C-Suite Sales & Marketing Perspectives

Steven MacDonald

Welcome to the C-Suite Sales & Marketing Perspectives podcast, a resource of the latest updates and insights in B2B growth strategies. Join us as we engage with CMOs, CEOs, and CROs at the forefront of innovation. Discover how these experts push boundaries, experiment with new approaches, and successfully implement cutting-edge strategies. Stay informed and ahead in the ever-evolving landscape of B2B sales and marketing with this show.

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#337
Friday · 27 min
The Right Go-to-Market Tension Is a Growth Advantage
Episode #337: Maxime Guirauton, Vice President, Global Head of Marketing and Sales Development at Visa Direct, explains why growth extends beyond the initial sale. He shares how connected marketing, sales development, brand, and customer success teams improve customer value and revenue outcomes. The conversation explores the bow-tie journey, buyer trust, opportunity quality, and healthy commercial tension. “Bringing together marketing and sales development into one department is when you create a healthy tension between sales and marketing. The power of marketing is bringing all of this together to serve your business and act as a business partner.” - Maxime Guirauton Maxime explains why sustainable revenue depends on treating the sale as the midpoint of the customer journey. He shares how SDRs can improve opportunity quality, how brand investment earns trust before buyers enter the market, and why marketing must connect the entire commercial system. The result is stronger customer value, better conversion, and a more credible growth function. Follow Maxime Guirauton on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn
#336
Wednesday · 27 min
Part Thirteen: The Revenue Logic of Customer Obsession
Episode #336: Liz Emmott, Chief Revenue Officer at CIBT, explores how commercial leaders can rebuild revenue organizations amid changing technology and buyer expectations. She explains why customer understanding, internal trust, and expert collaboration create meaningful differentiation. Her perspective shows how aligned teams can build credibility, improve the customer experience, and drive sustainable revenue growth. “Being able to articulate, understand, and speak the language of our customers and prospects is actually the only way we are going to win. We have to demonstrate that we know their industry better than they do, and this is why they need to trust us.” - Liz Emmott Liz Emmott shares a practical view of revenue leadership when automation accelerates outreach but makes differentiation harder. Drawing on experience across enterprises, startups, and CIBT’s global mobility businesses, she explains how leaders can turn specialist knowledge into buyer relevance, align commercial and service teams, and make internal trust visible to customers. The conversation connects customer obsession to stronger credibility, better decisions, and durable revenue growth. Follow Liz Emmott on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn
#335
Tuesday · 29 min
Part Twelve: The Revenue Logic of Customer Obsession
Episode #335: Stephanie Crockett, President and CEO at Eric Mower + Associates, explains why customer obsession should influence decisions across the entire organization. She explores how customer intelligence can align teams, reduce risk, strengthen trust, and support bolder decisions. Stephanie also shows how CMOs can turn the voice of the customer into greater strategic influence and sustainable growth. “That's where the revenue comes. It's about creating products and services, front of the house and back of the house, where all of the things that a customer experiences demonstrate that obsession with their needs.” - Stephanie Crockett Customer obsession becomes a revenue strategy when insight shapes more than marketing. Stephanie explains how continuous customer intelligence can reveal operational issues, align leaders around shared evidence, reduce the risk behind major investments, and give teams confidence to make bolder choices. She also explores why brand, demand, trust, and emotional connection must work together before B2B buyers create their shortlists. Follow Stephanie Crockett on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn
#334
September 4 · 27 min
Part Eleven: The Revenue Logic of Customer Obsession
Episode #334: Zach Calef, Chief Revenue Officer at Infinity, explains how customer obsession becomes a practical revenue strategy. He explores client economics, strategic alignment, innovation, trust, human capital, and disciplined execution. Zach shows why understanding what customers truly need can help revenue teams differentiate, strengthen relationships, and build repeatable growth. “The obsession is where it starts, and without the obsession, you're going to minimize the revenue that you're capturing for your clients. You have to start with the centerpiece, which is the client.” - Zach Calef Customer obsession becomes more valuable when it shapes how revenue teams make decisions. Zach explains why leaders should understand customer economics, align strategy before applying technology, invest in people, and execute with discipline to produce measurable outcomes. He also explores how trust, experimentation, internal influencers, and repeatable proof can help companies differentiate in increasingly commoditized markets. Follow Zach Calef on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn
#333
September 3 · 31 min
The CRO's Guide to How Emotional Intelligence Leads Revenue Growth
Episode #333: Jennifer Knecht, Chief Revenue Officer at Western States Lodging, explains how emotional intelligence strengthens B2B revenue performance. She explores how awareness, trust, transparency, and meaningful connections influence buyer decisions. Jennifer also shares how AI can help sales teams understand different perspectives, strengthen human relationships, and reach the emotional level behind buying decisions faster. “Revenue is driven by the exchange of value. The faster you can get to the emotional level, the faster you can get to a true, solid decision that sticks.” - Jennifer Knecht Jennifer explores why emotional intelligence is becoming a practical revenue capability for B2B sales organizations. She explains how stronger self-awareness, buyer understanding, confidence, and trust can improve sales performance, while AI-powered digital teammates can help sellers recognize different perspectives and build meaningful connections faster. The conversation shows revenue leaders how technology can reinforce human relationship skills, improve sales consistency, strengthen internal champions, and help complex opportunities move forward. Follow Jennifer Knecht on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn
#332
August 31 · 27 min
CROs: How to Win in Fewer and Shorter Bursts
Episode #332: Mike Head, Chief Revenue Officer at Orderful, explains how customer understanding can strengthen every part of the go-to-market organization. He shares practical ways to prepare for executive conversations, improve discovery, coach teams with AI, strengthen retention, and align teams around customer priorities. Mike also explains why consistent execution, genuine curiosity, and continuous customer engagement can build trust, improve revenue performance, and create sustainable growth. “Your technology, your logo slide, all that stuff doesn't matter. What really matters is the customer and what they care about, and if you focus on that across your engagements in sales, marketing, customer success, and partnerships, great things will happen.” - Mike Head Executive access is getting harder, buyer conversations are becoming shorter, and prospects often enter the sales process with strong opinions already formed. Mike explains how CROs can respond by preparing earlier, building deeper customer understanding, strengthening post-sale relationships, and creating better alignment across revenue teams. He also shares why great people, consistent execution, customer-led discovery, and genuine curiosity can become durable competitive advantages. Follow Mike Head on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn
#331
August 27 · 27 min
Part Ten: The Revenue Logic of Customer Obsession
Episode #331: Matthias Holder, Chief Sales Officer at Lindner Recyclingtech, explains how customer obsession creates sustainable revenue by helping sales organizations understand customers, their markets, and their needs. He explores how salespeople can become trusted advisors by discussing business needs, market conditions, productivity, quality, costs, and competitive advantage before recommending solutions. Matthias also shows how continuous customer insight can guide sales strategy, product development, internal decisions, and stronger long-term customer relationships. “Never fall in love with your products. Fall in love with your customers, your customers' success. Products change, technology changes, markets change, customer expectations and challenges change even faster, so stay in touch with your customers. That's where we need to absolutely focus on.” - Matthias Holder Customer obsession becomes a revenue strategy when organizations turn continuous customer and market insight into better decisions. Matthias explains how understanding customers and their customers helps sales teams identify changing needs earlier, build trust, recommend stronger business solutions, and guide product and sales strategy around measurable outcomes that support sustainable growth. Follow Matthias Holder on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn
#330
August 26 · 27 min
Relationship-Led Growth: Building Executive Access That Actually Scales
Episode #330: Brooke Norton Lais, Chief Marketing Officer at Venbrook, explains why relationship-led growth requires companies to build trust long before a buying decision occurs. She shares how marketing can create opportunities for salespeople to reach the right executives and build meaningful one-to-one relationships. Brooke also explains how established C-suite relationships can create internal advocates and open access deeper within prospective accounts. “Creating situations where we can drive awareness and credibility for our brand while also building relationships is where I’m going to get the most value. When we can get our people in front of potential clients and have that one-on-one interaction, that’s when we see the best value.” - Brooke Norton Lais This conversation explores how executive relationships can create access, strengthen credibility, and help companies remain relevant throughout extended buying cycles. Brooke shares how Venbrook combines brand awareness with one-to-one interactions through events, educational programs, sports partnerships, and customer advocacy. She also explains why marketing investments should create opportunities for salespeople to engage directly with decision-makers. Follow Brooke Norton Lais on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn
#329
August 25 · 32 min
The New Skill Set Every Modern Salesperson Must Master
Episode #329: Siddharth Singh, Chief Revenue Officer at Intangles, explains the skills modern salespeople need as buyers become more informed and meetings become harder to secure. He explores deeper discovery, primary research, creativity, and AI-enabled productivity. Siddharth shows why knowing a customer’s business beyond searchable information creates differentiation. He also explains why sales leaders must remain active player coaches as their responsibilities expand. “Ask the right questions. But if you ask questions without actively listening to what the customer is saying, you dig your own grave. The skill is how fast you go from situation questions to need-provoking questions. You’ve got to start jumping from what, when, who to why and how very fast.” - Siddharth Singh As buyers gain instant access to vendor, product, pricing, and competitive information, salespeople need more than information to differentiate. Siddharth explains how deeper preparation, active listening, primary research, customer knowledge, and human creativity can help sellers uncover business impact faster. He also explores how AI can accelerate learning and productivity without replacing the judgment, curiosity, and customer engagement that make great salespeople effective. Follow Siddharth Singh on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn
#328
August 24 · 27 min
Part Nine: The Revenue Logic of Customer Obsession
Episode #328: Michael Scott, Global Chief Revenue Officer at LoopMe, explains the revenue logic behind customer obsession. He shares how deeper customer understanding helps companies identify problems they are uniquely positioned to solve, create greater value, and become more important to customers. The conversation explores why customer obsession requires C-suite alignment, continuous customer learning, and strong data. Michael also explains why it must become part of how the entire organization operates. “The better you know your customer, the more you can be a trusted partner, advisor to them, the more you can find problems that you're uniquely positioned to solve, which then creates value, and that value can be extracted or turned into revenue.” - Michael Scott This conversation explores how customer obsession becomes a commercial growth strategy rather than simply a customer experience philosophy. Michael connects deeper customer relationships to recurring revenue, product development, innovation, and becoming strategically important to customers. He also explains why leaders need the right mindset, organizational alignment, customer conversations, and data infrastructure to continuously understand where their company matters and where it can create greater value. Follow Michael Scott on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn
#327
August 20 · 28 min
Stop Chasing AI Tools and Start Building Better Thinking
Episode #327: Trine Tirsgaard, Group Chief Marketing Officer at Twoday, explains how customer understanding, data, experimentation, and continuous learning can create greater strategic value with AI. She explores how marketing leaders can combine technology with customer intelligence to improve decision-making, strengthen teams, and create more meaningful business value. Trine also shares why curiosity and practical experimentation are becoming essential leadership capabilities for navigating rapid technological change. “What matters the most in the future is the power of humans. It's the way we put our intellect to work. It's our creativity, and the way to orchestrate concepts and feelings and understand people and teams, especially customers, and no machine can do that.” - Trine Tirsgaard AI is changing what marketing teams can produce, but Trine argues that the larger opportunity comes from improving how people think, learn, and create customer value. She explores how leaders can build stronger data foundations, experiment with AI, develop more capable teams, and stay close to customers. The conversation offers C-suite leaders a practical framework for turning rapidly evolving technology into better decisions, stronger commercial outcomes, and sustainable growth. Follow Trine Tirsgaard on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn
#326
August 19 · 27 min
Part Eight: The Revenue Logic of Customer Obsession
Episode 326: Laura Davis, Chief Marketing Officer at Rimes Technologies, explains why customer obsession must translate into commercial outcomes. She explores customer intelligence, AI, data strategy, internal alignment, and pipeline accountability as markets rapidly evolve. Laura shows why sustainable revenue ultimately depends on continually understanding what customers need and building the business around those priorities. “The customer is everything. Even in the context of AI and our whole industry changing, and the practice of marketing changing and all the different things, at the end of the day, you need to build and sell something the customer wants to buy and hopefully keep buying.” - Laura Davis Laura connects customer obsession directly to the commercial realities facing B2B leaders. She explains why companies need continuous customer conversations, stronger data foundations, pipeline accountability, and shared priorities across teams. She also explores how AI can deepen buyer intelligence and create always-on engagement, emphasizing that technology matters only when it helps the organization solve meaningful customer problems and deliver measurable business outcomes. Follow Laura Davis on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn
#325
August 17 · 26 min
How to Become a Successful AI-Native Company
Episode #325 Nick Malone, Chief Revenue Officer at XTM, explains what separates successful AI-native companies from organizations simply adopting new tools. He explores value-led AI, executive leadership, experimentation, data, and practical workflows that improve productivity. Nick shows why companies that connect AI to measurable outcomes while keeping humans at the core can turn incremental gains into meaningful competitive advantage. “A company's got to be willing to go into uncharted territories, to be willing to experiment. You must go and dig deep and experiment and understand in what ways you can use the AI capabilities today to improve operational performance, possibly remove cost, definitely expand on productivity.” - Nick Malone AI-native transformation requires more than giving teams access to new technology. Nick explores how leaders can connect AI to measurable business outcomes, create a culture of experimentation, improve sales productivity, and build smarter workflows around trusted data. He also explains why executives must demonstrate AI fluency themselves and how practical, incremental improvements can compound into significant business value. Follow Nick Malone on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn
#324
August 14 · 27 min
The Biggest B2B Growth Problem Isn't Your Pipeline
Episode #324: Katie Strout, Chief Marketing Officer at Highspring, explains why sustainable growth requires more than a stronger pipeline. She shares how customer problems can align teams around shared outcomes. Katie explores why sales and marketing should operate as one connected revenue motion. She also explains how customer validation, internal trust, and shared ownership can turn marketing into a commercial growth partner. “Growth and revenue belong to the whole organization. It's not the responsibility of any one function. It happens when marketing, sales, technology, delivery, leadership, customer success, all of those things come together around customers' problems to solve and deliver business outcomes.” - Katie Strout Katie explores why sustainable B2B growth depends on more than pipeline generation. She explains how leaders can align teams around customer problems, connect marketing more directly to revenue outcomes, and replace traditional sales-and-marketing handoffs with shared ownership. The conversation also examines how customer insight, internal trust, long-term relationships, and customer validation can strengthen growth strategy and business impact. Follow Katie Strout on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn
#323
August 13 · 28 min
Part Seven: The Revenue Logic of Customer Obsession
Episode #323: Alison Richmond, Chief Marketing Officer at Medix, explains why customer obsession requires more than collecting feedback. She explores sales and marketing alignment, customer experience, and the importance of asking better questions. Alison also shows how customer insight can shape decisions, strengthen trust, and support growth across the business. “Your best marketing campaigns and marketing moments come from that long-running relationship you have with your customer. Start by asking and learning where your customers are today and what they think of you today, and make sure that's always part of the conversation going forward.” - Alison Richmond Alison explores how companies can turn customer understanding into a practical growth strategy. She explains why sales and marketing need continuous alignment, why customer insight must move across teams instead of remaining siloed, and why leaders need a clear way to connect brand promises with real customer experiences. The conversation also examines how customer experience influences trust, AI-driven discovery, revenue decisions, and long-term business growth. Follow Alison Richmond on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn
#322
August 10 · 24 min
Part Six: The Revenue Logic of Customer Obsession
Episode #322: Cristy Garcia, Chief Marketing Officer at impact.com, explains how influencer marketing can build trust and drive measurable B2B growth. She explores buying committees, ABM, performance-based partnerships, UGC, and customer communities. Cristy shows why authentic third-party voices can become powerful assets across the entire revenue funnel. “Customer obsession doesn't happen because you have a transaction. Customer obsession happens because you believe in a brand, you refer business to them because you trust them, and a brand has to show up in different ways to be considered customer-obsessed.” - Cristy Garcia Cristy explores how influencer marketing can help B2B organizations build trust before buyers reach the sales conversation. She explains how creators can influence complex buying committees, support ABM programs, create reusable social proof, and contribute across the revenue funnel. The discussion also examines how performance-based partnerships connect influencer activity to measurable outcomes and revenue growth. Follow Cristy Garcia on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn
#321
August 4 · 24 min
Reinventing Legacy Companies in an AI-First World
Episode #321: Cynthia Gumbert, Chief Marketing Officer at Litera, explains how established companies can compete confidently in an AI-first market. She shares how customer trust, long-range innovation, and a dedicated Voice of the Customer program strengthen brand relevance and revenue growth. Cynthia also reveals why customer advocates often outperform traditional marketing and sales messages. “Get customers to be your advocates and spokespeople, and never lose sight of the fact that they are your best marketers. They can be your best salespeople. In this age of AI, it is easy to get distracted by product innovations and features, but those customer connections are most important.” - Cynthia Gumbert Cynthia explores how established B2B technology companies can compete with AI-native startups by treating their history as market pedigree, not baggage. She connects long-range product strategy, customer trust, and a dedicated Voice of the Customer program to stronger positioning, shortlist access, and measurable pipeline impact. The conversation also shows why simpler messaging and continuous customer value help leaders navigate AI fatigue without losing focus. Follow Cynthia Gumbert on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn
#320
August 3 · 28 min
The New Growth Code: Why Judgment Is the New Competitive Advantage
Episode #320: Robert Nicklin, Chief Growth Officer at Compass Group Canada, explains why judgment is becoming a defining competitive advantage. He explores how behavior, adaptability, observational intelligence, trust, and stronger questions shape sustainable enterprise growth. Robert also reveals why leaders should design repeatable growth systems instead of continually chasing short-term outcomes. “Growth is something that you design. It is not something you chase. A true growth system is built and designed, and once you have created that system, you should have people who can sit within it. That is about leaders creating strong leaders who create strong leaders.” - Robert Nicklin The conversation offers practical guidance for turning these ideas into everyday leadership actions. Robert shows how thoughtful interpretation, honest feedback, and consistent behavior help teams respond effectively when pressure rises. His perspective gives executives a clearer framework for developing capable leaders, improving execution, and creating lasting organizational performance. Follow Robert Nicklin on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn
#319
July 23 · 24 min
Why Soft B2B Advantages Are Reshaping B2B Growth
Episode #319: Rebecca Welsher Kaplan, Chief Marketing Officer at Slice Merchant Services, explains why trust, customer obsession, and empowered employees have become the real competitive advantage in modern B2B growth. She explores how AI, personalization, and strong relationships work together to build lasting customer loyalty. The companies that consistently prioritize people alongside technology will earn stronger brands and sustainable growth. "There is never one solution, there is never one channel, and there is no one right way to build a successful marketing campaign or branding practice. It comes down to who you are as a business, who your customers are, and the value proposition you provide at a human level." — Rebecca Welsher Kaplan In this episode, Rebecca shares why sustainable B2B growth depends on balancing technology with human connection. She explains how customer obsession, empowered employees, thoughtful AI adoption, and trusted relationships influence buying decisions long before a prospect evaluates vendors. The discussion offers practical leadership insights for executives focused on long-term brand strength, customer loyalty, and measurable business growth. Follow Rebecca Welsher Kaplan on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn
#318
July 21 · 29 min
Part Five: The Revenue Logic of Customer Obsession
Episode #318: Eliana Angelova, Global Chief Revenue Officer at iSON Xperiences, explains why customer obsession has become the defining growth strategy in the AI era. She shares practical lessons on exceeding customer expectations, aligning teams around shared outcomes, and using AI to strengthen customer experiences rather than simply improve efficiency. She also provides a practical framework for building sustainable revenue through customer-first thinking. "Always have the end customer in mind. If every decision starts there, you'll make better choices for your business, your people, and your customers." — Eliana Angelova Customer expectations are evolving faster than ever, driven by AI, digital transformation, and increasing competition. In this conversation, Eliana shares practical strategies for turning customer obsession into measurable business growth by aligning every department around customer outcomes, using AI to improve experiences rather than simply increase efficiency, and creating organizations that consistently exceed customer expectations while building long-term loyalty and sustainable revenue. Follow Eliana Angelova on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn

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