Patrick Grieve

Content Manager

United States

Chicago-based writer with experience as a freelancer, editor, content manager and strategist.

Contact: [email protected]

Portfolio

Zendesk

Zendesk
11/03/2020
The art of social listening - Zendesk

You may think that "Mayochup" is a great topping for fries, an abominable Frankenstein's condiment, or just a hilarious example of '90s satire predicting the future. Regardless of your personal preference, though, there's no denying that it represents a huge social listening triumph for Kraft Heinz.

Zendesk
12/29/2021
Sales prospecting 101: A beginner's guide

Sales teams usually decide how to prospect for sales based on the nature of their business and its customer base. For example, in the B2C world, cold calling has a bad reputation. Telemarketers have never been particularly well-liked, and phone scammers have made people even more reluctant to talk to strangers.

Zendesk
12/08/2015
The best hold music since 'Careless Whisper' - Zendesk

According to a survey by text-message service TalkTo, more than half of Americans spend 10 to 20 minutes every week waiting on hold-which works out to 43 days over a lifetime. That's a lot of hold music.

Zendesk
06/11/2021
What is a sales funnel? The ultimate guide

The concept of a "sales funnel" is a little misleading. After all, a real funnel is designed to catch and pour out every ounce of liquid you put into it. But not every lead that enters the top of your sales funnel will come out the other end as a customer-there's bound to be some pretty significant spillage along the way.

Zendesk
03/22/2021
The customer testimonial playbook

It's never been easier to live by the old Latin proverb caveat emptor-aka, "Let the buyer beware." In 2021, customers can check a business's reputation just by pulling out their phones and doing a quick search. And most do!

Zendesk
04/10/2021
Creating an FAQ page? Here's what you need to know.

Self-service options aren't just nice-to-haves for customers. They're critical for creating the smooth, fast support experience today's customers expect. Our Customer Experience Trends Report 2020 found that high-performing businesses were 76 percent more likely to provide self-service options-but only one-third of companies were offering any sort of self-service.

The Penny Hoarder

The Penny Hoarder
08/22/2018
I Rented a Friend: Here's What it's Like to Pay a Professional Pal

" RentAFriend "-it's exactly what it sounds like, although not exactly as weird as it sounds. Founded in 2009, the "strictly platonic friendship website" profits off "Members" who are charged $24.95 a month for access to the company's worldwide database of over 600,000 rentable "Friends," who create free profiles and then lease themselves out for anywhere from $10 to $50 an hour.

The Penny Hoarder
08/02/2018
Get Paid to Hang Out With People: What It's Like to Work for RentAFriend

I'm the kind of person who arrives at a party fashionably early and then keeps milling about until all of the other guests, Yellow Tail wines and hummus dips have disappeared. But despite the fact that I frequently blur the taxonomic distinction between social butterfly and household pest, it never occurred to me that I could actually monetize the willingness to just, you know...

The Penny Hoarder
06/18/2018
How Food Lovers United to Bring the Museum of Food and Drink to Life

In New York City, it would appear there's nothing in this world too trivial or bizarre to eventually find its way inside a glass display case. Manhattan's Flatiron district alone boasts both a Museum of Sex (MoSex) and a Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) - the latter located directly across the street from the former, should any MoSex patrons require the educational equivalent of a cold shower after their visit.

The Penny Hoarder
10/27/2017
A Chicago Local Reveals the Best Spots for Deep Dish Pizza and Dogs

During the height of Chicago's meatpacking industry, Carl Sandburg dubbed the city "hog butcher to the world." That may no longer be the case, but people here still sure do eat a lot of pork. Not to mention beef, pizza, tacos, fries and just about every other type of artery-clogging street food that is heavy on the heart but light on the wallet.

The News Wheel

The News Wheel
10/08/2015
Are Chevrolet's "Real People, Not Actors" Car Commercials Fake?

If you own a television and use it with semi-regularity, you are probably familiar with Chevrolet's latest marketing campaign, "Real People, Not Actors." As the name implies, this series of ads makes the controversial claim that "Real People" and "Actors" are two mutually exclusive groups, while also maintaining that Chevy's car commercials feature only the...

The News Wheel
11/14/2014
Who Plays the Family of Tree Huggers in That Subaru Outback Commercial?

Have you seen that Subaru ad for the 2015 Outback that features a family of literal tree huggers taking a nostalgic trip to Woodstock? If so, then you might have wondered who plays the vaguely familiar mom character - or the hippie grandma, or the impressionable daughter, or the nondescript dad, for that matter.