How to Drive Organic Growth and Build Enterprise Trust With Craig Apatov

Look into the "3 Ways to Generate Leads With Your Podcast" E-book for free here on our website! (https://ghapodcast.com)Want to solve Branding and Lead-Gen for good for your B2B Business? Download our Completed Playbook for FREE: https://ghapodcast.com/b2b-podcasting-secrets-pod**********************************************************************Craig Apatov has spent his career helping companies grow in industries where competition is relentless and differentiation matters. Before founding Ascension Growth & Innovation Strategies, he held senior leadership roles at organizations including Citigroup, Ally Financial, and Time Warner, leading initiatives around strategic alliances, digital growth, marketing transformation, and commercial expansion. Today, Ascension works with middle-market and global companies to improve top-line growth through customer insight mining, strategic marketing, sales enablement, and growth strategy execution. Craig and his team help leadership teams identify where growth opportunities actually exist, and how to align marketing, sales, and positioning around them. In this episode, Craig shares lessons from building and leading a long-standing professional services firm, including how to retain enterprise clients, create trust with senior decision makers, scale expertise through specialized teams, and stay relevant as AI and digital transformation continue reshaping the market. Proposed Interview Structure: 1. What originally pulled you into growth strategy and consulting work? 2. What specific problem are you helping clients solve today, and why does solving that problem matter so much to you personally? 3. Who are your ideal clients today, and who usually makes the decision to bring Ascension in? 4. You’ve built Ascension over more than two decades in a highly competitive space. What has worked best for you personally when it comes to attracting clients and growing the firm? Current Acquisition Channels: Referral, Content, Speaking engagements, Cold outreach Sub Question: What’s your perspective on podcasts as a growth and trust-building tool for consulting and professional services firms? 5. You work heavily in sales enablement and business growth. How do you approach long enterprise sales cycles and build enough trust to win high-level engagements? 6. How do you retain clients over the long term and make sure relationships continue growing beyond the initial engagement? 7. After building Ascension for more than two decades, where do you still find yourself most challenged or stuck as a professional services leader? 8. Looking ahead, where do you see the biggest opportunity for strategic growth consulting and sales enablement over the next few years? *********************************************************************Know more about Craig ApatovWebsite Link: https://ascensionstrategy.com/Connect with Craig Apatov on LinkedInLinkedIn link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigapatov/Apply to be a guest on The Principal Podcast:https://ghapodcast.com/application-to-be-a-guest-on-consulting-leaders/