Sales & Marketing Playbook: Unleashed

Evan Polin & Craig Andrews

"Sales and Marketing Playbook: Unleashed" is a dynamic and informative podcast that provides listeners with the essential strategies, tactics, and insights to excel in the world of sales and marketing. Hosted by industry experts and thought leaders, this podcast delves deep into the latest trends, best practices, and innovative approaches that drive success in the competitive business landscape. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out, "Sales and Marketing Playbook: Unleashed" offers a treasure trove of actionable advice, real-world examples, and inspiring interviews to help you unlock your full potential and achieve outstanding results in sales and marketing. Join us on this journey of discovery, growth, and transformation as we unleash the power of effective sales and marketing techniques.

  1. 4D AGO

    Robots Do Paperwork; You Do Winning

    Send us a text What if your team could trade hours of grunt work for minutes of streamlined execution—and spend the saved time actually winning business? We sit down with a former law firm manager turned automation strategist to unpack how robotic process automation reduces repetitive tasks, safeguards accuracy, and gives clients more of your human attention where it counts. We draw a bright line between RPA and AI: AI imitates thinking, while RPA imitates clicks and keystrokes with clear rules. That distinction is the key to consistency, compliance, and predictable outcomes. You’ll hear a probate case study where a bot turns four hours of admin into eight minutes—extracting data, triggering human intake, generating documents, coordinating DocuSign, e-filing, and updating calendars with human review steps baked in. We also break down the biggest bottleneck in personal injury—medical records—and how automation handles requests, retrieval, classification, naming, filing, and notifications so a six-person team can reclaim three days a week. For sales and marketing leaders, we get tactical: automate intake, CRM entry, routing, reminders, and asset prep, but keep live conversations human. Start with your current tech stack—HubSpot, Salesforce, Microsoft, or Calendly—before adding custom bots. Move information gathering from email ping-pong to structured web forms with conditional logic to create clean, searchable data that accelerates every downstream workflow. Most importantly, avoid culture traps by inviting your team into the process: ask what they love, what drags them down, and what they wish they had time to do. When people see automation as a gateway to higher-value work—strategy, client trust, and growth—they become champions, not skeptics. If you’re ready to scale service quality without scaling headcount, this playbook will help you choose the right tasks, design human checkpoints, and build buy-in from day one. Subscribe, share with a colleague who needs the time back, and leave a review telling us the first workflow you’d automate.

    29 min
  2. JAN 25

    How Smart Lawyers Stop Doing Busywork And Start Building A Profitable Practice

    Send us a text What if your firm grew faster the moment you stopped doing “everything”? We brought on Ron Bockstahler of Amata Office Centers to show how small and solo law practices scale with less stress by outsourcing the back office, using virtual offices for presence, and focusing lawyer time on what actually pays: legal work and prospecting. We start with a reality check for attorneys leaving big firms. The comforts of enterprise-grade support vanish on day one—secure systems, phones, mail, intake, compliance, and endless admin decisions land on your desk. Ron explains how virtual office programs handle mail, calls, and client-facing workflows so you keep a professional footprint without a costly lease. Then we dig into the golden rule: if it’s not billable, you shouldn’t be doing it. Bookkeeping, IT, document production, and even first drafts can be handled by experts or AI-assisted tools, leaving you to review and refine at a higher value. Growth depends on the pipeline you build, not the clients you hope stick around. We break down referral strategies that drive 80% of matters for many small firms, from mapping complementary practices to scheduling weekly one-on-ones that consistently produce introductions. Evan shares a simple “pay time vs. no pay time” framework to protect your calendar, while Craig tackles the marketing wake-up call: AI is reshaping search behavior, so DIY tactics often miss shifting algorithms and intent. Ron’s story of a strong firm seeing call volume drop becomes a lesson in hiring professional marketing that tracks leads from search to signed engagement and adapts before results slide. By the end, you’ll have a lean, practical playbook: write clear goals, delegate nonbillables, protect pay time, invest in a referral engine, and modernize your marketing for the AI era. Keep it simple, keep it flexible, and align costs with revenue so your firm compounds instead of grinds. If these plays help, follow and subscribe for more sales and marketing strategies, share the show with a colleague, and leave a quick review to tell us which tactic you’ll put into action this week. Beholder AgencyWe provide marketing strategies & services that increase in awareness, sales & engagement.Polin Performance GroupWe offer strategies to increase sales, maximize performance and increase revenue for businesses. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

    26 min
  3. JAN 18

    Top marketing agencies that focus on b2b lead generation

    Send us a text Ready to trade noisy “more leads” for a pipeline you can actually close? We dig into what growth marketing really means for B2B teams: systematic experimentation tied to revenue, not vanity metrics. With Evan Polin’s sales coaching lens and Craig Andrews' growth marketing strategy playbook, we map how to align sales and marketing so both sides win and buyers feel it from the first touch. We start by cutting through agency labels and assets that masquerade as strategy. Then we define the difference between MQLs and SQLs and explain why shifting to sales accepted leads, pipeline created, and revenue influenced changes the culture overnight. If sales hates the leads, marketing is failing; if sales can’t say why, sales is failing marketing. That’s where the weekly feedback loop comes in—field notes shape ICP updates, messaging pivots, and nurture arcs that steadily advance deals instead of clogging calendars. You’ll hear practical takeaways for small and mid-sized teams without enterprise budgets: how to clarify your ideal client profile, why people remember you for the first thing you sold, and how long it really takes to reposition an offer. We talk problem-first content that answers real questions buyers ask, smarter LinkedIn targeting, and how to rebuild an email reputation after blasting the list into spam filters. Most of all, we show why better alignment beats more spend, and how testing, not guessing, builds durable momentum—cleaner discovery calls, shorter cycles, and easier upsells. If you’re serious about revenue and tired of activity for activity’s sake, this playbook episode is your next step. Follow the show, share it with your team, and leave a review to tell us what’s working.  What’s the biggest challenge between sales and marketing at your company right now? Tell us—we’re building the next episodes around your questions.

    28 min
  4. 10/26/2025

    From Messy CRMs To Measurable Growth With HubSpot

    Send us a text If your CRM feels like a black hole instead of a growth engine, this conversation will change how you build, measure, and coach your sales and marketing efforts. We sit down with Cathy Cain-Blank of The WDG Agency to unpack the real reason teams struggle with HubSpot—and how to fix it fast. We start by drawing a hard line: strategy before software. Cathy explains why DIY implementations fail, how to map progressive deal stages that reflect real buyer movement, and which definitions every team must standardize to trust their data. From there, we dig into quick wins at the professional tier: task automation that prevents post-proposal drift and playbooks that replace scattered notes with structured discovery captured right in the record. The result is fewer “I’ll get back to it” meetings and more pipelines that actually move. We also explore smart disqualification and recycling. Instead of letting “interested but later” clog your forecast, close the loop and send contacts into targeted nurture workflows. Cathy shows how unified engagement data—sales emails opened and clicked, marketing content consumed, form submissions—helps reps prioritize outreach while giving marketers the insight to refine offers. This is where HubSpot shines: one platform, shared visibility, and a feedback loop that ties campaigns to qualified conversations. Adoption is where leaders earn their keep. We talk through driving consistent usage without bureaucracy, building peer-led learning around what top performers record, and measuring what matters: stage conversions, time-in-stage bottlenecks, and the engagement signals that precede wins. If you’ve only used 25 percent of your CRM’s power, you’ll leave with specific ideas to expand intelligently—sequences for outreach, smarter forms for lead capture, and dashboards that bring focus to the day. Ready to turn your CRM from cost center to compounding asset? Listen now, then subscribe, rate, and share with a teammate who owns sales or marketing. Drop your questions on LinkedIn—we’d love to hear where your pipeline gets stuck and what you’ll try next.

    26 min
  5. 10/19/2025

    What Happens When You Automate the Entire Client Journey Without Losing the Personal Touch

    Send us a text Buyers don’t wake up searching for your brand—they wake up searching for answers. We dive into how to meet them there and guide them all the way to loyal, long-term customers using automation that still feels human. With Dr. Denise Dennis of Action Accelerated, we map a complete journey from awareness and consideration to decision, onboarding, retention, and optimization—and show where automation saves hours without stripping out your voice or values. We start with solution-first awareness: what turns casual scrollers into qualified leads, why lead magnets work, and how to deliver instant value with clean capture and clear next steps. Then we unpack nurturing that builds trust—evergreen sequences in your tone, timely broadcasts that prove you’re present, and behavior-triggered follow-ups that keep relevance high and pressure low. Dr. Denise explains the tech stack in plain English: pixels, UTM tracking, Google Analytics, and CRM workflows that surface what’s working across LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and email. Decision becomes effortless when logistics are automated. Smart scheduling links, thoughtful reminders, and pre-call assets (testimonials, a 90-second intro, one-question intake) set the stage. Post-call paths route yes, no, and maybe into the right journeys—agreements and payment links for buyers, concise recaps for fence-sitters, long-term nurture for later fits. Lead scoring helps sales focus on the right conversations by weighting downloads, clicks, and visit depth. Retention is where revenue compounds. We cover onboarding that calms buyer anxiety with welcome videos, clear instructions, and quick wins. Automated summaries after sessions, periodic check-ins, and satisfaction surveys keep clients engaged and heard. When progress is visible, expansion feels natural—course two after course one, VIP days after group programs, strategic packages after pilots—raising lifetime value without awkward pitches. Finally, we show how to optimize the full funnel with data: view-to-opt-in, opt-in-to-show, show-to-close, and beyond. Test headlines, proof, and CTAs; follow the demand your data reveals; and treat automation as a reliable system that delivers the right message at the right time. If you’re ready to work smarter, reclaim time, and scale trust, hit play, subscribe for more growth playbooks, and leave a review with the one step you’ll automate this week.

    29 min
  6. 10/12/2025

    How Sales and Marketing Win Q4 and Set Up a Bigger Q1

    Send us a text Q4 doesn’t forgive drift. We pull back the curtain on the exact plays we use to finish the year strong while quietly stacking wins for a faster Q1—no fluff, just moves you can run this week. From pinpointing the two or three channels that drove most of your revenue to reviving “closed-lost” opportunities with value-first outreach, we show how sales and marketing work together when the clock is ticking. Evan Poland (co-author of Selling Professional Services The Sandler Way) breaks down a practical pipeline audit: tag every deal by originating activity, identify the patterns behind wins, and double down. He walks through the A/B/C relationship model to activate trusted contacts for warm introductions and explains how to re-approach stalled deals without sounding needy. Craig Andrews (CEO, Beholder Agency) maps the marketing side: amplify proven messages, retarget recent engagers, and pair time-boxed incentives with a low-friction CTA. We also address the “no one buys after Thanksgiving” myth with real-world examples of seven-figure engagements that started during the holidays—because urgent pain ignores the calendar. You’ll learn how to turn social signals and site behavior into prioritized outreach, why speed-to-context beats speed-to-lead, and how to balance “rabbits, deer, and elephants” so you hit this year’s target while advancing next year’s enterprise wins. Expect clear steps, simple language, and a playbook you can hand your team today: align on data, shorten next steps, and make every touch move a deal one stage forward. If this helped sharpen your Q4 plan, follow the show, share it with a teammate who needs momentum, and leave a quick review so others can find it. Want to go deeper or pitch a topic? Connect with us on LinkedIn or via the website—and keep winning.

    23 min
  7. 09/29/2025

    AI Is Already in Your Business Whether You Know It or Not

    Send us a text Are your employees already using AI without your knowledge? What competitive advantages are you missing by not having a clear AI strategy? Fractional COO Julio Gonzalez reveals how small and mid-sized businesses can harness artificial intelligence to drive efficiency and growth without massive investments or technical expertise. Drawing from decades of experience as a CIO and operational strategist, Julio cuts through the AI hype to deliver practical insights you can implement immediately. Rather than treating AI as just another tech buzzword, he approaches it from an operational perspective—focusing on how automation can solve real business problems and free up your time for high-value activities. The conversation explores how mature AI implementations are yielding up to 20% performance improvements in specific business areas. From AI assistants handling phone calls and scheduling to financial tools automating invoice matching, these technologies are transforming everyday tasks. For small businesses without large marketing departments, AI writing assistants are crafting professional communications and marketing materials in minutes rather than hours. But Julio also addresses the risks—particularly how employees using free AI tools might inadvertently expose sensitive business data. Learn how to develop specific, detailed prompts that produce accurate, valuable outputs instead of the "hallucinations" that can damage your credibility and brand. Discover the fundamental difference between using AI effectively versus simply adopting the latest shiny object. Whether you're AI-curious or AI-anxious, this episode provides a balanced, strategic framework for implementing automation in ways that enhance your business operations without overwhelming your team or budget. The competitive advantage isn't just in adopting AI—it's in adopting it thoughtfully before your competition does. Ready to transform your business operations? Connect with Julio at Opticution (www.opticution.com) to develop an AI strategy that aligns with your specific business goals and challenges.

    29 min

About

"Sales and Marketing Playbook: Unleashed" is a dynamic and informative podcast that provides listeners with the essential strategies, tactics, and insights to excel in the world of sales and marketing. Hosted by industry experts and thought leaders, this podcast delves deep into the latest trends, best practices, and innovative approaches that drive success in the competitive business landscape. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out, "Sales and Marketing Playbook: Unleashed" offers a treasure trove of actionable advice, real-world examples, and inspiring interviews to help you unlock your full potential and achieve outstanding results in sales and marketing. Join us on this journey of discovery, growth, and transformation as we unleash the power of effective sales and marketing techniques.