C-Suite Sales & Marketing Perspectives

Recent Episodes

1. Reinventing Legacy Companies in an AI-First World

   Aug 4, 2026

   Cynthia Gumbert, Chief Marketing Officer at Litera, discusses how established B2B technology companies can compete confidently in an AI-first market by leveraging customer trust, long-range product strategy, and a dedicated Voice of the Customer program. She explains why customer advocates outperform traditional marketing messages and how treating company history as market pedigree rather than legacy strengthens positioning and pipeline impact. The conversation explores how simplifying messaging, avoiding feature fatigue, and maintaining authentic customer relationships help legacy companies navigate AI disruption while staying grounded in buyer truth.

2. The New Growth Code: Why Judgment Is the New Competitive Advantage

   Aug 3, 2026

   Robert Nicklin, Chief Growth Officer at Compass Group Canada and author of 'The Growth Code,' discusses how judgment and behavioral intelligence drive sustainable enterprise growth. He explores five key pillars—behavior, adaptability, observational intelligence, trust, and stronger questioning—and explains why leaders must design repeatable growth systems rather than chase short-term outcomes. The conversation emphasizes how trust, cultural intelligence, and the ability to adapt under pressure have become competitive advantages in an increasingly fast-paced business environment.

3. Why Soft B2B Advantages Are Reshaping B2B Growth

   Jul 23, 2026

   Rebecca Welcher Kaplan, CMO at Slice Merchant Services, discusses how soft B2B advantages—trust, relationships, brand, and customer experience—are reshaping B2B growth strategy. Drawing from 15 years in luxury hospitality and prior roles in investment banking and Google, Kaplan argues that in an era of commoditized technology, relationship-building and customer obsession are critical differentiators. The conversation covers predicting customer needs, AI's role in competitive advantage, employee empowerment, and why the entire organization must align around customer-centric values.

4. Part Five: The Revenue Logic of Customer Obsession

   Jul 21, 2026

   Eliana Angelova, Chief Revenue Officer at Iceland Experiences, discusses the revenue logic of customer obsession and its critical importance in the AI era. She explores how only 3-5% of companies truly implement customer obsession despite claiming to prioritize it, and reveals that customer-obsessed companies deliver 80% more revenue. The conversation covers how AI tools differ from AI solutions, the challenge of tracking modern multi-channel customer journeys, and how voice of the customer serves as the primary alignment tool for breaking down internal silos in B2B organizations.

5. Sales and Marketing Alignment Starts Long Before Revenue

   Jul 17, 2026

   John Lamb, Chief Marketing Officer at Elo (a touchscreen technology company with 55 years of heritage), discusses how sales and marketing alignment begins before revenue generation and emphasizes the importance of internal organizational alignment as the #1 challenge for B2B companies. The conversation covers trust-building in a low-trust environment, the role of brand as a long-term investment, guided buying experiences, and how a customer-obsessed culture drives business success through cross-functional collaboration.

6. The Three-Tiered B2B Strategy to Double Revenue

   Jul 17, 2026

   Justin Steinman, CMO at ModMed, discusses how customer obsession and brand awareness directly drive revenue in B2B healthcare IT. He shares ModMed's three-tiered strategy: investing in brand awareness despite board pressure for immediate demand generation, consolidating 33 fragmented messages into a unified "AI-powered practice" narrative that aligns the entire organization, and embedding customer intimacy through 25 practicing physicians on staff who guide product strategy.

7. Part Four: The Revenue Logic of Customer Obsession

   Jul 10, 2026

   Greg Banning, Chief Revenue Officer at Rhythm, discusses the revenue logic of customer obsession and its impact on long-term sustainable growth. He shares how Rhythm uses visual reminders like an orange chair at the head of the table to keep the customer at the center of strategy, and emphasizes that internal alignment, company culture, and connective tissue across departments are critical to delighting customers and achieving revenue targets.

8. Part Three: The Revenue Logic of Customer Obsession

   Jul 8, 2026

   Lauren Goldstein, Chief Growth Officer at Winning by Design, discusses the revenue logic behind customer obsession with host Steve McDonald. Drawing on her experience as a former CRO and co-founder of Women in Revenue, Goldstein explores how customer-obsessed organizations achieve 41% faster revenue growth and 51% better client retention, yet explains why most companies fail to operationalize customer insights. The conversation covers internal alignment as the #1 challenge in B2B companies, the importance of understanding both emotional and rational buyer motivations, building trust early in the buying journey, and the critical role of mentorship in scaling high-performance teams.

9. Part Two: The Revenue Logic of Customer Obsession

   Jul 2, 2026

   Bettina Bernston, CMO at Super Office (a European CRM company), discusses the revenue logic of customer obsession and how deep customer understanding drives pipeline, deal size, and long-term growth. She shares how her organization aligned the entire company around voice-of-customer insights—combining sales calls, customer success feedback, and primary market research—to refine positioning, improve NRR and PMPS, and generate pipeline growth. Bernston demonstrates through her own market experiment how building brand awareness and trust in advance of purchase decisions directly correlates to pipeline capture, challenging the notion that brand building and short-term demand generation are separate objectives.

10. Part One: The Revenue Logic of Customer Obsession

    Jul 2, 2026

    Christine Ravenna, Chief Marketing Officer at Explayo, discusses the revenue logic of customer obsession and its impact on B2B go-to-market strategy. Drawing on experience across PE-backed, listed, B2C, and B2B organizations, she explores how customer-centric cultures drive alignment, revenue growth, and competitive advantage. The conversation highlights the gap between B2B and B2C approaches to customer understanding, the importance of multi-stakeholder engagement, and how marketing and sales alignment amplifies business impact.