Closing Time: quick insights from sales & marketing experts

Time kills deals. We all know it. Yet, in 2025, slow-moving pipelines and endless sales cycles are more common than ever. Buyers have more power, more options, and more reasons to delay decisions.

But what if you could flip that dynamic and move deals forward faster? Nick Cegelski, founder of 30 Minutes to President’s Club and author of

Gen Z sales reps are entering the workforce fast—and sales leaders need to be ready. By 2030, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that Gen Z will make up 30% of the U.S. workforce. If you’re not managing a Gen Z seller yet, it’s only a matter of time.

The North American economy is uncertain, so what should your agency be doing to stay profitable and keep growing? In this episode of Closing Time, we sit down with Jon Morris, founder of Fiscal Advocate, a firm that helps marketing agencies make smarter financial decisions through real planning—not just bookkeeping.

Email fatigue is real—and it’s hitting B2B marketers hard in 2025. With inboxes flooded by AI-generated outreach, outdated content, and automation overload, it’s no wonder open rates are tanking. So what can you do to stand out and stay relevant?

Do you know the scroll rate or the engagement rate on your landing pages and website? Google does, and they are using those metrics to determine how you show up in search results.

Product-led growth thrives when customers can explore, try, and succeed—without ever needing to talk to sales. But designing that seamless, self-serve experience? That’s the hard part.

How do you know if LinkedIn is really influencing your pipeline? Val Riley sits down with Deivis Rupslaukis, founder of DERU Digital, to explore practical ways to track LinkedIn ad impact—from adding “How did you hear about us?” to your forms, to manually cross-referencing CRM data, to using attribution tools like LeadsRx.

What really drives a customer to click, convert, and come back?

Do your customer success managers assist customers? Yes. But do they also handle renewals? Upsells? Expansion? Cross-sell? If it feels like every company writes its own script for this role, you are correct. In this week’s episode of Closing Time, host Geoff Coutts welcomes Kristi Faltorusso, Chief Customer Officer at ClientSuccess, to chat through the evolving role of customer success. Kristi shares her experience in leading custo...

You saw the LinkedIn beef between Apollo.io and Seamless.ai—but did you catch that LinkedIn shut them both down? Media platforms hold the power, and if you want to keep playing the game, you’ve got to play by the rules.

AI is transforming sales—but not everyone’s doing it right. In this episode of Closing Time, Nick Caruso, CRO at KnowledgeNet.ai, joins us to break down the smart (and not-so-smart) ways sales teams are using AI today. From AI SDRs and real-time lead research to bots talking to bots, Nick shares how to skip the gimmicks and use AI in B2B sales to drive real outcomes—not just activity.

Pipeline looking thin? Sitting back and hoping for inbound leads won’t cut it—not in today’s market. Top-performing reps know that building a predictable pipeline means getting smart about outbound.

Think cold calls and cold emails are your only shot at generating pipeline on a tight budget? Think again. In this episode of Closing Time, Chris Merrill, CEO of Better Media (the folks behind Sell Better & Market Better), shares tactical, low-cost strategies that go way beyond the inbox or the dialer.

Hot off the Google press...if your landing page content doesn’t match your ad AND if it doesn't have navigation, your ad might not even get served (no matter how much you’re willing to pay). Google is officially emphasizing the importance of relevant content and easy-to-navigate landing pages. 

If you think influencers are just for B2C marketing, think again. B2B buyers are still people—and people trust people more than ads. Enter B2B influencers.

Are you truly connected to your customers? Too many marketers think they know their buyers—but can you name seven of your customers by first and last name? If not, you might be suffering from disconnected marketing.

It’s cold season—cold calling, that is. And while we’re at it, let’s toss in cold emails too. If you’re a sales rep waiting around for inbound leads to magically appear, you’re leaving money on the table. It's time to prioritize cold outreach in 2025.

Hiring a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is a big commitment—especially for growing companies that may not have the budget for a full-time executive. That’s where fractional CMOs come in.

A messy pipeline doesn’t just frustrate your sales leader—it kills deals. When sellers don’t have a clear picture of where each opportunity stands, they waste time chasing the wrong prospects, struggle to forecast accurately, and ultimately lose revenue.