Sales Strategies for New CMO Roles

When you step in as a new CMO in a scale-up SaaS, here's what the board dream will happen: Month 1: Magic campaign. Month 2: Leads flood in. Month 3: CAC down, ACV up. Month 12: Unicorn valuation. Reality: the first year is sort of ... well, its a lot to put in place. Here’s how to actually survive and thrive your first year as the CMO in a scale-up: Months 1-3: survival and alignment - Meet sales immediately. Map what “good pipeline” means with CRO/VP Sales. Sell it as revenue insurance. - Audit ICP and personas with win/loss data and customer calls. Wrong ICP = wasted CAC. - Kill tools. Cut duplicative spend. Reallocate to real pipeline programs. CFOs will hug you. - Get visibility into pipeline. Forecast calls, shadow AEs, sit in deals. Position as a growth partner, not a lead-catcher. Months 4-6: quick wins - Pick one motion (PLG, Account based, Inbound). 1 disciplined motion beats anything half assed. Depends on where the ACV and product fit is, sort of. - Arm sales with ammo: ROI calculators, case studies, objection handling. Not content - deal fuel. - Build a shared revenue dashboard. Boards want to see ARR leading indicators. And honestly, you need this to, bad. - Deliver 1-2 campaigns tied to pipeline creation. Doesn’t need to be fancy - needs to be revenue-linked. Months 7-9: proof - Sync with Customer Success. Launch expansion plays, success stories, NPS loops. Show churn math: 1% less churn = €XM ARR preserved. - Start testing scalable plays: account-based pods, vertical campaigns, sales/marketing strike teams. - Translate marketing into board language: efficiency, pipeline, revenue. Months 10–12: scale - Institutionalise the machine of alignment: marketing, sales, and CS leaders comped on the same revenue outcomes. - Evolve the team structure. Shift headcount to the GTM motion that’s working. Kill the rest. Harsh but true. - Nail down positioning. If your category story isn’t clear by now, you have/are a problem. 😅 - Build trust with C-suite peers. CFO, CRO, CPO - no surprises, no silos, open lines. Final advice: Q1: Clean house. Q2: Deliver quick wins. Q3: Expand plays. Q4: Cement leadership. CEOs: If you want a CMO to deliver magic in month 1, you’ll be disappointed. If you want a CMO to build a revenue engine in 12 months, let her work. Kbye 😎

New CMO: Spending on Brand terms might be your MOST incremental dollar right now. VP Growth: That's literally the opposite of everything I hear on DTC Twitter. New CMO: Exactly. When's the last time you actually tested it? VP Growth: Tested what? Everyone knows it's just cannibalization of organic clicks. New CMO: Fair - it might be. But it's a math problem. We should test it regularly against other ways to spend that next dollar. VP Growth: Next dollar? We're spending a million bucks a day. New CMO: Right, but think about the last tranche of that spend— VP Growth: What's a tranche? New CMO: A bucket. If you're spending $1M daily and add $50k, analyze just that $50k's return, not the blended $1M. VP Growth: Okay, but branded search still isn't incremental. New CMO: Do you test where that marginal $50k performs best? Meta vs CTV vs YouTube vs branded search? VP Growth: Not explicitly, no. New CMO: Then how do you know? VP Growth: ...I don't love where this is going. New CMO: Saayyy ittt. VP Growth: Fine. I don't know the incremental return of marginal spend, and I've never tested it. New CMO: Well done. Admitting there's a problem is the first step. Back to search, sometimes paid clicks just cannibalize organic. But sometimes total clicks actually increase. We can measure that. VP Growth: How? New CMO: Baseline is 100k clicks/week at current spend. Add $50k, measure the lift. That's your incremental clicks per dollar. VP Growth: And then what? New CMO: Compare cost per incremental click to revenue per session. Organic search converts at $6—that's 2-3x better than most traffic sources because of the high intent. Discount 25% for paid, and you're still at $4.50. VP Growth: So if clicks cost $2... New CMO: You're buying $4.50 for $2. Compare that to your next $50k in Meta—or your least efficient $50k. VP Growth: We just assume Meta scales. New CMO: Most brands kneejerk away from branded search, dump money into 'scaling' campaigns, and never test what that marginal dollar returns. VP Growth: So test everywhere—especially our biggest, least efficient spend. New CMO: Exactly. Find your worst $50k and test if there's a better home for it. Brand search is just an example. Maybe it's engagement campaigns on Meta, maybe it's getting views on YT, or friggin' linear TV - hell if I know. VP Growth: But our blended ROAS is 1.19x. Break-even is 1.1x. I'm good. New CMO: Blended metrics hide problems. But what's the ROAS on that last, worst-performing $50k? VP Growth: As we've established, I have no idea. New CMO: That's the problem. Test it, then test if anything beats it. VP Growth: Got it. Test the worst $50k, find a better home for it. New CMO: Start there, then work through the rest, tranche by tranche. VP Growth: That was enlightening. You're like a miniature Buddha, covered in hair. New CMO: HR?

A new CMO who ships a campaign in month one is a red flag. The good ones go quiet for 90 days first. Founders hate this at first. They're paying senior money and want output by week two. I tell them the same thing every time. The first 90 days are for building the strategy. The campaign comes after. Here's how I spend them: 1. Weeks 1 to 3: the founders. → Every founder carries a thesis about the market in their head, unwritten. ↳ My job is to get it out. The bets, the story, the deals they've already won and lost. 1. Weeks 4 to 7: the customers. → 10 calls, recorded, no pitch. ↳ The exact words they use become the positioning. I record them because you forget the phrasing by the third call. 1. Weeks 8 to 12: the ecosystem. → The competitors, the channels, where the buying committee actually spends its attention. ↳ Most founders are guessing here. The written breakdown is the deliverable. Then, and only then, the plan. Channels, budget, the first campaign. There's a difference between doing nothing visible and doing nothing at all. The CMO who skips the 90 days to look busy is the one who quietly costs you the year.

Dear CMO/Marketing Leader/VP - Most of you will eventually burn out and fail because you aren't focused on keeping marketing aligned, respected, and driving growth. Luckily, I've burned out and failed before you. Listen up. I was lucky to be on the Databox podcast, not just because I get to talk about alignment, but I also love the brand and the team Peter Caputa has built. During the conversation, I was asked about the importance of revenue alignment. **starts dragging out a worn, wooden box with DIAL painted on the side** Good thing I have a framework and my soapbox this morning. I call it the CREM de la CREME of Revenue. C- Communication / R - Revenue / E - Enablement / M - Metrics C – Communication: Own the Narrative > Marketing should be the loudest voice in alignment because we facilitate the most. We are central! One of the biggest changes I’ve made? Every marketing request goes through a gated intake form with a business case. Half the requests vanish on their own, freeing up the team to focus on what matters. R – Revenue: Align to the Right Number > If Marketing isn’t tied to revenue, it’s a side show. We should own the pipeline number, and in a multi-product company, that’s often best stewarded by Product Marketing. When I report up, I start with bookings (broken down by stage, source, segment, and SKU) and pipeline. Boards don’t care about “influenced revenue” if deals aren’t closing. E – Enablement: Go Beyond Sales > Enablement isn’t just for sales teams. Every marketer should be demo-certified (WIP). Every new hire should understand our product, positioning, and pipeline goals. And before a launch, the whole company should be aligned on the message. If the CRO can pitch it, so should the CMO. M – Metrics: Create a Source of Truth > Misalignment usually comes from fighting over numbers. You need one agreed-upon source of truth for all GTM metrics, with clear definitions and a signed-off SLA. **stomps on the DIAL box** That’s it. CREM de la CREME. And if you take nothing else from this virtual soap box stomping, take this: MARKETING IS HARD. The context switching alone will eat you alive if you let it. It’s okay to step back, breathe, and reset. So go on, taste the delicious CREM and own the story. And for the love of all things pipeline and BENJAMINS, get everyone looking at the same damn dashboard. ❤️

I’ve been in trenches building an outreach strategy. Will it work? Who knows. But I am excited. When a CMO steps into a new role, they’ve got 60 to 90 days to make an impact. That window matters. They’re auditing everything: vendors, stack, strategy, team. It’s the one moment when people are open to real conversations again. They’re trying to make smart moves fast. Our hypothesis is simple. If you show up the right way at right time you have a chance. This is what I am building Clay. Not a volume play. A timing play that ties marketing and sales together. What I built Workspace: B2B Plays Folder: CMO Job Change Tables: → 00_Account_List (ICP companies) → 10_CMO_Watchlist (Sr. Dir+) → 20_Push_to_Instantly (only send-ready leads) 1. How the data flows → Start with ICP. In 00_Account_List we use Find Companies. → Enrich: employee count, funding round and date, website traffic, tech stack. → Fields we added: employee_count, open roles (hiring signal), region. 2. Pull people. In 10_CMO_Watchlist I ran LinkedIn People Search for titles: CMO/VP/Sr. Director Marketing. US only and Tier A. 3. Enrich people. → LinkedIn profile, headline, summary, connections, job history → Start date of current role (parsed from experience) → Work email waterfall → Open marketing roles → Job change status (AI classifies New Role, Promotion, No Change) 4. Track timing signals. → days_since_change = TODAY() minus start_date_current_role → change_status = AI suggestion → priority_score = (formula) E.g. +50 if days_since_change ≤ 30, +25 if Tier A, +5 if open marketing roles exist 5. Generate the first touch (automated) AI email column writes a 3-sentence note: congrats, one likely challenge for their stage, soft offer. Under 90 words, plain text. No pitchy language. Invite to our IP library Vault (ungated education). 6. Create the ready-lead view. In 10_CMO_Watchlist, view = “RL Leads (≤30 Days)” with filters: → days_since_change ≤ 30 → work_email not empty → priority_score ≥ 50 7. Push onlyyyyy the good stuff. → Automation copies that filtered view into 20_Push_to_Instantly daily. → Columns kept: first_name, last_name, company_name, work_email, current_title, ai_email_body, linkedin_url, days_since_change. 8. Send with Instantly. → 20_Push_to_Instantly is the source of truth for outreach. → Sync that list to a dedicated Instantly campaign that sends the short note. No sequences that drag on. Guardrails No spam. No annoying personalization. If there’s nothing relevant, we don’t send. Sales gets timing and context from marketing. Marketing owns the signals. We measure replies, meetings, and sourced pipeline, not vanity open rates. If marketing can find signals that matter. Sales can step in at the right moment. Why not go for folks that are trying to make an impact fast. This is that play. Right person. Right timing. Real conversation. Build once, ship on auto-pilot. This is V1. Stay tuned for V2 update using Clay on how things are trending. #claypartner

Selling to the C-Suite? Here’s what they actually care about. Most reps blow the meeting before it even starts. Not because their product sucks... but because they show up sounding like a feature brochure with a pulse. When you’re in front of a C-level exec, you’ve got 30 seconds to prove: ✅ You understand their world ✅ You’re not here to waste time ✅ You can move the needle on what matters to them What that looks like, by title: 🧠 CEO – Growth + Risk ✖ Don’t pitch features. ✔ Show how you help them scale faster, cut risk, or hit strategic goals. 💬 “This helps teams like yours enter [X market] 3x faster - with fewer moving parts.” 💰 CFO – Cost + ROI ✖ “This will improve productivity” = fluff. ✔ Quantify ROI. Speak in margins, efficiency, risk reduction. 💬 “We reduced vendor cost 18% and freed 22 hours/month for [role].” 🛠 COO – Efficiency + Execution ✖ Don’t say “streamline.” Prove it. ✔ Show how you simplify ops, reduce friction, and speed up delivery. 💬 “We eliminate 4 handoffs in your process, cutting fulfillment time in half.” 📈 CRO – Pipeline + Predictability ✖ Don’t pitch dashboards. ✔ Show how you help them hit number faster - with fewer surprises. 💬 “We help reps close 12% more deals without changing your CRM.” 📣 CMO – Leads + Attribution ✖ Don’t promise “awareness.” ✔ Show how you help convert demand into real pipeline. 💬 “We cut cost per qualified lead by 38%... and proved it with revenue impact.” 👥 CHRO – Retention + Culture ✖ Don’t pitch “engagement.” ✔ Tie your solution to retention, onboarding, or team performance. 💬 “Your reps ramp 30% faster...and stay longer because the system supports them.” CIO/CTO – Security + Scalability ✖ Don’t ignore technical friction. ✔ Preempt risk and show how your tool fits their stack. 💬 “No extra infrastructure, fully SOC 2 compliant, and deployed in 48 hours.” CPO – Velocity + Adoption ✖ Don’t talk features to a feature owner. ✔ Show how you drive product adoption and roadmap execution. 💬 “Adoption jumped 44% in 3 months - because we removed friction at the edge.” You’re not selling your product. You’re selling outcomes to people with power, pressure, and no patience. 👇 Which C-level convo are you prepping for next? — 📬 Want access to practical sales resources and advice from top sellers every day? Subscribe here: SalesDaily.co

3 Ways Smart CMOs Are Redefining Revenue Leadership It's hard to be a CMO today. Your C-suite peers demand predictable revenue contribution, yet the very nature of B2B buying has transformed beneath our feet. What used to work doesn't work anymore, and CMOs need help. THE OLD MODEL Revenue marketing promised CMOs a predictable system: invest budget, measure touchpoints, attribute revenue, and optimize. Marketing automation platforms fed this mindset with increasingly complex tracking mechanisms. Yet this model fundamentally misunderstands how buying works. B2B purchasing is inherently a complex, non-linear system that's more like predicting the weather than a simple gum ball machine. 🔄 Multiple decision makers with competing priorities 📊 Extended cycles with unpredictable timing 🎯 Invisible research happening before your sales team knows prospects exist 📱 Fragmented channels and touchpoints 🤝 Complex relationship and trust dynamics THREE IMPLICATIONS FOR CMOs: 1️⃣ Measurement Precision Is An Illusion Picture your last enterprise deal: 12+ people researching solutions over 9+ months, mixing public content, dark social, peer recommendations, and official channels. Attributing revenue to specific activities or teams is like determining which raindrop caused the flood. 2️⃣ Short-Term Focus Undermines Long-Term Success When CMOs prioritize attribution and immediate revenue, we do wrong by the customer and ultimately damage sustainable growth: Gating content that builds awareness Fixating on tactical metrics like MQLs Chasing quarterly gains over market position Bombarding our database when numbers drop Neglecting brand equity and community building 3️⃣ Departmental Alignment Suffers Marketing and Sales battle over revenue credit Budget decisions demand direct attribution Strategic investments get shortchanged Customer experience fragments across touchpoints THE WAY FORWARD FOR CMOS Marketing must still drive revenue growth. But instead of forcing precision where none exists, CMOs should: ✓ Focus on leading indicators marketing can directly impact ✓ Build sustainable engines for future pipeline ✓ Measure total revenue impact, not source attribution ✓ Invest in brand positioning, thought leadership, and relationship building ✓ Accept that some critical impacts defy precise measurement Think of revenue like fitness: We know proper nutrition and consistent exercise improve health, even if we can't calculate their exact impact on longevity. Similarly, strong positioning, distinctive thought leadership, and authentic customer relationships drive growth — even when we can't assign specific dollar values to them. Marketing leadership is entering a new era. As a CMO, will you embrace this complexity rather than pretending it doesn't exist? #CMOLeadership #B2BMarketing #RevenueStrategy #MarketingEffectiveness #MarTech

11 steps I'd take as CMO in the first 90 days if I joined a B2B company with a high ACV and a long sales cycle. 0. BEFORE JOINING THE COMPANY. Agree with stakeholders on: - Role of marketing - Expectations (short-term, mid-term and long-term) - Metrics and KPIs - Challenges they see the business faces Ideally, you need to have this convo with CRO & VP of sales before joining the company. Make sure you're not joining the toxic lead-gen-led environment, or other steps won't make any sense 😁   1. ANALYZE THE HISTORICAL GROWTH. What markets, segments, and accounts generate the most revenue, and have higher ACV and shorter sales cycles?   2. RUN CUSTOMER RESEARCH. Interview the top 10 accounts about:   - Value they are getting from our product - How do they see it's different from the competition? - What triggered their buying process? - How they were searching for our product, and who was involved in the decision-making process? - What channels did they use? - What questions and concerns did they have when evaluating different vendors?   Goal: understanding better the buying process.   3. SYNC WITH SALES. Discuss:    - Challenges and bottlenecks they are currently facing in the prospecting and sales processes, - Help they expect from marketing - Days for the regular pipeline review - Recent won and lost deals, and patterns they see. Use these insights to update ICP.   4. MARKETING MEETING. Run team meeting and 1-1 calls with my marketing team to identify:    - Challenges and bottlenecks they face with awareness, demand gen, and demand capturing programs - Help do they need from sales - Bright spots: marketing programs and activities that already work - Reasons for failed campaigns - Evaluating skillset and career expectations - Auditing current marketing processes and figuring out areas for improvement - Friction points 5. MARKETING PLANNING. Creating a quarter marketing plan:   - Aligning marketing activities with the buying journey - Pilot, small-scoped campaigns with a detailed playbook - Clear goals and objectives - Leading indicators - Defining a minimal tech stack for pilot campaigns - Reviewing budget and identifying areas where money is wasted. Reallocating budget to programs that work and new initiatives.   6. ALIGNMENT SESSIONS. Share takeaways and learnings with sales and execs. Run marketing and sales alignment session on:   - Target Market segments - ICP - Value proposition   7. RISK MITIGATION WORKSHOP WITH SALES. Figure out:    - Risks, concerns and objections about presented programs - Run together risk mitigation ideas - Update tasks and timeline of marketing programs 8. ONBOARDING. Onboard and train everybody on how the programs should be executed. 9. REPORTING. - Develop a blended attribution model - Core revenue report - Individual reports for marketing programs.    10. PLAN EXECUTION. - Weekly pipeline and programs review with sales - Marketing program reviews 11. QUARTER RETROSPECTIVE.

B2B CMOs know positioning matters—but too often, it vanishes when sales starts talking.  In this episode, positioning guru April Dunford pulls back the curtain on the disconnect between marketing and sales and shares exactly how to build a sales pitch that wins. Drawing from her book Sales Pitch and decades of experience, April shares a battle-tested framework for building pitches that set the context, overcome indecision, and spotlight your unique value—without overwhelming buyers or falling into feature hell. Key Mistakes:  ❌ Mistake #1: Treating positioning as marketing-only  ❌ Mistake #2: Assuming sales will “get it” if you hand them positioning docs  ❌ Mistake #3: Building sales pitches without a clear, compelling structure In this episode: 🏆 Why positioning is the starting point for every winning pitch  🖼️ How marketing can frame the problem so sales doesn’t chase the wrong story  🏃 Why leading with your company history stalls momentum  💬 What smart pitch sequencing sounds like in action 🐧 This Episode Is For: CMOs tired of great positioning dying in a sales deck—and want to arm their teams with pitch narratives that close. Listen via the link in the comments.