GTM Science - A show for GTM and RevOps leaders

Andrea Kayal kept finding herself doing the CRO's job from the CMO seat. She was already building the revenue strategy, negotiating budgets across departments, and trying to make sense of how marketing, sales, and customer success should work together. So she made the jump. Now at Help Scout, she runs the entire commercial organization with a capital allocator's mindset, treating every dollar like a board-level investment decision.In this episode of CRO Stories, Rachael Bueckert sits down with Andrea Kayal, CRO of Help Scout, for a conversation on how she builds and defends marketing budgets using the financial facts of the business, the framework she uses with the board to define what enterprise value actually means by the numbers, why win rate is the most important number marketing should care about, and how five product features moved win rate four points after she made the revenue case impossible to ignore.[01:31] Intro to Andrea Kayal and Help Scout[01:55] Help Scout's 50/50 PLG and sales-led motion[03:03] CMO to CRO: why she made the jump[04:01] Two strategies, one CEO: the case for a single revenue leader[06:15] The best CXOs hire people better than them at the job[06:30] The through line across every role: planning gaps[06:57] The Iconic Enterprise Five framework[09:12] Using 3-5 metrics to define enterprise value with the board[10:34] When the numbers say one thing but execution says another[11:42] Being realistic with shareholders about growth[12:09] Negotiating capital allocation with the CPO[13:19] "Allocate capital like a hedge fund manager"[14:07] How to tell the budget story with data and dollars[15:23] The 80/20 split: performance vs. brand[17:08] Getting good at forecasting marketing like sales forecasts pipeline[17:41] Attribution: the big scary word[18:43] Stop chasing perfect attribution, watch the bottom right[20:07] Pulling multiple levers at once[21:15] 30-day vs. 90-day sales cycles and signal speed[23:12] The three-tab marketing budget spreadsheet[26:14] Win rate is marketing's problem too[27:50] The SLA meeting between sales and marketing[28:54] Clear accountability kills finger-pointing[30:43] Building the handoff at Team Pay vs. Help Scout[31:46] Drawing the line: sales not allowed to touch 1-to-10s[33:08] Pricing AI features in a commoditized market[34:31] The consumption-based pricing experiment that didn't land[36:12] How customer conversations forced the pivot back[37:08] Customer feedback vs. product vision: faster horses[38:42] The monthly go-to-market alignment meeting[40:18] Five product features that moved win rate four points[41:17] Using lost-deal revenue data to drive product prioritization[42:25] 80/20 for product too: features vs. innovation[43:15] Every point of win rate is material[44:49] Go-to-market alignment and Pipeline Council[46:06] The CRO as the person with no favorite child[48:42] Why customer success can't be an afterthought[49:27] The bow tie model and the compounding right side[50:30] Current challenges: ACV, moving upmarket, brand vs. distribution[52:35] The mayo analogy for brand investment[55:00] Where to find Andrea_______________________________________________________________GTM STRATEGY, GROWTH PLANNING, & REVOPS SERVICES● Website● LinkedIn● TikTok

ZoomInfo had 80% of the Fortune 500 on their platform, but most of those accounts were spending a fraction of what they should have been. Meanwhile, the micro-SMB segment that fueled the growth years was getting harder to retain as free money dried up and startups started closing their doors. Something had to shift.In this episode, Eddie Reynolds sits down with James Roth, CRO of ZoomInfo, to unpack how the company re-engineered its go-to-market from a 50/50 SMB-upmarket split to 70/30 upmarket, rebuilt its outbound motion from the ground up, and used AI to make the whole machine faster without adding headcount. Expect a conversation on the financial logic behind the shift, how to think about capacity planning across segments, what signal-based prioritization actually looks like in practice, and the outbound strategies that moved conversion rates up 25 points.[02:42] Intro and what this episode covers[03:47] The before and after of ZoomInfo's GTM shift[04:18] Why micro-SMB stopped working post-2021[05:47] Under-penetrated enterprise accounts[06:54] Lowering account loads and resourcing the upmarket[08:31] Budget-neutral resource reallocation[08:58] Why inbound degraded: LLM search and the end of SEO as we knew it[10:12] The case for rebuilding outbound[11:43] Hot vs. warm inbound and how ZoomInfo delineates[14:21] Low-intent MQLs are really just outbound in disguise[15:24] The perennial sales vs. marketing friction[16:28] Deconstructing the MQL battleground[18:07] Tie everything to revenue, not MQL counts[19:03] Signal-based prioritization over lead source labels[20:17] Stack-ranking signals with data, not anecdotes[21:58] "No SDR should ever ask what should I do today"[23:09] The cultivated list: who to call, what to say, why[25:22] Capacity planning for inbound vs. outbound[27:10] Land-and-expand vs. seat-based capacity models[29:13] Bottoms-up capacity planning[31:02] Modeling enterprise after Salesforce and ServiceNow[31:46] How AI changed SDR capacity overnight[33:10] Studying top reps to reverse-engineer time allocation[35:13] Increasing talk time, decreasing everything else[37:28] Territories, segments, and first principles[39:08] From zip codes to in-market scoring[41:12] TAM to in-market: the 100-to-25 filter[42:49] Product-market fit drives territory design[44:23] Reporting and driving adoption for outbound[45:42] Activity is still the baseline, but refined activity[46:31] Signal action rates and unactioned signals[48:23] Reading from right to left: start with quota attainment[49:44] Reverse-engineering what top reps actually do[50:19] Activity per segment: SMB vs. enterprise volume[51:34] Same volume, different activity upmarket[52:13] The big deal wrap: every major deal looks the same[54:04] GTMO: go-to-market orchestration at ZoomInfo[54:39] "See ball, hit ball" and eliminating SDR autonomy[56:14] AI talk tracks, signal density, and the 25-point conversion lift[57:47] Hiring for potential instead of experience[58:32] Where to find James Roth_______________________________________________________________GTM STRATEGY, GROWTH PLANNING, & REVOPS SERVICES● Website● LinkedIn● TikTok

Most go-to-market teams know something is broken. The problem is figuring out exactly what, and in what order to fix it. Eddie talks to CROs every day who are overwhelmed, playing whack-a-mole across outbound, pipeline, inbound, and customer success, throwing resources at whatever squeaks loudest. Twelve months later, the same problems are still there.In this episode, Eddie Reynolds and Rachael Bueckert walk through the new GTM Ops Diagnostic Framework: a simplified version of the 150+ question diagnostic USC runs with clients, distilled into 28 questions you can answer in 20 minutes. Note: At the time this podcast was recorded, the GTM Diagnostic only covered 4 areas of GTM. We've since updated it to cover 7 areas, mirroring our updated GTM Efficiency Pyramid. Expect a walkthrough of the four maturity stages and why the order matters, how to use the GTM Ops Decision Tree to narrow focus before you start, the red-yellow-green scoring system and how to build a heat map of your go-to-market, common patterns that jump out when teams see their results, how to turn the diagnostic into a 90-day roadmap with 3–5 initiatives, and why behavioral change—not documentation—is the make-or-break for all of it.Resources mentioned in this episode:• The GTM Ops Diagnostic Framework (Published 03/28/2026)• GTM Ops Diagnostic Worksheet• The GTM Efficiency Pyramid Framework v3.0• Newsletter: The GTM Ops Decision Tree• The GTM Ops Roadmap Framework• Free GTM Efficiency Workshop[00:47] Intro and where to find the framework[02:07] What the diagnostic is and why we built it[04:40] Turning noise into signal for go-to-market teams[06:38] Why the end result is an action plan, not a PowerPoint[08:30] Why enterprise companies need this even more than SMBs[10:50] What breaks when leaders fix go-to-market reactively[12:28] The four maturity stages: fundamentals, adoption, optimization, acceleration[15:19] How to mentally approach the diagnostic without getting overwhelmed[16:58] The honesty required—good enough vs. fundamentally broken[19:04] Step one: understanding the maturity stages in depth[22:06] Why AI on top of broken process just amplifies what's broken[25:18] Step two: narrowing focus with the GTM Ops Decision Tree[28:40] Step three: the diagnostic questions and red-yellow-green scoring[32:02] The danger of being too generous with green[36:28] Evidence to pull and handling internal disagreement on scores[39:29] Step four: plotting the heat map[40:54] Patterns that jump out—what's working despite being broken[41:52] The inbound-to-outbound pivot story[44:20] Customer success: the most commonly neglected area[47:34] Step five: interpretation and prioritization[49:30] Step six: building the GTM Ops Roadmap with OKRs[51:49] Why 3–5 initiatives is the max for 90 days[53:17] Defining initiatives so they don't become big projects[55:17] Step seven: integrating planning and metrics[56:20] The chicken-and-egg of annual planning without trusted data[59:07] What's intentionally missing from the public version[01:01:07] When to go deeper and when good enough is good enough_______________________________________________________________GTM STRATEGY, GROWTH PLANNING, & REVOPS SERVICES● Website● LinkedIn● TikTok

Bridget Winston has been a CRO across unified communications SaaS, a stock content marketplace, a membership platform for executive women, and now a vertical SaaS company serving med spas. Some people call that kind of range a liability. Bridget calls it the thing that lets her nail every role—especially in a world where the old playbooks don't work anymore.In this episode of CRO Stories, Rachael Bueckert sits down with Bridget Winston, CRO of Patient Now, for a conversation that covers how she scaled Chief from 1.5k to 20k members and a $1.1 billion valuation, what broke along the way and the pivots that followed, why she purposely took a customer success role to become a better revenue leader, how she uses AI to impact revenue, and the change management discipline she runs at every company she joins.[01:26] Intro to Bridget Winston and her path to Patient Now[02:33] What Chief is and the B2C-to-B model[03:39] Scaling Chief from 1,500 to 20,000 members—what broke along the way[05:11] The Covid pivot: from in-person to national to back again[06:23] Expanding to the UK and pulling back—hard lessons in product-market fit[08:18] How AI data enrichment revealed a completely different ICP[11:38] ICP is everything—the defining lesson of being a CRO[13:06] Why most companies think they know their ICP but haven't gone deep enough[15:22] The secret test: are you operating as a CRO or a glorified VP of Sales?[16:13] Aligning comp across marketing, sales, and CS on a shared metric[18:00] The ShoreTel story: when law firms kept churning and what changed[20:22] Why Bridget purposely took a customer success role[22:29] B2C vs. enterprise at Chief—competing for resources[24:47] First team mentality and Five Dysfunctions of a Team[27:32] Biggest lesson from Chief: you're never done with product-market fit[28:31] Big problems don't always need big solutions—two-way doors[30:08] The UK expansion failure and building the muscle to embrace failure[31:15] "It's the people"—why that diagnosis is almost never right[32:11] Shutterstock: 35% attrition, 10% quota attainment, and what was actually broken[37:14] Why a Rev Ops partner is the most critical hire for a CRO[38:28] What Bridget is bringing into Patient Now[39:19] Evaluating three AI tools in the first two weeks[40:14] The biggest hot take: B2B marketing is becoming consumer marketing[42:38] Community-led growth and the CISO example[46:50] Why Patient Now—the opportunity, the mission, and the team[51:08] Goals at Patient Now: customer centricity as a leading indicator[52:45] Universal CRO skills: range, financial acumen, and grit[56:31] The story behind her leadership: change management as a discipline[01:00:37] How AI has compressed CRO planning from five months to one[01:03:28] Where to find Bridget_______________________________________________________________GTM STRATEGY, GROWTH PLANNING, & REVOPS SERVICES● Website● LinkedIn● TikTok

Every CRO wants to implement AI, optimize their funnel, and build advanced analytics. But what happens when the foundation underneath all of that isn't solid? Eddie spent years watching companies layer sophisticated tools on top of broken processes, junk pipeline data, and reps who couldn't agree on what a qualified deal looked like. The results were predictable. Which is why we built the GTM Efficiency Pyramid, a model for determining your GTM Ops maturity level and what needs to be done to build a system that scales.In this episode, Eddie Reynolds and Rachael Bueckert walk through the GTM Efficiency Pyramid Framework v3.0—now expanded to seven pyramids covering outbound, inbound, ABM/allbound, partners/channel, pipeline management, retention, and expansion. Expect a breakdown of the four maturity layers from fundamentals through amplification, what belongs in each layer and why the order matters, how to use the framework to find quick wins and prioritize your next 90 days, and why the 20% of work at the foundation drives 80% of the results.Resources mentioned in this episode:• The GTM Efficiency Pyramid Framework v3.0• Newsletter: The GTM Ops Decision Tree• The GTM Ops Roadmap Framework• Free GTM Efficiency Workshop• All Union Square Consulting Frameworks[00:49] Intro and the origin of the pyramid framework[01:49] What the framework is and why it exists[04:26] Version 3.0: from one pyramid to seven[07:23] Why AI and analytics sit at the top—not the bottom[09:39] Most companies already have fundamentals, but have they revisited them?[11:05] The 85% vs. 10% close rate problem[12:29] Fundamentals: ICP, customer journey, and building process into systems[13:54] Adoption: training, reporting, and management cadence[14:35] Optimization: go to market insights, the GTM council, and forecasting[16:15] Amplification: automation, AI, and knowing what good looks like first[20:32] The seven pyramids: what's shared and what's unique[20:44] Outbound: capacity-based territory plans and prospect sequencing[24:55] The 14x difference between personalized and spray outbound[26:50] Inbound: customer journey maps, speed to lead, and follow-up sequences[29:16] AI lead enrichment, campaign analytics, and AI-assisted lead response[31:02] ABM/Allbound: why inbound and outbound are the same question[35:17] Partners and channel: capacity planning, engagement process, and ideal partner profile[40:25] Pipeline management: sales methodology, stages, and zombie pipeline[43:17] Why pipeline management is the prerequisite to everything else[45:20] Retention: capacity planning, health monitoring, and the renewal process[48:40] AI health scoring, CSS playbooks, and churn risk signals[51:00] Expansion: product and stakeholder whitespace[54:28] Where to start: prioritization with the GTM Ops Decision Tree[55:57] Translating priorities into a 90-day GTM Ops Roadmap[58:24] Getting management alignment and driving adoption_______________________________________________________________GTM STRATEGY, GROWTH PLANNING, & REVOPS SERVICES● Website● LinkedIn● TikTok

New CROs and GTM Ops Leaders, you have 90 days to prove you can do the job. Most new revenue leaders try to fix everything at once: outbound is broken, onboarding is a mess, pipeline is full of zombie deals, and there's pressure to "implement AI." Ninety days later, nothing has changed.In this episode, Eddie Reynolds and Rachael Bueckert walk through the operational playbook for making your first 90 days count, whether you're a new CRO or a VP of GTM Ops stepping into a company where everything feels broken. Expect a conversation on why narrowing to one priority beats boiling the ocean, how to assess the fundamentals using the GTM Efficiency Pyramid, what a realistic 90-day roadmap looks like with OKRs and sprint planning, why reports alone don't drive accountability, and what success actually looks like at the 90-day mark when your sales cycle might be longer than your timeline.Resources mentioned in this episode:• Newsletter: GTM Ops First 90 Days Playbook• The GTM Efficiency Pyramid Framework• Newsletter: The GTM Ops Decision Tree• The GTM Ops Roadmap Framework• All Union Square Consulting Frameworks[02:26] The CRO's real to-do list beyond just ops[04:16] Biggest mistake: trying to boil the ocean[05:00] The whack-a-mole problem and learning to guide the conversation[07:19] Narrowing focus: new business vs. NRR, pipeline gen vs. close rate[08:00] Why you can't fix everything in 90 days, behavior change is the bottleneck[09:34] The long-term case for net revenue retention[10:23] It's not about building everything[11:05] CRO tenure and the cost of trying to do it all[13:38] Stacking 90-day sprints across go to market[15:24] Handling complexity: multiple segments, products, and teams[19:09] Leadership capacity and the management bottleneck[20:42] The New Year's resolution analogy[27:11] Assessing the fundamentals with the GTM Efficiency Pyramid[28:06] ICP, process design, capacity planning, and target lists[29:47] From process to systems to adoption[31:32] The most basic problems are the most common ones[34:32] Reports aren't the point, driving revenue is[37:44] How to know the fundamentals are done[39:16] Iterating quarter over quarter[41:42] Building the GTM Ops Roadmap with OKRs[43:14] Setting realistic metrics with long sales cycles[45:17] Why the roadmap protects you from ad hoc requests[47:45] Execution through sprint planning[50:00] Daily and weekly priority-setting in practice[53:01] Staying organized as a neurodivergent ops person[55:35] Success at the 90-day mark: do you trust the report?[57:36] Why reports don't drive accountability—management does[58:08] Eddie's pipeline inspection story from Salesforce[01:01:53] The 24-hour pipeline cleanup and the zombie pipeline problem[01:04:16] Rebuilding CFO trust as a new CRO[01:05:05] The one metric that should change, and why it depends_______________________________________________________________GTM STRATEGY, GROWTH PLANNING, & REVOPS SERVICES● Website● LinkedIn● TikTok

Half of the companies Eddie worked with at Salesforce failed on the platform, and it had nothing to do with the technology. After watching this play out hundreds of times across growth-stage B2B SaaS companies, the pattern was unmistakable: the ones that succeeded had executive leadership that refused to let it fail. The ones that didn't had already checked out before implementation even started.In this episode, Eddie Reynolds and Rachael Bueckert unpack what it actually takes to turn your CRM into a revenue driver, and why the answer has almost nothing to do with workflows, custom objects, or technical configuration. Expect a conversation on the single commitment from leadership that separates success from failure, how to prioritize what to fix first when everything is broken, the role of process design, metrics, and reporting in building trust in your data, why pipeline council meetings are a prerequisite and not a nice-to-have, and how to drive adoption without making your sales team feel micromanaged.Resources mentioned in this episode:• Newsletter: How to Drive Real Revenue Through Salesforce• Newsletter: The GTM Ops Decision Tree• The GTM Metrics and Insights Framework• The Pipeline Management Framework[00:00] Salesforce won't save you—but this will[01:05] The newsletter that inspired this episode[01:48] Eddie's three years at Salesforce watching companies fail[04:48] What "going all in" actually looks like for leadership[07:38] Most common mistakes when inheriting a messy Salesforce instance[12:08] Where to start when everything is broken: the GTM Ops Decision Tree[14:40] New business vs. net revenue retention—which to fix first[17:35] Translating your sales process into Salesforce fields and stages[20:12] Eddie's pipeline cleanup story: 300-day-old deals on a 60-day product[24:54] Cleaning dirty pipeline without demoralizing your reps[27:05] Defining what good looks like across every GTM process[29:06] Measuring what matters: the right metrics and real reporting[30:51] Leading and lagging indicators for revenue forecasting[33:19] Building the CRO executive dashboard[36:33] Pipeline council as a prerequisite for data-driven decisions[40:06] Can Salesforce really grow revenue by 30%?[43:01] This isn't a Salesforce endorsement—it's about process[44:07] Driving adoption: the last mile where most initiatives die[46:48] Encouraging adoption without micromanaging[49:38] Designing process around both the rep and the customer[52:33] One takeaway: pick one thing, define the process, measure it, adopt it_______________________________________________________________GTM STRATEGY, GROWTH PLANNING, & REVOPS SERVICES● Website● LinkedIn● TikTok

Kyle Norton helped take Owner.com from $2M to over $60M ARR in three years. The moves that made it possible aren't the ones most revenue leaders would prioritize. From a single AI experiment that boosted win rates by 15 points in one quarter, to counterintuitive bets on team structure and enablement that most companies don't make until it's too late, Kyle's playbook is built on compounding investments that pay off at scale.In this episode of CRO Stories, Rachael Bueckert sits down with Kyle Norton, CRO of Owner.com, for a deep dive into what he actually invested in and why. Expect tactical stories on using data to challenge assumptions about what makes a great sales call, a science-backed coaching and enablement framework borrowed from elite martial arts, a mental model for ruthless prioritization when you have a hundred good ideas and limited bandwidth, how the CRO role evolves from the trenches to multi-year strategic bets, and why keeping your tech stack simple might be the highest-leverage decision you make early on.Resources mentioned in this episode:• Kyle Norton's Revenue Leadership Podcast & Substack• Kyle's Coaching Mastery article• Book: The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle• Book: The Adult Learner by Malcolm Knowles• Book: Thinking in Bets & How to Decide by Annie Duke• Book: The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt[00:57] Introduction [02:04] The AI call scoring experiment that changed everything[04:29] Surprising finding: 10 of 12 critical skills were end-of-call[06:52] Testing one variable at a time—change management philosophy[09:07] Why most enablement adoption fails and how to fix it[10:44] The forgetting curve and spaced repetition in sales training[12:03] Building enablement programs with Bloom's Taxonomy[15:05] Manager coaching cadence and reinforcement activities[17:09] Traffic light model: green, yellow, and red light changes[19:10] The 4I coaching framework from martial arts to sales[20:14] Book recommendations: The Talent Code and adult learning science[23:26] Kyle's coaching mastery article and the behavior change mandate[24:36] From VP of Sales to CRO—how the job evolves at each stage[27:54] Prioritization: the 5P expected value framework[32:16] Cross-functional roadmap alignment at scale[34:27] When to bring in outside Rev Ops help[38:28] Keep your CRM simple—out of the box until $10M ARR[40:53] Jason Lemkin's AI go-to-market stack and why process comes first[43:28] Scaling Owner from $2M to $60M+ ARR—the operational playbook[46:42] Talent density as a compounding advantage[47:28] The story Kyle doesn't tell enough—martial arts and mental toughness[50:42] Where to find Kyle_______________________________________________________________GTM STRATEGY, GROWTH PLANNING, & REVOPS SERVICES● Website● LinkedIn● TikTok

Your marketing engine is generating leads, hitting MQL targets, and sales is following up. So why isn't revenue growing faster? The answer isn't more budget. It's optimization. Most companies skip straight from "it's working" to "let's spend more" without ever asking: which leads are actually worth something, and where are we lighting money on fire?In this episode, Eddie Reynolds and Rachael Bueckert break down how to move beyond foundational execution and start turning the knobs on your inbound marketing engine. From building a minimum viable attribution model to calculating lead value by segment, benchmarking inbound against outbound using CAC payback, and running pipeline council meetings that actually produce decisions—this episode walks through the full optimization playbook. If you've got the foundation in place and you're ready to squeeze more revenue out of what you already have, this is where you start.Resources mentioned in this episode:• Newsletter: How to Optimize Marketing Generated Revenue• GTM Efficiency Pyramid Framework• Newsletter: Benchmarking GTM Efficiency[00:00] Why optimization matters more than more budget[01:02] The related newsletter and what it covers[02:14] What the foundation looks like when it's actually working[04:11] Why the foundation alone isn't enough[06:04] Attribution: why it belongs in the optimization stage[08:47] Blending quantitative and qualitative attribution data[10:42] Minimum viable attribution—what's good enough[15:25] Setting the performance bar: lead conversion, activity-based, and CAC payback[20:30] Why CAC payback trumps other benchmarks[22:06] GTM efficiency ratio vs. CAC payback[24:14] When results justify a major strategy shift[25:55] Segmentation and lead value by channel, segment, and geography[29:24] How lead scoring ties into segmentation and optimization[32:08] Process evaluation: what to do when a segment underperforms[34:45] Sales process and pipeline management as optimization levers[39:26] Pipeline council: who participates and why it matters[43:00] Structure and cadence of pipeline council meetings[44:22] Walking away with tangible action plans[45:36] From analysis to action: the GTM ops roadmap[48:31] Prioritizing optimization projects with OKRs[50:05] Timeline expectations—from quick wins to long sales cycles[54:47] Resources and team capabilities needed for optimization[57:03] The importance of executive buy-in and accountability[1:01:56] Closing: the one thing revenue leaders should take away_______________________________________________________________GTM STRATEGY, GROWTH PLANNING, & REVOPS SERVICES● Website● LinkedIn● TikTok

AI can automate busy work, but it won't automate judgment, empathy, or curiosity—the things that actually win deals. Too many go-to-market teams are chasing speed before trust, buying AI tools hoping they'll fix what's broken instead of understanding the system first. The result? Automation that scales confusion instead of growth.CRO Stories host Rachael Bueckert sits down with Jody Geiger, Co-founder of AI Sales Studio at GTM Shift, to explore what it actually takes to build a culture of innovation around AI in go-to-market operations. With 20 years in sales leadership across companies like Apple, Galvanize, and Rogers, Jody brings hard-won perspective on what separates teams that succeed with AI from those that chase shiny objects and miss the fundamentals.The episode digs into practical applications of AI in GTM operations, from auditing workflows at the click level to building systems with learning loops built in. For GTM leaders trying to tie AI to pipeline, win rates, and rep productivity, Jody offers a clear framework: find the friction in your system, do good discovery like a salesperson would, audit workflows at the ground level, and build a business case before implementing. The goal isn't to replace human capabilities but to augment them, freeing up teams to focus on the things AI can't do—building relationships, exercising judgment, and staying curious.Key topics covered:[00:00] Intro[03:35] Building Go-to-Market Orgs from Scratch[08:05] Skills and Mindsets for High-Performing Revenue Teams[09:29] Scaling the Unscalable Differentiator[13:37] Capturing Customer Insights Without Extra Time[16:05] AI Sales Studio Origin Story[18:28] Best Use Cases for AI Implementation[22:21] First Measurable AI Win Demo Automation[26:37] Streamlining Outbound Email with AI Workflows[29:51] Teaching AI Implementation Through Workshops[33:14] Behaviors of AI-Enabled Elite Sellers[36:36] Measuring AI Impact on Pipeline and Productivity[38:45] Where to Find Jody and AI Sales Studio_______________________________________________________________GTM STRATEGY, GROWTH PLANNING, & REVOPS SERVICES● Website● LinkedIn● TikTok

Two-thirds of B2B teams are using AI in go-to-market, and 85% report seeing a boost. But there's a massive gap between teams just saving time with AI and those seeing actual pipeline and conversion improvements. What separates winners from experimenters?Eddie Reynolds sits down with Craig Rosenberg, Chief Platform Officer at Scale Venture Partners, to break down their State of GTM AI Report and reveal what's actually working and why most companies still aren’t seeing the results they expected.Craig shares the data on which AI implementations drive real revenue impact versus which just save time. From autonomous SDR bots booking qualified meetings to AI-powered competitive intelligence systems that surface opportunities your reps would never find manually, this conversation goes deep on specific examples. Eddie and Craig discuss what "GTM engineers" actually do, whether to buy or build AI solutions, and why most companies struggle to measure ROI despite seeing results.The conversation also digs into what has to be in place before AI can really make an impact on revenue, which teams are best positioned to lead adoption, and how top performers are using new tools to sharpen what they already do well. If you're trying to figure out where AI fits in your GTM stack and how to move beyond surface-level implementations, this episode delivers the data-backed playbook.Read Scale Venture Partners’ State of GTM AI Report here.Listen to Craig Rosenberg’s Podcast: The Transaction PodcastKey topics covered:[00:00] Intro[00:32] Phase One vs Phase Two AI Implementation[03:55] Marketing Teams Leading AI Adoption[06:00] Strategy First, Technology Second Approach[08:42] Successful AI Users Define Specific Outcomes[11:28] Human in the Loop Requirements[14:16] Campaign Analysis Driving 3x Pipeline Growth[18:19] Data Quality Challenges and Solutions[23:22] Toughest Go to Market Environment Ever[27:27] Clay and Micro Segmentation Success Stories[32:51] Account Research Made Fast and Effective[35:14] AI-Powered Pipeline Reviews[38:33] Rev Ops Leading AI Implementation[41:35] Individual Innovation vs Organizational Scale_______________________________________________________________GTM STRATEGY, GROWTH PLANNING, & REVOPS SERVICES● Website● LinkedIn● TikTok

You pull the pipeline report and it's chaos: opportunities in the wrong stages, missing qualification data, deals that should have closed months ago just sitting there. The problem isn't your process. It's that nobody's actually following it. Hosts Eddie Reynolds and Rachael Bueckert reveal why process adoption is the number one thing companies struggle with in go-to-market, and the exact system to fix it.Drawing from his experience at Salesforce where process discipline was embedded into muscle memory, Eddie reveals the systematic approach to driving adoption across your entire GTM organization. This isn't about creating more documentation or adding more training sessions, it's about building accountability mechanisms, creating the right reports, establishing consistent coaching rhythms, and making process adherence part of your culture. Whether you're struggling with pipeline hygiene, lead follow-up, or opportunity qualification, this episode walks through the exact steps to get your team executing consistently. Read the full newsletter: How to Drive Adoption of Your GTM ProcessesView the GTM Ops Decision Tree: HereLearn more about Union Square Consulting: unionsquareconsulting.com[00:53] Introduction to GTM process adoption[01:18] Why process adoption is the #1 struggle[02:38] Adoption vs. practice: the sports analogy[03:30] Building muscle memory at Salesforce[05:38] Signs your processes aren't being adopted[06:26] Using reports to diagnose adoption issues[11:42] Creating accountability mechanisms[16:15] The role of consistent coaching[20:48] Training new hires on existing processes[25:33] Documentation that actually gets used[30:17] Building process into CRM workflows[35:24] Making adoption part of performance reviews[40:32] The management team's daily discipline[45:18] Focusing on one thing at a time[50:26] Pipeline hygiene as a forcing function[54:33] Adapting Salesforce's playbook approach[57:00] The brain surgeon analogy[57:57] Key takeaway: pick one thing and drive it_____________________________________________________________________GTM STRATEGY, GROWTH PLANNING, & REVOPS SERVICES● Website● LinkedIn● TikTok

Most CFOs and exec decision makers ask the wrong question when evaluating go-to-market ops investments. They want to see projected ROI before fixing anything. But when your pipeline is a mess, your baseline numbers are already fiction.Hosts Eddie Reynolds and Rachael Bueckert address the question that frustrates Eddie most: "What's the ROI of go-to-market ops?"This episode breaks down why measuring GTM ops ROI is so challenging, and why sometimes you don't need exact numbers to know you're sitting on a massive opportunity.Eddie walks through a detailed financial model showing how even conservative improvements across pipeline management, lead conversion, and customer retention can generate millions in additional revenue. If you're a revenue leader trying to justify investment in GTM ops to your finance team, this episode gives you the framework to make that case.Read the full newsletter: The ROI of GTM OpsTry the ROI Calculator: GTM Ops ROI Spreadsheet[00:46] Introduction to the ROI of GTM ops[01:04] Why Eddie hates this question (but understands it)[03:34] The kitchen fire analogy[04:46] Why ROI is so difficult to measure[06:00] The broken scale problem[08:42] Starting with qualitative assessment[12:15] Building the financial model[16:28] Conservative improvement assumptions[20:35] Pipeline management impact[24:17] Lead conversion improvements[28:42] Customer retention and expansion[32:56] Adding up the total revenue impact[36:21] Time savings and strategic capacity[40:18] Rising above tactical execution[44:24] Making the case to your CFO[46:06] Using the GTM ops decision tree[47:04] The engine vs. fuel metaphor_____________________________________________________________________GTM STRATEGY, GROWTH PLANNING, & REVOPS SERVICES● Website● LinkedIn● TikTok

A $100M B2B SaaS client couldn't tell how many leads or opportunities they generated each month. Their PE firm called us asking for help, but there wasn't time to spend six months building the perfect measurement system. Here's how we helped them.In this solo episode, Eddie Reynolds breaks down how to get visibility into your go-to-market metrics fast while simultaneously building the foundation for long-term growth.Eddie walks through the "quick and dirty" approach our team took, starting with demo requests as proxy leads and demos delivered as proxy opportunities, and why sometimes imperfect metrics you can measure today beat perfect metrics you can't access for six months. Eddie shares the common trap of waiting for perfect data (spoiler: you'll never get there), why you need to define your qualification process before you can objectively say leads are low quality, and how one customer discovered their inbound motion was completely broken only after building the SDR team and process to properly test it.From defining what counts as a qualified opportunity to measuring customer health with nothing more than a red-yellow-green dropdown in Salesforce, Eddie explains how to balance the pressure to produce results now with the work required to build sustainable systems for the future—and why this is fundamentally a never-ending journey.Resources mentioned in this episode:GTM Decision TreeInbound Efficiency FrameworkOutbound Efficiency FrameworkGTM Efficiency Pyramid FrameworkGTM Metrics and InsightsFrameworkRead the article on this topic here.[00:50] Introduction: The $100M Company With No Metrics[03:02] What You Can Measure Today[06:01] The Trap Of Waiting For Perfect Metrics[08:28] Why Defining Process Comes Before Measuring Results[13:06] Starting With New Business Pipeline[16:06] The Question: Generate More Pipeline Or Close More Pipeline?[18:13] Defining Your Inbound Process[20:42] The MQL Definition Problem[22:13] Building Your Outbound Foundation[26:00] Getting Quick Visibility While Building Long-Term Foundation[29:11] Net Revenue Retention: Onboarding And Customer Health[33:52] The Simple Red-Yellow-Green Approach[37:30] Where This Customer Ended Up[39:42] Final Takeaways And Resources_____________________________________________________________________GTM STRATEGY, GROWTH PLANNING, & REVOPS SERVICES● Website● LinkedIn● TikTok

When Kathleen Booth asked a VC operating partner what's actually working in B2B right now, his answer was simple: microsegmentation. Everything else? Not so much. In this episode, our host Rachael Bueckert sits down with Kathleen Booth, former SVP of Marketing at Pavilion, to unpack what that actually means and how to do it without becoming another spam machine.Kathleen shares how Pavilion used AI to not only help create their microsegments, but find highly specific messaging that actually converted. The conversation gets into "moments that matter" for different buyer personas, why ungated content converts better than gated when done right, and how to build toolkits that people actually want to download.From building Pavilion's GTM conference from scratch to creating an AI-first marketing team, Kathleen breaks down the tools, the processes, and the judgment calls that separate microsegmentation that feels human from spray-and-pray at scale.[00:46] Introduction And Kathleen's Background At Pavilion[01:36] Building Pavilion's GTM Conference From Scratch[04:48] What Kathleen Will Miss Most About Pavilion[07:45] Defining Microsegmentation[11:18] How AI And Enrichment Tools Enable Microsegmentation At Scale[14:22] The Line Between Helpful And Creepy Personalization[16:39] Going Beyond "Congrats On Your Recent Raise"[18:14] Using Clay To Scrape Press Releases And Company Data[19:58] Researching What Segments Matter For Your Business[21:25] Identifying "Moments That Matter" For Your Buyers[24:04] The Content Strategy: Ungated Pillar Content With Gated Toolkits[28:40] The Tech Stack For Microsegmentation[31:04] Why Imagination Is The Limiting Factor, Not Tools[35:14] Measuring Success Beyond Open Rates[40:05] Common Mistakes Companies Make With Microsegmentation[44:04] The Future: Humanity As Your Edge When Bots Buy From Bots[45:27] What's Next For Kathleen_____________________________________________________________________GTM STRATEGY, GROWTH PLANNING, & REVOPS SERVICES● Website● LinkedIn● TikTok

Hosts Eddie Reynolds and Rachael Bueckert tackle one of the most expensive yet overlooked problems in B2B marketing: most inbound leads never make it into the pipeline. If your marketing team is generating thousands of leads but sales isn't converting them, the problem might not be lead quality—it could be your process.Eddie reveals the two biggest cash burns he sees across go-to-market teams: hand-raiser leads that don't get adequate follow-up, and score-based leads that convert worse than cold outbound. Walking through a systematic nine-step framework, this episode shows exactly how to diagnose whether you have an operational problem or a lead quality problem, and more importantly, how to fix it. From lead routing and response times to scoring criteria and rep coaching, these aren't theoretical fixes—they're the same steps that helped one customer increase their lead-to-close rate by 25x.Read the full newsletter: HereView the GTM Efficiency Pyramid: Here[00:00] The two biggest marketing money wastes[01:03] Introduction to the 9-step process[01:37] Why most inbound leads never convert[03:01] Operational issues vs. bad lead quality[06:06] Step 1: Define your lead qualification criteria[11:24] Step 2: Implement proper lead routing[16:42] Step 3: Set response time expectations[21:18] Step 4: Create follow-up cadences[26:35] Step 5: Build lead scoring models that work[31:47] Step 6: Separate hand-raisers from scored leads[36:22] Step 7: Track conversion metrics by source[40:58] Step 8: Create accountability dashboards[45:13] Step 9: Coach reps with data, not gut feel[50:12] What to do after implementing all nine steps[52:04] Key takeaways and biggest ROI opportunities_____________________________________________________________________GTM STRATEGY, GROWTH PLANNING, & REVOPS SERVICES● Website● LinkedIn● TikTok

What does it take for a RevOps leader to make the jump to CEO? In this episode, Eddie Reynolds sits down with Scott Sutton, CEO of Later and former VP of RevOps at ZoomInfo, to talk about his path from supply chain intern to running a $100M+ PE-backed company—and what he learned about measurement, accountability, and go-to-market strategy along the way.Scott shares why/how he cut 2/3rds of all leads at ZoomInfo (resulting in increased revenue), the strict (but not punitive) policies he uses to ensure reps actually follow the process, and why every deal-focused CRO needs a detail-obsessed counterpart who geeks out on Salesforce logic. The conversation gets into how Later completely pivoted their business model when data showed customers spending $40M on influencer marketing but only buying $30K software licenses, why gut feel is just unorganized data in your head, and when to stop adding complexity and just nail the basics first.From factory floor lean principles to the Moneyball hiring approach, Scott breaks down why instrumentation beats automation, when to say no to building that perfect attribution model, and how RevOps professionals can translate their work into the kind of strategic impact that opens doors to the C-suite.Learn more about Later at later.com or check out their podcast "Beyond Influencers."Read the article on this topic here.[00:45] Introduction And Scott's Background[02:02] Scott's Career Journey From Supply Chain To CEO[05:08] Translating RevOps Work Into Executive Impact[10:01] How Scott Cut 25% Of Leads And Increased Revenue[11:05] Building The Data Infrastructure First[12:11] Balancing PE Pressure With Building Foundations[15:16] The Non-Negotiables For Sales Process Accountability[17:00] Hiring Your Opposite - The Moneyball Approach[21:14] When Process Becomes Critical As You Scale[24:52] Getting Consistent On Definitions Across Teams[27:03] The Marketing Vs Sales Blame Game[30:20] Re-Engineering Go-To-Market For Enterprise[33:25] Moving From Software Licenses To Media Spend Deals[36:04] Codifying The Entire Go-To-Market Motion[40:29] When To Instrument Vs When To Simplify[44:24] The Limits Of Automation[47:03] Nail The Basics Before Adding Complexity[48:38] How To Learn More About Later_____________________________________________________________________GTM STRATEGY, GROWTH PLANNING, & REVOPS SERVICES● Website● LinkedIn● TikTok

What if one of your marketing channels is secretly printing money while another is burning through cash, but your blended CAC payback metric is hiding what's happening behind both? In this episode, Rachael Bueckert and Eddie Reynolds tackle why measuring CAC payback at the aggregate level is like looking at your financials through foggy glasses.Eddie breaks down why the twelve-month payback threshold matters, how to actually calculate CAC payback for different channels and segments, and why most companies are focusing on fixing what's broken instead of doubling down on what's already working exceptionally well. The conversation gets into the messy reality of attribution, the data you actually need (versus the perfect data you'll never have), and when to cut versus optimize underperforming channels.From Facebook's like button to Salesforce's SDR handoff process, Eddie shares concrete examples of how seemingly small optimizations to high-performing areas can create massive returns—and why your go-to-market ops team should be proactively hunting for these opportunities rather than just firefighting whatever squeaky wheel gets the most attention.Read the article on this topic here.[00:00] Cold Open - Why We Focus On What's Broken Instead Of What's Working[02:02] Episode Introduction[02:11] Why CAC Payback By Channel Matters[04:30] Breaking Down The CAC Payback Formula[07:53] What To Do When CAC Payback Is Over A Year[10:32] The Biggest Issue With Blended CAC Payback[12:27] Breaking Down Lead Buckets To Calculate CAC Payback[15:13] What Systems And Processes You Need In Place[18:14] Choosing Which Buckets To Analyze[22:19] How To Measure CAC For Different Segments[25:25] The Dumpster Fire Vs. Slot Machine Dilemma[31:22] Why Healthy Channels Get Ignored[32:54] What To Do After Analyzing CAC Payback By Channel[39:44] How To Know When It's Time To Cut Something[43:00] When To Double Down Vs. Risk Diminishing Returns[49:23] Using Historical Data To Predict Future Performance[55:26] The Role Of Go-To-Market Operations[59:34] The Moneyball Approach To Revenue Operations[1:02:09] First Steps: Form A Hypothesis And Test It_____________________________________________________________________GTM STRATEGY, GROWTH PLANNING, & REVOPS SERVICES● Website● LinkedIn● TikTok

Most B2B SaaS companies think they have their ICP nailed down, until you realize their "ideal customer" spans fourteen industries, three market segments, and basically anyone with a pulse and a credit card. In this episode, Eddie Reynolds sits down with Brady Jensen, CEO of Clear Go to Market, to talk about why your ICP is probably too broad (or just sneakily WRONG) and what to do about it.Brady shares his methodology for actually validating your ICP by talking to prospects in non-sales contexts, how to find those "weird" characteristics that truly define your best buyers (hint: it's not just industry and revenue), and why competitive intelligence should focus on strategic signals rather than feature-by-feature battle cards that nobody believes anyway. Brady shares when to say no to customers outside your ICP, how to test differentiation messages before your sales team wastes months pitching them, and why the gap between what marketing creates and what actually resonates with buyers is still embarrassingly wide at most companies.From insurance companies to private equity firms, Eddie and Brady use real examples to show how narrowing your focus (even when it means walking away from revenue) can be the smartest growth strategy you'll ever implement.You can learn more about Clear Go to Market at cleargtm.com or reach out to Brady at bjensen@cleargtm.com.Read the article on this topic here.[00:45] Intro And Welcome[01:21] Brady Introduces Clear Go To Market[01:41] Brady's Journey From Sales Rep To CEO - The Problem Of Unvalidated Messaging[04:05] The Art And Science Of Go To Market[05:14] Defining ICP - Starting With Eddie's Example Of Companies Being Too Broad[08:20] Tangible Criteria For Defining ICP[14:20] Brady's Validation Process - Talking To Prospects In Non-Sales Contexts[19:23] Narrowing Down ICP Beyond Broad Categories[24:25] When To Say No To Customers Outside Your ICP[30:58] The Importance Of Buyers Feeling "These People Get Me"[35:40] Competitive Intelligence Discussion[37:16] What Competitive Intelligence Really Means[38:48] The Four Criteria For Differentiation[42:27] Strategic Vs Tactical Competitive Monitoring[44:06] "Weird" ICP Characteristics And Non-Obvious Buying Signals[46:41] How To Learn More About Clear Go To Market_____________________________________________________________________GTM STRATEGY, GROWTH PLANNING, & REVOPS SERVICES● Website● LinkedIn● TikTok

Rachael Bueckert and Eddie Reynolds dive into why most AI implementations in go to market fail and what it takes to build AI foundations that actually work. Using Sas's successful AI SDR that outperformed human reps in just 2 weeks as a case study, Eddie breaks down the critical foundational work that most teams skip when jumping straight to AI tools and prompts.Eddie explains why the same elements that make human SDR teams successful are exactly what AI needs to work properly. This includes hyper-segmented buyer personas, clean data in your CRM, documented processes, and strong accountability from frontline management. The conversation reveals how Union Square Consulting built their own AI-powered content workflow and why having a human subject matter expert who already knows what good looks like is non-negotiable for AI success.Read the full article here.[00:00] Intro[02:04] Why the Faster AI SDR story hits a nerve[03:21] The failed attempts at AI SDR implementation[05:08] Why go to market leaders jump straight to tools[07:27] Key foundational elements for AI success[12:08] What makes AI and human motions fail similarly[14:10] Identifying bad versus missing data[18:38] Defining good processes for accurate data[24:43] The human component in process breakdowns[28:45] Following the go to market efficiency pyramid[30:18] The right time to introduce AI[34:18] Using AI to accelerate content production[42:02] Where teams should start with AI implementation[44:49] How realistic are 2 week results[49:23] Why old school mentality won't survive[53:04] Maintaining momentum during foundational work_____________________________________________________________________GTM STRATEGY, GROWTH PLANNING, & REVOPS SERVICES● Website● LinkedIn● TikTok