Shift & Thrive: CEO Insights on Driving Change

In today's business world,
change is the only constant,

and mastering transformation
is the ultimate key to success.

Welcome to Shift and Thrive.

I'm your host, Natalie Nathanson.

Each week we'll bring you conversations
with CEOs who delve into how

they successfully drove critical
change in their organization.

This show is sponsored by Magnitude
Consulting, bringing you the

thinking power of a growth consult.

And the getting it done, power of a
full service B2B marketing agency.

Hi, welcome back to Shift and Thrive.

For those of you who are regular
listeners, normally you know that on

this podcast, I'm typically interviewing
CEOs and other business leaders on

the challenges they've faced and the
transformations that they've led.

Today, I wanna do something a little
different because I've gotten a lot

of questions around go-to-market
lately, uh, and I know it's, uh, an

area that can feel a bit daunting
and, uh, is also changing a lot.

And I do spend, uh, a lot of time
talking with CEOs of B2B companies

who are trying to accelerate
growth, and I keep hearing different

versions of the same frustration.

Often it's something along the lines
of, you know, we've got a great product,

we know we have smart people, uh,
we're investing in sales and marketing,

uh, probably more than we ever have
before, so why aren't we growing faster?

The instinct that comes from that
is pretty predictable, right?

It could be, you know, we need
more leads, we need another

salesperson, we need a different
kind of marketing partner or person.

Um, and sometimes that is the
answer, but sometimes that is not,

uh, what is needed, and companies
can waste enormous amounts of time

and money solving the wrong problem.

The people that can-- uh, that
are involved in the go-to-market

can be working very hard.

Uh, marketing is producing
campaigns, sales is busy, uh, you

know, leadership is investing.

Everyone's doing, quote-unquote, what
they're supposed to, um, but it's

important to remember activity isn't
the same as progress, and there are

a number of different approaches for,
uh, really looking at what are the

underlying symptoms behind what's not
working, and then what do you do about it.

So today I wanna work through, uh, four
questions that I believe every CEO should

be asking, uh, when growth isn't meeting
expectations, uh, drawn from, you know,

what I've learned working with companies,
uh, in exactly this kind of position.

So first question is, you know, we
are investing, uh, more in sales

and marketing than we have before,
uh, but we're not seeing the growth.

What's going on?

Uh,

So I would say first I would wanna
challenge, uh, the, the assumption

that's kind of underlying in the
question, because more than we have

before doesn't necessarily mean, uh,
kind of investing enough, uh, or that

it's investing in the right things.

So, uh, thinking about marketing
investment versus, uh, you know,

the competitive, uh, reality.

Uh, let's say you've doubled your
marketing budget over the last few years.

That might feel enormous, uh,
but what if your competitors

are spending five times as much?

What if they've been spending years
building up their brand recognition

and being out there in the digital
ecosystem, uh, and your prospects

may never have heard of you, right?

So needing to think about, uh, what is
the reality of what you need, uh, to

get in front of the right audiences.

Another area to look at
is, uh, your sales team.

Uh, and, you know, what is
the effectiveness there?

Are they bringing in the right
customers and opportunities?

Are their incentives aligned with
profitable and strategic growth?

Um, and I would say both across sales
and marketing, I hate to say this because

I, uh, have worn, uh, both hats for,
you know, the majority of my career,

and, you know, sales and marketing
people tend to be great communicators.

That's part of the job description.

Uh, so things can sound convincing,
uh, even when the underlying results

aren't there, and that can make it
a bit hard to know kind of what's

truly behind, uh, what isn't…

is or isn't working.

Uh, and then I would say the other area
I would, uh, call out is this kinda

start and stop, uh, of marketing pace.

So, you know, CEO might say, "We
need more leads," or sales says that.

Um, you find a, a new lead gen company
or marketing partner, get excited, you

invest, and then abandon it when the
results aren't happening quickly enough.

Um, and then they move to the next
tactic, and then the next, and

everyone is getting, uh, disgruntled.

Uh, and eventually, you know, the
company ends up in a p- situation

where you've lost a lot of time and
dollars and don't really have anything

to show for it, um, but really haven't
let… uh, given it the time to mature.

So I'm not suggesting you blindly,
uh, stick with ineffective

programs or maybe they weren't
the right programs to begin with.

Uh, but also keeping in mind that B2B
sales cycles and certain types of…

different types of marketing tactics
have different lead times of what it

takes to truly, uh, build momentum.

And the right, uh, partner, uh, whether,
you know, in-house or external, I'll

use the example on the marketing side,
um, will set realistic expectations

of, you know, what you should
expect to see, how long that takes.

Um, and unfortunately, that's not
always, uh, the reality, so it

can be kind of hard to, to know.

So a couple of the takeaways I wanna
emphasize here is before looking at what's

broken, uh, it's easy to do that, but
you also want to identify what's working.

So paying attention to whis- which
customer segments are actually

growing, which offerings are selling,
which salespeople are winning, and

not just winning in general, but
winning the, the right business.

So the clients that stay with you, uh,
the more profitable types of engagements,

kind of whatever right means to you.

Uh, looking at which channels are
producing your best opportunities

currently, and is there opportunity
to double down, uh, more on that.

And, uh, are you investing in too
many places or spreading resources

too thin rather than really focusing?

Um, so oftentimes there are some kinda
underlying strategic areas that need

to be addressed, um, but not always.

And so you don't wanna jump, uh, there,
uh, before you really look at are

there any, any quick wins or places
to double down on, uh, what works.

Uh, but this brings me to another
important question, a question around, you

know, how do you tell whether what you're
pursuing is the wrong approach or you're

simply not executing it well, right?

How do I know if I have a strategy
problem or an execution problem?

Um, and I think there can be two
very different problems here, right?

You can have a great strategy, and
it's being executed poorly, um, or you

could have an incredibly hardworking
team that's good at what they do

executing on the wrong strategy.

Um, and unfortunately, companies can spend
too much time and effort and dollars, uh,

kind of in, in the wrong camp for them.

So first is the execution problem,
and it's important to remember,

I think we all know this, you
know, busy doesn't mean effective.

And I think the temptation can be to do
things, uh, that, that you've done before

because it's easy, it's comfortable,
um, and maybe it was working before,

and now enough has changed in the
market that that's no longer the case.

Um, or maybe, you know, you just had a
different reliance on marketing before,

and now you really need much more impact.

Um, so you can see, um, you know,
marketing, launching emails, publishing

social content, running webinars.

Um, but if it's not driving the type
of, uh, activities and leads and

engagement that you're looking for,
um, really need to look at, uh, what

needs to be executed differently.

And I think, you know, marketers that
have been very successful, uh, for

a lot of their careers, um, might
still be struggling, uh, today.

The reality is there's really a
lot changing in buyer behavior.

Uh, there's a lot changing in kind of
digital ecosystem and practices, uh, a

lot because of AI, but not exclusively AI.

There's just a big onus, uh, on, uh, teams
to really look differently at what does

the execution, uh, look like, both in, you
know, execution within certain tactics,

but also how to string them together, how
to work, uh, more efficiently, uh, a lot

more with kinda automation and workflows.

And that is a real shift in
thinking that is, uh, not for

the faint of heart, I'll say.

Um, second is, you know,
the strategy problem.

So maybe someone is, uh, executing
really well, but they're executing

against the wrong approach.

So some examples of this include,
uh, you know, focusing on target

markets, uh, that maybe you have
some customers in, but maybe there's

too little competitive advantage.

Um, and so it takes a lot more
effort to get to, uh, the kind

of result you're looking for.

Uh, maybe it's trying to sell too
many different offerings into too

many different industries, and
maybe you need to look either kind

of which industries to focus on.

Um, are there, uh, specific offerings that
should be your lead offering rather than

trying to do, uh, gonna sell too many?

Uh, maybe you're trying to keep your
messaging generic so that it does fit

across, uh, industries and customer
segments, but it's ultimately not

resonating with anyone sufficiently.

Uh, and maybe it's just using channels
or selling approaches that don't match

buyer behavior or hasn't caught up with
what's changed, uh, with your buyers

Um, so I think one of the areas here
is to really think of the importance

of, uh, go-to-market motions and what
are the right go-to-market motions,

uh, for the types of buyers you're
looking to engage and, uh, how they,

how they behave and make sure, you know,
everything's lining up around that.

Um, I'll take a moment here to
talk about some of those different

go-to-market motions, because the
reality is different businesses require

different ways of acquiring customers.

Um, so just to share a few of these, uh,
you know, there's inbound led, there's

outbound led, partner led, event led.

Um, and just to give a few examples
of how these are different, right?

So inbound led is, uh, great when buyers
are actively searching for a solution.

You can put content and digital channels
out there and generate demand, right?

HubSpot kind of pioneered this.

Uh, it became very popular,
and for good reason.

Um, but it is a very noisy
and crowded approach right now

because digital is so competitive.

Um, so we really need to, uh, have
a compelling, uh, point of view,

compelling content and, uh, know
that these approaches do take time.

Uh, then there's outbound, right?

Proactively, uh, identifying
and engaging target accounts.

This is kind of the age-old, uh,
sales approach that marketing

can certainly, uh, support.

Um, this is also, you know, can
be challenging and competitive,

um, but it-- and it requires, uh,
the right kind of salesperson.

So here, one of the mistakes I often
see is companies that, um, maybe have a

sales rep that grew up more in the kind
of SaaS inbound world, and now you're

putting them in a environment where you
need more, uh, outbound to sustain the

business, and that's just not their forte.

Uh, you need to, you know, be
very, uh, rigorous and diligent and

thick-skinned and creative in how
you're, uh, making connections, uh,

with kinda often cold connections.

Um, I won't go through each of them,
uh, in tons of detail 'cause I could

do a whole, uh, episode just on that.

Um, but hopefully, you know, with those
examples, you compare that against partner

led, where you're working through channel,
uh, relationships, referral partners,

et cetera, or event led, kind of heavily
relationship-driven, in-person engagement.

Each of those has a different set of
skills, a different set of tactics,

uh, that need to be, uh, brought
to bear to do those successfully.

Um, and then really thinking
about, uh, what's in the rest of

the customer life cycle that needs
to be, uh, thought about here.

So, uh, maybe you're focused on, you know,
how do we bring, uh, new things into,

into the funnel, but customer acquisition
might not be your biggest issue.

Uh, are customers leaving too quickly?

Are the existing customers expanding
relationships in the way that they should?

Um, so it's important to really look
at, uh, strategically where you're

looking to solve, what kind of execution
needs to happen, and, um, make sure

you're focused on the right areas.

I would say a few of the kinda top
diagnostic questions to think about

where the problem, uh, might be,
uh, on the strategy side, asking

yourself, are you focused on the right
markets, the right offerings, and have

strong competitive differentiation?

Uh, second is around
the go-to-market motion.

So are, are we using the right approach
to reach and acquire those buyers?

Um, and I'd encourage anyone in that arena
to really look at, um, kinda the different

go-to-market motions out there and
align, uh, to the best ones, uh, for your

business and at this particular junction.

And then execution, are we implementing
the right approach effectively,

consistently with the right resources
and with kinda the, the practices that

align with, uh, today's market realities,
uh, including kind of buyers and, uh,

competitive, uh, pressure and all of that?

So once you understand what needs
to change, uh, the next question

becomes, you know, where do we invest?

And this is where I'll talk a
little bit about hiring because

we know that hiring mistakes can
be, uh, very expensive mistakes.

So the third question I'll tackle
is, before hiring or spending more,

uh, on talent, how do I know what
capabilities my business actually needs?

Here, I would say it's very important to
start with the desired outcome and the

realities, uh, your business is currently
in rather than the job title, right?

So what I see too often is a CEO
knows they need more marketing,

so they hire a marketer.

They realize they need more sales
manpower, hire another salesperson.

Um, but being clear on what does that
person actually need to be good at,

and also for how long do you need,
uh, that person or kind of skill, uh,

because that also helps to inform,
is this a fractional resource?

Is it a full-time person?

Is it not a person, but it's a firm?

Um, so really thinking about, uh, what
you need at this particular juncture.

Uh, first, I'll say, uh, making
sure you're hiring for the

right go-to-market motion.

Um, so you can have a great
marketer that's just not skilled

in the go-to-market motion
that you're bringing forth.

Um, let's say you hire a
fantastic digital marketer.

They might be great at paid media, uh,
SEO, email, automation, all of that.

Uh, and then you realize-- uh, your
firm realizes the biggest strategic

opportunity is actually in a
channel-heavy go-to-market approach.

So you've now hired a great
marketer who is the wrong

marketer for your growth model.

Uh, unfortunately, I've seen this,
uh, many times over, um, and it is

costly and, uh, a difficult, you
know, difficult thing to navigate

and really, uh, could be avoided.

Uh, similar issue on the sales side.

Uh, someone could be excellent at
converting, uh, inbound leads, but might

be terrible at outbound prospecting.

Or, uh, an outbound hunter might be
great at the calling volume and getting

people on the phone, um, but not,
not-- might not be the right person

to go to, uh, the executive roundtable
events that you're hosting and kinda

hold their own in those discussions.

Uh, so really needing to understand
and validate, uh, what go-to-market

motions will work for you and then
build the team around that to execute.

Um, and this is something
we've helped clients with.

Um, you know, sometimes it's, uh, bringing
in outside support to kind of validate the

go-- the right go-to-market motions, get
that strategy and execution, uh, in place.

And then once you see that something's
working, then you can start building

the, uh, internal discipline,
uh, and team around that, but

knowing that that does take time.

Um, the second area here I'll talk
about is, uh, you know, knowing

how much you need between the
strategy and execution buckets.

So sometimes folks will have a senior
leader who can't execute, uh, hands-on.

And so the CEO might have felt like
reached a certain point in their

growth, realized they can afford
a senior marketing executive, um,

and now they can kind of wash their
hands, uh, a bit of marketing.

Uh, and I do understand the temptation.

Um, but the reality is i- if you do
have a senior person, they may not

be as strong on the execution side.

Um, and now you have someone who is
a strategist who's also expected to,

uh, write copy, run ads, organize
events, um, you know, all of that.

It's a lot of different skill sets, um,
or, um, needing to make sure they have

the budget to hire those people, whether
it's a, a firm or, uh, or a team member.

So that can be kind of
unrealistic expectations, uh,

or a mismatch in capabilities.

Um, and then there's also the flip side.

So hiring a strong doer who can't
set the strategy, that can be fine,

but then you need to solve for
where is the strategy coming from?

What kind of, uh, kind of person
or, or function or team are you

bringing in to, uh, to help with that?

So neither is necessarily a
bad hire in and of itself.

It's just a question of whether
that is the right person, uh, for

the current needs of the business.

, And underlying some of this, uh, and
this is something that we see all the

time, uh, we talk about the hidden
cost of a marketing hire, right?

So I touched on this a little bit earlier,
but a CEO might think, "Well, you know,

we'll hire this person," and then kind of
check the box, we have marketing covered.

Um, but the reality is there are a
lot of different, uh, skill sets,

uh, within the marketing function.

And while AI can certainly help,
and any one marketer can do a lot

more than they could before, um,
there's still limitations, right?

So a marketer might be able to do
some nice graphics for social media,

but not if you need to create kind
of a new brand or a brand refresh.

Uh, web development, you might have
a marketer who's good with some HTML

code, uh, but is not the right person
necessarily to, uh, help build in

kind of a custom integration with
some other, uh, tools you wanna bring

in, uh, to your public-facing site.

Um, just a couple of examples there.

Um, but needing to be clear on what are
all the different things you need and

where can you have someone internally own
that, and where will you need outside,

outside support, and making sure that
you have a plan for all of that, uh, in

the budget I've touched on this a little
bit, but in-house versus outside support.

Some of the other things, uh, that
are helpful to be thinking about is,

um, when does it make sense to bring
somebody, uh, i-in-house, and when

do you need the outside support?

Um, so a couple places that I see where
building internally might not make sense.

Uh, one is, you know, trying to solve
an urgent growth challenge, right?

And by its nature, building-- hiring an
internal person, uh, building a team,

um, that's not a quick process, right?

We all know, uh, from, you know,
getting started with job description

and recruiting and onboarding and ramp,
you know, all of that, uh, takes time.

And if you're trying to solve an
urgent need, uh, you probably need

someone who can, uh, is adept at, uh,
moving faster and has that discipline.

On the flip side, uh, there
are times when the internal

hire does make a lot of sense.

Um, you know, one example of that is,
uh, cases where you have an established

and repeatable and proven growth motion.

So I'll give the example of events.

And we had a client where we, uh, kind
of successfully worked our way out of a

job, uh, by doing what was right by them,
uh, even if it meant, uh, kinda changing

or, or kinda shrinking the relationship.

Um, but we found events were
really successful, uh, for them.

Um, we proposed doing a mu-
They do a much larger number of

events, so they were hosting maybe
four or five events, uh, a year.

It became one of their top sources of,
uh, not just leads, but good leads,

kind of the right kind of business,
the right kind of relationship.

These customers were, you know,
staying on, uh, you know, had lower

churn than, uh, other segments.

Um, and we strongly believed that, you
know, quadrupling the number of events

would get them, uh, to their growth goals,
and that it didn't make sense for us as a

marketing firm to be the ones to do that.

There's a lot of blocking and
tackling, a lot of logistics.

Just the cost structure, um, was such that
it made sense for them to, uh, build a

small events team with a few roles that
they needed, uh, at a lower cost, and,

um, that served, served them really well.

Um, so these are just,
you know, two examples.

Uh, there could be, uh, a lot more that
I, uh, bring to bear, but hopefully

it gives you an idea of just the kind
of thinking around what do you truly

need, uh, how long do you have that
need for, how quickly do you need it

to produce for you, and kinda what's
the best, uh, kinda cost structure and,

uh, model, uh, for you to get there.

and as you think about that,
there are a number of different

models to consider, right?

You can have, uh, a fully in-house team.

You can have, uh, fractional strategic
leadership, like a fractional

CMO, fractional VP of marketing.

Uh, we have some clients that come
to us, uh, only, uh, looking for

that because they have the strong
execution internally, and they just

need some of that strategic guidance.

Um, you can bring in specialized
consultants, so freelancers that can,

um, serve as your fractional leader
or fractional, fractional execution

support, um, or an agency, whether
that's an agency that specializes in

a particular discipline like digital
marketing or, uh, paid ads or PR, um,

or a firm, and this is the category
we fall into, is full service.

Uh, so someone who-- a firm who has all
of the capabilities across the marketing

function, and that way you can bring in
kind of what you need when you need it

and have at the same time that continuity
of a, a partner and a leader behind it

that, uh, knows your business and your
team and your org dynamics, uh, very well.

Um, so really thinking about, you
know, the outcomes you're trying to

achieve, what go-to-market motions
you need to get there, uh, what

capabilities, uh, does that-- do
those things require, uh, of kind of

sales and marketing, and I'm giving a
lot of marketing, uh, examples here.

Uh, how urgently do you need results?

Are these needs permanent or temporary?

And then what is the full
cost to make it work?

Hey, this is Natalie, your
Shift and Thrive host.

After chatting with lots of
CEOs, one thing is crystal clear.

Leveling up your company means having
a killer Go-to-market strategy.

That's what my crew at Magnitude
Consulting does every day.

If you're trying to step up your
marketing game, whether it's strategizing,

accelerating your pipeline, expanding
into new markets, or getting into

AI and automation, let's talk.

No pitch, no pressure.

Just good conversation.

Visit shift and thrive
podcast.com/natalie to schedule a time.

Can't wait to connect.

So I would say those are kind of the
core questions when you think about, um,

kinda who, how, and, and when you hire.

And this brings me to one final
question that I'll talk about today.

Uh, this is one that I feel particularly
strong about as a CEO myself, and that

question is: What should a CEO personally
own when it comes to go-to-market?

Um, and for this, I'm gonna assume that
it's a CEO that either, uh, doesn't love

go-to-market, has not spent a lot of time
in it previously, especially if you're

kinda subject matter expert from the
field that your business is in, uh, or

come from more of a technical background.

Um, but really thinking about
what should be delegated and

what can be abdicated, right?

So, uh, eh, and the reality is
that CEOs have, uh, no shortage

of things to keep them busy.

Uh, sometimes it's a question
of which fires are you putting

out, which strategic initiatives
are you involving yourself with.

Um, and I do think it's important
though for a CEO to stay

involved in, uh, go-to-market.

That doesn't mean a CEO needs
to become a marketing expert.

Uh, I was gonna say sales expert, but I do
think having, uh, the ability to sell to

your target audience is a skill that every
CEO, uh, should have, not necessarily that

they need to be the salesperson for sure.

Um, CEO does not need to
be writing their own copy.

They don't need to be second-guessing, uh,
their team's tactics or execution, um, or

personally leading any kinda go-to-market
strategy process that's underway.

Um, ideally, if you do have, uh, are kind
of kicking off, uh, some kinda strategic,

uh, planning or putting together strategic
foundations, you have someone with

go-to-market expertise that's leading
that process, but getting the right

inputs, uh, from you, uh, as the CEO and
likely some other folks, uh, internally.

Some of the areas that I would say
the CEO should participate, uh, most,

uh, and a lot of this is around kinda
found-foundational decisions that the CEO

should be, uh, making or helping to make.

Uh, one is around owning and
communicating growth priorities.

So you're the only one, or you're, you're
the one who knows your commitments to the

board or shareholders, uh, what kinds of
things is the company planning longer term

that might impact how you approach your
go-to-market, uh, acquisitions, entering

new markets, um, things of that nature.

Uh, having that lens of, uh, profitability
and, you know, how profitable are

different, you know, customer segments
and offers and things like that,

making sure the team has, uh, access to
that, um, because sales and marketing,

uh, really need to, in order to make
the right decisions, really need to

know where the company is headed.

So making sure that you're, uh,
communicating that, uh, to the team and

making sure that that gets translated
in a way that, uh, feels right, uh,

as you're planning the go-to-market.

Um, second area is staying involved
in market selection decisions.

So if you are looking at, uh, customer
segments to prioritize, new markets

to enter, um, all of that, uh, one,
uh, challenge I've seen before is, uh,

uh, or mistake I should say, is, uh,
that sales comes in and is, uh, going

after the markets that they know best.

Um, that might be where they
have relationships, where they

have the greatest comfort level.

Um, and in some cases,
that's the right move.

Um, but I would say even before that
salesperson comes on, ideally, uh, you're

doing-- making some evaluations around
the attractiveness of different markets.

Where do-- In which markets do you
have a greater competitive advantage?

Uh, are there certain kind of
offerings or segments that are,

uh, more profitable to you?

Um, how does-- does, you know, do certain
customer segments align with the company's

long-term vision or product roadmap?

Things that, um, you wanna look at
a bit upstream from, uh, kinda where

your salesperson has their network
or kinda where they're comfortable.

and If you don't have the answers to some
of these, this is where working through

some of those strategic foundations
first, uh, can, can be really helpful.

Uh, third area I'll mention for
the CEO is around guiding, uh,

positioning without, uh, micromanaging.

So, uh, positioning and messaging
are two of those areas that can

feel, uh, a bit squishy, uh,
especially for, you know, folks like

technical, uh, CEOs or CEOs that come
from a more technical background.

Um, but needing to validate, you know,
does my messaging align with our vision?

Does it reflect where we're going?

Does it capture what makes us valuable?

Um, that's very different than, uh,
taking kind of a red line pen and kinda

wordsmithing, uh, individual words.

You wanna provide the strategic
direction, but trust your marketing

experts on that execution.

That said, trust your gut.

If something doesn't feel right,
you should speak up and, uh,

and surface that, of course.

Another area is participating
in building market trust.

So buyers today have a lot of information
coming at them, more choices, and many

more reasons to be skeptical, right?

Anyone, uh, in their basement
can launch a company, make the

website look, uh, really legit.

Uh, we really do have a, a challenge
with trust these days, and, uh,

increasingly buyers wanna understand
who they're doing business with.

This is a place where the CEO can have
an important role in, uh, instilling

that trust, have-- creating, uh,
greater visibility out in the market,

uh, and having some of that executive
thought leadership out there.

Um, I'll say there are different
ways of going about this, so I'm

not suggesting every CEO needs to
be a LinkedIn influencer or needs

to get on a keynote stage in front
of hundreds or thousands of people.

There are different approaches to,
uh, getting your expertise and thought

leadership out there and working, uh,
with, uh, kind of marketing or, or content

writer support, uh, to find a way that
feels authentic and right for you and

is within the realities of the time that
you're able to, uh, to allocate to it.

So those are the five areas I would
suggest where you personally, uh,

stay more involved, uh, as the CEO.

And know that that's not necessarily
equal at all different times

in your company's life cycle.

There might be times where, uh, you're
needed more, and need to make sure that

you're prepared for that, uh, when you're
making those investments, and other times

that, uh, your role can, can pare back.

So in closing, hopefully you've gotten the
sense, uh, that, you know, if your company

isn't growing the way that you want to,
uh, you don't wanna jump immediately

into the next hire, the next campaign.

Uh, you really wanna diagnose, uh,
what's going on and what's underlying

it's helpful to challenge your
own assumptions first too, right?

Are you investing enough
and in the right places?

Is your strategy appropriate, uh,
for your market and your buyers?

Do you have the right internal
capabilities to execute?

And are you, the CEO, uh, engaged in the
right, uh, kind of strategic touchpoints

to help make those right decisions?

Um, there is no universal answer.

Uh, sometimes you need to spend more,
sometimes you need different talent,

sometimes you need, uh, more patience.

Hopefully, some of the examples that
I shared, uh, have made you think

a little bit differently, uh, about
that, um, including that sometimes

you do need to rethink the foundation
of how your business goes to market.

The important thing is to really
understand which of these situations

you're in, uh, and making sure
that you're not doing more of the

wrong things because that obviously
won't take you where you wanna go.

Hopefully you got good
value out of this session.

I know I covered a lot and, uh,
barely scratched the surface

on the depth we could have gone
into in any of these topics.

Uh, would be happy to, uh, hear
from our listeners, uh, where you're

interested in more kind of Q&A, and
that can help inform future episodes.

But I'll give a, a small plug to my
team at Magnitude because this is the

kind of work that we help, uh, CEOs
and B2B leadership teams navigate.

Um, oftentimes that starts with that
broader, uh, go-to-market diagnostic.

Uh, other times, uh, companies
already know that they need help

with those strategic foundations,
or they need to build a different

kind of, uh, marketing function.

And so, uh, whether it's, uh, strategic
planning, uh, hands-on on those strategic

foundations, working through messaging,
positioning, uh, market strategy,

marketing plan, all of that, uh, and then,
uh, rolling up our sleeves and moving into

execution alongside a small in-house team
or as a fully outsourced team, uh, these

are all the places that, uh, my team at
Magnitude Consulting helps with clients.

So if any of this resonates with
you, um, would love to, to connect.

Uh, you can, uh, check me out and
connect on LinkedIn, uh, or visit

shiftandthrivepodcast.com/natalie.

Thanks for listening.

I'll see you next time.

That's a wrap for this week's episode.

For show notes and more visit
Shift and thrive podcast.com.

A special thank you to our sponsor,
magnitude Consulting, bringing you the

thinking power of a growth consultancy
and the getting it done Power of

a full service marketing agency to
help B2B companies fuel their growth.

For more information on magnitude
and to get your complimentary

transformation readiness assessment,
visit magnitude consulting.com/.

Get ready.

Thank you so much for listening.

We'll see you next week.