Jared Cook

Sierra partnered with Curative to build their AI voice agent that's creating faster, better experiences for members and providers while freeing up their team to focus on what matters most: building deeper relationships

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Sadly, most positioning and messaging rollouts die at the All Hands. A deck gets polite nods, belief gets behavior change. People don’t believe positioning because they’ve seen it in a deck. They believe in it because they feel it, they've practiced it, and used it. Every strong rollout starts with: - The old way (what we believed, said, and sold before) - The problem (why that stopped working) - The new way (what’s changed—and why it matters now) You need to treat it like a product launch. I break down exactly how to roll out positioning that people actually use (plus a real example and framework) in today’s newsletter. 👉 Link in comments.

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Ten years ago, trueCABLE started with a single product. But a box of cable isn’t much use if you don’t have the connectors, tools, and support to make it work. That insight changed everything. As John Ibbetson, CEO at trueCABLE, puts it, the goal was never just to sell cable. It was to build a complete ecosystem that installers could rely on from start to finish. The smarter approach: 1/ Listen to the installers and integrators • Every expansion came from real customer feedback • They didn’t just want cable, they wanted reliability, compatibility, and answers when something went wrong 2/ Build the full path, not just the wire • Added connectors, patch panels, and fiber components • Created technical and customer support that spoke the same language as field techs • Focused on consistent quality across every piece of the system 3/ Make it easy to buy and trust • One source for low-voltage and fiber-optic needs • Clear documentation and fast support • Products built to work together, end-to-end Why this works: → Fewer sourcing headaches for customers → Consistent performance across installs → Long-term trust built on real support, not just product specs From a single spool of cable to a full connectivity solution, that’s ten years of learning directly from the people who use it every day. ♻️ Share this if you believe customer feedback should shape innovation

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Most people overcomplicate the backend of a voice agent. They spend an entire afternoon fixing webhooks, troubleshooting time zone logic, and wiring complex automation scenarios just to get a single appointment on the books. If you're spending hours on "setup mode" for every client, you’re losing time that should be spent on "sales mode." It is WAY HARDER to get clients than it is to build for clients, which is why you see so many delivery partners out there... I'm continuing my series on a REAL AND TRANSPARENT build process. No cuts and no hidden backend—just me creating a revenue-generating agent end-to-end with 0 editing all 𝐈𝐍 5 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐒. Episode 5: Law Firm Agent + Native Google Calendar Booking - Direct Integration: I connected a live Google Calendar natively with a single OAuth click. No manual webhook parsing or API key hunting required. - Live Availability: The AI dynamically checks real-time slots and presents 2–3 available options directly to the caller so they can choose what works. - Instant Booking: Once the lead confirms their slot, the AI captures their details and books the consultation directly into the calendar while they are still on the line. Speed is Key: Usually, this level of logic takes a massive amount of manual wiring. We did the entire integration in under 2 minutes so I could spend the rest of the video demoing the agent. I want agency owners to be able to walk into a meeting and have a voice agent - backend and all - ready to launch before the meeting is even over.

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When a B2B deal stalls, it’s often blamed on messaging or execution. In practice, the issue is usually readiness. I’ve seen proposals sit unchanged for over a year—not due to disagreement, but because the organization wasn’t aligned yet. Most delays fall into three structural causes: • Internal operations still in transition • Too many stakeholders in the decision loop • Risk feels higher than urgency These can’t be forced. Consistency and credibility matter more than pressure. Sometimes, timing—not strategy—is the real constraint. #B2B #GoToMarket #SalesStrategy #DecisionMaking #BusinessAlignment

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Great time talking with Vince Quinn, Co-host of Future Fuzz, on one of the most under‑rated, yet business‑critical, topics: the alignment (or misalignment) of sales and marketing teams. We unpack the telltale signs teams are out of sync, why that quietly drains budget and opportunity, and how companies, from scrappy startups to established enterprises, can build disciplined but culture‑driven processes to ensure marketing and sales act as one high‑performing “team.” Key Takeaways -Misalignment shows up in obvious, but sometimes overlooked, symptoms: trade shows where the “wrong” people show up; lead‑gen campaigns with no follow‑up; or marketing activities with no resulting revenue. -Poor ROI isn’t always about a bad strategy, sometimes it’s just bad alignment. Wasted budget is often the result of marketing and sales operating in silos rather than in tandem. -Fixing it requires both culture and systems. It’s not enough to want alignment, you must build repeatable processes (meetings, newsletters, communication cadences) and embed a shared sense of ownership across teams. -Frequent communication is key. Eric recommends regular meetings (weekly or bi‑weekly), public readouts from every functional team, and a shared “company‑wide newsletter” that covers updates across marketing, sales, product, and more. -Transparency and inclusion boost buy-in, engagement and retention. When people across sales and marketing know what others are doing, they feel more connected to the company’s purpose, and are more likely to speak up, contribute insight, or flag risks early. -Alignment benefits far more than the bottom line. When done well, teams work more efficiently, budgets stretch further, employees feel invested and engaged, attrition drops, and the company becomes cohesive, purposeful, and resilient. https://lnkd.in/ggtjigXE Infinidat Vince Quinn Future Fuzz - B2B Marketing Podcast Bill Basinas Tim Dales Ed Walsh Doug Balog Sam Werner Kelly Robinson Susan Martens Michael Flynt Stuart McRae Vladimir Rozanovich Steve Sullivan Doug Stone Jamie Thomas Calline Sanchez Vincent Hsu Denis Kennelly Ross Mauri Denis Vilfort Barry Ader Dan Pearl Ken Steinhardt Priya Doty Mark Wright Jeff Boudreau Philip Sailer Levi Norman Dean Parker David Sawyer Jay Snyder Daniel Campbell Hadley H. Misha Lewis Rangel Andrew Walls Bob Kampe Gail G. Craig McKenna Ian Smith

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After 20+ years as CMO, I've learned this:  * Most trust problems don't start in marketing or customer service. They start in the executive suite.  When leaders decide to: ➡️️ Sunset products without adequate transition support ➡️ Change pricing structures that force painful migrations ➡️ Optimize operations without considering customer impact We make these decisions with financial models, competitive analysis, and efficiency metrics. But rarely with trust impact models. Yet according to Deloitte, companies that maintain high customer trust grow up to 400% faster and are 21% more profitable than their peers. So why don't we manage trust as rigorously as we manage our P&L? That's the question Megan Burns and I set out to answer. We spent months researching the trust crisis and building a practical framework for systematic trust management. Today, we're releasing both parts of "Trust Is Under Pressure":  Part 1 diagnoses the problem—showing how widespread skepticism threatens every business relationship.  Part 2 delivers the prescription—four concrete steps to measure, protect, and invest in trust as a business asset.  The research is thorough. The frameworks are practical. The timing is urgent. Download both parts: www.trustunderpressure.com Because in a world where AI can fake anything, trust becomes THE differentiator. #B2BStrategy #ExecutiveLeadership #CustomerTrust

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When Differentiation Disappears - It Impacts Your Brand. I called T-Mobile customer support recently, and the experience reminded me how fragile loyalty can be. For years, when I dialed in, I was connected with a Team of Experts in Seattle. They weren’t just reading a script — they knew my account, solved problems quickly, and treated me like more than a transaction. Honestly, that team was the reason I stayed with T-Mobile. The service itself wasn’t always the strongest compared to Verizon, but the people were a true differentiator. This time, though, my call was routed overseas. The difference was immediate: lag time on the line, communication challenges, and a tone that felt impersonal. It wasn’t bad service, but it lacked the connection that made T-Mobile stand out. For me, that shift was a reminder that what once set them apart is no longer there. And now I’m asking myself: without that differentiator, why should I stay? The Bigger Lesson As marketers and business leaders, we sometimes think differentiation is about product features or price points. But often, it’s about the intangibles: - A customer experience that feels effortless. - A relationship that feels genuine. - A service model that’s unique enough to remember. When those differentiators are present, customers stay even when the competition looks tempting. But when they disappear, loyalty goes with them. Takeaway Differentiation isn’t just a line in a marketing plan — it’s the lived experience of your customers. Protect it. Invest in it. Because once it’s gone, the reasons for your customers to stay go with it.

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Unfortunately, I know far too many talented people who have been impacted by layoffs recently. If you are leading a marketing team after layoffs, I see you. The teams that come out of this stronger do not try to do the same work with fewer people. They rebuild differently. They stop confusing activity with impact. They ask "what would we build if we were starting fresh today?" instead of "how do we cover what we lost?" That means building a revenue engine that does not scale with headcount, creating cross-functional systems that eliminate busywork, not create more of it. Design for predictable revenue growth instead of heroic execution. This is where fractional leadership makes the difference. It’s not crisis management. It’s architecture that removes those pesky roadblocks and helps you see where you were over-indexed on execution and under-invested in strategy. The companies that figure this out do not just recover. They accelerate. If you are in that moment right now, wondering how to rebuild smarter instead of just faster, let's talk. https://buff.ly/N6W8W9I

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