses Salesforce or wants to grow with Salesforce, they know immediately that we understand the challenges they face daily.
The Power of Storytelling in Technical Industries
D: I also want to ask about the role storytelling played in your marketing strategy. How do you make something as technical as Salesforce implementation more relatable?
MF: Storytelling plays a big role because not everyone we work with is technical, especially during the sales process. Some are just in charge of processes within healthcare and aren’t familiar with technical terms. A good story is universally relatable. For example, prospects may struggle with managing data in spreadsheets—local, unshareable, manually updated. Through storytelling, we show how we solve those challenges across awareness, consideration, and decision stages.
We think of storytelling as crafting a vision around the challenges we solve. It’s about painting a picture of their current state, showing what the ideal state looks like, and bridging the gap without diving deep into technical steps. Just helping them understand how they get from pain to solution.
Storytelling and Emotional Connection
D: That’s amazing. When I think of myself as a consumer—even when buying a t-shirt—I need to see what it looks like and how I’d wear it. Seeing others integrate a product or service into their lives helps me decide. I think storytelling is really important.
MF: Absolutely. At Penrod we’re B2B, but I think consumer experiences translate. I just bought a new keyboard on Amazon, and they have an AR feature where you can see how it looks in your space. It’s the same idea. Helping clients visualize how our solution fits into their workflow creates emotional connection.
Different Use Cases Within Healthcare
D: I know you also focus on healthcare manufacturing. Does this create a change in your marketing strategy or is it universal?
MF: It does change. Each use case is distinct. Traditional healthcare providers are more B2C, dealing with patients, while manufacturers are B2B, selling to hospitals or other businesses. Providers focus on patient relationships; manufacturers focus on supply chain, partner relationships, and scaling operations. The core vision remains: show where they are, where they could be, and how we get them there. But the narrative shifts. Providers care more about compliance, for example, which drives our messaging in that vertical.
Lead Generation and Finding the Right Audience
D: That leads me to ask about lead gen. What was the most effective channel when you decided to focus on healthcare?
MF: Since we’re in consulting and focus on Salesforce, alliance channels are huge. The other two are organic SEO and paid ads. With SEO, it’s about finding niche keywords with low difficulty and high intent—even if search volume is under 100 per month. Those are still valuable leads.
Alliances are also key because of Salesforce’s ecosystem. ISV partners create add-ons that enhance Salesforce—for document signing, appointment forms, etc. And Google Ads work well for finding in-market audiences—if you target correctly. “Salesforce implementation” is too broad now; we need to find keywords that reveal the searcher’s industry to avoid overpaying for unqualified traffic.
D: Right. I’ve spoken to others who’ve made the mistake of targeting the wrong people. They go for volume, but none of it converts. It’s better to have 20 great leads than 100 wrong ones.
MF: Exactly. It’s like going to a restaurant with a massive menu. You just want a good burger, but they serve everything—so it’s probably not going to be great.
D: I’ve used that analogy too! It’ll be an okay burger at best.
MF: Yeah, but I want a great burger.
Balancing Technical Messaging and Approachability
D: Last question before we move on to a fun game. How do you balance technical messaging with approachable messaging for a niche industry like yours?
MF: Great question. Just because it’s B2B doesn’t mean your audience is technical. They may know the problem but not the technical solution. Messaging depends on the audience. There’s still room for technical marketing—for example, for technical personas who want to see credibility through our understanding. But you need balance.
Our website is high-level and approachable at the top, but as you dive deeper, you find more technical content. I document all content in a spreadsheet shared across our org, categorized by funnel stage and intended audience. It helps everyone find what they need, and it helps me spot gaps—like, “We don’t have enough technical content for this sub-vertical,” and I can plan for that. It’s about matching content to the audience at every stage.
D: Amazing. Balance is key. There’s a space for all of it.
The Rapid-Fire Game
D: Now we’re almost out of time. It’s been great talking to you, but before I let you go, I have a game! No more marketing, no more business. I’m going to ask you 20 silly questions. You’ll have one minute. Nobody has hit all 20—highest is 15, lowest is around 8 or 9.
MF: What’s the lowest? I might set a record.
D: I think the lowest has been like 8 or 9. If you don’t have an answer, lie—just say something quickly to keep going. Ready?
MF: Okay.
D: Coffee or tea?
MF: Coffee.
D: Early bird or night owl?
MF: Early bird.
D: Favorite social media platform?
MF: LinkedIn.
D: Go-to karaoke song?
MF: Crazy Train.
D: Books or podcasts?
MF: Podcasts.
D: One word that describes you?
MF: Genuine.
D: Dream vacation destination?
MF: Japan.
D: Most used app on your phone?
MF: YouTube.
D: Favorite emoji?
MF: Smiley face.
D: Hidden talent?
MF: I can write music.
D: Go-to comfort food?
MF: Shrimp and grits.
D: Superpower you’d want for a day?
MF: Flying.
D: Who inspires you the most?
MF: My wife.
D: Guilty pleasure?
MF: Eating too much.
D: If you weren’t doing marketing, what would you be doing?
MF: Writing music.
D: Time! You did really well. You said you’d do worse but you did 14—high up there!
MF: Nice!
D: Still no winner, but I should probably prepare a prize when someone does get all 20.
MF: That would be a good idea.
Wrap-up and Final Thoughts
D: Matt, thank you so much. The podcast is almost over. Do you want to plug anything?
MF: Absolutely. If you’re in the healthcare industry and looking to fix manual processes, Penrod’s a great Salesforce partner. Head over to penrod.co and take a look at what we do.
D: Awesome. I’ll add the links in the description of this video. Thank you so much, Matt. Everyone else, I’ll see you on the next episode.
MF: Thanks Daniela. Have a good day.
D: Have a good day. Bye.
