How to Lead Value Conversations in 2025

CEO: Our margins are getting tighter. FP&A: Let’s cut costs. CEO: We’re missing revenue targets. FP&A: Let’s reforecast. CEO: Our cash flow is unpredictable. FP&A: Let’s track it closer. CEO: We’re losing market share. FP&A: Let’s adjust assumptions. This is how finance becomes a back-office function. And it’s why most FP&A teams get ignored in strategy meetings. Instead, try this: 1. Turn data into decisions, not just reports CEOs don’t need more charts. They need answers. If your reports don’t drive action, they’re just noise. FP&A teams that translate numbers into clear next steps get a seat at the table. 2. Make forecasting dynamic, not static Annual budgets are already outdated by Q2. Winning teams run rolling forecasts that adapt in real-time, using leading indicators to predict what’s next, before the business feels the impact. 3. Use capital as a competitive advantage The best companies don’t just cut costs, they allocate capital better. Instead of reacting to margin pressure with blanket cuts, double down on high-ROI opportunities and phase out low-value spending. 4. Speak the language of business Finance gets ignored when it talks in numbers, not outcomes. Saying, “Gross margin fell by 2%” misses the mark. Saying, “Optimizing pricing can recover $5M in profit next quarter” gets action. 5. Don’t wait for leadership to ask The best FP&A teams don’t wait. They anticipate challenges, model different scenarios, and push strategic moves before the company is forced to react. Influence happens when finance drives the conversation, not follows it. The FP&A teams winning in 2025 aren’t managing costs. They’re out-executing their competitors. FP&A sees what’s coming first. Follow Erik Lidman for FP&A insights.

💣 Isn't it time to blow up the status quo in Customer Success and Account Management (and perhaps in general)? I had a very meaningful conversation with a team member this morning. We went deep, talking about our shared commitment to creating a better future. But that conversation quickly turned into something more real: How we show up today is what actually shapes that future. And the hard truth is this: 💡 Creating a better future almost always requires doing something different from what we’re doing today. And I'm confident that’s where most CS and AM teams get stuck. They say they want transformation, but keep repeating legacy motions: 🚦 Chasing health and NPS like it’s a magic number 🧮 Logging “touchpoints” as if quantity = value 📊 Creating and sharing QBR decks no one reads 🛑 Reacting to churn instead of owning growth And here’s the problem: Most leaders know it’s broken, but keep doing it anyway. Why? 1️⃣ Because it’s comfortable. 2️⃣ Because it “worked before.” 3️⃣ Because change feels risky. But if you’re leading CS or AM in 2025 and you’re not: 🔥 Owning a revenue target 🔥 Automating everything that doesn’t require human judgment 🔥 Driving real-time insights from delivered value, not anecdotal “relationship health” 🔥 Rewriting your team’s role around AI, speed, and strategic depth …then you’re not leading. You’re preserving a relic. We don’t need “good relationships.” We need results. As many amazing friends and CS experts have shared, the era of “just checking in” is dead. The future of Customer Success isn’t soft skills. It’s business acumen, data fluency, and aggressive alignment with revenue. 🚨 Stop clinging to the old playbook. You’re either building the new model or waiting to be replaced by it. 👇 Want to start making the pivot? Here’s what to do today: 1️⃣ Tie CS and AM roles to revenue (I know I'll hear from you Chris Hood, and I love it). Start with NRR or expansion targets. 2️⃣ Kill check-ins and existing playbooks. Replace them with insight-led engagements and experiments. Adoption, benchmarks, ROI. 3️⃣ Audit your team’s time. If 40% of what they do could be done better by AI, start automating. 4️⃣ Upskill your team in business acumen. Finance. Forecasting. Influence. This is the new toolkit. You want a different future? Show up differently today. #CreateTheFuture #CustomerSuccess #AccountManagement #Leadership #NetRetention #AI #RevenueOwnership #Execution #Transformation

Here's the new rule of GTM for 2025: it's about about TRUST not DISTRACTION. In 2024 and earlier, most companies were STILL playing the volume game: More cold emails More ads More noise But here's what I learned building partner programs at WeWork and Amex: 1. Identify Trusted Advocates Customers are more likely to trust recommendations from voices they already know and respect. Who influences our target audience? Who already has their attention and trust? These could be industry leaders, complementary solution providers, or niche communities. Build partnerships with those who already have a strong connection to your ideal customers. 2. Collaborate to Add Value, Not Noise Instead of interrupting your audience with another cold email or ad, collaborate with partners to create meaningful, value-driven touch points. - Co-host a webinar addressing a shared customer pain point. - Develop a joint white paper showcasing both brands’ expertise. - Offer bundled solutions that make life easier for the customer. 3. Leverage Existing Trust to Open Doors Partners are amplifiers AND bridges. They help you cross the “river of distraction” and reach customers without the noise. A well-placed introduction or co-branded recommendation carries far more weight than another outbound message. 4. Measure the Shift from Interruption to Influence If trust-building is your new GTM focus, your success metrics need to change too. Track things like: - Partner-Sourced Leads: Leads generated through trusted partner referrals. - Engagement Rates: How customers interact with co-created content or campaigns. - Pipeline Velocity: How quickly partner-driven deals progress compared to direct sales efforts. Breaking through the noise requires genuine relationships. It's no longer about whose voice is the loudest, it’s whose voice your audience already trusts. The future isn't about interruption and distraction. It's about trust.

𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘴. ✝️ 𝗥𝗜𝗣 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀: 𝟭𝟵𝟱𝟬𝘀 - 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 ✝️ If your team is still using word-for-word scripts, you're likely seeing: • Prospects who "need to think about it" • Increasingly shorter calls • Objections you can't overcome • Reps who sound robotic and inauthentic Today's buyers can smell a script from a mile away. And they hate it. What's replacing scripts? Conversation frameworks. Working with a B2B services client, we replaced their scripts with flexible frameworks: • Core problem statements (not feature pitches) • Story libraries (not memorized anecdotes) • Question flows (not interrogation lists) • Objection pathways (not canned responses) Results after 60 days: • Average call time increased by 38% • Prospect engagement (measured by questions asked) up 45% • Conversion to next steps improved by 31% The best part? Reps reported feeling "human again" and actually enjoying their calls. Does your team sound like real humans having valuable conversations, or robots reciting memorized lines? If it's the latter, let's talk about building frameworks that actually work. #SalesScripts  #AuthenticSelling  #SalesTraining

2025 won’t be about what you add, it will be about what you remove. The winners won't be those who add more complexity. They'll be the ones who master the art of removing friction. But, HOW do we do that for both sides of the revenue equation for buyers and customer facing teams? 1️⃣ 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: • Make information discoverable (think Netflix, not library) • Enable self-service exploration (let them learn their way) • Connect every touchpoint (stop asking them to repeat themselves) • Provide instant answers (or better yet, anticipate questions) • Match their preferred buying motion (not your selling motion) 2️⃣ 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘆 Customer facing teams 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘀: • Bring insights to where they work (not another tab) • Surface what's working (and who it's working for) • Automate the routine (so they focus on relationships) • Make best practices obvious (not buried in playbooks) • Connect client signals to seller actions (right action, right time) 3️⃣ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆: • Connect platforms that should talk • Remove duplicate data entry • Automate the predictable • Surface exceptions that need attention Remember: Every extra click Every delayed response Every disconnected conversation Every scattered resource ...is friction that stands between your buyers and their success (and your teams and their wins). True enablement as a concept, not the team, isn't a function or a department—it's a strategic pillar that does two things masterfully: 1. Eliminates barriers that slow buyers down 2. Amplifies what helps sellers win 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀: • Buyers get clarity instead of complexity • Sellers deliver value instead of managing processes • Teams achieve momentum instead of maintaining systems The future belongs to companies who understand that the best technology doesn't add steps—it removes them. The best strategies don't create new hurdles—they eliminate existing ones. Success in 2025 won't be measured by how much you can add to your tech stack. It will be measured by how much friction you can remove from your revenue engine. The real unlock? AI isn't just another tool—it's the invisible thread that weaves everything together: • Maps and predicts friction before it happens (across every journey) • Amplifies human expertise (instead of replacing it) • Learns from every interaction (what works, what doesn't) • Automates the routine (so humans focus on relationships) • Brings insights to every moment (right context, right time) • Connects signals across systems (no more blind spots) Any and all tech that I advise for, promote, consult, or evangelize for does this. Old tech requires people, (buyers and sellers) to go to the tech. AI/new tech GOES TO THE HUMAN. Tech that works seamlessly in your workflow instead of another tab or step will win. My mantra next year? Remove friction. I’m not the best at it, but Dagnabit, I’m working on it. #Enablement #ai

Be Clear on the What, Flexible on the How. This mindset isn’t just my go-to leadership mantra—it’s how I coach my team to deliver what’s best for our customers. And it’s even how I guide our customers to deploy ClientSuccess effectively. Here’s the deal: too many organizations are laser-focused on how something gets done (hello, mandatory QBRs) and completely lose sight of the what (you know, confirming value and engaging stakeholders). Let me say it louder for the people in the back: the objective is NOT the QBR. The objective is to ensure your customers see, feel, and acknowledge the value you're delivering. Several years ago, I ditched the QBR fixation and shifted to a more flexible, outcomes-driven approach. Why? Because most execs don’t care about your QBR. (Yep, I said it.) What they do care about is value—served up in a way that works for them. So, we got creative. Here are five alternatives we introduced to meet our customers where they are: 1️⃣ The Classic QBR For customers who still love a good ol’ meeting, let’s chat. Just make sure it’s meaningful and mutually valuable. 2️⃣ One-Page Report A bite-sized summary of the insights that matter most. No fluff, just impact. 3️⃣ Asynchronous Video A quick, personalized video highlighting the key points. It’s the QBR experience, without blocking anyone’s calendar. 4️⃣ Exec-to-Exec Sync A focused 15-30 minute conversation between execs to align on the partnership’s direction and priorities. 5️⃣ In-App Insights Real-time data delivered directly in your application for instant validation. Here’s the kicker: by offering options, we started driving better outcomes. Why? Because we prioritized the what (value confirmation) over the how (QBRs for everyone!). So, as you gear up for 2025, ask yourself: are you chasing the meeting, or the mission? The process, or the purpose? Here’s to a year of flexibility, creativity, and measurable impact. Let’s do this. 🙌

83% of buyers dodge sales calls. And when teams still measure outreach success by calls booked, they miss a very important shift in B2B buyers’ mindset: Today's buyers don't avoid calls because they hate sales.  They avoid premature conversations with brands they don't trust. So, the real problem is not the goal to land as many calls as possible.  Conversion is and will be the end goal of any approach. But outreach shouldn’t focus on getting that call instead of building trust first. Think about it: → When was the last time you jumped on a call with a stranger trying to sell you something?  → When was the last time you reached out to an expert whose content helped you solve a problem? The difference is trust. Here's how to adapt your outreach for 2025: → Start with value-first touchpoints: ⎷ Share insights that help solve specific problems ⎷ Create educational content around common pain points ⎷ Engage with prospects' content before pitching ⎷ Build authority through thought leadership → Nurture before selling: ⎷ Focus on micro-conversions (content engagement, newsletter signups) ⎷ Track engagement signals instead of just call bookings ⎷ Build personalized nurture sequences based on interaction history ⎷ Let prospects choose their preferred way to connect The call shouldn't be your end goal.  It should be a natural next step when your buyers are ready to explore solutions. Because in B2B, trust is the new currency. And you can't rush trust with aggressive outreach. Do you prefer this model to the older playbooks? 

Forget “Always Be Closing.” The best sellers today live by a different mantra: Always Be Educating. In a world flooded with templated emails, generic LinkedIn messages, and spammy cold calls, prospects have built up walls. Breaking through? It requires value - real, tangible value - before you ever ask for the meeting. Here’s how top teams are executing ABE: 1. Thought leadership over pitching: Instead of leading with “Can we schedule time?” reps are sharing insights...deep-dive research, industry trends, and actionable frameworks that actually help prospects do their jobs better. One team we work with here at Sales Assembly spends 4-5 months creating in-depth reports tailored to their ICP. These reports don’t push product. They educate. 2. No CTA? No problem. ABE isn’t about the hard sell. It’s about creating moments where the prospect wants to engage. “Saw this report on AI in healthcare - thought it might be useful.” No ask. Just value. And guess what? Prospects respond. More than you’d expect. 3. Hyper personalization at scale: Leveraging AI tools, teams are analyzing prospects’ challenges and tailoring educational content that speaks directly to them. It’s not just “Hey, I saw your company raised Series B.” It’s “Congrats on the Series B! Many SaaS companies at your stage face [insert challenge]. Here’s a breakdown of how others are navigating it.” 4. The ABE flywheel: - Educate first. - Build trust. - Create curiosity. - Earn the conversation. It’s slower than “spray and pray” tactics, but the ROI? Massive. Higher open rates. Better response rates. And prospects that want to talk because you’ve already given them value. In 2025, it’s not about who’s the loudest. It’s about who’s the most helpful.

Straight talk: One thing is 👉 exponentially 👈 more important in 2025 than it used to be. ------- About this post: sustainability leaders need to be catalysts – increasing their own impact and helping others do the same. That means making the case for sustainability persuasive even as times change. ------- 👁️ One common theme stands out when talking to sustainability professionals about what’s going to be a lot more important in 2025. There are plenty of changes to the landscape for sustainability in 2025, but one theme: • Appeals to different audiences • Doesn’t depend on government regulation • And is less susceptible to changes in stakeholder expectations 👉 What is this area of renewed focus? The business case. 1️⃣ Signs of the escalating importance of the business case are everywhere. » Interviewing Chief Sustainability Officers about the new realities of 2025, BSR found: “Many CSOs feel their role and strategies are under heavy scrutiny, with reanimated arguments about the business case.”   Monday, in a Fast Company article, Susan McPherson echoed that theme:   “Corporate responsibility is long overdue for a watershed moment—a revolution that...shifts our understanding of social impact from a nice-to-have to a business imperative.” » This renewed emphasis on ROI and the business case isn’t just in the US, either. Nawaar Alsaadi writes about the need for teams in Europe and globally to "sharpen their business case for change.” 2️⃣ But too many people are still having difficulty quantifying ROI. The Conference Board  found that over 4 in 10 (41%) executives say they “are underperforming or are uncertain about assessing the ROI of sustainability investments.” That’s over twice as many as say that about other kinds of investments (17%). 3️⃣  But this can be fixed. 🔹 The first step is to look for submerged (hidden) value, which is typically 4x - 10x as much as visible value. 🔹 Once you’ve found it, you need to quantify it and make it an important part of your communications, internally and externally. 📖 I’ve written a lot about this process. (You can find many of my writings here on LinkedIn.) 🔹 But I’m also putting together a 2025 toolkit to help sustainability practitioners adapt to the changing landscape while creating more impact. 👉 If you’d like to know when the toolkit is ready, just leave a comment below or DM me. 💰 If you need more expert help, Valutus has software tools that help companies quantify sustainability ROI. ♦️ What you can do: 📍 Take a second look at how sustainability initiatives benefit the business. Look for submerged value and ask around to get others’ perspectives. 📍 Make ROI and the business case a bigger part of what you say about sustainability. 📍 And take your ROI message to additional stakeholders, such as the Finance function, investors, etc. It can help you build new allies, which will be very beneficial. #sustainability #ROI #value #climate #ESG  

Do you know the difference between a 15% and a 40% close rate? It boils down to 6 things. I've seen it countless times. Salespeople get pulled into the "solution box" too early. The prospect says: "What I need is X," and the conversation jumps straight to deliverables. Elite sellers take a different approach. They use what I call the Value Confirmation Framework. Here are the 6 essential "buckets" from the buyer's perspective we use to dramatically improve closing rates: 1. Business Issue: A time-bound, measurable metric that needs to be addressed to achieve organizational objectives. 2. Problem: The difficulties preventing customers from addressing their Business Issues. 3. Solution: The buyer's view of capabilities that will enable them to solve their Problems. 4. Value: The buyer's view of the impact of a solution from both financial and personal perspectives. 5. Power: The person(s) who have authority to say yes or no. 6. Plan: A sequence of events required for the buyer to be convinced you can deliver and see line of sight to the resolution of their number one priority. For each bucket, ask: - Open-ended questions to explore. - Probing questions to get yes/no answers that dig deeper. - Confirming questions to aid understanding. Here are some open question examples: 1. Business Issue: "What's your number 1 priority for 2025?" 2. Problem: "What are the biggest headwinds you face in achieving the priority for 2025?" 3. Solution: "What is your vision of the solution?" 4. Value: "What would be the value in solving these problems?" (could get Business or Personal Value) 5. Power: "Once approved, who else needs to sign off?" 6. Plan: "What steps do you see needed to move forward?" PRO TIP: Print this framework and keep it next to your desk. It'll stop prospects from dragging you straight to solutions before you've uncovered what really matters. Want to learn more about ValueSelling? DM me.