Closed Loop Sales Strategy: Why Most B2B Teams Are Getting It Wrong

Most B2B teams are still chasing meetings, pipeline, and MQLs—without ever understanding if a buyer is actually ready to buy.

In this episode, we join Kieran Longhurst to break down the Closed Circuit Selling Strategy —why traditional sales models are failing, and how to fix them.

We unpack how sales should really work, why booking meetings is the wrong goal, and how cataloguing your market creates a feedback loop across marketing, sales, product, and leadership.

This isn’t about selling harder. It’s about building a system that aligns with how buyers actually make decisions.

Tune in and learn:

• Why focusing on “meetings booked” is killing your pipeline
• How to use sales conversations as real market intelligence
• The exact method to sell on your buyer’s timeline

If you’re a B2B marketer or revenue leader trying to drive real pipeline—not just activity—this episode will completely change how you think about sales.

00:00 Why Most B2B Sales Strategies Are Broken

01:00 The 95% Problem: Why You’re Only Talking to Buyers

02:00 The Real Sales Mindset (That No One Teaches)

03:00 Why “Sell Me This Pen” Is the Wrong Model

05:00 Architecture vs Tactics: The Core Shift

07:00 Why Relationship Building Is Misunderstood

09:00 What Sales Actually Is (And Why Most Get It Wrong)

11:00 The Hidden Cost of Booking Bad Meetings

13:00 The Cataloguing Method Explained

15:00 Why Most Sales Teams Waste 90% of Their Effort

18:00 How to Use Sales as Real Market Research

20:00 The Feedback Loop That Fixes Marketing

23:00 Why Founders Forget How They Originally Sold

27:00 The Death of the “Scale Fast” Sales Model

30:00 Human Selling vs Automated Outreach

33:00 How to Actually Get Buyers to Share Information

38:00 Real Examples: Closing Enterprise Deals with LinkedIn

45:00 Why MQLs Destroy Marketing Teams

50:00 The Smartest Prospecting Tactic We’ve Seen

55:00 AI, Search, and the Future of Sales

59:00 Final Takeaways: Rapport Over Relationships

👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team?

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you)?

Get the:

🔹 strategy

🔹 templates

🔹 tools

So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

Check out: theb2bplaybook.com

#b2b #b2bmarketing #digitalmarketing #demandgeneration #outboundsales

Is Account-Based Marketing Worth It? (Most Teams Get This Wrong)

Most B2B teams jump into ABM without asking the one question that actually matters: should you even be doing it?

In this episode, we break down what account-based marketing really is, where it fits in your go-to-market strategy, and why most ABM efforts fail before they even start.

We go beyond theory and show you the practical decisions you need to make, including how to define your target list, why deal size changes everything, and why “cataloguing the market” is the missing piece most teams ignore.

Tune in and learn:

When ABM actually works (and when it doesn’t)

Why most teams waste money targeting the wrong accounts

How to use cataloguing to stop guessing and start closing

If you’re a B2B marketer trying to drive real pipeline, not just activity, this is a must-watch.

SUBSCRIBE to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/@theb2bplaybook

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GET the latest CONTENT: https://theb2bplaybook.com/

00:00 Why Everyone Is Talking About ABM (But Few Get It Right)

00:35 The Big Question: Should You Even Do ABM?

01:10 Why Most B2B Marketing Still Feels Like “Spray and Pray”

01:30 The Hidden Truth: ABM = Disciplined Go-To-Market

02:00 Why Weak Targeting Kills Your Positioning

02:30 When ABM Actually Makes Sense (And When It Doesn’t)

03:00 What ABM Really Is (And What It Isn’t)

04:00 The 3 Decisions You Must Make Before Doing ABM

05:00 Step 1: Define Your Objective

06:00 Why Most Teams Skip Proper Target Lists

07:00 The ICP Trap

08:00 When Your TAM Is Too Small for Paid Ads

09:00 The Real ABM Filter: Deal Size

10:00 Why ABM Fails for Low-Value Products

11:00 Step 2: The Missing Piece – Cataloguing

12:00 Why Marketing Can’t Guess Who’s In-Market

13:00 The 95/5 Reality

14:00 The Contract Problem That Kills Deals

15:00 Real Example: Why Campaigns Fail

16:00 How Cataloguing Changes Everything

17:00 Why Your TAM Might Be Wrong

18:00 Step 3: Not Everything Should Be ABM

19:00 Running ABM + Broad Marketing Together

20:00 Enterprise vs SME

21:00 Why Over-Personalised Ads Don’t Work

22:00 What Actually Works: Real Conversations

23:00 The Problem With AI Personalisation

24:00 Why Buyers Don’t Share Pain Publicly

25:00 The Final Answer: Is ABM Worth It?

26:00 The 3 Rules for Deciding

27:00 Final Takeaways

👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team?

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you)?

Get the:

🔹 strategy

🔹 templates

🔹 tools

So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

Check out: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

S08 E2255 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #b2bmarketing #digitalmarketing #demandgeneration #accountbasedmarketing

Most B2B marketers run LinkedIn ads… but never turn them into real pipeline.

In this video, I break down the exact LinkedIn Ads strategy we used to help a B2B agency client go from zero to $185k a month in just 22 months.

💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Ads?

https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency

I cover ICP targeting, Thought Leadership Ads, scaling beyond the founder's personal brand, and the feedback loops that keep the whole thing growing.

If you are a B2B founder or marketer trying to figure out how to use LinkedIn Ads to stay top of mind with the right buyers and actually turn that into booked calls and revenue, this video is for you.

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🔗 Links + CTAs

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💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Ads?

https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency

🎓 Join our Demand Generation Program: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

🧠 Learn how to drive revenue across your organisation with CRO School: https://theb2bplaybook.com/cro-school

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SUBSCRIBE to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/@theb2bplaybook

SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter: https://theb2bplaybook.com/newsletter

GET the latest CONTENT: https://theb2bplaybook.com/

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Timestamps:

00:00 How LinkedIn Ads Helped Scale to $185K/Month

01:30 Step 1: Get Brutally Clear on Your ICP

04:00 Step 2: Using Thought Leadership Ads to Grow

09:30 Step 3: Scaling Beyond the Founder Brand

12:00 Step 4: Optimisation & Feedback Loops

14:10 Step 5: Most Buyers Aren’t Ready Yet

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S08 E224 - The B2B Playbook

#b2bmarketing #demandgeneration #linkedinads #linkedinthoughtleadership #linkedinadsagency