Burn The Playbook - B2B GTM Strategies with Marc Crosby

Hiring is getting noisier. Brian Pahl breaks down what still gets people hired in technical manufacturing.
Marc Crosby and Brian call out what leaders miss on succession, interviews, LinkedIn, and remote work.

• Why succession planning should start before the role is open
• What hiring managers actually notice in interviews
• How LinkedIn keywords help recruiters find the right people
• When remote work expands talent and when on-site s...

Pricing pressure is real. Here’s how B2B teams defend price and win.
Dr. Steve Laborda shares the value moves most sellers skip.

On this episode of Burn The Playbook, Marc Crosby (Digital Rebels Consulting) sits down with Dr. Steve Laborda, Founder and CEO of Value Biz Booster and author of Master The Art of Value-Based Selling. Steve breaks down why “value-based selling” fails inside most companies, how to stop...

CRM adoption fails when teams treat it like data entry instead of a communication tool. In this episode of Burn The Playbook Podcast, Marc Crosby sits down with Michael Venman, founder of The Sales Nerd, to break down why the sales-marketing handoff keeps breaking, what “stage zero” really is, and how to build rev ops systems teams actually use.

What you'll learn

• Why CRM adoption fails when departments optimize for th...

Win-loss analysis for B2B sales. Learn how to capture clean, candid buyer feedback, stop guessing in CRM, and turn every pursuit into future wins. Author of “Rebirth of the Salesman” Cian McLaughlin joins Marc Crosby on Burn The Playbook to share 15+ years of hard lessons from enterprise pursuits at SAP, Cognizant, and Trinity.

What you’ll learn

• Why seller self-reports distort win-loss data and what to do instea...

Innovation playbooks that work. In this episode of the Burn The Playbook Podcast, Marc Crosby sits with Tendayi Viki, partner at Strategyzer and author of Pirates in the Navy, to break down how large companies build a repeatable system for real innovation instead of theater. You’ll learn how to run sprints, scorecard bets, and connect sales, R&D, and leadership so ideas turn into revenue.

What you’ll learn

• What an...

Strategy in business is simple: create unique value people can’t get anywhere else. Author and consultant Alex M H Smith breaks down “No Bullshit Strategy” so leaders stop chasing buzzwords and start making real choices.

What you’ll learn

• What “strategy” means in business and why most teams get it wrong
• How to define unique value vs. “better” or “best in class”
• Innovation ...

B2B sales for founders: how to run real discovery, align a proof of value, and close without racing to discounts. Outcome: shorter cycles, cleaner handoffs, and deals that stick.

In this episode of the Burn The Playbook Podcast, host Marc Crosby (Digital Rebels Consulting) digs into the WINGS Sales Program with Raz Vicerabin. Raz led revenue teams through IPO at Riskified and now teaches founders the sales fundamentals. We cover min...

B2B go-to-market that actually drives ARR. Richard Blundell shares the simple operating cadence founders need to land real customers, cut churn, and scale without burning cash. Richard Blundell is a SaaS sales and go-to-market expert with more than 20 years of experience scaling B2B software companies as a founder, CRO, and CEO. He’s helped dozens of founders grow from first product to recurring revenue, guiding many beyond t...

Business storytelling that closes deals. In this episode, Microsoft and Unilever advisor Nir Zavaro shows how to ditch slide-first pitching and lead with a clear, written narrative that aligns marketing, sales, and leadership. If your team talks features instead of a story, this is your playbook.

Nir Zavaro is a global keynote speaker, author, and consultant known as "The Business Storyteller." With over 20 years of experience, he h...

AI for life science sales and marketing that actually moves revenue. In this episode of Burn The Playbook, Marc Crosby digs in with Matt Wilkinson, founder of Strivenn, on how commercial teams cut through hype and apply AI where it matters: personas, buying groups, objection prep, and sales practice that sticks.

What you’ll learn

• How “persona AI” turns real LinkedIn and VOC data into a usable synthetic customer
• A...

B2B sales has flipped. Buyers complete most of the journey before you show up, and GenAI is doing the research. In this episode, Graham Hawkins explains how to win in a buyer-led era with GEO, deep selling, and agentic tools that cut wasted effort.

Original release of this episode, July 25th 2025

Graham Hawkins Bio
With more than 34 years of business experience in executive B2B sales and sales leadership roles, Graham Hawkins is a...

Gap Prospecting that gets replies. Keenan breaks down problem-centric outbound, the Problem Identification Chart, and how to write messages that create intrigue and interest. If you’re stuck in activity theater, this flips the script. Keenan is the CEO of A Sales Growth Company, a Forbes Top 50 Social Seller, and one of the most cited sales experts in the world. He wrote Not Taught and the bestselling Gap Selling, with his ne...

LinkedIn strategy for business in plain English. Learn how to fix your profile, post with purpose, and turn daily activity into real pipeline. Guest expert Brenda Meller shares simple steps any team can use in 15 minutes a day.

Helping the self-employed, executives, and corporate teams enjoy a bigger slice of the LinkedIn pie, Brenda Meller is a former corporate marketer turned LinkedIn coach as an entrepreneur, national speaker, Ch...

The Framemaking Sale for B2B sales. How to create buyer confidence, reduce regret, and win bigger, cleaner deals. Brent Adamson shares why “be helpful” beats “be the smartest” in 2025.

What you’ll learn

• What “frame making” is and how it differs from Challenger
• How to drive high quality, low regret deals
• Where frame making plugs into discovery, objections, and coaching
• Why differentiation now...

AI marketing for B2B that actually drives revenue, not vanity clicks. CEO Melih Oztalay of SmartFinds Marketing breaks down predictive scoring, active CTAs, chatbots, and SmartPress distribution so you can show up in news and AI surfaces.  If you’re planning 2026 budgets, this episode gives you the stack and cadence to win.

Melih Oztalay is the CEO of SmartFinds Marketing and a digital strategist with over 35 years of exp...

Business networking that actually produces deals. Entrepreneur Joe Mindak breaks down “Connectors Get Paid,” The Connective community, and how Nolodex helps companies track and reward referrals. If you want a pipeline that doesn’t stall, pay the connectors and make your whole org part of sales.

What you’ll learn

• What a connector is and why connectors get paid
• Trust vs numbers: how real referrals close faste...

Trade show strategy that actually drives revenue. In this episode, Alison French, founder of LTO and creator of ShowScout, breaks down how to turn conferences and exhibit halls into qualified pipeline instead of expensive hope. If you sell B2B and still treat events like a “brand play,” this is your wake-up.

What you’ll learn

• Why conferences outperform big expos for B2B sales, and when to skip a show
• How to pick ...

Leadership Under Fire: People, Process, & Persistence | Joseph Polanin - Founder Alaka'i Group

Episode snapshot
From special operations to the boardroom. Joe shows how vision, strategy, and talent work only when they work together. We cover hiring for values, over communication that actually builds trust, killing silos without calendar bloat, and taking prudent risk instead of chasing a zero-defect fantasy.

Highlights

• Visio...

Bio:

James Santy is the founder and CEO of The Sales DREAM, with more than 20 years of experience spanning frontline sales, sales operations, and executive leadership. His career has been defined by a consistent ability to transform sales organizations, build scalable infrastructure, and deliver measurable growth.

Summary

In this conversation, Marc Crosby interviews James Santy, founder and CEO of The Sales Dream, discussing t...