MarTech Podcast ™ – Episode Summary

Episode Title: One alignment tactic every B2B company should implement
Host: Benjamin Shapiro
Guest: Kelly Hopping, CMO at Demandbase
Date: September 5, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into a critical topic for B2B organizations: achieving and maintaining true alignment between sales and marketing teams. Host Benjamin Shapiro interviews Kelly Hopping, CMO of Demandbase, to discuss the single most important tactic for organizational alignment, why shared ownership of metrics matters, and how human connection underpins even the most data-driven strategies.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Magic Wand Question: One Alignment Tactic (01:15–03:00)

• Kelly Hopping's top tactic:
  • Weekly Funnel Reviews: Regularly review the funnel with both sales and marketing teams to maintain sync and clarity.
  • CEO Accountability: CEOs should hold CMOs directly accountable for pipeline, not just marketing-qualified leads.

    “My second, even though you didn’t ask for one, would be CEOs holding their CMOs to pipeline, period.”
    (Kelly Hopping, 01:36)

  • Shared Metric Ownership:
    • Sales and marketing teams must both have "pipeline" as a primary goal.
    • Realignment of SDRs (Sales Development Representatives) to bridge the gap:

      “I hit a wall this year… I was held to pipeline, the SDRs were sitting in another organization and held to SQLs. And then sales was held to closed one… There’s no one on the other side of the fence who owns pipeline. … So we said, okay, if your goal is pipeline, what my goal is pipeline, sales has a pipeline goal, then we’re all driving towards that.”
      (Kelly Hopping, 01:51–02:31)

    • This realignment removes finger-pointing and encourages tighter collaboration.

Creating Balance: The “Handshake Metric” (02:37–03:50)

• Host’s Synthesis:
  • Emphasizes the need for true balance between marketing and sales, connecting at pipeline as the shared metric.
  • Importance of organizational structure — having VPs on both sides (field marketing and sales/account-based marketing) who work closely to ensure this alignment.

    “There’s a great sense of balance in everything you’re talking about with how marketing and sales work together. There’s a handshake and we are looking at the same metric.… To be able to use that metric and have that sort of balance… There is connective tissue between the organizations.”
    (Benjamin Shapiro, 02:37–03:29)

The Human Element in Alignment (03:50–04:07)

• Kelly Hopping’s closing reflection:
  • Success isn't only about dashboards and KPIs; genuine human partnership is essential.

    “We’re figuring it out every day. We’re still humans in the process. Right. It’s not that you can use metrics and dashboards and meetings to solve like you still have to be as human. Show up with the right intention, show up as a partner, show up as a good human being, and that’ll help too.”
    (Kelly Hopping, 03:50–04:07)

• Closing Thought from Host:
  • Even in an age of AI, authenticity and human relationships drive success.

    “In the age of AI. Turns out being human still really matters.”
    (Benjamin Shapiro, 04:07)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Weekly funnel reviews would be the number one.”
  (Kelly Hopping, 01:36)

• “CEOs holding their CMOs to pipeline, period. That would be the only thing.”
  (Kelly Hopping, 01:38)

• “When you are held for pipeline… there’s no one on the other side of the fence who owns pipeline. So who in the world is going to help me partner to make sure it happens? And it wasn’t.”
  (Kelly Hopping, 01:54–02:12)

• “Having one shared metric on both sides of the aisle, that’s my one thing.”
  (Kelly Hopping, 02:30)

• “We’re still humans in the process… show up as a partner, show up as a good human being, and that’ll help too.”
  (Kelly Hopping, 03:52–04:07)

Segment Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | Content/Takeaway | |-----------|--------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------| | 01:15 | Guest Intro & Big Question | “If you could wave your magic wand…” | | 01:36 | Kelly’s Alignment Tactics | Weekly funnel reviews, CEO > CMO pipeline accountability | | 01:51 | The Pipeline Gap | SDR sales-marketing relay, changed KPIs | | 02:37 | Host’s Summary (“Handshake Metric”) | Marketing-sales metric alignment, balance needed | | 03:50 | Human Factor | Metrics matter, but so does trust & intention | | 04:07 | AI & Humanity | Authentic partnership is irreplaceable |

Tone & Final Reflections

The discussion was candid, pragmatic, and encouraging. Both Benjamin and Kelly emphasized actionable, real-world steps while also celebrating the importance of ongoing human connection in business—even as technology transforms the industry. The message is clear: metrics help, but true alignment requires people working together with collective accountability and empathy.