Do you own a transportation or 3PL business doing $3M or more in revenue? Visit www.bizexitgrow.com to find out how we can help you grow, scale, and exit at maximum value.
By the time a buyer calls you, 95% of the decision is already made.
In this episode, we break down how to build a marketing engine that drives revenue, why brand gravity wins deals before they start, and how AI is reshaping B2B marketing, with Alan Gonsenhauser, an 11-time chief marketing officer and founder of Demand Revenue.
Alan has spent 25 years driving Growth in PE-backed B2B SaaS companies, mentored over 150 CMOs, and now serves as a fractional and interim CMO helping growth-stage companies build revenue engines that scale.
We cover:
– Why most of the buying journey happens before a buyer ever contacts you.
– What brand gravity is and how it gets you onto the short list of vendors.
– The three growth phases: problem-market fit, product-market fit, and platform-market fit.
– The metrics PE firms care about: LTV to CAC, gross and net revenue retention, and win-loss ratio.
– Why misaligned teams and silos quietly kill growth, and how aligned companies grow 19% faster.
– How to design your website and content for LLMs, not just Google.
– How brand equity and recurring revenue increase your company’s valuation at exit.
– Alan’s tip: narrow down, understand your buyer’s problems, and stop posting product selfies.
Connect with Alan at demandrevenue.com or on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/alangonsenhauser ).
Ready to grow and plan your exit? Visit www.BizExitGrow.com.
Related episodes:
– Ep. 71: How to Build a Business That Sells with Steven Pivnik
– Ep. 68: Communications Strategy and Brand Building with Joshua Altman
00:00 Intro: Meet Alan Gonsenhauser, 11-time CMO and founder of Demand Revenue
01:18 From Finance to 11 CMO roles and founding Demand Revenue
03:58 Why a financial background changes the marketing conversation
04:48 How the B2B buying process has changed since 2013
06:30 Short-term pipeline versus long-term growth
08:04 The three growth phases every company moves through
11:33 How to build brand gravity
13:07 Content cadence and designing for LLMs, not just Google
14:24 How to optimize content for AI models with Q&A
16:06 How to build a revenue engine and spot churn early
17:48 Why alignment beats silos: 19% faster growth
19:31 Common marketing mistakes and the will/will-not list
21:43 How marketing strategy changes under private equity
22:35 How brand gravity affects company valuation at exit
23:45 How Alan uses AI, including a virtual board panel
26:38 Alan’s tip: narrow down and solve your buyer’s problems
#FractionalCMO #B2BMarketing #BrandGravity #DemandGeneration #RecurringRevenue #MarketingStrategy #PrivateEquity #RevenueGrowth #AIinMarketing #ExitPlanning #ScaleSmarter #SellStronger #ExitAlgorithms #BusinessGrowth
