The CMO as a Revenue Leader: Operating Between Strategy and Execution - with Maria Berghäll

Most CMOs are handed a marketing budget and told to generate leads. The best ones quietly rewire how the entire company goes to market. Maria Berghäll, CMO and GTM leader at Lundahl Transformers, Top 10 GTM Voices of the Nordics 2026, joins Michael Jäger to talk about what it actually takes to lead marketing inside a complex, industrial B2B company — where sales cycles stretch across years, trust is the only real currency, and the modern GTM playbook often does more harm than good. In this episode: ✌️ Win #1 — Repositioning from component supplier to community voice: how Maria shifted Lundahl's messaging away from technical specs toward the feeling of music — and turned cold-shoulder brands into eager collaborators. ✌️ Win #2 — Democratising sales knowledge: how Maria helped transfer decades of founder-held relationship capital into a shared, scalable sales structure that the whole team can execute. 🌱 Fail — Paid ads in the wrong environment: why chasing performance marketing in an industry built on long-term trust burned budget, created frustration, and ultimately sent Maria back to the basics that actually work. If you lead marketing, GTM, or revenue in a complex B2B environment where urgency doesn't close deals, this episode is the honest reality check you didn't know you needed. Connect with Maria: 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariaberghall/ 🔗 Lundahl Transformers: https://www.lundahltransformers.com/ 🎙️ Beyond Revenue is hosted by Michael Jäger, Managing Partner at Cremanski & Company. New episodes every Friday. ⏱️ Episode timestamps 00:00 — Intro & Maria's background 02:47 — Unlearning modern GTM shortcuts in industrial B2B 03:24 — The belief that changed: marketing doesn't stop at the lead 04:49 — What leaders constantly underestimate in complex B2B 06:50 — Win #1: Repositioning from component supplier to community voice 10:03 — How Maria validated the new approach (and knew it was working) 11:44 — Win #2: Democratising founder-held sales knowledge 14:34 — Early results and what's still in progress 14:58 — The fail: paid ads in the wrong environment 18:50 — Going back to basics: who's actually buying from us? 19:04 — Key takeaways 21:07 — Where to find Maria