EP 67: Build an AI Advisor Council to Kill Your Blind Spots for Good

EP 67: Build an AI Advisor Council to Kill Your Blind Spots for Good

Jay and Sarah open up about an experiment reshaping how StringCan runs quarterly planning. After losing their longtime facilitator, Sarah built an AI advisory board inside Claude, the StringCouncil, stacked with personalities like Brene Brown, Jocko Willink, and Patrick Lencioni to fill gaps in the leadership team's blind spots. The payoff is real: vague commitments don't slide, unresolved issues don't get buried, and every voice in the room gets sharper feedback in real time. This episode breaks down exactly how they built the council, who made the cut, and why your next strategic advisor might already be sitting inside your AI chat window. KEY TAKEAWAYS * The "blind spot" excuse just got retired. Find out why this CEO and COO say leadership teams have no reason left to claim they don't know what they don't know. * One AI council member called out a vulnerable moment the whole team blew past. Hear how that single observation changed the rest of the meeting. * Vague promises die fast when AI is reading the transcript. Learn the exact pattern StringCan's leadership team stopped getting away with. * Eight personalities, zero ego. See how Brene Brown, Jocko Willink, and Patrick Lencioni ended up inside one Claude artifact, and why it worked. * Building a board of advisors used to cost a fortune. Get the simple process for assembling your own inside an AI tool you already use. CHAPTERS 0:00 Welcome to Revenue Rewired 0:25 Why claiming a blind spot isn't an excuse anymore 4:51 The upside of an AI that doesn't care about hurting feelings 9:36 Inside the String Council: eight personalities, one transcript 14:19 What changes when the whole team reads feedback live 17:40 The question every business owner asks: who do I pick? 19:16 A step by step blueprint for building your own council 22:44 Garbage in, garbage out: why prompting with a challenger mindset matters 26:16 The advisor council you could never afford, until now SEO KEYWORDS AI advisory board, AI leadership council, leadership blind spots, quarterly planning with AI, Claude AI for business, CliftonStrengths, EOS quarterly planning, build an AI advisor council, B2B leadership podcast, AI executive coaching, challenger mindset AI, StringCan Interactive, Revenue Rewired podcast, AI for business owners Read more on how it was built here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/eight-experts-room-zero-interest-sparing-our-feelings-sarah-shepard-mss9c/ HOSTS Jay Feitlinger, CEO of StringCan Interactive LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayfeitlinger/ Sarah Shepard, COO of StringCan Interactive LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahshepardcoo/ ABOUT REVENUE REWIRED Revenue Rewired is a podcast for B2B marketers, sales leaders, and business owners navigating the intersection of sales and marketing. Hosted by Jay Feitlinger and Sarah Shepard, each episode delivers actionable insights for mid-market companies looking to grow revenue strategically. Email: podcast@stringcaninteractive.com Website: https://www.stringcaninteractive.com/ Buy the Revenue Rewired book: https://www.amazon.com/Revenue-Rewired-Identify-Leaks-Costing-ebook/dp/B0FST7JCXQ Subscribe to the LinkedIn Revenue Rewired Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7423414515779936256

AI Ep 57: What Happens When AI Evaluates Your Pitch

Your prospect might be using AI to evaluate your proposal before a human even reads it. In this episode of Two-Minute AI Tips, Sarah shares what she learned from a client who runs every vendor pitch through Claude, and exactly what that means for how you sell right now. In this episode, you will learn: * How buyers are using AI to filter proposals and flag weak claims * What AI looks for in a pitch that human readers often miss * How to audit your own proposals with AI before they go out The bar for credibility just got higher. This episode shows you how to clear it. Keywords: AI and sales, AI proposal review, AI for B2B sales, pitch credibility, AI sales strategy, ChatGPT for proposals, AI buyer behavior, two minute AI tips, AI in procurement, sales pitch optimization Contact Us: Email: podcast@stringcaninteractive.com Website:⁠ www.stringcaninteractive.com⁠ [http://www.stringcaninteractive.com] Reach out to the hosts on LinkedIn: Jay Feitlinger:⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayfeitlinger/⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayfeitlinger/] Sarah Shepard:⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahshepardcoo/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahshepardcoo/]

EP 66: You're Spending to Replace Customers You Could Have Kept (w/ Lukas Alexander)

Every dollar spent winning a new customer is a dollar you didn't need to spend if you'd kept the last one. In this episode, Sarah Shepard sits down with Lukas Alexander, VP of Customer Success at ChurnZero, to unpack why retention still gets treated like an afterthought while acquisition gets the spotlight, the budget, and the slide decks. Lukas breaks down the CS Operating System, the real difference between GRR and NRR, and where AI belongs on the human track versus the digital track. If your team is bleeding revenue through the back door, this conversation reframes exactly where to look first. KEY TAKEAWAYS: * Why a new logo gets a Slack celebration and a saved customer gets nothing, plus the comp structure problem driving it * The one retention metric Lukas says matters more than your churn rate, and how to actually use it to grade your team * How to build a human track vs digital track system so AI doesn't quietly damage the relationships you've spent years building * The real skill gap keeping CSMs from selling expansion revenue, and why nobody is training for it * A practical exercise you can run today to map exactly when AI should hand a customer back to a person CHAPTERS: 00:00 Meet Lukas Alexander 02:30 Inside the CS Operating System: where AI fits without breaking trust 06:02 The automation trap so many retention teams fall into 09:05 Why nobody throws a party for the churn that didn't happen 13:42 GRR vs NRR: the metric Lukas tracks above everything else 17:29 Segment level and rep level: where retention numbers tell the truth 19:29 Human track, digital track, and the AI that decides between them 23:20 The black hole effect: what slow support really costs you 26:55 B2B, B2C, and the experiment you can run this week SEO KEYWORDS: b2b marketing strategies, revenue growth, sales alignment, B2B Sales Strategy, marketing roi, customer retention strategy, net revenue retention, customer success operations HOSTS: This week's episode is hosted solo by Sarah Shepard, COO of StringCan Interactive. Sarah Shepard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahshepardcoo/ Jay Feitlinger, CEO of StringCan Interactive and regular co-host, is on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayfeitlinger/ GUEST: Lukas Alexander, Vice President of Customer Success at ChurnZero. He's spent over a decade building global customer success teams and is known for treating CS as a revenue function, not just a relationship function. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukas-alexander-3b827280/ Blog: https://churnzero.com/blog/cs-vp-interview-advice/ ABOUT REVENUE REWIRED & STRINGCAN INTERACTIVE: Revenue Rewired is a podcast for B2B marketers, sales leaders, and business owners navigating the intersection of sales and marketing. Hosted by Jay Feitlinger and Sarah Shepard, each episode delivers actionable insights for mid market companies looking to grow revenue strategically. Website: https://www.stringcaninteractive.com Email: podcast@stringcaninteractive.com Buy the Revenue Rewired book: https://www.amazon.com/Revenue-Rewired-Identify-Leaks-Costing-ebook/dp/B0FST7JCXQ Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/crm-swamp-you-built-jay-feitlinger-v4pee

AI Ep 56: Stop Asking AI to Be Creative. Start Asking It to Be Useful.

Asking AI to "be creative" is one of the most overused and least effective AI prompts in business. In this episode of Two-Minute AI Tips, Sarah explains the difference between asking AI to perform and asking it to think, and why that shift changes everything about your output quality. In this episode, you will learn: * Why the "creativity trap" kills AI productivity * How structured prompting outperforms open-ended brainstorming * The exact reframe that makes AI genuinely useful for decision-making Stop looking for surprises. Start building the structure. That is where the value lives. Keywords: AI creativity, AI brainstorming, structured AI prompts, ChatGPT for business thinking, AI decision making, AI problem solving, AI productivity, two minute AI tips, AI strategic use, AI reasoning Contact Us: Email: podcast@stringcaninteractive.com Website:⁠ www.stringcaninteractive.com⁠ [http://www.stringcaninteractive.com] Reach out to the hosts on LinkedIn: Jay Feitlinger:⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayfeitlinger/⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayfeitlinger/] Sarah Shepard:⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahshepardcoo/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahshepardcoo/]

Ep 65: Can You Really Game the LinkedIn Algorithm? The Truth Behind Vanity Metrics and Real Engagement

Jay and Sarah pull back the curtain on one of marketing's biggest debates: can you actually game the system? They dig into how algorithms learn from behavior, why LinkedIn remains one of the trickiest platforms to crack, and what happened when Jay uncovered a coordinated engagement pod inflating follower stats for a popular coaching program. The conversation moves through personalization, data privacy, and the blurry line between art and science in modern marketing. If you've wondered why your content isn't landing, or felt tempted to chase vanity metrics, this episode breaks down what actually moves the needle. Key Takeaways * The "Mexican restaurant for your birthday" problem: why hyper-personalized ads creep some people out while others crave the convenience, and what that split means for your targeting strategy. * Jay's deep dive into a LinkedIn coaching program revealed something most marketers suspect but rarely confirm: engagement pods inflating vanity metrics with zero real business value. * Why having 20,000 LinkedIn connections might only get your post seen by 5% of your audience, and what actually moves the needle instead. * The 48-hour LinkedIn reset: how Jay intentionally retrained his own feed algorithm by changing what he liked, followed, and searched for. * A viral goalie's overnight 7 million Instagram followers proves content can spike fast, but building a sustainable b2b marketing engine takes more than luck. Chapters 01:26 Can you really game the system? Setting up the art vs. science debate 04:33 How algorithms actually track and target you (it's less creepy than you think) 08:32 Why LinkedIn is the hardest platform for marketers to crack 11:52 Jay's investigation: uncovering fake engagement pods behind "impressive" LinkedIn growth 20:14 Quality over quantity: separating real audience connection from inflated metrics 22:54 The viral goalie story and what it teaches marketers about overnight wins 25:39 Look within: how your own LinkedIn activity quietly shapes your feed 27:50 Final thoughts and why authenticity still wins long term SEO KEYWORDS: b2b marketing, revenue growth, sales alignment, B2B Sales Strategy, marketing roi, LinkedIn algorithm, social media engagement, vanity metrics, B2B growth strategy, content marketing strategy, LinkedIn for business, AI in marketing Host Information Jay Feitlinger, CEO of StringCan Interactive LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayfeitlinger/ Sarah Shepard, COO of StringCan Interactive LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahshepardcoo/ Revenue Rewired and StringCan Interactive Revenue Rewired is a podcast built for B2B marketers, sales leaders, and business owners navigating the intersection of sales and marketing. Hosted by Jay Feitlinger and Sarah Shepard, each episode delivers practical insights for mid-market companies looking to grow revenue with a clear B2B sales strategy and stronger marketing roi. Email: podcast@stringcaninteractive.com Website: www.stringcaninteractive.com Buy the Revenue Rewired book: https://www.amazon.com/Revenue-Rewired-Identify-Leaks-Costing-ebook/dp/B0FST7JCXQ Newsletter:https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/work-you-keep-restarting-calling-strategy-jay-feitlinger-moizc