Most B2B teams don’t fail because they lack data, tools, or automation.

They fail because buyers don’t trust them.

Modern buyers are highly informed, deeply skeptical, and allergic to self-serving messaging. They can detect “we care about you” theater in seconds.

Empathy isn’t a branding choice anymore. It’s the price of entry.

In this conversation, I sat down with Michael Brenner, CEO of

Michael has led digital and content marketing at SAP and spent the last decade helping teams move from “promote ourselves” to “help the customer.”

Author’s note: This transcript is edited for clarity and readability.

Empathy matters because buyers trust companies that understand their context, pressures, and risks — not companies that simply broadcast features.

In complex B2B sales, trust is built by helping buyers make progress, not by persuading them harder.

Most marketing teams aren’t struggling because they lack tools.

They’re struggling because they’ve lost the thread of the customer as work moves from human conversation into systems, dashboards, and handoffs.

Empathy breaks inside real GTM systems when meaning gets dropped — during routing, scoring, automation, and internal metrics.

If you want the broader framework behind this conversation, start here:

Michael: I’m excited to talk about empathy because I think it’s a missing element in today’s landscape.

I’ve spent more than 20 years in sales, marketing, and leadership roles. About ten years ago, I joined SAP as their first head of digital marketing, then became VP of Global Content Marketing.

A lot of that work was about modernizing how SAP connected with customers — not just digitally, but respectfully.

Today, I run Marketing Insider Group. I built it because I’ve been inside corporate marketing teams. I understand the politics and cultural friction that make change hard.

My focus now is helping marketers earn trust by being useful, not loud.

Michael: Executive conversations often go like this: “We get digital. We get content. Now how do we make it work?”

Even when ROI objections are removed, there’s still resistance.

There’s a natural instinct inside organizations to promote themselves. And that instinct fights the thing that actually works — putting the customer first.

Empathy is the missing element. And it’s missing in a lot of corporate cultures and structures.

Michael: Businesses behave the way people do socially — they put their best face forward.

It feels counterintuitive to believe you can sell more by talking less about what you sell.

But the data keeps showing the same thing: the more you help customers make progress, the more your business benefits.

Michael: “You can sell more stuff by not talking about the stuff you sell.”

Michael: Collective amnesia happens when we walk into work and forget we’re real people marketing to real people.

Ad buyers may hate ads — yet still buy reach and frequency. That disconnect fuels noise.

In a crowded market, the assumption becomes “the loudest wins.” But shouting doesn’t create trust.

Michael: Be helpful. That’s the secret.

We justify self-promotion by saying, “That’s just the game.”

But the best way to help your business is to help your customers.

Michael: “When you help your customers, that’s the best way to help your business.”

Michael: Wells Fargo is a painful example.

I presented to their marketing team before the scandal broke. We were discussing content and engagement as signals of customer value.

A senior leader pushed back and said, “We buy reach and frequency.”

That mindset treats marketing like broadcasting, not helping.

When the scandal became public, it felt less like a tactics failure and more like a cultural one.

Values don’t exist unless organizations reward them.

Michael: SAP.

Leadership didn’t just talk about empathy — they rewarded it.

Empathy became something people were recognized for internally, and that showed up externally.

Michael: If you’re not the CEO, lead by supporting customer-focused ideas — and the people behind them.

Ideas die without backing.

Empathy inside organizations often shows up through who gets supported, promoted, and protected.

Michael: Visit

Empathy isn’t a brand value. It’s a GTM behavior.

It shows up in:

If you want to turn empathy into operating discipline, start here:

Empathy isn’t about being nice.

It’s about earning trust in a market where buyers have every reason to be skeptical.

If your GTM system strips empathy out at scale, buyers feel it — and they opt out.

The companies that win aren’t louder.

They’re more helpful.