Welcome to another episode of Predictable B2B Success, where we explore the keys to sustaining and scaling your business with expert guidance. In this episode, we have the honor of hosting Jason Kruger, president and founder of Signature Analytics, who brings a wealth of knowledge from his extensive public accounting and financial leadership background.

Tune in as Jason delves into exceeding customer expectations, ensuring client satisfaction, and boosting client retention—cornerstones for any thriving business. Learn how consistent contracts impact your accounting, business valuation, and sale potential. Jason shares a fascinating success story from working with a drug and rehabilitation company, where strategic financial improvements led to an acquisition.

But that's not all. Gain insights into the critical role of financial education for business owners and teams across departments, shedding light on often overlooked pain points that can hinder growth. Discover why culture fit is paramount at Signature Analytics and how their remote work model fuels their unprecedented success.

Get ready to uncover the secrets to maximizing cash flow, navigating post-COVID challenges, and weatherproofing your business for future uncertainties. This episode promises invaluable advice, actionable tips, and a deeper understanding of driving business success through financial mastery.

Some areas we explore in this episode include:

• Exceeding Customer Expectations: Importance of client satisfaction and retention rates.
• Bonus Plans and Business Success: Linking bonus plans to business performance and the impact of consistent contracts on accounting and valuation.
• Financial Improvement Success Story: Case study of a drug and rehabilitation company's financial turnaround.
• Credible Financial Information During Due Diligence: Necessity of accurate financial information to avoid discounted offers.
• Hiring and Processes for Success: The importance of hiring the right people, implementing processes, and regular communication.
• Processes for Scaling Business Operations: Essential processes needed for accounting, invoicing, bill payments, and financial reporting.
• Financial Education for Business Leaders: Need for financial education for leaders, including marketing, sales, and customer service teams.
• Post-COVID Business Challenges: Impact of post-COVID challenges, focusing on cash flow management and uncertainty preparation.
• Technology and Data Understanding: Importance of understanding data foundations before investing in technology.
• Remote Work Model and Team Investment: Shift to remote work model and reinvestment in team and culture.
• And much, much more...

In this Predictable B2B Success Podcast episode, host Vinay Koshy engages in a compelling conversation with Will Adams, President at Tarkenton Companies. Will discusses the pressing challenge of preserving the human element in business relationships and innovation processes as AI and technology rapidly advance.

The dialogue covers various topics, including Tarkenton's unique business model as a Skunkworks operation, the importance of journey mapping, and the critical role of empathy and effective communication in leadership. Will also shares insights into how companies can integrate AI without compromising the human experience. He particularly stresses the importance of fostering innovation within risk-averse organizations, aiming to inspire the audience and instill a sense of hope in the face of technological changes.

We also delve into the delicate balance of maintaining the human element in a fast-paced tech landscape dominated by AI advancements. The discussion underscores why empathy should be at the core of user design and customer experience, highlighting its crucial role in the B2B tech industry.

Will Adams shares his wisdom on bridging the gaps between client success and development teams, the importance of journey mapping, and the role of ethical guidelines in the Wild West of technological innovation. Plus, discover why Apple's deliberate approach and Google's cautionary AI tale offer essential lessons for today's businesses. Stay tuned for an episode that promises to challenge your perspectives and spark new ideas for a more empathetic and innovative future in B2B success!

Some areas we explore in this episode include:

1. Role and Mission of Tarkenton:

- Description of Tarkenton's services and their focus on storytelling for long sales cycles.

- The entrepreneurial mindset and mission of making business fun while helping people.

2. Balancing Human Experience and Technology:

- Challenges B2B tech companies face in maintaining the human element amidst rapid AI and technology advancements.

- Impact of technology on young people's mental health and the ethical responsibilities of tech creators and consumers.

3. Empathy and Client Experience:

- Importance of fostering empathy and understanding of the client experience within development teams.

- Practices like rotating engineers through client success roles and placing development teams in client success hubs.

4. Value Beyond Technology:

- Emphasis on adding value to businesses beyond just technology.

- Starting from the point of making a meaningful difference and ensuring sincerity in business practices.

5. Leadership in Rapid Technology Changes:

- Essential leadership qualities include communication, team building, and creating a culture of empowerment.

- Leaders should ask questions, engage teams, and lead by example to foster empathy and understanding.

6. Personal Touch in Customer Relations:

The significance of maintaining a personal touch with customers and within the organization based on Will Adams' early career experience.

7. Ethical Guidelines and Regulatory Guardrails in Technology:

- Importance of ethical guidelines, transparency in design, and regulatory guardrails in AI development.

- The balance between innovation and ethical responsibility.

8. Blending AI and Human Elements:

- Integration of AI with human consultation in their SaaS applications to enhance customer experience.

- Understanding the need for a balanced approach with real-life human support alongside AI.

9. Journey Mapping and Research:

- Initial steps in Tarkenton's process, emphasizing journey mapping and thorough research and design before project planning.

10. Fostering Innovation in Bureaucratic Organizations:

- Strategies to drive innovation in risk-averse settings.

- Use of Skunkworks and the role of a bridge builder to connect the organization with an external innovation team.

11. And much, much more...

In this episode of the Predictable B2B Success podcast, we're diving deep into the often misunderstood world of human-centric sales with our extraordinary guest, Karl Becker.

Karl Becker has founded and run numerous companies over the last thirty years and now runs Improving Sales Performance, a consultancy that supports sales organizations to build high-performing teams and achieve their revenue goals. He is the author of Set up to Win: Three Frameworks to a High-Performing Sales Organization and Sales & Marketing Alignment.

Have you ever wondered how transforming just one employee's outlook can lead to a 30% increase in sales? Karl shares his compelling journey of rescuing a company from firing a 'negative' employee to turning her concerns into actionable changes that revamped the entire sales process.

Host Vinay Koshy unpacks the essence of Karl's revolutionary 'Iceberg Selling' approach. Discover how focusing on the hidden 90% beneath the surface can unlock significant sales potential, moving beyond the transactional to the relational. Karl outlines four potent mindsets—lifetime value, being of service, ownership, and drivership—that elevates sales results and foster personal growth, motivating any salesperson to strive for excellence.

Tune in as Karl navigates the intricate balance between leveraging technology and automation while maintaining genuine human connections. From effective empathy to redefining sales processes, this episode is a treasure trove of actionable insights. Stay with us to learn how slowing down, deeply understanding your customers, and embracing foundational work can lead to sustainable growth and exceptional success. Don't miss out!

Some areas we explore in this episode include:

• The Power of Understanding Employees: How Karl Becker's approach to understanding and addressing an employee's concerns led to substantial sales improvements in a company.
• Human-Centric Sales Approach: The importance of deeply understanding customers and solving their holistic needs rather than focusing on ego and transactions.
• Iceberg Selling Framework: The concept of iceberg selling, focusing on uncovering the hidden aspects of deals and understanding the whole picture behind customer interactions.
• Integration of Technology and Human Connection: Balancing technology and automation in sales while maintaining a human-centric approach.
• Improving CRM Utilization: Leveraging existing leads in a CRM and involving the sales team in redefining the sales process for better revenue growth.
• Empathy and Patience in Sales: The significance of salespeople being empathetic, patient, and willing to try different approaches when traditional methods aren't working.
• Lifetime Value and Relationship Building: Focusing on building long-term relationships with clients rather than rushing to close deals.
• Foundational Work for Sustainable Growth: The importance of foundational work and intentional steps for achieving sustainable growth, analogous to catching a baseball.
• Organizational Alignment: Ensuring alignment between organizational values and sales strategies through core values, transparency, and accountability.
• Mindset Shifts for Success: The impact of mindset shifts (lifetime value, being of service, ownership, and drivership) within organizations and their role in driving significant improvements in sales and overall success.
• And much, much more ...

Welcome to another episode of Predictable B2B Success, where we delve into the secrets behind driving consistent and monumental growth in the business-to-business landscape. In today's episode, host Vinay Koshy engages with the dynamic Kurt Uhlir, a visionary in marketing and leadership strategies.

Ever wonder how healthy conflict can catalyze breakthrough innovations or why early communication in team dynamics can be the magic ingredient for sustained success? Kurt Uhlir expertly demystifies these essential components, sharing decades of experience and insights from his unexpected mentor, Judson Green.

We dive deep into the transformational journey of hypergrowth, relying on documented processes and scalable strategies.

Are you curious about how aligning sales, marketing, and engineering can reshape customer perceptions and skyrocket your efficiency? Kurt has firsthand answers. From dissecting HubSpot's marketing challenges to unleashing the power of unified customer views and impact-driven storytelling, we leave no stone unturned.

Kurt's strategic approach to fostering a supportive culture is a game-changer for leaders navigating the murky waters of risk, control, and business outcomes. This episode is a treasure trove of insights, from semantic SEO experiments to the visionary use of AI in marketing.

Ready to revolutionize your B2B success? Tune in and transform how you approach growth, leadership, and innovation.

Some areas we explore in this episode include:

• Encouragement of Healthy Conflict: The importance of early communication and resolution of disagreements to prevent future animosity and improve decision-making.
• Strategies for Hypergrowth in B2B Companies: Focus on scalable strategies, documentation of operations, and systemized approaches to drive consistent and significant growth.
• Top Challenges in Marketing Strategy**: Addressing issues like sales and marketing alignment, hiring top talent, and creating effective lead-generating content.
• Contribution over Attribution in Marketing: The need to shift from last-click attribution to understanding the broader contribution of marketing efforts.
• Importance of Branding and Intangibles: Focusing on long-term goals and gaining CEO and CFO buy-in for marketing efforts by emphasizing brand value and intangibles.
• Approach to Leadership and Conflict Resolution: Aligning business outcomes, creating frameworks for healthy conflict, and ensuring congruence with past agreements.
• Unified Customer View and Data Access: The significance of marketers having access to comprehensive customer data to understand and meet customer needs effectively.
• Experimentation with New Marketing Technologies: Employing a "mad scientist" approach to testing new strategies and tools, such as semantic and topical SEO.
• Storytelling in Marketing and Sales: Curating the best stories for customers, using their language, and setting the right narrative to reduce customer churn.
• Systems Mindset in Marketing and Investments: Aligning marketing tasks with company outcomes, securing investments by tracking leading indicators, and using a systemized approach to build relationships with future clients.
• And much, much more...

In this episode of the Predictable B2B Success Podcast, host Vinay Koshy speaks with Avetis Ghazaryan, tech entrepreneur and CEO of Growth Hunter, about strategies early-stage startups can employ to drive exponential growth. ATI discusses the concept of momentum marketing and how it can help early-stage startups achieve reliable and repeatable pipeline growth. Key areas covered include:

• The significance of understanding buyer preferences.
• Aligning marketing efforts with high congregation moments.
• The importance of proven playbooks.

Avetis also shares insights from his journey in creating Growth Hunter, a central hub for integrating high-impact marketing strategies into startup operations. The episode highlights startups' challenges with customer acquisition, lifetime value calculations, and staying updated with buyer needs.

But that's not all; Avetis shares invaluable tools and insights on bridging the communication gap between businesses and their customers, ensuring your messaging hits the mark every time. Whether you're a seasoned marketer or just starting, this episode is packed with actionable strategies and insider tips to elevate your B2B success. So, grab your notepad and get ready to transform your marketing game with Avetis Ghazaryan on Predictable B2B Success!

Some topics we explore in this episode include:

• Understanding the Buyer's Perspective: The importance of consistent market research in B2B marketing to understand buyers' top-of-mind concerns.
• Role of Playbooks in Pipeline Growth: The significance of using proven and tested playbooks to achieve reliable and repeatable pipeline growth, along with the implementation challenges.
• Staying Connected with Thought Leaders: The need to stay updated and adapt strategies by connecting with thought leaders and joining collective communities.
• Resources Provided by Growth Hunter: How Growth Hunter serves as a resource hub for B2B experts to exchange playbooks and ideas, aiding in understanding buyer preferences.
• Differentiation Between Trends and Momentums in SaaS: How SaaS professionals can navigate the difference between trends and significant market momentums.
• Demand Generation During High Congregation Moments: The opportunity presented by significant events or themes that engage prospects and allow the introduction of relevant solutions.
• Momentum Marketing Explained: The process of identifying high congregation moments and aligning messaging and strategies within that context.
• Primary Tools for Understanding Buyers' Concerns: Tools like ZoomInfo data, third-party intent data, first-party CRM data, customer interviews, and attending conferences to grasp what is top-of-mind for buyers.
• Launching Growth Hunter: Avetis Ghazaryan's journey of leveraging momentum marketing before founding Growth Hunter and his focus on aligning marketing efforts to buyer preferences.
• Implementing Momentum Marketing in SaaS: Challenges and steps involved in identifying and incorporating momentum marketing strategies for predictable revenue growth in SaaS.
• And much, much more...

In this episode of the Predictable B2B Success podcast, host Vinay Koshy talks with seasoned online marketing expert Astrid Kramer. Astrid delves into the crucial intersection of SEO and Customer Experience (CX), emphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. She discusses the significance of integrating SEO from the planning stages of product development, the evolving nature of SEO and its misconceptions, and the role of effective communication within and outside the organization.

Astrid also touches on leveraging tools, data analysis, and AI to refine SEO strategies. Key takeaways include:

• The necessity of breaking down silos.
• Enabling in-house SEO capabilities.
• Understanding the broader impact of SEO on brand reputation and user satisfaction.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Discover why integrating SEO into your entire organization—from editorial teams to web developers—can revolutionize your brand's visibility. Learn how emerging platforms like TikTok are morphing into significant search engines and why customer stories are golden for your website content. With Astrid's pragmatic advice on making images smaller for faster load times and insights into leveraging AI tools like ChatGPT, this episode is packed with actionable wisdom.

Astrid also delves into the untapped power of interdisciplinary collaboration, weaving together SEO, social media, public relations, and customer service into a cohesive strategy. Tune in to learn how optimizing your business for search engines can become an integral part of your product strategy and customer experience. This is an episode you won't want to miss!

Some areas we explore in this episode include:

• Professional SEO Tools: The importance of using tools like Semrush for keyword research and competitor analysis.
• SEO Misconceptions: Debunking common myths and emphasizing the need to work with search engines and integrate SEO into website planning.
• Internal Team Education: Training internal teams (web developers, editorial staff, public relations) to include SEO practices in their tasks to reduce reliance on external SEO experts.
• Improving Website Performance: Specific advice on making website images smaller and faster for better SEO performance.
• Effective SEO Consultancy: Finding a trustworthy SEO consultancy that prioritizes client-specific needs and resources.
• Interdisciplinary Collaboration: The need for collaboration between SEO and other disciplines like SCA, social media, public relations, customer service, and sales to develop effective SEO strategies.
• Leveraging Social Media for SEO: The growing significance of social media platforms like TikTok as search engines and incorporating customer questions and stories into content.
• SEO for Large Corporations and Publishers: Challenges faced in implementing SEO in big enterprises, focusing on the importance of educating the IT department about SEO.
• Technical SEO Priorities: Prioritizing technical SEO issues such as status codes, redirecting error pages, and optimizing images for large websites.
• Customer Experience (CX) and SEO: The increasing importance of customer experience in SEO, with Google rewarding websites that provide better CX.
• And much, much more...

In this Predictable B2B Success Podcast episode, host Vinay Koshy speaks with Julie Brown, VP of Industry and Customer Experience at Johnson Controls. Julie shares insights from her 24 years of experience in general management, product development, and marketing across various industries.

The discussion delves into strategies for achieving profitable revenue growth in the B2B sector, focusing on customer needs, accurate data, and the importance of aligning business operations with value disciplines. Julie also highlights the challenges of traditional market segmentation, the role of leadership in fostering a customer-centric culture, and the significance of storytelling in communicating business value.

Some areas we explore in this episode include:

• Innovation Metaphor: Julie Brown's metaphor of starting a fire in the rain to describe the innovation process, emphasizing the need for nurturing, patience, and understanding.
• Impact of B2B Marketing: The role of B2B marketing in driving organic double-digit growth for businesses.
• Leadership and Culture: The importance of leadership in creating a culture of open communication, learning from mistakes, and allowing for experimentation within organizations.
• Business Language for Marketers: The necessity for marketers to communicate in the language of business, focusing on profitability, revenue, and ROI to gain credibility.
• Customer-Centric Approach: The significance of being market-focused and customer-centric, as learned from Julie Brown's experience at Alcoa.
• Market Segmentation: Challenges with traditional market segmentation practices and the suggestion to segment markets based on customer needs rather than firmographics.
• Uncovering Customer Needs: Approaches like jobs to be done, customer journey mapping, and ethnography to understand the "why" behind customer behavior.
• Value Disciplines: Differentiating businesses through value disciplines such as price, operational excellence, and customer intimacy, and how understanding customer needs can guide these strategies.
• Humility and Course Correction: The importance of having good data, the humility to admit mistakes, and the courage to embrace change for quicker course correction and transformation.
• Explaining Marketing Investments: The challenge of explaining marketing investments to CEOs and CFOs, emphasizing the need for marketers to understand financial statements and use storytelling to make data relatable and understandable.
• And much, much more...

In this episode of the Predictable B2B Success Podcast, Vinay Koshy interviews Andrew Kahl, CEO of Backbox, on the vital role of customer success in business growth. Andrew shares insights from his extensive experience in customer service and success, emphasizing the significance of understanding customer needs, problem-solving, and the strategic balance between people and processes in delivering exceptional customer service. The conversation highlights Backbox's approach to network and security automation, the impact of customer retention on business success, and the evolving role of technology, including AI, in enhancing customer experiences. Tune in to learn how understanding the "why" in customer stories can be a game-changer for your B2B success.

Some areas we explore in this episode include:

• Metrics tracked for customer success: net retention, gross retention, CSAT, net promoter scores
• Leading indicators for customer engagement: unsolicited inbound communication, customer inquiries
• Focus on getting customers up and running quickly to build credibility
• Importance of customer advocacy and using customer stories for PR
• Influence of various platforms to communicate customer success stories
• Emphasis on human engagement over solely focusing on metrics
• Influence of Tom Mendoza and traditional values on caring for people
• Importance of a human-centric, customer-centric mindset for company growth
• Future plans including leveraging AI for network complexities
• Importance of critical thinking skills and communication in problem-solving and customer care
• And much, much more...