Smash The Funnel – The Podcast: 10 Interviews With 10 Industry Icons

Experts Share Ideas On How To Respond To Today’s Chaotic Buyer Journey And Drive Revenue

Earlier this year, we decided we wanted to open up a new channel to provide the sales and marketing community with insights, tips and tools on how to orchestrate strategy, tactics, analytics and technology all focused on helping businesses drive revenue growth.

As I brainstormed ideas with Mike Lieberman, our CEO, we both immediately said, “A podcast!”

Another Podcast?

But here’s why, and if you’re considering doing your own podcast, this data from Podcast Insights might help make your decision easier:

• Podcast listeners are loyal, affluent and educated
• 80% listen to all or most of every episode, and they listen to an average of seven shows a week
• 44% of the U.S. population has listened to a podcast – up from 40% in 2017
• 26% listen to podcasts at least every month – up from 24% in 2017
• 17% listen to podcasts weekly – up from 15% in 2017
• 16 million people in the U.S. are “avid podcast fans”

Delivering Something Different In A Crowded Space

Once we confirmed that people were listening, subscribing to, sharing and talking about podcasts, we were all-in. But with the medium validated, the question then became how to deliver the podcast in a way that is different, more enjoyable, easier to digest and more in line with how people consume content today.

Instead of doing one-off weekly or monthly podcasts, we thought, “Why not do it Netflix-style?” In other words, allow listeners to get one episode at a time or binge on all 10 episodes at once. You know we are all guilty of binging on a TV series; I recently watched all 10 episodes of “Knightfall” in one day!

Now that we had the format, we thought, “What should the content focus be to ensure we’re helping people?” That was the easiest question to answer.

Why We Decided To Smash The Funnel

Salesforce.com reports that 45.4% of salespeople are missing quota on a regular basis. This is becoming an increasingly challenging trend, with salespeople and companies missing their sales goals in a big way.

Marketing, sales and customer service have become more complex over time for businesses. The main reason is that the prospect’s buyer journey is more chaotic and less predictable than ever before, with the prospect driving the process.

On top of that, businesses and thought leaders have been slow to change. The sales funnel – the iconic model associated with sales and revenue – is over 100 years old. It no longer represents how people buy, and it’s woefully inadequate when it comes to mapping marketing, sales and customer service strategy, tactics, metrics and technology.

We decided that we couldn’t stand by and let this continue to happen, so we took action and smashed the funnel.

Introducing Smash The Funnel – The Podcast

Smash The Funnel – The Podcast is designed specifically to introduce listeners to the new buyer journey model, the Cyclonic Buyer Journey^TM. The podcast goes deep into each of the eight stages, providing a map around how to apply strategy, tactics, metrics and technology in each stage to improve marketing, sales, customer service and ultimately revenue generation.

In each episode, we’ve invited industry-leading guests from marketing companies, MarTech software companies, data companies and sales consulting firms to dig deep into the changing buyer journey. Our guests provide listeners with real-life examples of how to change the way you market, sell to and take care of customers, so you grow revenue and hit your sales targets.

Instead of making listeners subscribe and wait for new content, we’re publishing all 10 episodes at once as part of our Season 1 launch. Listen to them daily or weekly, or binge on all of the episodes in one sitting – you get to decide.

Ready to dive into Smash The Funnel – The Podcast? It’s now available on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, PodBean as well as our website. It will be coming soon to iTunes.

With future seasons already on the drawing board, we would love your feedback! Have an idea for future content, a guest to recommend or even a topic for Season 2? We’re all ears. We’re looking to produce a listener-driven content experience, so please reach out to me with your feedback, recommendations and ideas.

Now, let’s smash your funnel!