Sales & Marketing Playbook: Unleashed

Hosted by Evan Polin & Craig Andrews

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Jun 2026

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About the show

"Sales and Marketing Playbook: Unleashed" is a dynamic and informative podcast that provides listeners with the essential strategies, tactics, and insights to excel in the world of sales and marketing. Hosted by industry experts and thought leaders, this podcast delves deep into the latest trends, best practices, and innovative approaches that drive success in the competitive business landscape. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out, "Sales and Marketing Playbook: Unleashed" offers a treasure trove of actionable advice, real-world examples, and inspiring interviews to help you unlock your full potential and achieve outstanding results in sales and marketing. Join us on this journey of discovery, growth, and transformation as we unleash the power of effective sales and marketing techniques.

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60 recent

June 13, 202634 min

How To Measure Sales And Marketing ROI That Actually Matters

Send us Fan MailLikes are easy to count. Profit is harder. Today we get brutally practical about measuring ROI across marketing and sales so you can stop guessing, stop “feeling busy,” and start building a growth system you can actually defend with numbers. We talk about what ROI really means, why tracking time and spend matters as much as tracking revenue, and how to tell the difference between activity that looks good and activity that closes business.We also unpack the simplest way to make sales and marketing work as one team. Craig shares why vanity metrics mislead leaders, and Evan explains the sales side scoreboard: lead source attribution, conversion rates from first conversation to first meeting, qualification rates, proposal to close ratios, and how long deals take to move through your pipeline. We connect those metrics to customer lifetime value, margin, and revenue by source so you can see what is working and what needs to be cut.Then we get into planning and accountability. If you set a revenue goal without a plan, you are just picking a number. We explain how a revenue calculator can map targets to the volume of qualified leads and closes you need, and why “throwing more money at it” fails when your team cannot handle the leads you already have. You will also hear why comfort activities like the same trade show every year should be treated as community, not prospecting, unless the data proves otherwise.If you want clearer customer acquisition cost, better lead quality, and a sales process that gets more efficient over time, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a teammate who owns a number, and leave a review telling us which ROI metric you track most closely.Beholder AgencyWe provide marketing strategies & services that increase in awareness, sales & engagement.Polin Performance GroupWe offer strategies to increase sales, maximize performance and increase revenue for businesses. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

May 18, 202632 min

LinkedIn Outreach That Actually Works

Send us Fan MailIf LinkedIn “doesn’t work,” we think it’s usually because it’s being used like a static profile page instead of a living sales and marketing system. Craig Andrews and Evan Polin sit down with LinkedIn expert Sharon Shapiro of Broly Marketing to get specific about what actually moves the needle: clean data, smart targeting, authentic messaging, and the discipline to turn online touchpoints into real conversations.We talk about LinkedIn as a constantly updated database for research and business development, then walk through a practical process you can apply right away. Evan explains how exporting your connections and grading them from A to F creates instant clarity on who will respond, who can refer, and who belongs in your next round of outreach. Sharon shares how her team segments audiences, A/B tests messages, and uses automation carefully within LinkedIn’s limits so outreach stays human and doesn’t trigger that “obvious bot” reaction we all hate.We also draw a hard line between helpful automation and wishful thinking. AI can support segmentation, analysis, and personalization at scale, but it cannot replace the human context that builds trust. Craig brings it back to measurement, too: clicks and impressions are meaningless if they don’t lead to replies, meetings, and conversions. The real goal is a predictable pipeline and stronger relationships, especially for professional services and high-ticket offers.If you want a LinkedIn strategy that’s measurable, respectful, and built for real sales conversations, press play. Subscribe, share this with a teammate, and leave a review with your biggest LinkedIn outreach question.

March 29, 2026Episode 629 min

Stop Chasing Cheapest Jobs And One Star Reviews

Send us Fan MailSales and marketing can either fuel each other or quietly sabotage each other. Recording live at PJ Wellahan’s in Oaks, PA with the Electrical Association of Philadelphia, we get brutally practical about what happens when marketing generates attention but sales can’t close, or when sales blames “bad leads” while marketing swears the leads are fine. The fix is not another tactic. It’s alignment: one message, one definition of the right customer, and one shared goal tied to revenue.We talk about why commodity-based jobs drag down profit and morale, and how value-based selling changes the conversation. Evan walks through how to handle the “price” objection with questions that expose risk, longevity, and quality, plus how to spot the prospects you should disqualify before they become your next one-star review. Craig adds the marketing side: prospects research you first, so your online presence must clearly explain what you do and why it matters.We also dig into trust builders that compound over time: an active Google Business Profile, consistent review generation, and a referral habit that can grow your customer base year after year. Then we sharpen the most overlooked advantage in crowded markets: specific differentiation. Not vague claims, but clear proof and simple language that customers remember in seconds.Subscribe to Sales And Marketing Playbook Unleashed, share this with a business owner who fights the “lead quality” battle, and leave a review with your biggest sales or marketing roadblock so we can tackle it next.

March 24, 2026Episode 533 min

How to Measure the effectiveness of Sales Training Programs

Send us Fan MailWant proof your sales training actually works? We dig into a no-fluff framework that moves beyond “feel-good” workshops and into measurable behavior change, pipeline impact, and real revenue. With sales coach Evan Polin and growth marketer Craig Andrews, we unpack how to align marketing and sales into a single system that compounds results instead of clashing at the handoff.We start by setting clear objectives: which problems are we solving, which skills must improve, and how we will measure success. Then we map five levels of effectiveness you can apply right away. Reaction doesn’t count; learning must be tested with role plays and pre/post checks. Behavior changes are the first real signal—more targeted outreach, tighter qualification, firm next steps. From there, we track pipeline impact: faster sales cycles, higher win rates, and bigger deal sizes. Finally, we tie it to revenue and ROI, including referral volume and account growth. Along the way, we talk leadership buy-in, shared language, and why a consistent message from marketing to sales is non-negotiable for trust.You’ll also hear a simple LinkedIn referral play that delivered quick introductions for a team of attorneys, plus how a “revenue cookbook” turns annual targets into weekly behaviors anyone can follow. Expect honest timelines: 30–45 days for visible behavior shifts, 60–90 days for added opportunities, and three to nine months for booked revenue, depending on your cycle. Senior sellers often see faster returns; newer reps need reinforcement and patience. The goal is a scalable culture where everyone follows the same process, making coaching easier and results predictable.If you’re ready to stop chasing smiley surveys and start cashing checks, this is your playbook for measurable sales training, aligned marketing, and repeatable growth. Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a review telling us which metric you’ll improve first.

March 1, 202628 min

How to Market a Local Business Using Local Search, Local Trust, and a Proven Sales Playbook

Send us Fan MailBuyers on their phones aren’t browsing—they’re choosing. We dive straight into how local search, clear messaging, and sales alignment transform high-intent moments into revenue you can forecast. Craig lays out the local-first marketing framework that gets your brand where it matters: “near me” queries, city pages, and listings that speak the language of your neighborhood. Evan shows how to carry that clarity into the first call, qualify fast, and keep the promise your marketing makes so deals close in days, not months.We unpack the difference between local search marketing and localized marketing, then show how they work together: discovery plus relevance. You’ll learn why vague superlatives like “best in the world” push buyers away, and how specific, local proof—reviews that mention neighborhoods, photos of real work, and recent wins—pull them in. We talk operational speed, too, because nothing kills intent faster than a 30-second hold. If calls go unanswered and forms sit idle, your competitors say thank you.The case study hits home: a new franchise moved from general tactics to a local-first playbook—optimized listings, targeted pages, review velocity, and conversation-led pricing. Within weeks they sold hundreds of thousands in equipment to nearby buyers who were already searching. Over the year, they neared seven figures from those channels. The lesson is simple and repeatable: align what people search for with what you say and how you sell. Track the loop—lead source, qualification, conversion, and margins—and adjust weekly so marketing and sales push the same story.Walk away with three anchors: be chosen, not just seen; follow search intent in both content and calls; and make growth predictable by sharing one playbook across teams. If you can explain your value to a 12-year-old, you can win a rushed adult on a tiny screen. Subscribe, share this with a local owner who needs a boost, and leave a review telling us the one change you’ll make this week.Beholder AgencyWe provide marketing strategies & services that increase in awareness, sales & engagement.Polin Performance GroupWe offer strategies to increase sales, maximize performance and increase revenue for businesses. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

February 22, 202627 min

A Practical Path From Idea To $100M

Send us Fan MailReady to move beyond founder-led hustle and build a business that scales on purpose? We sat down with growth leader Dave Jimenez, a six-time CRO with three exits, to unpack the real stages of scale: proving the idea, proving the product, proving the market, and finally proving the business. Along the way, we get specific about what changes at each stage, why integrations and workflows matter more than flashy features, and how to recognize the moment when personal relationships become a ceiling on growth.We dig into the numbers investors care about and why sustained growth often outranks margin for valuation in the $10–$30M range. Dave lays out practical signals that it’s time to hire your first sales pro, build a repeatable go-to-market motion, and introduce clear KPIs like CAC, payback, and rep productivity. We also tackle the tough stuff: when the people who got you here aren’t the ones to take you further, how “lifestyle business” habits stall momentum, and why swapping experienced staff for family introduces execution risk that spooks buyers.You’ll hear a simple, actionable framework for evaluating your current stage and choosing the next constraint to remove. We share guidance on creating a living deck that tells the story of your stage and ambition, how to meet investors before you need capital, and where coaches and mentors can compress your learning curve. If you’re a founder or leader aiming to professionalize sales, sharpen distribution, and attract serious attention, this conversation gives you the playbook to act with clarity.Subscribe on Apple or Spotify, follow us on YouTube and LinkedIn, and share this episode with a founder who’s ready to scale with discipline. Got a topic or expert you want us to feature? Tell us what would help you grow next year.

February 15, 2026Episode 428 min

A CRM For Consultants Who Hate Selling

Send us Fan MailYou don’t need a bigger tool—you need the best CRM for consultants, one that actually fits how relationship-driven businesses grow. We sit down with Ruben Schwartz, creator of a CRM built specifically for consulting, to unpack why copying enterprise sales systems suffocates solo operators and small teams—and what to do instead. If you’ve been searching for the best CRM for a small consulting business, this conversation reframes what “good” really means.We start by dismantling the “doctor on a plane” mindset and pivot to the power of specialization. Ruben explains how a focused CRM for consulting firms supports sharper positioning by helping you define an ideal client profile and turn it into repeatable messaging. That includes an elevator pitch that lands, website language that signals expertise, a lead magnet that attracts the right prospects, and customer success stories that sell your value. Stuck on positioning? Call a favorite client and co-create the before-and-after narrative—those insights become your ICP, content plan, and referral script.Then we turn the CRM for consulting into a true conversation engine. Instead of bloated pipelines, track contact basics alongside the “fuzzy file” details that make outreach effective—preferred communication channel, best times to connect, and meeting style. Map referral sources so you can see who actually drives revenue and reinforce those relationships with meaningful updates. Most importantly, stop letting great contacts disappear: log your last conversation, set the next one by default, and let cadence vary by relationship. This keeps your calendar aligned with revenue, not busywork.By the end, you’ll have a solo-friendly blueprint for choosing and using the best CRM for consultants: clarify your ICP, standardize your message, manage referrals like a virtual sales team, and install a follow-up rhythm that makes momentum inevitable. Want templates and training? Ruben’s resources and a free trial are available at mimiran.com. If this helped, subscribe, share it with a consultant who needs clarity, and drop a comment with one thing your CRM could do better—we’ll weigh in.

February 8, 2026Episode 427 min

Sales Management Training/Coaching for Small Business Owners and Managing Partners of Firms

Send us Fan MailTired of “partly sunny” pipeline updates and finger-pointing between sales and marketing? We dig into a practical system that replaces chaos with clarity by separating three roles most leaders blur: sales training, sales coaching, and sales management. Training builds team-wide skills, coaching advances live deals for individuals, and management sets the structure, cadence, and accountability that make results predictable.We start by mapping goals to data. What’s your ideal client profile, best referral sources, average deal size, and true funnel conversion at each stage? With those numbers, we build the sales cookbook: a reverse-engineered plan from annual revenue down to daily behaviors. Large, mid, and small accounts get their own paths, because enterprise outreach and SMB inbound do not convert the same way. The cookbook exposes gaps early—by week three, not month six—so leaders can coach, reassign, or refine the plan before the year slips away.From there, we show how strong leadership aligns sales and marketing. Clear ICPs and channel results let marketing narrow the field, sharpen messaging, and feed leads that fit. Sales replaces vague updates with concrete next steps, qualification standards, and consistent follow-up that shortens cycles and raises win rates. We share examples from consulting, executive recruiting, banking, and manufacturing, including territory design, cross-sell expectations, and one-on-one rhythms that turn “vibes” into visible progress.Mindset matters too. We outline how to craft an elevator pitch that highlights the problems you solve, differentiates against bigger competitors, and runs meetings that either move deals forward or end them decisively. If you’re a founder, managing partner, or new sales leader, this is the blueprint to stop herding cats and start leading with data, structure, and discipline.If this playbook helps, subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review. Want the next step? Grab The Revenue Cookbook link and join the 12-week sales training program to install this system with your team. Then tell us: what’s the single metric you’ll track weekly to stay on course?

February 1, 202628 min

Robots Do Paperwork; You Do Winning

Send us Fan MailWhat if your team could trade hours of grunt work for minutes of streamlined execution—and spend the saved time actually winning business? We sit down with a former law firm manager turned automation strategist to unpack how robotic process automation reduces repetitive tasks, safeguards accuracy, and gives clients more of your human attention where it counts.We draw a bright line between RPA and AI: AI imitates thinking, while RPA imitates clicks and keystrokes with clear rules. That distinction is the key to consistency, compliance, and predictable outcomes. You’ll hear a probate case study where a bot turns four hours of admin into eight minutes—extracting data, triggering human intake, generating documents, coordinating DocuSign, e-filing, and updating calendars with human review steps baked in. We also break down the biggest bottleneck in personal injury—medical records—and how automation handles requests, retrieval, classification, naming, filing, and notifications so a six-person team can reclaim three days a week.For sales and marketing leaders, we get tactical: automate intake, CRM entry, routing, reminders, and asset prep, but keep live conversations human. Start with your current tech stack—HubSpot, Salesforce, Microsoft, or Calendly—before adding custom bots. Move information gathering from email ping-pong to structured web forms with conditional logic to create clean, searchable data that accelerates every downstream workflow. Most importantly, avoid culture traps by inviting your team into the process: ask what they love, what drags them down, and what they wish they had time to do. When people see automation as a gateway to higher-value work—strategy, client trust, and growth—they become champions, not skeptics.If you’re ready to scale service quality without scaling headcount, this playbook will help you choose the right tasks, design human checkpoints, and build buy-in from day one. Subscribe, share with a colleague who needs the time back, and leave a review telling us the first workflow you’d automate.

January 25, 202625 min

How Smart Lawyers Stop Doing Busywork And Start Building A Profitable Practice

Send us Fan MailWhat if your firm grew faster the moment you stopped doing “everything”? We brought on Ron Bockstahler of Amata Office Centers to show how small and solo law practices scale with less stress by outsourcing the back office, using virtual offices for presence, and focusing lawyer time on what actually pays: legal work and prospecting.We start with a reality check for attorneys leaving big firms. The comforts of enterprise-grade support vanish on day one—secure systems, phones, mail, intake, compliance, and endless admin decisions land on your desk. Ron explains how virtual office programs handle mail, calls, and client-facing workflows so you keep a professional footprint without a costly lease. Then we dig into the golden rule: if it’s not billable, you shouldn’t be doing it. Bookkeeping, IT, document production, and even first drafts can be handled by experts or AI-assisted tools, leaving you to review and refine at a higher value.Growth depends on the pipeline you build, not the clients you hope stick around. We break down referral strategies that drive 80% of matters for many small firms, from mapping complementary practices to scheduling weekly one-on-ones that consistently produce introductions. Evan shares a simple “pay time vs. no pay time” framework to protect your calendar, while Craig tackles the marketing wake-up call: AI is reshaping search behavior, so DIY tactics often miss shifting algorithms and intent. Ron’s story of a strong firm seeing call volume drop becomes a lesson in hiring professional marketing that tracks leads from search to signed engagement and adapts before results slide.By the end, you’ll have a lean, practical playbook: write clear goals, delegate nonbillables, protect pay time, invest in a referral engine, and modernize your marketing for the AI era. Keep it simple, keep it flexible, and align costs with revenue so your firm compounds instead of grinds.If these plays help, follow and subscribe for more sales and marketing strategies, share the show with a colleague, and leave a quick review to tell us which tactic you’ll put into action this week.Beholder AgencyWe provide marketing strategies & services that increase in awareness, sales & engagement.Polin Performance GroupWe offer strategies to increase sales, maximize performance and increase revenue for businesses. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.