Closing Time: quick insights from sales & marketing experts – Details, episodes & analysis

Sales and marketing misalignment is one of the biggest (and most expensive) problems facing modern go-to-market teams. It slows down deals, creates internal friction, and leads to inevitable revenue loss.

In this episode of Closing Time, we are joined for a second time by the author of Create Togetherness, Jeff Davis, so he can finish sharing the final two of his five big ideas around sales and marketing alignment: why RevOps is responsible for creating one source of truth and how culture is the foundation for sustainable alignment.

Jeff breaks down what has changed in the modern buying landscape—and why GTM teams can no longer afford to operate in silos. If you're navigating misalignment, struggling to scale your revenue engine, or looking to strengthen sales and marketing collaboration, this episode is for you.

Watch the episode on YouTube.

Want expert advice delivered monthly to your inbox? Subscribe to the Closing Time newsletter to never miss an episode: https://bit.ly/3C5aZUw

Explore Unbounce go-to-market solutions: https://unbounce.com/go-to-market-solutions/

Connect With: 

• Jeff Davis: Create Togetherness // LinkedIn

• Val Riley: LinkedIn 

• Insightly's Website // Unbounce's Website // LeadsRx's Website 

Running a paid media strategy for one brand is tough. Running it for three—with entirely different go-to-market motions—is a whole new level of complexity.

In this special internal spotlight episode of Closing Time, Val Riley sits down with Unbounce's Senior Manager of Digital Marketing, Alexa Tsongranis, to unpack how her team of one built a unified playbook for scaling paid media across Unbounce, Insightly, and LeadsRx.

From shared infrastructure and flexible frameworks to unified measurement and data-driven decision-making, Alexa shares how operational clarity and focus help her run three distinct paid programs—without reinventing the wheel each time.

Watch the episode on YouTube.

Want expert advice delivered monthly to your inbox? Subscribe to the Closing Time newsletter to never miss an episode: https://bit.ly/3C5aZUw

Explore Unbounce go-to-market solutions: https://unbounce.com/go-to-market-solutions/

Connect With: 

• Alexa Tsongranis: LinkedIn

• Val Riley: LinkedIn 

• Insightly's Website // Unbounce's Website // LeadsRx's Website 

Are you ready for the next generation of search? AI search is coming…now. About 2.5% of searches are currently run on sites like ChatGPT, but the experts say that number will grow exponentially—and fast. Marketers need to know what GEO is and how to optimize for AI search to stay ahead.

This week on Closing Time, we welcome Anthony Chiaravallo, CEO of Vallo Media, to talk us through the steps to adapt current content, generate new AI-friendly assets, and ensure your strategy is future-proofed for both GEO and traditional SEO.

Watch the episode on YouTube.

Want expert advice delivered monthly to your inbox? Subscribe to the Closing Time newsletter to never miss an episode: https://bit.ly/3C5aZUw

Connect With: 

• Anthony Chiaravallo: LinkedIn //  Vallo Media

• Val Riley: LinkedIn 

• Insightly's Website // Unbounce's Website // LeadsRx's Website 

B2B buyers are making one thing clear: They want to research on their own before engaging with a salesperson. What's shocking is how far into the funnel they get alone, as much as 83% of the way.

We call this the 'dark funnel' (also referred to as dark social), and on this Halloween episode of Closing Time, we're going to break down how marketers can unearth and track what's going on in the hidden shadows of B2B marketing.

Jen Allen-Knuth, a marketing consultant and evangelist partner at Lavendar.ai joins Val Riley to explain the impact the dark funnel is having on marketing metrics and give you tips on how to simplify your lead categorization in and around it. The dark funnel isn't scary when you know how to make it work for you, instead of against you. Find out how in this episode! 

Watch the episode on YouTube.

Want to better align your go-to-market teams? Get a free demo of Insightly's modern, scalable CRM.

Connect With: 

• Jen Allen: LinkedIn // Social Social // DemandJen // Lavendar.ai

• Val Riley: LinkedIn

• Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

When done well, a product launch can propel your business forward, engage your prospects, and drive adption. In fact, 79.5% of companies reported launches had a significant impact on revenue.  The challenge?

Orchestrating a successful product launch can be a painful process for product marketers – they require robust research, careful collaboration, and (ideally) a well-thought-out launch checklist to keep your GTM strategy on track and stakeholders aligned. 

Karthik Suresh, co-founder/CPTO of Ignition and former product lead at Facebook, joins Closing Time to guide listeners through an effective launch process where stakeholders from different teams work towards one common goal: Smoothly launching the best product possible that customers will love. Watch the episode on YouTube. 

Want to better align your go-to-market teams? Get a free demo of Insightly's modern, scalable CRM.

Connect With: 

• Karthik Suresh: Ignition's Website // LinkedIn

• Chip House: Twitter // LinkedIn

• Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

The perfect sales call…does it really exist? The team at Gong Labs might be able to answer. They have analyzed one billion sales calls to help sellers like you build trust, keep buyers engaged, and, ultimately, close more deals.

On this episode of Closing Time, we welcome Udi Ledergor of Gong, who will provide actionable tips that you can start using tomorrow to make your next sales call better. How to open a call, how to talk about pricing, and is it OK to swear now and then? You learn all this and more.

Watch the episode on YouTube.

Want to better align your go-to-market teams? Get a free demo of Insightly's modern, scalable CRM.

Connect With: 

• Udi Ledergor: LinkedIn // Gong Labs

• Val Riley: LinkedIn

• Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

In the age where personalization and understanding sales prospects shows a big improvement in close rates and deal sizes, why is it that most reps still don't do enough research?

In this episode of Closing Time, Chip talks with Justin Fite of J3 Consulting about a new way to conduct sales prospects research, how sales and marketing can align on ideal targets, and how sales reps can use this information to optimize every opportunity. Watch the episode on YouTube.

Want to better align your go-to-market teams? Get a free demo of Insightly's modern, scalable CRM.

Connect With: 

• Justin Fite: J3 Consulting // LinkedIn

• Chip House: Twitter // LinkedIn

• Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a powerful tool for salespeople, but like any app, you've got to stay up to date. Recently released features have resulted in some changes that can help sellers streamline the process of finding new leads and making more connections.

In this episode of Closing Time, we welcome Mandy McEwen, founder of Mod Girl Marketing, to talk us through LinkedIn Sales Navigator tips and new features that will turn the platform into a lead-feeding machine. 

Everything from leveraging buyer personas to tracking changes in buyer intent and building hyper-targeted lists – be prepared to level up your prospecting game with these tips. Watch the episode on YouTube.

Want to better align your go-to-market teams? Get a free demo of Insightly's modern, scalable CRM.

Connect With: 

• Mandy McEwen: LinkedIn // Mod Girl Marketing

• Chip House: Twitter // LinkedIn

• Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

When your solution makes it on the agenda of your prospect's weekly meeting, you've got a good chance of closing that deal. But how can you get your solution or service considered at that level?

In this episode of Closing Time, Hannah Ajikawo, CEO of Revenue Funnel, talks through the pre-work you'll need to do with your prospect and the questions to ask to become a trusted advisor.

Learn how to 'be in the room without being in the room' with your prospect and their team using Hannah's tips to plant seeds that lead to a closed deal. Watch the episode on YouTube.

Want to better align your go-to-market teams? Get a free demo of Insightly's modern, scalable CRM.

Connect With: 

• Hannah Ajikawo: LinkedIn // Revenue Funnel's Website

• Val Riley: LinkedIn

• Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube 

If you're currently using a one-size-fits-all sales funnel (that ignores buyer intent or pipeline source) and is focused on top-of-funnel metrics like MQLs... it's time to rethink your strategy.

The 'old' sales funnel, originally coined as the Demand Waterfall by SiriusDecisions in the early 2000s and then later revamped in 2012, fails to acknowledge that all MQLs and SQLs are not created equally. As a result, it can lead to misallocation of marketing budgets and misalignment within your sales and marketing teams.

That's why Chris Walker and his team at Refine Labs propose a new Go-To-Market (GTM) framework. This new approach focuses on accounts rather than leads, employs multiple funnels based on aggregated buying intent, and measures marketing success using metrics directly tied to revenue.

Join Chris and Chip in this episode of Closing Time to revamp your GTM strategy and adopt a new sales funnel designed to increase sales velocity and ROI. Watch the episode on YouTube.

Want to better align your go-to-market teams? Get a free demo of Insightly's modern, scalable CRM.

Connect With: 

• Chris Walker: LinkedIn // TikTok // Instagram // Revenue Vitals Podcast // Refine Labs

• Chip House: Twitter // LinkedIn

• Insightly: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn // YouTube