The B2B Playbook #212: Why Sales & Marketing Broke (And How to Rebuild a Modern Revenue System) ft. Tony J Hughes
Why Sales & Marketing Broke (And How to Rebuild a Modern Revenue System) ft. Tony J Hughes
Most teams feel the symptoms — pipeline gaps, misaligned targets, MQL chaos, sellers chasing “now or never” deals.
But those are signals of a deeper problem: the revenue system itself is broken.
In this episode, we sit down with Tony J Hughes and Adem Manderovic to unpack why sales and marketing drifted apart… and how to rebuild a modern revenue system that actually matches how buyers make decisions today.
We get into:
- Why predictable revenue models collapsed
- How sales stopped validating the market
- How marketing lost strategic direction to MQL targets
- And how to replace the old funnel with a closed-circuit GTM system that creates control and credibility again.
We also talk ICP, cataloguing, air cover, performance gaps, and Tony’s new book Sentient — plus what AI means for the future of selling.
Tune in and learn:
- Why the old sales & marketing playbooks broke
- How to build a shared ICP that actually aligns both teams
- Why cataloguing is the foundation for a modern GTM system
- How to create air cover that supports real sales cycles
- The future of selling in a world of advanced AI
If you’re a B2B marketer or sales leader stuck in the old predictable-revenue logic, this episode is your blueprint for rebuilding alignment and revenue performance from the ground up.
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00:00 Why sales & marketing broke
01:02 Where misalignment actually began
03:10 Why inbound intent pushes sellers into a red ocean
06:20 How sales used to validate the market (and why it matters)
08:45 The ICP framework sales & marketing should share
11:15 Turning sales discovery into marketing air cover
13:55 How MQL targets fractured GTM
17:20 Cataloguing: foundation of a modern revenue system
20:05 Why frontline sales leadership is the weakest link
23:40 When sales & marketing target different lists
27:05 When to run a sales-led vs marketing-led motion
31:40 Talk to more of the market (not just in-market buyers)
34:05 Why feature-selling kills deals
38:35 RSVP vs BANT: a smarter way to qualify
42:10 What CMOs actually respond to in outreach
46:15 Adem’s journey to Closed Circuit Selling
50:05 Tony’s research: AI, AGI & the future of selling
53:40 Why every seller becomes a cyborg
55:05 Where to find Tony J Hughes
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S07 E212 - The B2B Playbook
#b2bgrowth #b2bmarketing #sales #salesleadership #revenuearchitecture #demandgeneration #cataloguing #salesandmarketingalignment #tonyjhughes