Is CRO the Right Progression for Sales Leaders?

Should you hire BDRs or full cycle sales reps? Mark Niemiec, CRO of Salesloft thinks companies are shifting budgets away from BDR teams. At Salesloft, they already made the switch from sales engagement platform to what they call revenue orchestration.

Mark's perspective: AE-generated pipeline converts 3-4x better than BDR pipeline. He predicts the BDR role that became popular around 2012 may not exist by 2026. The economics that created the BDR boom - cheap money and abundant VC funding - are gone.

Mark runs revenue for a company that serves 5,000+ customers. Salesloft has captured 5-6 billion sales data points over time. When he talks about fundamental changes in B2B sales process, you listen.

Mark answers the questions sales leaders are asking: Should you cut your BDR team? How does AI account planning actually work? What's the difference between sales engagement platforms and revenue orchestration? And why do most cold pitches to CROs fail?

What Mark covers:
👉🏻 "What's replacing BDR teams?" - The Office of Pipeline Management strategy that sits between sales and marketing
👉🏻 "Do AI sales tools actually work?" - Salesloft's AI account planning software that writes emails, finds buyers, and creates dynamic sales cadences
👉🏻 "How do you sell to enterprise CROs?" - Mark's executive dinner strategy that builds relationships, not pitches
👉🏻 "Why is full cycle sales more effective?" - The pipeline generation strategies that actually convert in demand-neutral markets
👉🏻 "Which AI features are overhyped?" - Real talk on AI SDR tools vs human-in-the-loop sales automation
👉🏻 "How do you transition from VP Sales to CRO?" - What changes when you move from managing reps to running all revenue operations

Mark shares practical details about why he almost never takes cold calls, how Salesloft eliminated their BDR function, and his thoughts on sales team structure in 2025. This conversation covers the changes he's seeing in B2B sales methodology.

Chapters:
00:00 - Intro: The State of Sales Tech in 2025
06:01 - The Death of the BDR Function
13:15 - Why Full-Cycle Sales is the Future
21:06 - CRMs vs. Action Platforms
25:11 - What's Overhyped vs. What Works in Sales Tech
35:17 - Salesloft's Real AI Breakthrough
38:01 - The Future of AI in Sales
57:17 - How to Sell to Enterprise CROs
1:10:23 - This or That: CRO Quick Takes
1:12:02 - Final Thoughts: From VP to CRO

About our guest:
Mark Niemiec is the Chief Revenue Officer at Salesloft. Salesloft’s industry-leading Revenue Orchestration Platform uses purpose-built AI to help market-facing teams prioritize and take action on what matters most, from first touch to upsell and renewal. With 5,000+ customers, Salesloft’s most recent public valuation was $2.3 billion.

Before joining Salesloft in early 2024, Mark spent 7 years at Salesforce, ultimately serving as Senior Vice President of Sales, and a decade at Cisco, where he steered the company's Financial Services and Collaboration software segments through double digit expansion.
About the Show
What does it really take to grow a B2B business today? We ask the people doing it.
The Belkins Podcast dives deep into the strategies, decisions, and behind-the-scenes insights driving real growth at top B2B companies. Each episode features candid conversations with industry heavyweights—CROs, CMOs, founders, and seasoned operators—who've navigated market downturns, scaled teams, and mastered the realities of revenue growth.
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About the Host
Michael Maximoff is the Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer of Belkins, the #1 ranked B2B appointment-setting agency, recognized by Clutch, G2, and Inc. Over the past decade, Michael has built Belkins into one of the most respected voices in B2B sales and marketing, helping over 1,000 companies across 50+ industries achieve predictable, scalable growth.
Known for his straightforward style, Michael hosts the Belkins Podcast to speak directly with top growth leaders and uncover what truly moves the needle today.