Selling Intelligence (formerly Selling the Cloud)

In this episode, co-hosts Mark Petruzzi and KK Anderson welcome back their friend and former Selling the Cloud host, Cathy Minter, now CEO of Wisdom.io. Cathy brings her deep go-to-market expertise to a timely conversation on what it really takes to scale in today’s fast-changing SaaS environment.

Together, they explore why the traditional, siloed approach to sales, marketing, and customer success no longer works—and why a unified CRO model is becoming essential for growth-minded organizations.

What You’ll Learn

• Why a Unified CRO Model Works
• Discover the strategic advantages of aligning sales, marketing, and customer success under one revenue leader and when it doesn’t make sense.
• The Death of Departmental Silos
• Learn how shifting buyer behavior, faster sales cycles, and AI-driven insights demand end-to-end alignment across the customer journey.
• Data Fluency as a CRO Superpower
• Cathy shares why today’s CROs must think like data scientists and psychologists and how that’s changing the role forever.
• From Chaos to Clarity: Leading Through Change
• Practical advice for CROs navigating organizational chaos, short tenures, and constant pivots. Hint: Start with what you can change tomorrow.
• AI as Your New Intern
• Hear how Cathy leverages AI to supercharge research, prep, and forecasting—freeing up time to do what matters most: build trust and close deals.

Key Topics

• The evolution of the modern CRO
• Aligning KPIs across sales, marketing, and success
• Why boards have resisted the unified model and how to change their minds
• The impact of AI on seller productivity and buyer behavior
• Building trust in a late-stage, digitally empowered buying process
• Practical tips for early wins in your first 90 days as a CRO

Guest Spotlight: Cathy Minter

Cathy is the CEO of Wisdom.io and a proven go-to-market executive with a track record of scaling high-growth SaaS businesses. She has led world-class sales, marketing, and customer success teams and now shares her playbook for building modern, aligned revenue organizations.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, co-hosts Mark Petruzzi and KK Anderson welcome back their friend and former Selling the Cloud host, Cathy Minter, now CEO of Wisdom.io. Cathy brings her deep go-to-market expertise to a timely conversation on what it really takes to scale in today’s fast-changing SaaS environment.

Together, they explore why the traditional, siloed approach to sales, marketing, and customer success no longer works—and why a unified CRO model is becoming essential for growth-minded organizations.

What You’ll Learn

• Why a Unified CRO Model Works
• Discover the strategic advantages of aligning sales, marketing, and customer success under one revenue leader and when it doesn’t make sense.
• The Death of Departmental Silos
• Learn how shifting buyer behavior, faster sales cycles, and AI-driven insights demand end-to-end alignment across the customer journey.
• Data Fluency as a CRO Superpower
• Cathy shares why today’s CROs must think like data scientists and psychologists and how that’s changing the role forever.
• From Chaos to Clarity: Leading Through Change
• Practical advice for CROs navigating organizational chaos, short tenures, and constant pivots. Hint: Start with what you can change tomorrow.
• AI as Your New Intern
• Hear how Cathy leverages AI to supercharge research, prep, and forecasting—freeing up time to do what matters most: build trust and close deals.

Key Topics

• The evolution of the modern CRO
• Aligning KPIs across sales, marketing, and success
• Why boards have resisted the unified model and how to change their minds
• The impact of AI on seller productivity and buyer behavior
• Building trust in a late-stage, digitally empowered buying process
• Practical tips for early wins in your first 90 days as a CRO

Guest Spotlight: Cathy Minter

Cathy is the CEO of Wisdom.io and a proven go-to-market executive with a track record of scaling high-growth SaaS businesses. She has led world-class sales, marketing, and customer success teams and now shares her playbook for building modern, aligned revenue organizations.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In Part 2 of our conversation with B2B Sales Playbook co-author and Growth Forum CEO David Fastuca, we dig deeper into the realities of modern B2B selling—where sales efficiency meets brand experience, and AI is no longer optional.

From the dangers of AI-powered spam to the rise of seller personal branding, David, Mark, and KK unpack the current sales landscape and where it's headed.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why AI spam is killing your brand—even if your numbers look “okay” on paper
• How to realign your go-to-market strategy around quality, not just quantity
• The rise of seller-led branding and why BDRs must now build trust and visibility online
• How great sales leaders create calm, consistent, performance-driven cultures
• The new standard for sales-marketing alignment: shared metrics, shared messaging, and shared accountability
• How to use AI to forecast accurately and coach reps in real time using sales call transcripts

Quote to remember:

“Your brand is being shaped by every outbound touch—even the ones that get ignored. AI makes it easier to scale, but much easier to erode trust.” – David Fastuca

Don’t miss this if you’re a CEO, CRO, or RevOps leader rethinking how to scale sales in the AI age.

Listen to the full episode now and learn how to balance automation with authenticity.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of Selling the Cloud, we sit down with David Fastuca, CEO and Co-Founder of Growth Forum and co-author of the bestselling new book B2B Sales Playbook. From his base in Melbourne, David shares how high-growth teams can stop relying on random acts of selling and start building systemized, scalable sales engines. If you're still managing sales with gut instinct and ad-hoc processes, this episode is your wake-up call.

What We Cover:

• Systemizing Sales Growth: Why repeatable processes always outperform superstar sellers—and how to build one.
• Calendar = Control: How elite sellers block time for prospecting, CRM updates, and continuous improvement.
• Avoiding RevOps Pitfalls: Common mistakes in go-to-market execution and how to get your ICP and messaging right.
• Give Power Back to the Buyer: Why a buyer-led process can result in better conversion and stronger relationships.
• AI & Automation in Sales: What works, what doesn’t, and how to avoid falling into the spam trap.
• The Right Way to Use AI: Using tools like Loom and ChatGPT not to automate junk—but to amplify thoughtful, insight-driven outreach.

Mic-Drop Insight:

“If your sales process depends on gut instinct or a single rainmaker, you’re gambling—not growing.” – David Fastuca

Why You Should Listen:

This episode is a blueprint for B2B sales leaders looking to create predictable pipeline, reduce churn in their sales team, and finally align marketing and sales under one scalable system.

Subscribe to Selling the Cloud for more insights from top go-to-market leaders and B2B growth experts.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of Selling the Cloud, hosts Mark Petruzzi and Kristin Anderson sit down with Stephen Messer, co-founder of Collective[i], to unpack why traditional sales playbooks are failing in today’s volatile markets—and what elite revenue organizations are doing differently.

Stephen brings a bold, data-backed perspective on why so many sales teams are flying blind and how AI-powered feedback loops are becoming essential for navigating constant change.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why playbooks break down when market conditions shift
• How reliance on historical data leads to broken forecasts
• The growing gap between buyer behavior and seller actions
• What boards and executive teams really want from forecasting
• Why superintelligent sellers outperform rigid process followers
• How AI transforms pipeline visibility, speed, and decision-making

Key Quote:

“In volatile markets, you don’t need a better playbook—you need a better way to listen, learn, and adapt in real time.”

Guest Bio:

Stephen Messer is the co-founder of Collective[i], an AI-powered platform designed to transform the way revenue organizations operate. A pioneer in tech and data-driven strategy, Stephen has spent his career building companies that help businesses make smarter, faster decisions.

Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In Part 2 of our powerful conversation with Doug Brown—CEO of CEO Sales Strategies—we dig deep into what it really takes to scale a high-performing sales organization.

From identifying your ideal buyer to designing repeatable sales systems and aligning with customer psychology, Doug shares the process-driven, mindset-first strategies he’s used to help top-performing teams accelerate revenue with confidence.

This episode is packed with frameworks, real-world stories, and sharp insights that sales leaders, CROs, and founders can implement immediately to boost productivity, predictability, and team performance.

Topics Covered:

• Sales Process Optimization: Why most companies never define their ideal right-fit buyer and how that derails scalability
• Metrics that Matter: Doug’s 11 core metrics that reveal productivity bottlenecks—and the gold hidden in your top performers
• Customer-Centric Selling: The 3 reasons people buy—and how to align your pitch to their definition of value
• Business vs. Personal ROI: Why focusing only on business outcomes causes missed deals (and what to do instead)
• Sales Leadership that Works: How real leaders inspire performance by getting in the trenches, not behind the desk
• Compensation & Motivation: Why money only motivates up to a point—and what truly drives high rep retention
• The Future of Sales: How buyer behavior is shifting toward convenience and connection, and why AI is now a must-have in your sales workflow

Memorable Quotes:

“Sales isn’t about selling what you think is valuable. It’s about selling what they believe is valuable.”

“You don’t need to reinvent the wheel—just find what your top performers are doing and replicate it.”

“AI isn’t coming. It’s here. If you’re not using it to offload tasks, your competitors already are.”

Work with the Selling the Cloud team: Visit www.get-ags.com

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In Part 1 of this conversation with Doug Brown—CEO of CEO Sales Strategies and one of the most trusted voices in revenue acceleration—Mark and KK dive into what it really takes to build a high-performance sales team.

Whether you're scaling a startup or optimizing a mature sales org, this episode is your blueprint for hiring top producers, increasing predictability, and improving performance from day one.

What you'll learn:

• Why clarity before hiring is the foundation of world-class sales teams
• How mindset, not just skillset, separates top performers from average reps
• The power of structured interviews, role simulation, and assessments like OMG
• A modern take on “ego strength + empathy” and how to calibrate for your culture
• Real-world examples from Tony Robbins, telecom sales, and PhD-led orgs
• How to hire for potential (not just experience) in a rapidly evolving sales world
• The overlooked importance of drive, commitment—and the "why" behind performance

Doug brings decades of proven experience, and KK adds her own perspective as the global leader in OMG sales assessments. Together, they unpack what most hiring managers miss and how to get it right.

Want help building a high-performance team?

Contact AGS at www.get-ags.com/contact

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of Selling the Cloud, Gene Guhne, a seasoned sales executive and global leader at Sabre, joins Mark Petruzzi and KK Anderson for a candid conversation on what it takes to lead modern sales organizations. From building cultures of accountability to navigating geopolitical risk, Gene shares battle-tested leadership lessons that every CRO and sales leader should hear.

Topics Covered:

• How emotional intelligence builds trust and performance
• Why accountability doesn’t mean pressure—it means support
• The silent fears behind big-ticket purchases
• Lessons from global sales: data privacy, geopolitical risk, and investment strategy
• How soft skills are evolving in high-stakes, complex sales
• The importance of coaching through reflection, not punishment
• Gene’s go-to leadership practices and favorite business reads

Key Quote:

"Careers aren’t made by a great buy. But they’re often broken by a bad one." – Gene Guhne

Gene’s Favorite Books:

• Emotional Intelligence (on the power of EQ in leadership)
• The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (for historical insights with business parallels)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of Selling the Cloud, hosts Mark Petruzzi and KK Anderson sit down with Gene Guhne, Senior Vice President of Global Sales at Sabre Hospitality, to explore what it truly takes to lead a successful global sales team in today’s fast-evolving landscape. Gene draws on decades of experience managing international teams to share insights into building trust, fostering emotional intelligence, and driving high performance in a complex, multicultural environment.

This episode is a must-listen for sales leaders, go-to-market strategists, and anyone navigating global team dynamics.

Key Themes Discussed:

1. Building Trust Across Global Teams

Gene shares how intentional communication, cultural awareness, and region-specific strategy are essential for establishing and maintaining trust across international sales teams.

2. Selling the Experience, Not Just the Room

With the hospitality industry shifting from product-based to experience-based selling, Gene explains how Sabre helps hoteliers drive incremental revenue through personalization and bundled offers—like cabanas, dining, and even parking—at the time of booking.

3. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) as a Core Sales Skill

Emotional intelligence isn’t just important for leadership, it’s critical for front-line sellers. Gene emphasizes that while tactics can be taught, the ability to read a room and build genuine rapport is the differentiator between good and great salespeople.

4. Leading Across Cultures with Empathy and Adaptability

From understanding etiquette in Japan to the operational constraints in China, Gene illustrates how strong cultural competency fuels leadership effectiveness in global organizations.

5. From Sales Teams to Business Units

Gene takes us back to his days at Ultimate Software, describing the evolution of tight-knit sales teams into autonomous, high-performing business units and why deep personal relationships are the foundation of retention, mastery, and growth.

Memorable Quotes:

“Trust is paramount—any action or inaction can destroy it. That’s why clarity and consistency matter.” – Gene Guhne

“Emotional intelligence is the #1 skill I look for in a salesperson. You can’t teach someone to read a room.” – Gene Guhne

“The room is the anchor. But what hoteliers want is the additional $300 or $400 in high-margin services.” – Gene Guhne

“Sales teams stop being sales teams and start becoming business units when they have autonomy, mastery, and trust.” – Gene Guhne

About the Guest:

Gene Guhne is the Senior Vice President of Global Sales at Sabre Hospitality, where he leads international teams to drive innovation, personalization, and revenue growth in the evolving hospitality tech industry. Gene brings deep leadership expertise from his previous roles at Ultimate Software and beyond.

About the Hosts:

Mark Petruzzi is the co-author of Selling the Cloud and co-host of this top-ranked business podcast.

KK Anderson is a go-to-market strategist and co-founder of AGS, helping sales organizations achieve data-driven growth.

Subscribe to Selling the Cloud for more high-impact conversations with today’s top sales leaders.

Learn more at get-ags.com

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this high-energy episode of Selling the Cloud, co-hosts Mark Petruzzi and KK Anderson sit down with Taylor Frame, founder of Best Practice Media, to dive deep into how AI is revolutionizing performance marketing, personalization, and paid media strategy.

Taylor shares cutting-edge insights from managing over 100 brands across e-commerce and local business — and unpacks how AI tools are transforming everything from video content creation to cash flow modeling. Whether you're trying to convert dress shoppers or find leads for a functional medicine clinic, Taylor’s got battle-tested strategies you can implement today.

Topics We Cover:

• Why static content still rules the top of funnel — and when to switch to video
• How AI is being used to auto-generate ad variations without re-shooting content
• What “cohort personalization” really means (and what marketers get wrong)
• The key mistake companies make with paid ads — and why it’s not your silver bullet
• AI-powered cash flow modeling that connects marketing to real margin impact
• The shift in agency value: from execution to strategic guidance

Whether you're a CRO, marketer, founder, or just trying to keep up with AI's impact on sales and marketing, this episode is packed with both inspiration and practical takeaways.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.