Best tip for a new CMO working with a skeptical marketing-resistant sales leader

Summary

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MarTech Podcast ™: Best Tip for a New CMO Working with a Skeptical, Marketing-Resistant Sales Leader

Date: September 3, 2025
Host: Benjamin Shapiro
Guest: Kelly Hopping (CMO, Demandbase)

Episode Overview

This episode focuses on practical strategies for new Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) who need to partner effectively with skeptical, marketing-resistant sales leaders. Drawing on her experience, Kelly Hopping shares actionable tips for building trust, fostering sales-marketing alignment, and ultimately driving pipeline growth. The discussion centers on relationship-building, aligning objectives, the role of data, and the importance of positioning marketing in service of sales goals.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Prioritizing the Sales Leader Relationship

• Kelly’s Advice for New CMOs:
  • The most important relationship to focus on is with the sales leader.
  • While new CMOs will want to meet many team members (sellers, marketers, product, finance), they should spend disproportionate time with the head of sales to build alignment and trust.
  • Quote:

    “I would say that's the most important relationship they should focus on building.”
    – Kelly Hopping, 01:34

2. The Power of Aligned Objectives

• Find the One Thing to Solve Together:
  • CMOs and sales leaders should agree on a single, shared key objective: pipeline growth.
  • Kelly points out that skepticism is often rooted in past CMOs focusing on branding or vanity projects, rather than revenue-centric goals.
  • Quote:

    "Align on what is the number one thing you and I need to solve together. And that one thing is pipeline. Every time, it's pipeline."
    – Kelly Hopping, 01:50

3. Busting the "Fluffy Marketing" Myth

• Understand Sales Skepticism:
  • Sales leaders may have seen past marketing efforts focus on leads or rebrands instead of measurable revenue impact.
  • Kelly stresses the importance of demonstrating how marketing actions tie back to pipeline creation.

4. Data-Driven Collaboration

• Sharing the Numbers Side by Side:
  • Build trust by actively collaborating with sales on data—where things are working and where they're failing.
  • Being transparent and analytical creates authenticity and mutual respect.
  • Quote:

    "If you can sit side by side, go through the data and be really, really open book about where are we failing, where are we succeeding, I think you immediately build trust and authenticity and kind of value with your CRO."
    – Kelly Hopping, 02:18

5. Marketing in Service of Sales

• Position Marketing as a Support Function:
  • Marketing should be positioned as supporting sales, not working in a silo.
  • Align on the intent that all marketing activities serve pipeline growth, even if not all are directly measured at the bottom of the funnel.
  • Examples include rebrands, PR strategies, positioning work, and website improvements—as long as their ultimate purpose is to drive sales success.
  • Quote:

    “If I need to fix the brand, if I need to fix positioning, if I need to run a PR strategy, if I need to fix the website, any of those things, all of those are with the ultimate goal of helping sales be successful.”
    – Kelly Hopping, 03:18

  • Host’s Summary:

    "...having them understand that you look at marketing's role as supporting them and bringing them things they need to be success, that that's a nice way to be like I'm here to help you as opposed to I'm gonna do my job, you do yours, and maybe we'll meet in the middle."
    – Benjamin Shapiro, 02:39

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Building the Core Relationship:

  “I would have a spend a disproportionate amount of time with the sales leader...”
  – Kelly Hopping, 01:38

• Addressing Stereotypes:

  “...They’ve heard a CMO do a rebrand...it seems like it’s just like fluffy, whatever. And they’re like, no, no, no, I need pipeline.”
  – Kelly Hopping, 01:58

• Transparency as Trust Builder:

  “...be really, really open book about where are we failing, where are we succeeding...”
  – Kelly Hopping, 02:24

• Intentional Alignment:

  “Aligning on that intention is super important.”
  – Kelly Hopping, 03:05

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Important Timestamps

| Time | Segment | |----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:15 | Guest introduction: Kelly Hopping, CMO of Demandbase | | 01:34 | Kelly’s best tip: Build a relationship with the sales leader | | 01:50 | Align on the core objective: Pipeline growth | | 02:18 | Importance of side-by-side data collaboration | | 02:39 | Host summarizes positioning marketing as supporting sales | | 03:05 | Kelly on aligning intentions and education of sales leaders | | 03:18 | All marketing activities should ultimately serve pipeline growth |

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Episode Takeaways

• For new CMOs, winning over a skeptical sales leader is crucial to success.
• Align early and explicitly on the importance of pipeline as the shared north star.
• Break down silos with transparency and a willingness to engage deeply with the sales team and their data.
• Position every marketing action—even “upper funnel” work—as ultimately serving sales objectives.
• Build relationships, foster trust, and let data be the common ground.

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For More:

• Connect with Kelly Hopping on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Demandbase: demandbase.com
• Kelly’s podcast: Next Gen CMO
• Book: Yes, It’s Your Fault

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Transcript

[A]

The Martech Podcast is a proud member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network. Looking to launch or scale your podcast, I Hear Everything delivers podcast production, growth and monetization solutions that transform your words into profit. Ready to give your brand a voice. Then visit iheareverything.com.

[B]

From advertising to software as a service to data, across all of our programs and clients, we've seen a 55 to 65% open rate. Getting brands authentically integrated into content performs better than TV advertising. Typical life span of an article is about 24 to 36 hours. We're reaching out to the right person with the right message and a clear call to action. Then it's just a matter of timing.

[A]

Welcome to the Martech Podcast, a member of the I Hear Everything Podcast network. In this podcast, you'll hear the stories of world class marketers that use technology to drive business results and achieve career success. Here's the host of the Martech Podcast, Benjamin Shapiro.

[B]

I'm Benjamin Shapiro and joining me today is Kelly Hopping, the CMO of Demandbase. And today Kelly will reveal the secrets to creating sales and marketing alignment that drives measurable growth. All right, here we go. What's the best tip for a new CMO working with a skeptical, marketing resistant sales leader?

[C]

I would say that's the most important relationship they should focus on building. I think when a new CMO gets there, they want to meet and greet across the whole company, get to know all the sellers, marketers, product finance, everything. I would have a spend a disproportionate amount of time with the sales leader and I would align, as we've talked about, like align on what is the number one thing you and I need to solve together. And that one thing is pipeline. Every time it's pipeline. So if you can align on like that, we're all driving to the same thing. I think the way they're skeptical is because they've heard somebody have leads, they've heard a CMO do a rebrand, right? Like us CMOs all come in and we like to do a rebrand and it seems like it's just like fluffy, whatever. And they're like, no, no, no, I need pipeline. And I think if you can get to the core of that issue, I think the other one is being willing to spend time in the data with that sales leader. Like if you can sit side by side, go through the data and be really, really open book about where are we failing, where are we succeeding? I think you immediately build trust and authenticity and kind of value with your CRO. Which I think is super important.

[B]

We talked a little earlier about positioning marketing to be in service of sales goals. And it seems like when you're working with marketing resistant sales leaders, having them understand that you look at marketing's role as supporting them and bringing them things they need to be success, that that's a nice way to be like I'm here to help you as opposed to I'm gonna do my job, you do yours, and maybe we'll meet in the middle.

[C]

I think that's exactly right. I think aligning on that intention is super important. And by the way, that doesn't mean that every single thing I'm gonna do is going to be a direct correlation to Pipeline. I'm not gonna over index to everything I do as the bottom of the funnel, but it does mean that everything I'm doing is in service of growing Pipeline eventually. So if I need to fix the brand, if I need to fix positioning, if I need to run a PR strategy, if I need to fix the website, any of those things, all of those are with the ultimate goal of helping sales be successful. And I think, yeah, that education, that alignment is really, really important.

[B]

And that wraps up this episode of the MarTech podcast. Thanks to Kelly Hopping CMO of Demand base for joining us. If you'd like to contact Kelly, you can find a link to her LinkedIn profile in our show notes or on martechpod.com you can visit her company's website, which is demandbase.com she's also the host of the next gen CMO podcast and the co author of the book yes, it's your fault. And if you haven't subscribed yet and you want a daily stream of marketing and technology knowledge in your podcast feed, hit the subscribe button in your podcast app or on YouTube and we'll be back in your feed next week. That's it for today, but until next time, my advice is to just focus on keeping your customers happy. Foreign.

[A]

Thanks for listening to the MarTech podcast and I hear everything. Production Looking to launch or scale a podcast like this one for your brand? Then visit iheareverything.com.