Ashutosh Garg talks and thinks remarkably fast. He understands complexity with ease and his drive to create is unstoppable. I had the pleasure of meeting Ashutosh when I interviewed to be the first Head of Marketing for Bloomreach – one of two unicorns Ashutosh has founded (Eightfold.ai, where he is the CEO, is the secondContinue reading “4 Founder Insights That Will Change Your Company’s Future”
Category Archives: Leadership
Four Things the Best Marketing Leaders Know about Sales
The most important partnership driving growth for B2B enterprises is the one between sales and marketing. Partnerships with Customer Success and Product are critical as well for a subscription business (SAAS for example). But if sales and marketing do not align, the friction can torpedo a company’s growth trajectory. Part two of this series, I’mContinue reading “Four Things the Best Marketing Leaders Know about Sales”
The Empathetic Sale is the Secret Superpower for 2022 Growth
Today, 70% of B2B buyers do most, if not all, of their buying process before they talk to you, and 43% of B2B buyers don’t ever want to talk to you That number rises to 54% for millennials and younger Data from Gartner 2021 Over the last few decades, the world of sales has movedContinue reading “The Empathetic Sale is the Secret Superpower for 2022 Growth”
How to Create Effective Accountability
How do you hold people accountable to repeatably deliver business results? Every sales and marketing team I’ve led is characterized by camaraderie, energy, and results. They are highly accountable to each other, to me, and to the business. They take risks and implement innovative ideas, resulting in significant success over time. Many colleagues have askedContinue reading “How to Create Effective Accountability”
Interrogate Your Pipeline; Coach Your People
During pipeline reviews, it’s not enough to perform a brief circuit around the room and ask each seller about their current deals. Instead, the best sales leaders truly interrogate their pipeline to ensure they effectively coach their people. Here’s how: The Power of Interrogating Your Pipeline Sales give your company oxygen. If you know preciselyContinue reading “Interrogate Your Pipeline; Coach Your People”
Savants vs Students: How to Hire a Great Chief Revenue Officer
Companies are increasingly organizing with a Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) role, recognizing that someone should be responsible for every aspect of revenue, including sales, marketing, and customer success. While one could argue this area is the CEO’s job, that structure implies the CEO isn’t focusing on product, strategy, hiring, or managing investors. Keeping the revenueContinue reading “Savants vs Students: How to Hire a Great Chief Revenue Officer”
Win More Easily – Stop Drowning Customers in Complexity
In go-to-market messaging, complexity is bad. During a sales meeting, the statement “our product is complex” should raise red flags. You shouldn’t buy from a complex business nor should you sell a complex product. Complexity requires time and effort to understand and incorporate, drastically diminishing a product’s value. Companies arrive at complexity when they failContinue reading “Win More Easily – Stop Drowning Customers in Complexity”
Alignment is a Verb – The Most Important Work for Leaders
Alignment is the most important work of leaders. The moment when a team is aligned, all its members work in tandem. Well-aligned teams free up time for leaders to focus on company growth and individual development instead of putting out internal fires. Change is constant and so is the effort to align – well alignedContinue reading “Alignment is a Verb – The Most Important Work for Leaders”
GTM Flow: How to Turbo-Charge Sales and Marketing
For enterprise subscription businesses, go-to-market flow is the paragon of operational efficiency. When you achieve it, every part of the business aligns, accelerating employee satisfaction and company growth. Anyone who has experienced go-to-market (GTM) flow remembers it as their most satisfying work experience. In a frequently chaotic and anxious business culture, flow feels safe andContinue reading “GTM Flow: How to Turbo-Charge Sales and Marketing”
How to Create Agile Sales and Marketing teams
Business wants everything to be agile. Agile marketing. Agile development. Every leader want to create agile sales and marketing teams at a minimum. At Harvard Business School, companies spend significant funds teaching their people “agile.” Often this starts by understanding the concepts of agile development (such as the Agile Manifesto) with clear stories, small scrumContinue reading “How to Create Agile Sales and Marketing teams”