Episodes

  • Identifying & Developing a Champion Buyer with Krysten Conner - Ep. 43
    Feb 20 2025
    There’s a lot of confusion about how to find the champion of your product within a buying group.To help sort things out for B2B sellers, we invited Krysten Conner on the show! Krysten is an extraordinary sales coach who is hired by top SaaS revenue organizations to train their sales teams into incredible teams. Krysten has also made a number of courses available for purchase through her website and through pclub.io. Krysten joins co-hosts Matt Amundson and Craig Rosenberg to break down three ways to identify and develop strong champions within the buying group to help you close more deals. Krysten also shares the secrets to mastering multi-threading for sellers and how to maintain deal momentum with prospects so they become customers.Also, Craig shares the playbook he used to land his first girlfriend, Matt adds an “s” where he shouldn’t have, and Sam the Producer puts his foot squarely into his big mouth.Critical TakeawaysThere are three ways to proactively discover a champion within a prospect's buying group: 1. Do they do work asynchronous of your meeting with them? 2. Do they bring other people to follow-up meetings? 3. Do they have a point of view on the next steps?The first person to reach out or take a meeting with a seller is not necessarily the champion within that organization for your product or service. Don’t make the mistake of assuming they are the champion. Talking with you makes them a contact, not a champion, by default.“Typically” is a magic word to use in your sales calls. Buyers are very risk-averse and want to be sure they’re not doing something wrong that will get them fired. By sharing what other buyers “typically” do when it comes to things like next steps, you can give buyers peace of mind. Buyers aren’t experts at buying your product, so you need to teach them and guide them to make the right decision. This process of educating buyers and helping them avoid common pitfalls makes them feel much more comfortable.Sponsored SegmentRingmaster Conversational Marketing - The Transaction is sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through Branded podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/Interested in becoming a sponsor of The Transaction? Contact thetransaction@samguertin.comChapters00:00 - Intro03:44 - The "Let Me Help You Get this Car" Story07:24 - Krysten’s Embarrassing Sales Stories13:22 - Develop a Champion, Don’t Wait For Them to Show Themselves18:39 - Examples of Asynchronous Work that Champions will Do25:58 - Champions will Bring More People to Follow Up Sales Calls32:36 - Craig Details how he Landed his First Girlfriend33:35 - Who Should be Doing Asynchronous Work Within The Buying Committee41:54 - Does Your Buyer have a Point of View on the Next Steps44:54 - Mass Email Does Not Count as Multi-Threading51:10 - Who a Champion Is and What They Will Do in The Buying CycleSign up for our Newsletter: https://thetransaction.substack.com/Epic Quotes“ You multi-thread, by single threading.” - Krysten Conner“ When I'm sending actually any email, if it's no one's baby, it's an orphan.” - Krysten ConnerConnect with Krysten ConnerLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krystenconner/ Website: https://krystenconner.com/ Access the Free Slides Krysten Shared in this Episode: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1DOf9bsPh0m7WtQxwhlJfT7Yg22LkD3iukivIk0W1cOA/edit?usp=sharing ShoutoutsChris Orlob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisorlob/ Chris Orlob's Episode of The Transaction:Krysten’s Multi-Threading Course with pclub: https://go.pclub.io/multi-threading-masterclass Mark Kosoglow: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkosoglow/Mark Kosoglow's Episode of The Transaction: https://open.substack.com/pub/thetransaction/p/unlocking-sales-success-creativity?r=3iae7z&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=falseScott Barker: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/Scott Barker's Episode of The Transaction: https://open.substack.com/pub/thetransaction/p/selling-like-a-real-human-being-with?r=3iae7z&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false Love the show? Give us a shoutout on LinkedIn and tell us what you loved!
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    56 mins
  • Positioning is a Key Pillar of SaaS Growth with Bob Wright - Ep. 42
    Feb 14 2025

    Without a real point of view, your company, your product, and all of your amazing features will drift into irrelevance amidst the soothing currents of the sea of sameness we see in the state of SaaS. (Just learned about this thing called alliteration!)


    To help you avoid that terrible fate and aid you in developing your positioning, we are thrilled that Bob Wright, the Founder of Firebrick Consulting, joined co-hosts Craig Rosenberg and Matt Amundson on the show. Bob has helped hundreds of B2B companies define and refine their positioning over the last several decades and is one of the foremost authorities on the subject working today.


    In this episode, Bob illuminates the criticality of ‘selling the problem, not the solution’, why positioning should be a CEO-led initiative, and the three questions that your positioning must answer for buyers.


    Also, Craig eats the world’s loudest piece of chocolate and Matt tries to hire another guest while live on the podcast.


    Critical Takeaways

    • Sell the Problem, Not the Product. Focus on identifying and articulating the key problem your product solves for the customer. This creates urgency and relevance in the buyer's mind, making them more likely to engage with your solution.
    • Your positioning should answer three key questions: 1. Why now? 2. How are you different? 3. Why does it matter to the customer? These answers create a compelling narrative that drives customer interest and action.
    • Stop focusing on the features. Emphasize the broader business impact and outcomes rather than detailed product features. This approach resonates better with executive buyers who are more concerned with strategic advantages.
    • Shift from explaining how your product works, to inspiring the customer on why it matters to them. This makes your message more compelling and memorable, driving stronger customer engagement and commitment.


    Sponsored Segment

    The Transaction is sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through Branded podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/

    Interested in becoming a sponsor of The Transaction? Contact thetransaction@samguertin.com


    Chapters

    00:00 Highlights

    01:56 Introducing Bob Wright, the Founder of Firebrick Consulting

    07:36 Differentiate or Die

    17:22 Portfolio Positioning Challenges

    22:00 Targeting the Right Buyers

    23:55 Expanding into New Markets

    28:56 Maintaining Focus While Growing

    31:06 The Importance of CEO Involvement

    33:34 Effective Positioning Strategies

    37:15 AI’s Impact on Positioning

    41:52 Measuring Positioning Success

    42:48 Analyst Influence and Market Trends

    44:51 Explaining Positioning to the Board

    47:11 The Role of Storytelling in Positioning


    Join our Newsletter: https://thetransaction.substack.com/


    Epic Quotes

    • “Sell the problem, not the product.” - Bob Wright
    • “ Don't waste all your go to market investments on shitty messaging.” - Bob Wright


    Connect with Bob

    • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/findurtruegenius/
    • Website: https://firebrickconsulting.com/


    Shoutouts

    • AJ Gandhi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anjaigandhi/
    • Okta
    • Microsoft
    • Oracle
    • SAP
    • HPE
    • Gartner


    Love the show? Give us a shoutout on LinkedIn and tell us what you loved!


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    50 mins
  • Selling like a Real Human Being with Scott Barker - Ep. 41
    Feb 6 2025
    Selling B2B has always been hard. The crazy buying frenzy of the ZIRP era was the exception, not the rule, so if you’re expecting the current buying climate to change any time soon, you need to readjust your perspective.Scott Barker, Partner & Co-founder of GTMfund and Host of The GTM Podcast, joins Host Craig Rosenberg and special guest-host Scott Albro to talk all things sales, venture capital, and go-to-market. Scott (Barker) shares why focus can give sales reps superpowers, the outsized impact of warm introductions when building pipeline, and how focusing on uniquely human skills can help you excel in sales. There’s also some great discussion around the importance of accountability and ownership throughout your go-to-market team.Also, Craig pitches both Scotts on launching a legal practice, Scott Albro relives the glory days of selling TOPO services, and Sam the Producer attempts to crack the case and catch the Bottle Cap Culprit.Critical TakeawaysInvest time in becoming an expert in the problems you are solving for your customers. Offer valuable insights that make clients see you as invaluable.Focus on the human side of sales, including trust-building and relationship management; that’s what closes deals. Rely less on pure automation or technology and more on human connections.Sellers can emulate what works in founder-led sales by using personal testimonies about why they joined the company or how the product solved a problem for them. This can make their pitch more relatable and compelling.Warm introductions are the best way to build pipeline in what is quickly becoming an AI-dominated selling landscapeSponsored SegmentThe Transaction is sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through Branded podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/Interested in becoming a sponsor of The Transaction? Contact thetransaction@samguertin.comChapters00:00 Intro00:26 Retreading Brent Adamson’s Maggots on a Plane Story02:30 Introducing Scott Barker05:10 Funny Fundraising Stories08:33 The Importance of Humanizing Sales12:59 Overcomplicating Pipeline Generation16:25 The Human Side of Sales19:39 How to Build Trust in Sales22:08 Expertise in Sales: Lessons from TOPO29:46 The Concept of “Opinionated Software”34:39 Overcomplicating Pipeline Generation38:19 The Power of Warm Introductions43:36 Scaling Founder-Led Sales52:59 The Value of Human Skills in the Age of AISign up for our Newsletter: https://thetransaction.substack.com/Epic Quotes“ If you even have the thought of an excuse as a sales leader, as a seller, as a marketer, you're already dead in my books.  It requires full and complete accountability.” - Scott Barker“ If there are things that are stopping you from doing your job, it is nobody else's problem, but your own” - Scott BarkerConnect with Scott BarkerLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/ GTMfund Website: https://www.gtmfund.com/ GTMfund’s new fundraising announcement: https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/04/how-max-altschuler-accidentally-founded-a-vc-firm-that-just-raised-another-54m/ GTMnow Website: https://gtmnow.com/ The GTM Podcast: https://gtmnow.com/tag/podcast/ ShoutoutsBrent Adamson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brentadamson/ Brent Adamson’s Episode of The Transaction: https://open.substack.com/pub/thetransaction/p/reframing-b2b-sales-to-drive-buyer?r=3iae7z&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false Max Altschuler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxaltschuler/  Javier Soltero: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jsoltero/ ZendeskAnthropicMicrosoftGoogleNeil Harrington: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neildharrington/ Jim Cyb: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimcyb/ Vinny Pazienza, AKA Vinny Paz and Vinny “The Pazmanian Devil" PazienzaBleed For This (2016, Ben Younger)Love the show? Give us a shoutout on LinkedIn and tell us what you loved!
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    56 mins
  • Reframing B2B Sales to Drive Buyer Confidence with Brent Adamson - Ep. 40
    Jan 30 2025
    When your buyer isn’t confident in the decision they’re making, they will choose not to decide. Meaning, that you’re not going to close that deal, which is a serious problem in B2B.To help solve that problem, we’re thrilled to welcome Brent Adamson, the co-author of The Challenger Sale and renowned sales speaker, to the show. Brent joins hosts Matt Amundson and Craig Rosenberg to discuss the crucial sales topics in his new upcoming book, The Framemaking Sale. They get into the problem with value-selling, why sellers need to teach buyers how to buy with confidence, and where thought leadership is falling short in today’s environment.Also, Craig pitches an idea for a radical new podcast and Matt cuts to the front of the line to call dibs.Critical TakeawaysFocus more on building customer confidence in their own decision-making abilities rather than just showcasing the value of your product. If customers are reluctant or unsure, they will likely delay or avoid purchasing altogether.Bring implementation and customer success representatives into pre-sale discussions. This helps reassure the customer that post-sale support will be robust and demonstrates your commitment to their success.Instead of just showcasing customer success stories, position them as a tool to show customers how to buy so that new customers understand the buying process and pitfalls to avoid. This gives prospects practical advice and increases their confidence in making a complex decision.Optimize your sales process to lose deals quickly. If a deal is likely to be lost, aim to lose early rather than late. This saves your sales team time, resources, and focus for more promising opportunities.Sponsored SegmentRingmaster Conversational Marketing - The Transaction is sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through Branded podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/Interested in becoming a sponsor of The Transaction? Contact thetransaction@samguertin.comChapters00:00 - Trailer01:25 - Introducing Brent Adamson03:51 - I’m Tired of these MFing Maggots on this MFing Plane10:08 - The Impact of Buyers’ Low Confidence in Themselves18:42 - Buyers Don’t Know How to Buy23:44 - Implementing a Objectives, Tactics, Results Approach to Sales30:49 - The Problem with Replicating Successful Sellers36:26 - Thought Leadership & Content Marketing’s Role in Building Confidence40:49 - How to Building Customer Confidence45:16 - The Role of Founders in Sales51:39 - Wrap UpSign up for our Newsletter: https://thetransaction.substack.com/Epic Quotes“Solve for customer’s confidence in themselves” - Brent Adamson“ It's not that I'm selling badly, it's that customers are buying badly.” - Brent AdamsonConnect withLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brentadamson Website: https://www.brentadamson.net/ A to B Insights Website: https://atobinsight.com/Maggots on a Plane Video: https://youtu.be/BFp30CkVcLo?si=aDSKIeQOTfyt9IZ5 ShoutoutsKarl Schmidt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karl-schmidt-q/ Bryan Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryankeithsmith/ Tyler Harnish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerharnish/ Marc Benioff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbenioff/ Sense-making for Sales in HBR: https://hbr.org/2022/01/sensemaking-for-sales Matt Dixon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewxdixon/ Stephen Powell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-powell-06996785/ Kevin Hendrick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinhendrick/ Love the show? Give us a shoutout on LinkedIn and tell us what you loved!
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    1 hr
  • Leading in Your Own Voice with Dia Bondi - Ep. 39
    Jan 23 2025
    When you can tell your story in a compelling, confident way, you can change the lens through which everyone views you, your accomplishments, and your potential.Dia Bondi, a TEDx speaker, author of Ask Like An Auctioneer, and executive coach, joins Hosts Craig Rosenberg and Matt Amundson for an exceedingly energetic and entertaining conversation focused on communicating effectively as a leader. In between some fun tangents, they dig into how to uncover and craft your origin story to tell a more compelling narrative, why doing live demos on stage needs to go the way of the dodo, and how to raise more funding without a pitch deck. They also discuss their favorite examples of leaders who are actually doing this well and showing the world who they really are. Strap in for a fun and informative fifty-two minutes that every aspiring leader needs to hear (or watch if you’re on Spotify or YouTube).Also, Matt mixes up 1960s movie characters named Felix and Craig channels his inner Sully as he desperately attempts to land multiple planes.Join our Newsletter: https://thetransaction.substack.com/Critical TakeawaysWhen someone asks you who you are, don’t rifle through the bullets of your resume. Instead, tell them the narrative of your origin story. Include the core things that drive you, the context around why you set out to do X, and who you really are.Speaking on stage is too expensive for you to have a live demo of your product that doesn’t work. It’s much better to have a pre-recorded demo for your presentation and then give people an opportunity to interact with a live demo at your booth where things are lower stakes if the product fails.Founders need to realize when to hand off the tactical duties in their all-hands meetings, such as being the emcee or running a slide deck. Your team needs you to show up at the status that matches the role that people need you to play in the world.All-hands meetings are extremely expensive, especially the ones that are run poorly and time-intensive. You need to allocate your team’s time carefully based on what is most important to the company’s mission, so make sure not to squander that precious time.Being a compelling communicator is not about being perfectly polished, it’s about staying true to yourself and adapting your natural approach to each context while maintaining authenticity.Sponsored SegmentThe Transaction is sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through Branded podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/Interested in becoming a sponsor of The Transaction? Contact thetransaction@samguertin.comChapters00:00 - Intro00:20 - Craig comes Straight Outta Compton00:58 - Fun Facts about Dia Bondi, Matt, & Softball04:09 - Introducing Dia Bondi08:20 - The Impact of Establishing Your Voice12:13 - What is Founder Unrest & When Does It Show Up?15:19 - How Founders can Find Their Own Voice & Unlock Their Origin Story20:42 - Why Understanding How to Tell Your Origin Story Matters31:12 - Dump the Live Demos from your Presentations33:15 - Wait, How Expensive are All-Hands Meetings?38:20 - Two Big Misconceptions about Communication43:44 - Examples of Leaders with Great Perspectives & Well-Developed Voices50:04 - Craig Compliments Sam for Displaying Basic Competence50:24 - Wrapping UpEpic Quotes“ Founders are always going into conversations that are bigger than their britches. That's kind of like a job requirement.” - Dia Bondi“ To win and to differentiate today, we need the founder to reach trusted superstar status as fast as possible.” - Craig Rosenberg“ I think of founder voice as something you lend to your venture.” - Dia BondiConnect with DiaLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dia-bondi/ Website: https://www.diabondi.com/ Dia’s TED Talk: https://youtu.be/mFtHKTgyjyU?si=oElL9kWENAiSMary Ask Like An Auctioneer (Book): https://www.asklikeanauctioneer.com/ Dia’s Resource Library: https://www.diabondi.com/resources New Terms: Buttwing (v): To guesstimate. See Also: BallparkShoutoutsClaire Sua-Amundson: https://uclabruins.com/news/2013/4/17/208207255 Claire Pitching to Dan Le Batard: https://youtu.be/o-HM5Sm5omA?si=3yzu1TtT_tD5mUyq Funny Article about Claire and Matt: https://vault.si.com/vault/2005/06/06/-hitting-the-big-time Dan Le Batard: https://lebatardaf.com/ The Odd Couple (1970-1975)Howard Schultz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/howardschultz/ Howard Schultz Interview on Acquired: https://youtu.be/A0fvX-wV70Y?si=-Ljn1jqTYP5aGEaR Starbucks: https://www.starbucks.com/ Jensen Huang: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenhsunhuang/ Jensen Huang Interview on Acquired: https://youtu.be/y6NfxiemvHg?si=bfv8w-1wgTZk5l6A Nvidia: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/ Nick Mehta: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickmehta/ David Solomon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-m-solomon/ Love the show? Give us a shoutout on LinkedIn and tell us what you loved!
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    53 mins
  • Unlocking the Cheat Code for Go To Market with Justin Gray - Ep. 38
    Jan 16 2025
    Justin Gray, author of the brand new The Go-to-Market Cheat Code and Co-Founder of In Revenue Capital joins Hosts Matt Amundson and Craig Rosenberg to share how to build more effective and efficient B2B partnership programs, why nothing seems to be working in marketing, and his cheat codes to go-to-market success in B2B. Justin explains how and why LeadMD evolved from being a competitor to building an extremely strong partnership with Marketo. There’s also a great discussion about what VCs and other investors look for in founders when investing in startups and how this has changed in recent history.Also, Matt vehemently opposes accusations of being hyperbolic and Craig recants on one of his ill-concieved New Years resolutions.Critical TakeawaysThe success of any partner progam depends first and foremost on executive alignment. Without buy-in from leadership, 99% of B2B partnerships will fail.No matter how good your content may be, you still have to earn the right and access to get your content in front of your target audience by building strong relationships.Stop looking for copy and paste playbooks to use that are being used by everyone else in the market. If you don’t you’ll just be adding your content and brand to the endless pile of lifeless, gray ooze of things that get ignored. Take a risk and you’ll at least have a chance of sticking out.Any partner motion begins with building a relationship with one person. Find the right people to focus on and start one at a time. This is a much quicker way to build real relationships and trust than trying to boil the ocean and make a play for everyone at once.Sponsored SegmentRingmaster Conversational Marketing - The Transaction is sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through Branded podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/Interested in becoming a sponsor of The Transaction? Contact thetransaction@samguertin.comChapters00:00 Introducing Justin Gray00:50 The Origin Story of LeadMD and how they Partnered with Marketo09:55 The Go-To-Market Cheat Code Book16:47 Craig makes fun of Justin’s Office18:12 Lessons on Relationships from The Wild West of the Payment Processing Industry30:26 The Cycle of Innovation and Imitation32:09 The Importance of Knowing Your Buyer40:34 What Venture Capital looks for in Founders46:50 Building Effective Partnerships1:05:02 18th Book Plug of the EpisodeSign up for our Newsletter: https://thetransaction.substack.com/Epic Quotes“ What's working is what has always worked which is trusted relationships” - Justin Gray“Innovators look for ideas” - Craig RosenbergConnect with JustinLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/inrevenue/ The Go-to-Market Cheat Code (Book): https://inrevenue.capital/cheat-code/ Order The Go-to-Market Cheat Code on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4hjtrbA In Revenue Capital Website: https://inrevenue.capital/ The GTM Cheat Code (Podcast): https://inrevenue.capital/insights/?article_category=podcast ShoutoutsEssentials/Fear of God Clothing: https://fearofgod.com/ FocusMAAS ImpactChris Selland: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cselland/ LeadMDMarketoBill Binch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-binch-302a4a2/ Margaret Hoogerbeets: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mhoogerbeets/ Amy Guarino: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyguarino/ Phil Fernandez: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-fernandez-6902881/ Scottsdale Princess: https://www.scottsdaleprincess.com/ Josh Wagner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshwagneraz/ Jon Miller: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonmiller2/ Jon Miller’s Post about the Tragedy of the Commons in Marketing: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jonmiller2_mpb2b-b2bmarketing-marketingautomation-activity-7262460572032483328-hs0J? Dirty Money, Season 1, Episode 2: https://www.netflix.com/us/title/80118100?s=i&trkid=258593161&vlang=en Bessemer: https://www.bvp.com Nick Mehta: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickmehta/ Marc Beniof: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbenioff/ Founder’s Fund: https://foundersfund.com/ Asher Mathew: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashermathew/AWS Marketplace: https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace Love the show? Give us a shoutout on LinkedIn and tell us what you loved!
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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • Helping Every Startup Founder Tell Their Story with Scott Albro - The Transaction - Ep. 37
    Jan 9 2025
    Every Founder has a story to tell and by telling that story in a compelling way, they can give their company an outsized advantage and the leg up they need in order to grow.The founder of multiple companies and a veritable thought leader in his own right, Scott Albro, joins Hosts Craig Rosenberg and Matt Amundson, for a rollicking romp through the big AI questions now getting asked, the fundamentals for building a successful founder brand, and how to create high-quality content that is worthy of your buyers’ time and attention.The crew dives into an intriguing debate over whether AI Co-Pilots or multitudinous AI Agents will win out in the future as AI is integrated into more go-to-market jobs and processes. Scott shares his three-part framework for helping founders tell compelling stories and everyone, including Sam, shares their favorite examples of successful founder brands.Also, Craig is complimented on his militaristic sleeping abilities and Matt begins the long journey to recovery by admitting to his reprehensible road rage.Sign up for our Newsletter: https://thetransaction.substack.com/Critical TakeawaysFor the love of god, please prioritize quality ahead of quantity. For example, your sales and marketing teams should focus on producing high-quality content and interactions that resonate with target customers, rather than just attempting to increase touchpoints indiscriminately. Just because you can, definitely does not mean that you should (You should have learned this from Jurassic Park).Publishing quality content consistently is critical for anyone building a following on social media platforms. A good cadence for growth on most platforms is posting three times a week. This helps you stay on top of your audience’s feed and top of mind for buyers.Create content in the medium and format that is most comfortable for you. Whether it’s writing, video, or audio, the point is to not make the content production process more painful for you.The three types of stories that Scott recommends founders telling are: 1. How well you understand customer pain points, their priorities, and how to solve their problem. 2. How the market will change and how to navigate it. 3. Your personal journey.Using AI to write crappy, clearly fake comments on LinkedIn posts from contacts within your target accounts will cause major damage to your brand. Automated comments on LinkedIn are extremely easy to spot and Sponsored SegmentRingmaster Conversational Marketing - The Transaction is sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through Branded podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/Interested in becoming a sponsor of The Transaction? Contact thetransaction@samguertin.comChapters00:00 - Walking Through a Winter Wonderland03:23 - Introducing Scott Albro10:51 - AI Adoption is Taking Us Down the Wrong Path13:20 - The Important AI Debates Happening Today16:03 - Where AI Agents & Co-Pilots Fit into Go-To-Market27:20 - Using AI on LinkedIn37:47 - Creating Quality Content47:29 - Scott's Framework for Which Story Founders Want To Tell50:22 - Examples of The Best Founder Brands57:21 - The Impact of Scott's Shoe Game on the MarketEpic Quotes“ AI feels like a market where we are going to experiment our way into the right use cases. Because they're not obvious” - Scott Albro“Every founder has a story to tell. Otherwise they wouldn't have started a company.” - Scott AlbroConnect with Scott AlbroLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottalbro/ ShoutoutsChris Orlob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisorlob/ Chris Orlob’s Episode of The Transaction: https://substack.com/@thetransaction/note/p-143505807?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=3iae7zMatt Dixon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattdixon/ Matt Dixon’s Episode of The Transaction: https://substack.com/@thetransaction/note/p-153859244?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=3iae7zDavid Politis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpolitis/ David Politis’ Episode of The Transaction: https://substack.com/@thetransaction/note/p-152597131?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=3iae7zJohn M. Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmjack/ Bland.ai: https://www.bland.ai/ Dan Gottlieb: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielpgottlieb/ Dan Gottlieb’s episode of The Transaction: https://substack.com/@thetransaction/note/p-149757433?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=3iae7zGartner: https://www.gartner.com/en AI Adoption Study from Scale Venture Partners: https://www.scalevp.com/insights/ai-gtm-flash-survey-how-marketing-teams-are-actually-using-ai/ Regie.ai: https://www.regie.ai/ Outreach: https://www.outreach.io/ Salesloft: https://www.salesloft.com/ Srinath Sridhar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sridharsrinath/ Jensen Huang: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenhsunhuang/ Marc Beniof: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbenioff/ Tobias Lütke: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobiaslutke/ Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/ ServiceTitan: https://www.servicetitan.com/ Adam Robinson: ...
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • THE Blueprint for B2B Go-To-Market with Adam B. Needles - The Transaction - Ep. 36
    Dec 19 2024
    What is your GTM strategy built on? The cool new motion that's popular this minute? Tons of research on users? Well, it should be built from a blueprint and this guest just so happens to know how to create said blueprint. Adam B. Needles, the CEO of ANNUITAS, joins Craig Rosenberg and Matt Amundson for a barn burner of an episode that starts off with Adam’s seriously spicy take that the CMO’s role is a major part of the problem in the current B2B buying experience (Sounds like someone got into the Commsor hot sauces). After unpacking that hot tamale, Adam shares some great insights on the three parts to setting up and monitoring your Go-To-Market Blueprint, why you need to educate your board on how you go to market, and what buyers actually want from sellers during their buying journey. As if that wasn’t enough to include in this edition, Adam also drops a great nugget that AI can’t cover up your poor GTM Strategy. Pretty sure the B. in Adam’s name stands for B2B Badass or something like that based on this episode. (Yes, that was corny and stupid and yes, a human, albeit not a very bright one, wrote that)Also, Craig reminisces about his viral, rebellious past and Matt sits in a corner and cries at the downfall of his fiefdom.Critical TakeawaysThe three core components of a go-to-market blueprint are understanding the buyer's journey, identifying all relevant decision-making stakeholders, and grasping their content consumption habits. This helps in synchronizing marketing and sales efforts to ensure value-add interactions at every touchpoint.Every touchpoint should focus on adding value to the prospect's journey. That means every email, meeting, and piece of content prospects receive serves a purpose and helps them arrive at a quality decision faster.Don’t treat your gtm blueprint as if it’s set in stone. You should regularly meet with crossfunctional leaders to review the blueprint, examine your performance against that blueprint, and update it based on new data and insights. Sponsored SegmentRingmaster Conversational Marketing - The Transaction is sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through Branded podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/Interested in becoming a sponsor of The Transaction? Contact thetransaction@samguertin.comChapters00:00 - Freeing The Funnelholic07:18 - The Problematic Role of the CMO20:52 - Creating a Value-Added Demand Motion for Buyers34:11 - Building Your Go-To-Market Blueprint40:47 - How to Get Your Board… On Board49:53 - Daring to Peek Outside of the Tech Industry56:17 - Your Playbook Needs a PlaybookSign up for our Newsletter: https://thetransaction.substack.com/Epic Quotes“ I don't think that AI is the solution to your bad go to market.” - Adam B. Needles“It's not about funnel management. It's really about just understanding where someone is in the journey.” - Adam B. Needles“If you don't have a clear sense of who owns what by stage, then nobody owns it.” - Adam B. Needles“ The new playbook is to have a playbook.” - Matt Amundson“ We talked about the CEO and COO, actually, now, the biggest education point for this change is board level.” - Craig RosenbergConnect with AdamLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abneedles/ Website: https://www.annuitas.com/ ShoutoutsCarlos Hidalgo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlosahidalgo/ Jason Stewart: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonhstewart/ MonotypeNinan Chacko: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninan-chacko-54b527/ Bob Seiler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertjseiler/ Schneider ElectricProcter and GambleQA SymphonyForresterGartnerEvan Kent: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evankent/ SalesloftOutreachHubSpotLove the show? Give us a shoutout on LinkedIn and tell us what you loved!
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    1 hr and 1 min