Executive Spotlight: Sara McPherson, VP of Marketing

Longtime customers of HCSS – along with even the newbies – know that few things are prioritized as highly as the company’s overall culture. This family-like atmosphere willfully extends over to the customer-facing side as well, resulting in a substantially more fulfilling client experience.

To give you a clearer snapshot of many behind-the-scenes decision makers at HCSS (some who you’ve probably met and others not), we’re shining the spotlight on different members of the executive team. First up to bat is Sara McPherson, head of the creative force that fuels the marketing department here at HCSS.

How does what you do on a daily basis help HCSS customers?

Sara McPherson: My core responsibility is making sure people who have pain points or challenges in their business find out about the solutions that can help alleviate their pain and grow their business. I know the construction industry is always facing the pressures of tight margins, workforce shortages, political fluctuations that affect funding, and a thousand other things.

That’s why we try to tell customers and prospects exactly what they need to know and not waste their time–so if there’s a way that partnering with us can help their business excel, they don’t miss out on it. In addition to that, one of my favorite things we get to do is tell the stories of our customers and celebrate their wins with them.

What values drive you in creating a team as well as guiding the customer journey?

SM: Empathy and trust are huge for me. One of my favorite cultural pillars at HCSS is the idea that we’re “for” each other. When I go into a meeting, when I think about how to grow and develop someone on the team, and when I think about every step of customer interactions, my goal is always to be for them: to think about what they need most, what information they have, and acting under the assumption that we both want the best outcome for each other.

Is there a personal hobby of yours that has been crucial to developing your leadership skills?

SM: By far my most valuable hobby in terms of developing leadership skills has been playing Dungeons & Dragons. It hones that ‘shared fate’ way of leading when you’re gathering a party and embracing each other’s strengths to achieve your goals.

Plus, it has massively improved my improv skills, and being able to think strategically and communicate coherently on my feet is absolutely essential to my job.

Can you describe the key difference between being customer-centric and sales-driven?

SM: The key difference, to me, is how much you’re thinking about the wellbeing of a customer. If your primary goal is sales, you might recommend things that won’t actually improve outcomes for a customer. But if you’re focused on customers, you’re thinking about what they really need, whether they’ve got the resources to execute it, how to be the best partners with them, and how to make sure their experience is a good one from the first time they talk to us to the day they decide to leave (and hopefully they don’t!).

How do you as the VP of Marketing help your company grow better?

SM: One of the most important things about building a brand is that it tells the industry and our potential customers who we are and lets them decide whether we’re the kind of partner we want to work with. To me, growing better means growing alongside customers who value what we provide and want to be partners with it.