In this episode of The Kula Ring, Jeff White and Carman Pirie peel back the curtain on the Q4 edition of the Industrial Buyer Pulse from Kula Partners. Drawing on insights from 258 industrial buyers across the US and Canada, they explore buyer confidence, spending priorities, shortlisting behavior, and the growing role of digital self-service and AI in supplier research. The conversation digs into what actually triggers buying decisions, how often new suppliers are winning deals, where human interaction matters most, and what supply chain risks buyers are navigating today. This episode offers practical insight for industrial marketers and sales teams planning for 2026.

What does “marketing with purpose” actually look like in practice? In this episode of The Kula Ring, Jeff and Carman are joined by Alice DiSanto, VP of Marketing at Autonomous Solutions. Alice shares how deeply understanding culture, leadership, and people is the foundation of authentic, effective marketing. From conducting confidential listening tours to aligning teams around shared values, she explains how purpose-driven marketing starts inside the organization and becomes a powerful competitive advantage. This conversation is a must-listen for marketers looking to humanize technology, build trust, and create brands that genuinely reflect who they are.

For our final episode in the Holiday Series we are returning to our chat about creating a brand made for loyal customers. Klein Tools has been manufacturing tools made for trades people for over 165 years. In today’s episode, we sat down with Greg Palese, Vice President of Marketing at Klein Tools, to discuss how they continue to grow engaged customer relationships. By speaking directly with end users, Klein Tools is able to deepen relationships and increase sales. Even more, Greg discusses how they focus on solving end user problems by visiting job sites to see first-hand how Klein Tools can help their customers.

For our second episode in our Holiday Series we are taking a second look at when we chatted with Cynthia Kellam, Global Senior Director, Digital, Data and Customer Experience Center of Excellence at TE Connectivity, again to discuss how collecting and using digital data can create better customer experiences. She explains their journey of building a better Voice of Customer system to help all business units in TE Connectivity make customer-focused decisions. Cynthia explains how she avoids survey fatigue, uses automation techniques, and visualizes data for actionable success.

For the first episode in our 2025 Holiday Series we are looking back at our conversation with Augie Ray, Senior Research Analyst and Executive Advisor of Customer Experience at Gartner, about how CX is the most important aspect of marketing and how to focus on customers' unmet needs.

In this episode of The Kula Ring, Hall of Fame keynote speaker and AI technology creator Sam Richter joins Jeff and Carman to explore how AI, search tools, and thoughtful research can help sales teams become dramatically more relevant to prospects. Sam shares why modern buyers expect sellers to arrive informed, how to use AI and search more effectively, and why “customer relevance management” should replace traditional CRM thinking. He also explains how understanding what prospects truly care about improves trust, opens conversations, and drives more successful sales outcomes. This conversation is packed with practical tactics and sharp insights for any manufacturing marketer or salesperson navigating today’s digital-first buying environment.

In this episode of The Kula Ring, Rachel Cossette, Marketing Manager at Rogers Machinery Company, walks us through how she built a powerful, education-focused webinar program that has become a core pillar of the company’s marketing engine. Rachel explains why webinars were the perfect solution for delivering value, growing first-party data, and creating demand while strengthening relationships with vendor partners along the way.

She shares how she scaled the program from a handful of events in 2022 into a full calendar featuring expert presenters, vendor co-marketing, PDH certifications, and a library of long-form content that supports sales, onboarding, and SEO. Rachel also offers practical advice for small or one-person marketing teams looking to launch their own webinar program without big budgets, agencies, or complex tech stacks.

In this episode of The Kula Ring, sales expert, keynote speaker, and author Shawn Casemore joins Jeff and Carman to explore how sales have fundamentally changed, especially in the manufacturing sector. Shawn breaks down why today’s buyers spend far more time researching independently, how little time salespeople actually get in the buying cycle, and what both sales and marketing teams must do to earn attention and trust.

He introduces his Unstoppable Sales Method and Prospecting System, explains the power of “value assets,” and shares practical strategies for connecting with modern buyers across multiple channels. From aligning sales and marketing to overcoming outdated sales habits, Shawn offers a clear roadmap for manufacturers looking to grow in today’s environment.

More from Shawn here

In this episode of The Kula Ring, Jennifer McQuilken, Vice President of Corporate Communications at Enchanted Rock, joins Jeff and Carman to discuss the unique challenge of marketing a single natural-gas generator platform across numerous industries and use cases. Jennifer shares how her team builds core messaging that works across verticals, then adapts it to fit the needs of hospitals, data centers, utilities, and community microgrids. She also explains how product packaging, naming, and reframing help overcome misconceptions and open the door to meaningful sales conversations.

The conversation explores shifting sustainability expectations, the rise of flexible capacity solutions, the surprising benefits of smaller modular generators, and how Jennifer’s non-traditional career path, boat captain included, shapes her approach to communications, problem-solving, and working with technical teams.

Carl Tolbert, author of The 10 Immutable Laws of the Industrial Distribution Specialist and head engineer at Malloy Electric, joins The Kula Ring to discuss how industrial distribution is evolving in a world of consolidation, AI, and direct-to-customer manufacturing. He shares insights from interviews with 32 industry leaders and explains why value-added specialists are key to the survival of distributors, how brands can better collaborate with them, and what’s next for the industrial supply chain.