One message of gratitude for every team member
Team Letter | October 30, 2023
10.30.23
Happy Monday from beautiful Hemlock, Michigan!
As we round out these last two days of the month, I am so proud of us. I’m proud of our October - of our team, of our company, and of our evolving product and offering.
First, let’s celebrate the extraordinary operations efforts that delivered more than 2,000 delightful moments to teachers. We welcomed a new customer, IJAG, and their educators immediately felt appreciated, surprised, and delighted. We delivered a delightful October pack that includes several of our own branded items (those note packs!!). We’re starting to see what it looks like to combine Alpaca resources with gifts and supplies to create a product that can change how teachers feel about their work, all without ever taking ourselves too seriously!
Our sales and marketing efforts were next level. First, we over-achieved our goals for leads, meetings and proposals, and I believe we’re still within reach of our new customers goal! The best part – our nurturing process is working. We’re getting our brand in front of school leaders, and then watching those leaders download resources, read the newsletter, book meetings, and come on board. This is the marketing to sales funnel we’ve been looking for!
Beyond hitting the numbers, what we LEARNED this month by traveling to conferences and meeting so many potential customers has been transformational. Our product and offering will change because of those conversations, toward more pulse surveys and insights to complement a simplified pack. Our positioning will shift too. We’ll consider our principals a little more, and think of the ways that we can give them more tools as school leaders.
In all, we attended five conferences this month: AASPA, Iowa Best, Minneapolis Superintendents Association, Illinois Principals Association, and the Nebraska Educator Shortage Summit. PLUS, we had a tremendous team retreat at Camp Wandawega in Wisconsin.
Were you wondering how many miles we traveled this month? So was I. Of course I counted it up. In all, Alpaca team members traveled 17,808 miles in October. That’s like going to the South Pole – and back!
I am grateful for and proud of each and every team member for the contributions you’ve made in the month of October. Specifically:
Alex: THANK YOU for your diligent work in making sure our conference follow ups were prompt and personal, and keeping us on track to book meetings and sell!
Alissa: thank you for your unbelievable work on building and publishing resources for school leaders – I cannot believe how this library is growing!
Avalon: you are doing such a great job evolving our packs and keeping our ordering and inventory on track! Also, again, the fish head. Made my month.
Lauren: You jump in to work wherever you’re needed, with so much joy and delight. Thank you for supporting so many different aspects of this company (and taking such fantastic pack pictures, too!)
Kaitlynn: you took on Iowa BEST and led the team so well at this conference! It’s incredible to see your work evolve and grow with our marketing efforts.
Kimberly: HUGE work on organizing and leading a huge conference effort - we looked SO impressive, we captured the leads beautifully, and we learned so much. Also, bonus shout-out for your vision for our retreat at Wandawega - it was just so so good.
Marina: you are the beating heart of our space and the keeper of our promises. THANK YOU for leading the operations team, hosting guests, shipping thousands of packs, and keeping us on time and on mission.
I’m coming away from October so excited for the next 14 months of 2024 (yes!!), not because of any single customer or project or product, but because of this team. I am so grateful for each of you!
Let’s GO!
KB