C-Suite Sales & Marketing Perspectives

Hosted by Steven MacDonald

Business MarketingInterviews guests

Website RSS feed LinkedIn

Episodes

351

Latest episode

Oct 2026

Language

About the show

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

Listen to episodes

60 recent

October 27, 202632 min

Part Eighteen: The Revenue Logic of Customer Obsession

Episode #355 Alex Wakefield, Chief Revenue Officer at AcuityMD, shares how a deeper understanding of customers can create stronger relationships and support revenue growth. He explains why research, meaningful conversations, and consistent value help sales teams earn customer trust. Alex also discusses how bringing customer-facing teams into the sales process creates a more connected experience. “The way to become a trusted advisor is not to lose focus on the trust piece. Be transparent with your customers and prospects, constantly providing them insights, being selfless, and helping them.” — Alex Wakefield This conversation explores how customer intimacy can shape the way companies sell, serve, and grow. Alex explains how researching a customer’s business helps teams identify opportunities to provide value, why buyers should meet the people responsible for their success, and how useful insights can keep conversations moving. He also shares why trust must come before a company can earn the role of advisor. Follow Alex Wakefield on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn

October 27, 202632 min

Why the Future of B2B Belongs to Companies That Own Results

Episode #354: Yariv Drori, Chief Marketing Officer at Multiview, shares why B2B companies need to focus on the results their customers want. He explains how technology, services, and execution work together to deliver those outcomes. The conversation explores why vendors should take greater ownership of customer success. Yariv also discusses how teams and partners can align around a shared business objective. “The result should be the objective, and then you build a business model that supports that result.” — Yariv Drori This conversation explores how B2B companies can move beyond delivering technology to help customers achieve meaningful results. Yariv shares lessons from his experience building services around advertising technology and explains why the work required to deliver an outcome deserves recognition. He also discusses how clear expectations and shared accountability can strengthen relationships across teams, vendors, and partners. Follow Yariv Drori on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn

October 26, 202628 min

The Hidden ABM Problem No New Platform Can Solve

Episode #353: Jay Manciocchi, Chief Marketing Officer, AI-Native Business and Platforms Unit at Wipro, explains the alignment challenges technology alone cannot solve. He connects shared revenue goals, customer insights, and reliable account data with stronger ABM execution. His examples show why human creativity, ongoing training, and effective change management remain essential as teams adopt AI to support personalization and revenue growth. “You got to move to what I would call a unified go-to-market framework that's really driven by shared metrics, content governance, good practices, and ultimately integrated workflows. It’s a shared responsibility.” - Jay Manciocchi What makes an ABM investment translate into revenue? Jay explores the leadership decisions behind effective account selection, shared accountability, and consistent execution. He explains how customer feedback challenges internal assumptions, why clean data matters more as AI adoption grows, and how creative outreach can earn executive attention. The conversation offers practical guidance for leaders connecting technology investment with stronger customer relationships. Follow Jay Manciocchi on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn

October 23, 202629 min

Growth Breaks When Customer and Company Priorities Stop Aligning

Episode #352: Michelle Sidwell, Chief Revenue Officer at Velo3D, explains how customer collaboration helped reshape the company’s go-to-market strategy during a difficult turnaround. She describes moving beyond printer sales to help customers qualify parts, enter production, and build lasting manufacturing partnerships. Her central lesson is that sustainable growth requires aligned customer priorities, internal teams, investment, and execution as the business changes. “Sustainable growth comes from alignment. If you have to align what the customer needs with what matters strategically to their business, then you have to align your own people's investment and execution around delivering it. When those things stay aligned, and people are all aligned, you can build tremendous customer relationships and tremendous businesses.” - Michelle Sidwell Michelle explains how Velo3D helps customers solve immediate production challenges, narrow its market focus, and build the teams required to deliver. The conversation connects customer understanding with commercial discipline, showing why lasting partnerships depend on practical support, consistent execution, and a shared commitment across the business. Follow Michelle Sidwell on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn

October 21, 202626 min

Your Short-Term Growth Strategy May Be Undermining Long-Term Revenue

Episode #351: Milja Saarimaa, Group Chief Marketing Officer at Midagon, explores how short-term pipeline priorities can overshadow the relationships that support lasting revenue. She discusses earning buyer trust, expanding existing customer relationships, and bringing customer insights into leadership decisions. She encourages executives to connect departmental efforts around shared business goals while making marketing’s contribution to growth clear. “95% of the buyers are not buying at the moment, but we still need to build the trust, the reputation, the brand with them. When they become the 5% in the buying stage and are making the shortlist, we need to already be on that list. At that point, there is no way to get onto the list from the sidelines.” - Milja Saarimaa Milja explains how leaders can make trust and reputation part of business planning, use customer knowledge to uncover expansion opportunities, and connect internal expertise with customer needs. She also explores why ongoing dialogue helps executives challenge assumptions and coordinate growth across departments. Follow Milja Saarimaa on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn

October 19, 202629 min

The Bermuda Triangle of Growth: Why Mid-Market Playbooks Stop Working

Episode #350: Irina Nicoleta Scarlat, Chief Marketing Officer at Improbable, explores why growing companies struggle when familiar playbooks no longer fit their size, customers, or market conditions. She connects sustainable growth with product delivery, authentic communication, customer listening, and retention. Her advice challenges executives to rethink established habits, align teams around customer success, and use experience to learn faster while remaining open to unfamiliar approaches. “The people that are going to succeed are the people that are humble enough to not be tied to how they've done things before, and resilient enough to try and fail until they figure out something that works. It's going to be a mixture of persistence and willingness not only to learn, but also to unlearn.” - Irina Nicoleta Scarlat Irina explains how growth exposes gaps in leadership habits, customer understanding, and revenue priorities. She explores why enterprise processes can overwhelm smaller businesses, how honest product conversations strengthen credibility, and why sales success should extend beyond payment. The discussion gives executives a practical way to reassess familiar tactics, preserve customer feedback, and build relationships that support lasting revenue. Follow Irina Nicoleta Scarlat on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn

October 15, 202626 min

Unlocking the Business Value of AI Personalization

Episode #349: Alysha McCree, Head of Marketing at FPT Americas, explains why simply claiming AI leadership no longer sets a company apart. She shares how domain knowledge, governance, and meaningful outcomes can demonstrate real value. Alysha discusses adapting marketing as buyers use AI to evaluate vendors and rely on outside sources for trust. She also describes using AI and company data to improve decisions, equip teams, and assess future events. “The whole point of it all isn’t that you just put yourself out there as an AI leader. You really have to prove it by showing what you do differently and enabling your business to do something differently. It’s looking for those opportunities to go beyond just execution into the strategic.” - Alysha McCree Alysha explains how B2B marketers can connect AI to measurable outcomes. She shares how specialized knowledge, governance, and results can prove AI leadership as buyers use AI and outside sources to evaluate vendors. She also describes an event intelligence database that compares potential opportunities with historical costs, ROI, and team feedback to guide investment decisions. Follow Alysha McCree on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn

October 12, 202632 min

Category Leadership: Setting the Foundations of Success

Episode #348: David Carrel, Former Global Marketing Leader at Thomson Reuters, Adobe, and AWS, explains how category leadership goes beyond thought leadership to shape how a market thinks. He outlines the foundations, from identifying a market shift and proving value through the product to building a shared narrative and company-wide operating system. He also explains how customer insight and cross-functional accountability help turn market leadership into action. “I view category leadership as shaping the market from the early days, beyond any one aspect or topic. It means shaping the mental model customers and the market use to understand it. That work needs to become an operating system across all the different pieces of marketing.” — David Carrel This conversation explores the foundations companies need to lead a category. David discusses how to understand market shifts, shape customer and industry perceptions, and support a strong point of view with products and proof. He also explains how a consistent company narrative, customer insight, and close cross-team work can turn category leadership into a repeatable growth strategy. Follow David Carrel on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn

October 6, 202626 min

Part Seventeen: The Revenue Logic of Customer Obsession

Episode #347: Melanie Zmetek Naconecy de Souza, Chief Marketing Officer at AERTEC, explains why customer obsession begins with clarity. She shares how purpose, shared customer understanding, and brand consistency align complex B2B organizations. Her perspective shows how marketing can build trust before a sales conversation begins. “A stronger brand can build trust. I think that’s the role of B2B marketing because the relationship with the client is built in a very long cycle, in a very personal way. The customer relationship is not only rational, but it’s emotional as well. Brands have this appeal to have a place in the minds and sometimes in the hearts of the customers.” - Melanie Zmetek Naconecy de Souza In this conversation, Melanie shows how leaders can turn complex offerings into clear customer value. She explores the role of purpose in aligning teams, the discipline of sharing one view of the customer, and the brand-building work that happens before a buyer speaks with sales. Her experience connects customer understanding, focused communication, and trust to sustainable revenue growth. Follow Melanie Zmetek Naconecy de Souza on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn

October 1, 202632 min

The Growth Asset Most Companies Barely Use

Episode #346: Ashley Deibert, a three-time Chief Marketing Officer, explains why customers are one of the most valuable growth assets B2B companies often underuse. She shares how loyalty, advocacy, and ongoing customer partnership can protect revenue while creating trust with future buyers. Ashley also explains why long-term growth requires patience, quick wins, and a customer voice that shapes every part of the business. “Sustainable growth isn't something you do to customers, it's something you build with them. The companies that listen to their customers and bring them into the journey, earn their trust, are the ones that usually build growth that lasts.” - Ashley Deibert This conversation explores how leaders can balance immediate revenue pressure with the long-term work of building awareness, trust, and preference. Ashley breaks down the difference between customer satisfaction and loyalty, why customer retention belongs within the go-to-market strategy, and how companies can involve customers in messaging, campaigns, and business decisions. The episode offers a practical perspective on turning customer relationships into a lasting engine for growth. Follow Ashley Deibert on LinkedIn Follow Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn

Is this your show?

Claim this listing to keep it up to date, reach guests who want to pitch you, and manage bookings with Guestify.

Claim this listing

More Business podcasts

The Bottom Line

Alexander Spencer

BusinessInterviews guests