What if the most innovative thing a sales leader can do right now is resist the urge to blow everything up? Kyle Smith, Managing Partner at The Bridge Group and one of the sharpest minds in B2B revenue strategy, joins host Seth Marrs to challenge the AI driven hysteria sweeping sales organizations. With data from the industry's most respected BDR benchmarking report, Kyle breaks down what's actually working, what's getting leaders fired, and why the fundamentals of great selling have never been more valuable. If you lead a revenue team and you're feeling the pressure to overhaul everything, this episode will give you the clarity, and the courage to do it right.Takeaways:Before layering in new AI tools, audit what you already have. Most platforms that your team uses daily already have AI functionality, max those out first before signing new contracts.Don't restructure your sales team around AI ROI that hasn't been proven yet. Leaders who cut headcount based on projected AI efficiency gains are missing their numbers and losing their jobs.When deciding where your SDR team reports, sales or marketing, let the business model make the call, not internal politics. Who has the most relevant expertise and the right inbound-to-outbound mix should drive the decision.Use a 'wins above replacement' mindset when hiring SDRs. A recent college grad with 1,500 cold calls and six sales competitions under their belt isn't the same as a rookie from five years ago, calibrate your comp and expectations accordingly.If your win rate is dropping, don't just flood the funnel with lower-quality pipeline. Diagnosing the real problem first with more volume without better qualification is a self-fulfilling spiral downward.Great conversations never go out of style. No matter how much the tools change, the human ability to have a meaningful, contextually relevant conversation is what actually converts pipeline to revenue.Quote of the Show:“Having good quality conversations has been the one thing that’s never gone out of style and seems to be the thing that actually drives meaningful pipeline that converts to revenue.” - Kyle SmithLinks:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylesmithtbg/Website: https://www.bridgegroupinc.com/ Ways to Tune In:Innovative Revenue Leader Website: InnovativeRevenueLeader.ai Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hn0sJKCzneggQj3j4XKo3?si=02c4c44769dc41bb Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-innovative-revenue-leader/id1843401468 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/48477601-e33b-4c80-a4af-739863e58131 Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-innovative-revenue-leader-6233089 

In this episode of Innovative Revenue Leader, Seth Marrs sits down with James Buckley, Host of the Sell Better Daily Sales Show, to unpack what’s actually working in modern outbound and why most sales teams are getting it wrong. James shares how signal-based selling, sharp messaging, and real time relevance are replacing outdated volume driven tactics.The conversation dives into the realities of selling in a world flooded with AI generated noise, from why “doing more” is no longer the answer to how top performers are standing out with better, more intentional outreach. James explains how messaging, not tools, is the true differentiator, and why sales teams must rethink how they engage buyers to drive results. Takeaways:Focus on quality over quantity. Doing more outreach won’t fix poor results instead more intentional messaging will.Use signals to guide your outreach. Prioritize prospects showing buying intent so your message is timely and relevant. Don’t sell in the first message. Your goal is to spark interest and earn the meeting, not close the deal immediately.Make your messaging personal and contextual. Tie your outreach to something specific about the prospect or their company to stand out.Be effective before you try to scale. Refine what works first, then use tools and AI to amplify it.Stay persistent, but bring value every time. If a prospect hasn’t responded, change your approach and come back with something meaningful.Master the fundamentals before relying on tools. AI and automation can enhance your work, but they can’t replace strong messaging and strategy.Quote of the Show:“If you can’t have fun selling it, no one’s having fun buying it from you.” - James BuckleyLinks:Twitter: @saywhatsalesLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamessaywhatsalesbuckley/Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/saywhatsales/?hl=enWebsite: https://sellbetter.xyz/Ways to Tune In:Innovative Revenue Leader Website: InnovativeRevenueLeader.ai Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hn0sJKCzneggQj3j4XKo3?si=02c4c44769dc41bb Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-innovative-revenue-leader/id1843401468 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/48477601-e33b-4c80-a4af-739863e58131 Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-innovative-revenue-leader-6233089 

In this episode of Innovative Revenue Leader, Seth Marrs sits down with Joseph Miller, Co-Founder and Chief AI Officer at Vivun, to explore how AI agents are fundamentally changing how revenue teams operate. Joseph shares how AI is moving beyond support tools and into real-time decision-making, joining conversations, surfacing insights, and accelerating outcomes.The conversation dives into the realities of building in an AI-first world, from making high-risk bets during uncertain market shifts to rethinking how deals are won. Joseph explains how AI is compressing sales cycles, reshaping team roles, and creating a new dynamic where human judgment and machine intelligence must work together.Takeaways:• AI is moving into real-time decision making. The most innovative shift is AI participating in live moments like sales calls and meetings. Instead of supporting work before or after, AI is now influencing decisions as they happen.• Companies must be willing to disrupt themselves. Joseph highlights the need to pivot early, even when it is uncomfortable. Waiting for certainty can leave companies out of position in fast-moving markets.• Building in uncertainty is required for innovation. Leaders must make bets without perfect information. Success comes from acting on conviction and adapting quickly as technology evolves.• AI is compressing sales cycles dramatically. Buyers increasingly want fast, direct answers rather than long relationship-driven processes. AI enables teams to deliver value quickly and close deals faster.• Human value becomes more important, not less. As AI takes over repetitive work, the remaining human contributions like judgment, creativity, and relationship-building become more critical.• There is an emerging “age of abundance” in work. AI is expanding what is possible by removing low-value tasks. This allows teams to spend more time on meaningful, high-impact work.• Exploration drives long-term innovation. Joseph emphasizes that broad exploration across disciplines builds better problem-solving ability and leads to more innovative thinking over time. Quote of the Show:“The most innovative things are happening in the moments where AI is actually joining the decisions.” - Joseph MillerLinks:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/likeascientist/Website: http://www.vivun.comWays to Tune In:Innovative Revenue Leader Website: InnovativeRevenueLeader.ai Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hn0sJKCzneggQj3j4XKo3?si=02c4c44769dc41bb Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-innovative-revenue-leader/id1843401468 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/48477601-e33b-4c80-a4af-739863e58131 Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-innovative-revenue-leader-6233089 

In this episode of Innovative Revenue Leader, Seth Marrs sits down with Nithya Lakshmanan, Chief Product Officer at Outreach, to explore what it really takes to adopt AI successfully inside modern revenue organizations.Nithya shares that while AI is often positioned as a technology transformation, the real challenge lies in aligning people, processes, and workflows. The conversation dives into how organizations can move beyond experimentation to meaningful adoption by embedding AI into daily operations, prioritizing real business problems, and ensuring teams are equipped to use it effectively. Takeaways:• AI adoption is a people and process challenge, not just technology: Organizations often underestimate the human side of AI. Success depends on aligning teams, workflows, and incentives so AI becomes part of how work actually gets done.• Start with real business problems, not tools: Many companies adopt AI without a clear use case. Nithya emphasizes that leaders must begin with specific problems tied to revenue, pipeline, or efficiency before introducing technology.• Workflow integration determines success: AI only creates value when embedded into existing systems and daily habits. Bolting on tools without integration leads to low adoption and minimal impact.• Enablement is critical for adoption: Teams need training, context, and confidence to use AI effectively. Without proper enablement, even the best tools will fail to deliver results.• Experimentation must lead to execution: Pilots and proofs of concept are only the first step. Organizations must scale what works and operationalize AI to drive measurable outcomes.• Leadership alignment accelerates transformation: When leadership is aligned on goals, expectations, and use cases, AI adoption becomes faster and more effective across the organization.Quote of the Show:“AI doesn’t fail because of the technology. It fails because it’s not embedded into how people actually work.” - Nithya LakshmananLinks:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nithya-lakshmanan/Website: http://www.outreach.io/Ways to Tune In:Innovative Revenue Leader Website: InnovativeRevenueLeader.ai Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hn0sJKCzneggQj3j4XKo3?si=02c4c44769dc41bb Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-innovative-revenue-leader/id1843401468 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/48477601-e33b-4c80-a4af-739863e58131 Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-innovative-revenue-leader-6233089 

Take your sales performance to the next level with forward-looking insights from Trilliad’s 2026 Growth Imperatives. It’s time to move beyond simple efficiency and start architecting a sales system that actually sticks, and who better to guide you than IRL’s very own Seth Mars!In this episode, Seth dives deep into the final imperative: building progressive sales performance systems that enable sustainable seller effectiveness. You will learn how to replace outdated one-time workshops with "always-on" systems, leverage AI to personalize training for every individual, and finally bridge the gap between training activities and hard financial outcomes. Get motivated to transform your sales team into a high-performance engine destined to maximize revenue per seller and stay ahead of the competition.Takeaways:Pillar 1: Build Sustainable Performance Systems. Move beyond one-time workshops to create "always-on" systems that treat sales performance with the same analytical rigor as revenue forecasting.Pillar 2: Treat Skill Erosion as a Strategic Risk. Protect your investment by monitoring "training decay" in real-time and using targeted interventions to ensure sellers retain and execute what they’ve learned.Pillar 3: Scale Personalized Development with AI. Use AI-driven roleplay and conversation intelligence to move away from generic enablement and tailor training to the specific needs and personality of every individual seller.Pillar 4: Operationalize the Data Layer. Eliminate subjective opinions by integrating unstructured data from calls and emails into a single view to understand exactly what behaviors drive success.Pillar 5: Align Investments with Financial Outcomes. Shift the conversation with your CFO by proving how skill adoption directly correlates to key metrics like revenue per seller.Build an ecosystem, not isolated initiatives. The five pillars work together to transform traditional sales training into a comprehensive performance organization.Quote of the Show:“Last year was about AI enabling efficiency. This year is about taking that efficiency and turning it to effectiveness” - Seth MarrsLinks:Twitter: https://x.com/smarrs88 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sethmarrsWebsite: https://sandler.comTrilliad’s Growth Imperatives: trilliad.com/2026-growth-imperativesWays to Tune In:Innovative Revenue Leader Website: InnovativeRevenueLeader.ai Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hn0sJKCzneggQj3j4XKo3?si=02c4c44769dc41bb Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-innovative-revenue-leader/id1843401468 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/48477601-e33b-4c80-a4af-739863e58131 Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-innovative-revenue-leader-6233089