Most B2B teams think outbound is just about activity. Book meetings, hit quota, move on.

But this week on The B2B Playbook, we sat down with Shawn Sease—aka The Professor of Prospecting—to expose why that model is broken.

Shawn’s seen it all. From old-school cold call sprints to modern GTM teams trying to do outbound in the age of AI. And he’s brutally honest about what actually works today.

Together, we unpack how to rebuild your sales development system around truth, timing, and trust—not just activity.

Here’s what we cover in this episode:

+ Why most sales development strategies fail before the first call

+ The power of cataloguing accounts (and why it's better than intent data)

+ How to build outbound systems that don’t collapse when your SDR quits

+ What real Sales and Marketing alignment looks like

Tune in and learn:

+ Why timing is a weak signal (and what to track instead)

+ How cataloguing transforms your outreach strategy

+ What great commercial architecture actually looks like

This episode is a must-watch if you’re a B2B marketer or sales leader who’s tired of outbound that doesn’t scale, and wants a better way to reach your market.

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🔗 Links + CTAs

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💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads? https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency

🧠 Learn how to drive revenue across your organisation with CRO School: https://theb2bplaybook.com/cro-school

🎓 Join our Demand Generation Program: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

-----------------------------------------------------

🧑‍🎓ACCESS our B2B COURSES: https://theb2bplaybook.com/courses

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theb2bplaybook

📩 Newsletter: https://theb2bplaybook.com/newsletter/

📚 Latest content: https://theb2bplaybook.com/

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00:00 The Professor of Prospecting: Who Is Shawn Sease?

04:18 Why B2B Outbound Is Broken

07:43 Cold Calls Aren’t Dead—But Your Strategy Might Be

11:12 The Real Job of SDRs Today

14:40 Why Buyers Aren’t Listening to You Anymore

17:55 How to Build Trust Instead of Noise

21:01 Is Your Go-To-Market Strategy Just Tactics in Disguise?

24:46 Cataloguing: The Secret to Smarter Outreach

28:05 Feedback Loops That Actually Align Sales and Marketing

31:36 Why "Booked Meetings" Are a Broken Metric

35:14 The Role of Customer Success in Sales Development

38:46 Outbound Needs a System—Not Just a Script

42:33 Stop Chasing Timing—Start Building Permission

46:10 What Good Commercial Architecture Looks Like

49:22 The Future of Prospecting: What's Coming Next

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👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team??

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)

Get the:

🔹 strategy

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So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

S07 E187 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #b2bmarketing #digitalmarketing

#b2bsaas #salesdevelopment #sdstrategy

Most B2B marketers are stuck in the short term – chasing pipeline, tweaking LinkedIn Ads, and fighting for form fills.

This episode, we break down how to get out of that cycle – without dropping results.

We unpack the research (like The Long and the Short of It), the frameworks (like our 5 Stages of Awareness), and how small marketing teams can build brand and hit pipeline targets at the same time.

Here’s what we cover in this episode:

+ Why most marketers default to the short term (and how to break the habit)

+ The truth about diminishing returns in performance marketing

+ The role brand plays in lowering CAC and increasing sales velocity

+ How to map every activity to a stage of awareness using a unified framework

Tune in and learn:

+ Why only 5% of your market is ready to buy – and what to do with the other 95%

+ How brand building actually impacts the short term too

+ How to balance your marketing budget (even on limited resources)

This episode is a must-watch if you're in a small marketing team and trying to build a brand and drive pipeline – without burning your budget or your boss’s patience.

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🔗 Links + CTAs

-----------------------------------------------------

💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads? https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency

🧠 Learn how to drive revenue across your organisation with CRO School: https://theb2bplaybook.com/cro-school

🎓 Join our Demand Generation Program: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

-----------------------------------------------------

🧑‍🎓ACCESS our B2B COURSES: https://theb2bplaybook.com/courses

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theb2bplaybook

📩 Newsletter: https://theb2bplaybook.com/newsletter/

📚 Latest content: https://theb2bplaybook.com/

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00:00 Brand vs Demand: The B2B Tug of War

02:55 Why Short-Term Wins Can Hurt Long-Term Growth

05:10 The Real Cost of Chasing MQLs

07:00 Diminishing Returns in Performance Marketing

08:45 Why B2B Brands Burn Out Too Fast

10:15 The Hidden Power of Brand Building

11:45 Brand vs Activation: Know the Difference

13:05 The 5 Stages of Awareness Explained

14:55 Mapping Content to Awareness Stages

16:30 Balancing Brand & Demand on a Budget

18:00 What 60/40 Really Means for B2B Marketers

19:35 How to Allocate Budget With Limited Resources

20:55 Avoiding the 'Do It All' Marketing Trap

22:05 Final Thoughts: Build for Now AND the Future

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👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team??

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)

Get the:

🔹 strategy

🔹 templates

🔹 tools

So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

S07 E186 - The B2B Playbook

#b2bmarketing #demandgeneration #brandvsdemand #b2bdemandgen #go2marketstrategy

Why Most B2B Sales Teams Are Failing (And How to Fix It)

Most B2B sales teams are stuck in outdated tactics – pushing for meetings, flooding inboxes, and hoping something sticks.

But that’s not how today’s buyer wants to buy.

In this episode, we sit down with Amarpreet Kalkat (Founder of Humantic AI) and our own Adem Manderovic (Co-founder of CRO School) to break down what’s broken in B2B sales – and what comes next.

We dive into how AI can be used to build trust, not spam, and how real commercial oversight starts with market validation, not meetings booked.

Here’s what we cover in this episode:

+ Why the predictable revenue model has failed us

+ How to segment and validate your market the right way

+ The DISC profiling framework that changes how you sell

Tune in and learn:

+ Why AI is wings for the good… but crutches for the lazy

+ The Dust Bowl of B2B sales – and how to escape it

+ How CRO School and Humantic AI fit together

If you’re in B2B and tired of tactics that don’t work anymore, this is a must-watch.

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🔗 Links + CTAs

-----------------------------------------------------

💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads? https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency

🧠 Learn how to drive revenue across your organisation with CRO School: https://theb2bplaybook.com/cro-school

🎓 Join our Demand Generation Program: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

-----------------------------------------------------

🧑‍🎓ACCESS our B2B COURSES: https://theb2bplaybook.com/courses

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theb2bplaybook

📩 Newsletter: https://theb2bplaybook.com/newsletter/

📚 Latest content: https://theb2bplaybook.com/

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00:00 Why B2B Sales is Broken in 2025

03:00 What is Humantic AI & How It Works

06:00 What Broke B2B Go-To-Market (And How to Fix It)

08:45 How B2B Buyer Behaviour Has Radically Changed

11:30 Why Predictable Revenue Doesn’t Work Anymore

13:45 Lessons from the Australian Market

16:15 The Real Reason Teams Default to Volume

18:30 The 'Dust Bowl' Analogy of B2B Sales

21:00 Why Most B2B Sales Teams Are Stuck in 2010

23:30 What Market Validation Actually Means

26:30 DISC Profiles: Stop Selling to Personas

30:00 Matching Message, Timing & Channel with Buyer Personality

33:00 Why AI Makes Lazy Sellers Worse, Not Better

37:00 Why GTM Tools Can't Replace Commercial Sense

40:00 The Rise of Full-Cycle Selling & Death of the SDR Model

43:00 Will AI Replace Bad Sellers? Amarpreet’s Warning

46:30 Fitness, Spinal Injuries & The Grit Behind CRO School

49:30 Why No Kid Wants to Be a Salesperson (But Should!)

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👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team??

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)

Get the:

🔹 strategy

🔹 templates

🔹 tools

So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

S07 E185 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #b2bmarketing #digitalmarketing #b2bsaas #salesstrategy #humanticai #cro_school #buyerfirst #gtm

How Far Should You Niche Down? (And How to Know You’ve Got It Right)

Most marketers are targeting too broadly—and it’s killing their go-to-market.

In this episode, we walk you through how to find your Minimum Viable Market—the smallest audience that can sustain your business and evangelize your solution.

We’ll show you how to use your existing data and customer base to define a market you can actually win, instead of burning budget trying to win everyone.

Here’s what we cover in this episode:

+ Why niching down feels scary—but works

+ How to use the 80/20 rule to uncover your best (and worst) customers

+ How to test and validate if your niche is big enough to sustain your business

Tune in and learn:

+ The full step-by-step process to finding your Minimum Viable Market

+ Real examples of how to apply firmographic, demographic, and psychographic filters

+ How to reposition your business over time without losing momentum

This episode is a must-watch for any B2B marketer struggling to get cut-through in a crowded market. If you’re stuck trying to build pipeline, this is the most important strategy you’re probably missing.

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🔗 Links + CTAs

-----------------------------------------------------

💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads? https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency

🧠 Learn how to drive revenue across your organisation with CRO School: https://theb2bplaybook.com/cro-school

🎓 Join our Demand Generation Program: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

-----------------------------------------------------

🧑‍🎓ACCESS our B2B COURSES: https://theb2bplaybook.com/courses

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theb2bplaybook

📩 Newsletter: https://theb2bplaybook.com/newsletter/

📚 Latest content: https://theb2bplaybook.com/

-----------------------------------------------------

00:00 How Far Should You Niche Down?

01:00 Why Niching Down Feels Risky (But Works)

02:10 Broad Targeting Is Killing Your Cut-Through

03:40 The Greek Wedding Analogy: Why Specificity Wins

05:00 Seth Godin's Take on Minimum Viable Market

06:10 How to Spot Underserved Niches

07:30 Step 1: Start With an 80/20 Customer Analysis

08:30 Revenue Isn’t Everything: Find Profitable Segments

09:50 What to Look for in Your Dream Customers

11:00 Real Example: ESG and the Modern Slavery Act

12:40 Step 2: Catalog Your Market and Validate Demand

14:00 What If Your Market Is Too Small (or Big)?

15:30 Don’t Forget to Call Your Churned Accounts

16:30 Our Journey: From Broad B2B to Demand Gen Marketers

17:40 Why You Can (And Should) Reposition Over Time

18:40 Final Takeaways: Nail Your Niche and Expand Later

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👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team??

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)

Get the:

🔹 strategy

🔹 templates

🔹 tools

So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

Check out: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-gen...

S07 E184 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #b2bmarketing #digitalmarketing #b2bsaas

How to Use AI to Cut Customer Research Time in Half

Most B2B marketers know customer research is crucial, but gathering and acting on insights can be so time consuming.

This week, we're breaking down exactly how you can leverage AI tools to dramatically speed up your customer research - without losing the valuable depth and insights you rely on.

We've experimented extensively and will share the exact process that allows marketers in small teams to finally complete customer interviews efficiently. Using AI the right way can transform qualitative data into clear, actionable insights faster than ever.

Tune in and learn:

+ The best AI tools for transcribing and summarizing customer interviews

+ How to avoid common pitfalls (like AI hallucinations!)

+ The quickest way to build accurate, insightful customer avatars

This episode is a must-watch for B2B marketers tired of customer research always falling off the to-do list.

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🔗 Links + CTAs

-----------------------------------------------------

💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads? https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency

🧠 Learn how to drive revenue across your organisation with CRO School: https://theb2bplaybook.com/cro-school

🎓 Join our Demand Generation Program: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

-----------------------------------------------------

🧑‍🎓ACCESS our B2B COURSES: https://theb2bplaybook.com/courses

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theb2bplaybook

📩 Newsletter: https://theb2bplaybook.com/newsletter/

📚 Latest content: https://theb2bplaybook.com/

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00:00 How to Accelerate B2B Research with AI

01:09 Quick Recap: Our Proven '5 BEs Framework'

02:39 Why Customer Interviews Keep Getting Ignored

04:00 The Truth About AI and Customer Research

05:52 Can AI Really Replace Qualitative Research?

08:48 The Best AI Tools for Recording & Transcription

11:15 How AI Summarizes Customer Conversations

12:11 Real-Life Example: Quick Customer Insights Capture

13:19 Crucial Step: Validate Your AI Findings

14:43 Creating Your Dream Customer Avatar with AI

15:15 Advanced Tip: Custom GPT for Deep Insights

16:00 Aligning Marketing, Sales, and Product Teams with AI

16:36 Key Watch-outs When Using AI in Research

17:41 Avoid AI Hallucinations with These Simple Steps

18:46 Secrets to Capturing Powerful Customer Quotes

-----------------------------------------------------

👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team??

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)

Get the:

🔹 strategy

🔹 templates

🔹 tools

So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

Check out: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-gen...

S07 E183 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #b2bmarketing #digitalmarketing #b2bsaas #AI #CustomerResearch

Most B2B teams obsess over defining their Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). But what about the people you should never market to?

This week, we reveal why defining your Anti-ICP is just as critical as your ICP—and how doing so could save your team thousands in wasted ad spend, misaligned sales efforts, and churned customers.

We also share the powerful go-to-market process of Cataloguing the Market—a strategy that helps you validate who’s actually a good fit before you waste a single dollar on ads or outbound.

Tune in and learn:

+ How to identify and define your Anti-ICP (with examples)

+ The 80/20 analysis that reveals who’s a drag on your business

+ Why Cataloguing the Market gives you unfair timing advantage

If you’re tired of spending time and money chasing the wrong accounts—or if you’re looking to finally build a sustainable demand engine = this episode is a must-watch.

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🔗 Links + CTAs

-----------------------------------------------------

💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads? https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency

🧠 Learn how to drive revenue across your organisation with CRO School: https://theb2bplaybook.com/cro-school

🎓 Join our Demand Generation Program: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

-----------------------------------------------------

🧑‍🎓ACCESS our B2B COURSES: https://theb2bplaybook.com/courses

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theb2bplaybook

📩 Newsletter: https://theb2bplaybook.com/newsletter/

📚 Latest content: https://theb2bplaybook.com/

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00:00 Stop Wasting Time on the Wrong Customers

01:06 What is the 5 BEs Framework?

02:19 Why You Need an Anti-ICP

03:20 $10K Wasted on the Wrong Fit

05:31 How to Identify Your Anti-ICP

06:49 Ask Your Team: Who Do You Hate Working With?

07:49 Documenting Red Flag Customers

08:28 Firmographics vs Demographics

09:36 Use Case Clarity: Where You Deliver Value

10:35 What Anti-ICPs Tell You About the Buying Committee

11:04 What is “Cataloguing the Market”?

12:19 How Cataloguing Prevents Wasted Spend

13:31 Why Predictable Revenue Broke Go-To-Market

14:43 How Timing Drives Smarter Spend

16:34 Precision Over Pressure: Striking at the Right Time

-----------------------------------------------------

👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team??

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)

Get the:

🔹 strategy

🔹 templates

🔹 tools

So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

Check out: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-gen...

S07 E182 - The B2B Playbook

#B2BMarketing #GoToMarketStrategy #DemandGeneration #MarketingStrategy

Why Your B2B GTM Strategy Needs the 5 BEs Framework Now

Most B2B marketing frameworks only show you part of the picture. But in 2025, you need one complete system to align brand, demand, and sales around your Ideal Customer.

That’s why we created the 5 BEs Framework.

This week, we show you how to move beyond demand generation and build a complete go-to-market strategy—tailor-made for small B2B teams.

We’ve used the 5 BEs to help B2B marketers in both small and large orgs drive more pipeline, get sales and leadership buy-in, and scale trust across the entire buying journey.

Tune in and learn:

+ How the 5 Stages of Awareness connect brand and demand

+ Why Demand Gen marketers are the new GTM Architects

+ How to scale trust and pipeline—without more headcount

This episode is a must-watch if you’re in a small marketing team and need a single system to punch above your weight, align your org, and make marketing finally feel like it's working.

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🔗 Links + CTAs

-----------------------------------------------------

💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads? https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency

🧠 Learn how to drive revenue across your organisation with CRO School: https://theb2bplaybook.com/cro-school

🎓 Join our Demand Generation Program: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

-----------------------------------------------------

🧑‍🎓ACCESS our B2B COURSES: https://theb2bplaybook.com/courses

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theb2bplaybook

📩 Newsletter: https://theb2bplaybook.com/newsletter/

📚 Latest content: https://theb2bplaybook.com/

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00:00 Why Small Teams Need a Complete GTM Framework Now

01:00 The Origin Story of the 5 BEs Framework

02:20 Should Brand and Demand Be Separate?

03:50 One Budget, One Team: The Reality of Small Team Marketing

05:20 Why Demand Gen Marketers Need to Think Bigger

07:00 How the 5 Stages of Awareness Connect Brand & Demand

08:40 Making Brand and Demand Work in Tandem

10:20 The Power of Aligning Around Your ICP

12:00 How Demand Gen Marketers Act as GTM Connectors

13:40 BE HELPFUL: The Secret to Trust-Based Content

15:20 How to Cut Through the Noise With Meaningful Content

17:00 BE SEEN: Amplifying Trust With Smart Distribution

19:00 Avoiding the Disconnect Between Brand & Performance

21:00 BE BETTER: Operational Efficiency & Continuous Testing

23:00 BE THE BEST: Where AI & Innovation Power the Flywheel

-----------------------------------------------------

👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team??

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)

Get the:

🔹 strategy

🔹 templates

🔹 tools

So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

Check out: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-gen...

S07 E181 - The B2B Playbook

#B2BMarketing #GoToMarketStrategy #DemandGeneration #MarketingStrategy

Why is go-to-market still broken in B2B?

Because nobody owns the commercial outcome.

In this pivotal episode of The B2B Playbook, we sit down with Carolyn Dilks (co-founder of Passetto) and Adem Manderovic (co-founder of CRO School) to unpack why sales, marketing, and customer success continue to operate in silos—and what needs to change.

This isn’t another “alignment” chat.

It’s a practical blueprint for rebuilding GTM around commercial oversight, financial accountability, and real market validation—not just KPIs that make the dashboard look good.

We cover:

+ How Predictable Revenue broke GTM—and what comes next

+ Why “meetings booked” is a destructive metric

+ The missing role of commercial acumen in sales and marketing

+ What Passetto does to bridge GTM and finance

+ How CRO School is restoring financial ownership across revenue teams

+ And why this isn’t a fix at the department level—it’s a top-down restructure

If your GTM strategy feels reactive, misaligned, or just plain inefficient—this conversation is your roadmap to a commercially viable, scalable system.

https://theb2bplaybook.com/cro-school

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🔗 Links + CTAs

-----------------------------------------------------

💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads? https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency

🧠 Learn how to drive revenue across your organisation with CRO School: https://theb2bplaybook.com/cro-school

🎓 Join our Demand Generation Program: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

Check out Passetto: https://www.passetto.com/

-----------------------------------------------------

🧑‍🎓ACCESS our B2B COURSES: https://theb2bplaybook.com/courses

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theb2bplaybook

📩 Newsletter: https://theb2bplaybook.com/newsletter/

📚 Latest content: https://theb2bplaybook.com/

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00:00:56 – Why GTM Teams Are Still Broken in 2025

00:04:00 – The Fallout from Predictable Revenue: Modeling Gone Wrong

00:08:07 – The Finance-GTM Gap Nobody Talks About

00:12:10 – Why MQLs & Siloed Metrics Kill Growth

00:16:10 – Why Weekly Syncs Don’t Fix Misalignment

00:20:10 – The Meetings Metric Is Breaking Your Funnel

00:24:20 – Churn Isn’t a CS Problem—It’s a GTM Problem

00:28:20 – What a Real CRO Should Own (and Why Most Don’t)

00:32:25 – What Passetto Does to Fix GTM Blind Spots

00:36:30 – Closed Circuit Selling: A GTM Framework That Works

00:40:30 – Why BDRs Are Operating in a Black Hole

00:44:35 – Final Thoughts & Where to Learn More

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👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team??

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)

Get the:

🔹 strategy

🔹 templates

🔹 tools

So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

Check out: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-gen...

S07 E180 - The B2B Playbook

#B2BMarketing #RevenueArchitecture #GoToMarketStrategy #DemandGeneration #MarketingStrategy