You Buyin' This?

Does agentic AI pose an existential threat to B2B Sales, or is it an Iron Man™ suit that gives us super revenue generation powers?This week we dig into Yasar Yilmaz’s compelling thesis on Agentic AI & the future of Sofware Sales.Will AI agents take over core selling functions like opportunity qualification and deal progression, and is this a good thing, or  is it the beginning of the end of what we know of our roles and value?Or is it only the end of the beginning?Bonus material: Road tripping with Bill Murray and Ryan Reynolds

This week we take on the painful and common problem of how to sell and market to those who love our products, but still do not buy. This is the tech win/business loss conundrum that takes up far too big of a piece of any given fiscal year’s pipeline.Join us for some ideas on how to uplevel your execution to either avoid or win more often in these situations.Bonus: Jake creates a tie.

Everybody BEHAVE! We have a GUEST!In celebration of our 30th episode, we welcome 3-time co-founder & Saas scaler, 2-time published author, and 1 time brother of Jake: Yosh Eisbart, VP of Sales for VASS Solutions.  In this power packed 45 mins, Yosh shares his insights on the importance of thought leadership, leveraging referrals as a core demand gen driver, and what to look for when building your sales team.  Bonus Track: Who would you rather Vice Versa with: Michael Jordan or Yo Yo Ma?

The US Dollar and consumer confidence are down. A recession is most likely coming. Higher inflation looms and the new Superman movie looks like...well not great.  These aren't nice things to say or hear...but maybe that's EXACTLY why they need to be said and heard. Join us on this week's episode of YBT where we take a page from the Dutch playbook...Be direct, be honest and address the elephant in the room head on.Bonus material: Who builds more pipeline, a Jedi or a scoundrel? 

The buy-side wants price relief, the sell-side wants higher margins…and we want to hit our numbers.Are we now selling into the perfect storm, with budgets on shifting sands and SaaS company margins under unexpected pressure…maybe…no wait?Through all of this uncertainty, we have to get more creative than usual.On this week’s episode Jake and I dive into the importance of face time and partnerships when the skies start to darken, and walking the tightrope of selling both near term returns to secure budgets while selling long term returns to maximize TCV…kind of like asking a receiver to go short and long at the same time.Join us for some shelter from the storm and ideas for weathering it.Bonus material: When is a cave a preferred living arrangement?

So, you didn’t factor tariffs and a trade war into your 2025 territory plan? You are not alone.  Just when we thought we had the answers, they changed the questions.Economic uncertainty is the enemy of predictable revenue, and when April sneezes, December gets a cold in enterprise selling.  Even if things resolve and reset, almost all of your deals have lost momentum as prospects and customers are forced to adjust to the current, and possibly future, reality.Now is the time for Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, and Value Engineering to head to the war room to aggressively collaborate and respond with clear, quantifiable reasons why your products are an operating imperative…or risk being on the losing end of “dynamic budget allocation”.Sales, since we have the most to lose, we must drive this.Join us for some ideas on how to counter the headwinds.

Two ears, one mouth. It used to make sense, right?However - with a crippling array of choices (over 42,000 SaaS companies and counting) and AI-supported decision processes - prospects and customers need your expertise more than someone who simply drinks in their words.They need informed guidance to navigate the landscape before them and make the most profitable business decisions.In this week's episode of YBT, we take the sacrosanct and put it under the microscope.Bonus track: Redford or Costner or Sheen or Costner? Play ball!

Gallows sales humor on LinkedIn is at an all-time high.  Influencers are coming out of the woodwork selling “the way” to that 7-figure income and sure-fire techniques, tips and tricks to get that meeting or close that deal.  When sarcasm reigns and everyone has the “answers”, we know we have a problem.Right now, the path of least resistance is in short supply.Harder problems require harder work.  Making complex things simple, is hard.In this episode, we confront the hard and the easy and always have some fun along the way.

OK…let’s see if we have this right.  It is only early March and the businesses that we are selling into this year are juggling concerns over increased raw material and operational costs, supply chain disruption and diversification, export uncertainty, labor shortages, an economic slowdown, eroding consumer sentiment, inventory management questions, and "is this finally the year that recession rears its ugly head?"The perfect sauce for crushing revenue numbers!There is opportunity among all of this, not least of which that executives must still invest in their businesses and will with the vendors that show them the path.Jake drops some knowledge that we all need to hear at a time when ideas are the coin of the realm. Join us, you’ll be glad you did.

When a prospect tells an AI BDR “you’re a good bot!”, it’s time to worry. When a prospect starts giving an AI agent more than they would ever give a BDR or Salesperson on a cold outreach, it’s time to apply to Dentistry school.  Between the near-perfect timing of answers and questions, the all too human communication style, including the imperfect nasally voice, and the effortless delivery, Agentic AI is feeling very existential for us all. Bonus: Who’s the better sales hire, Tony Stark or Wade Wilson?

The misperceptions that divide us are so often rooted in flawed assumptions. In this episode we uncover a gap between our organizations that most of us would assume wasn’t there.  The fact that this fixable problem hurts current FY revenue performance makes it that much more painful.  Join us, then get on the horn with your Sales or Marketing counterpart.Bonus content: Holy BatWookie™

Accountability is the engine of success. Or maybe it's the carburetor. Either way, agreed upon terms can (a) save your sales and marketing a ton of heartache/burn and (b) align your goals from step one. It may sound like we are fighting, and we might be, but in an amusing Deadpool/Wolverine kind of way. Join us for our most emotional episode to date.Bonus content: Is a mohawk or a mullet more likely to crush their number?

Our data cups runneth over, and yet we still seem to consistently come up short on the very thing that drives prospect to action. On this episode of YBT, Jake and Eric unravel an often-overlooked route in building a direct connection to the one thing your customers truly care about. Bonus: Should ejection seats be a dealer installed accessory?

Nothing drives focus quite like how we are paid.  Jake and Eric take on what might be the very thing that keeps our two organizations apart and debate the unifying force of mutual skin in the game tied to revenue performance. Would you choose a noisy cricket over a proton pack with an neutrona wand?

In the age of deafening noise levels across digital channels, Jake and Eric turn to a tried and true and mostly forgotten communication medium that might just be the best place to drive incremental pipeline.Bonus content - Who wore it better: Sean Connery or Bazooka Joe?

The SaaS pendulum is swinging and just when we thought we had the answers, they changed the questions…so this seems like a great place to kickoff the year, tackling some of the fear, uncertainty and doubt that is in the ether. Bonus track: Was Ahnuld funny?

If any year needed us to burn a little sage, it was 2024. In this week’s episode, Jake and Eric try to make sense of the year that was…and wasn’t, and as duty requires, place our bets on what 2025 holds for us all. Bonus content:  Are you really a superhero if you can’t turn your head?

On this holiday episode of YBT?, Jake and Eric celebrate the game-changers that they've worked with and their impact on how they do what they do to this day.

Closed deals begin with tailoring your content, message, and pitch to attract the right prospect. In this week's episode, Eric and Jake prove why it's essential for sales, marketing, AND CMO’s and CRO’s to collaborate from the VERY beginning when building out and targeting ideal customer profiles. Time travel is discussed.

On an extra-medium sized episode of YBT, Eric learns in real time how marketing intelligence can change the game in account planning and execution for sales. James Bond and Indiana Jones also state their case to Freaky Friday you.

Jake and Eric solve the riddle as to how marketing and sales can create an upsell/cross sell engine after the deal has been inked. They also posit whether The Joker or Darth Vader would make a better hire.

Jake and Eric dive headfirst in how to sell and market in years of declining growth while untangling the difference between the Marvel and DC universes.

In this week’s episode we tackle the lead quality problem and how to start to fix it. Jake channels the Borscht Belt and wins a grammy. 

Jake and Eric throw real emotion at artificial intelligence to see how it will best serve sales, marketing, and our eventual robotic overlords. Be there the very minute Eric learns what "applied knowledge" means. 

Jake and Eric throw down on whether success comes more from optimism or pessimism. Bonds are tested and all time Saturday Night Live cast lists are built.

Why money must always come first, and the scourge that is "Pirate Face." 

Tempers flicker when Eric insists with love why all marketers should have sales training. 

Eric takes a sledgehammer to the old ways. Jake defends Flash Gordon.

Jake completes his creation: The Ideal Marketer. Eric accepts the fact that marketing and stalking are two independent activities.

Jake creates the ideal marketer. Eric pays too much for bagels.

Eric builds a sales Super Soldier. Jake questions Sylvester Stallone’s career choices.

Eric and Jake complement each other for 10 minutes then decide what the podcast is going to be about.