Strategic thinker and high-energy executive with a hands-on style to growing revenue and creating a delightful customer experience. Industry thought leader in B2B marketing strategy and demand generation. Published hundreds of articles and interviews with some of the biggest CMOs in business. Why Thought Leadership & Commercial Insight MatterThe role of sales and marketing is shifting at an accelerating pace. While the role of sales has shrunk to a potential low of 12% of engagement in the decision process of B2B buyers, the skills needed by enterprise sales teams are changing rapidly requiring increased sophistication in managing clients. 90% of all B2B short lists are created out of whether or not a B2B buyer committee has derived value from content your firm has offered. The challenge for marketers is how to map the buyer journey and then influence B2B buying teams during that 88% phase where sales is not engaged to ensure they get short listed. From content to events, there are plenty of opportunities to help B2B buyers in their journey toward selecting vendors to serve their needs. As buyers emerge from their research and analysis phase (that first 88% of the decision process), the expectations for how they want to be "sold" has changed significantly. B2B buyers expect to gain additional insights and to have their assumptions challenged to ensure they have their analysis right. Sophisticated, knowledgeable and informed sellers are the new normal. Historically of course, these were always the most successful sales people. These skills are now table stakes. The alignment of sales & marketing is more important than ever before. Marketing must provide effective communication and enablement programs. Sales leaders must be open to developing new ways of selling and engaging prospects. If you cannot translate thought leadership into commercial insight and deploy that knowledge at scale, you will only educate your prospects and not convert them. Thought Leadership and commercial insight are about growth. Your business will grow much faster when you have clients seeking your knowledge, your content, and your vision of how you can help them solve specific problems or succeed with opportunities.