AI Agents for Sales & Marketing: A Practical Guide for Small Business (with Patrick Begley)

AI Agents for Sales & Marketing: A Practical Guide for Small Business (with Patrick Begley)

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2309825/fan_mail/new] AI agents are moving from hype to real tools small businesses can use to sell and market smarter. Hosts Evan Polin and Craig Andrews sit down with Patrick Begley to unpack what agentic AI actually means, where AI agents fit in sales and marketing, and the practical first steps a small team can take without a big budget. What we get into: - What agentic AI really means, and where the hype ends and the useful part begins - Why the next three years of AI agents matter for small businesses right now - How AI compresses strategy work that used to take years down to months - Why AI-driven traffic still has to convert like human traffic, and what that means for your funnel - Using AI tools to cut through the content noise instead of adding to it - What AI can't replace: the human side of selling and building trust Guest: Patrick Begley Hosts: Evan Polin (sales) & Craig Andrews (marketing) Sales & Marketing Playbook: Unleashed helps small businesses and B2B teams align sales & marketing to grow revenue. Subscribe and keep winning: https://smplaybookunleashed.com Send us Fan Mail: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2309825/fan_mail/new About the guest — Patrick Begley: Patrick is Managing Partner of Agentic Growth Advisors, a firm he founded after serving as a sales leader at Accenture. His firm serves mid-market organizations in accelerating growth by using AI to book meetings at scale with target buyers and automate the most time-consuming parts of the sales process. This enables sellers to spend time with prospects at the bottom of the funnel and return to a warm audience of willing buyers as deals are closed. Patrick is the host of the podcast '10 Minute Major' and his firm can be found at https://agenticgrowthadvisors.com.

You Cannot Hit A Revenue Goal Without A Trackable Plan - Part 2

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2309825/fan_mail/new] Your revenue goal isn’t a wish. It’s math, and if you can’t see the math, you can’t manage it. We walk through part two of our Revenue Cookbook series and get practical about what actually goes into a predictable revenue plan. We start at the end, the annual sales number you want, then break it into client tiers based on yearly revenue: enterprise “elephants,” mid-market “deer,” and SMB “rabbits.” That simple framework forces a smarter strategy: how much of your revenue mix should come from big deals, how much should come from bread-and-butter accounts, and how to avoid the concentration risk that puts 70% of the year on one shaky close. From there, we build the pipeline backward through the sales funnel metrics that drive forecasting: total leads, qualified leads, discovery calls, proposals or presentations, and closed deals. We talk about using real CRM data when you have it, using reasonable assumptions when you don’t, and why skipping steps in the process tanks close rates and burns time. Then we translate the whole plan into weekly activity targets so each salesperson knows exactly what “on track” looks like, and leaders can coach with clarity instead of guessing. We also address the sales and marketing alignment problem head-on: when both teams track revenue outcomes and funnel performance together, the blame game fades and the adjustments get obvious. If you want better sales forecasting, cleaner accountability, and a simple system you can review every week, this is your playbook. Subscribe, share this with a teammate, and leave a review with the funnel stage your team struggles with most.

You Cannot Hit A Revenue Goal Without A Trackable Plan - Part 1

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2309825/fan_mail/new] Your revenue target is only useful if you can explain, with numbers, how you will reach it. We take you behind the scenes of the Revenue Cookbook, our simple framework for building predictable revenue by turning a big goal into a clear weekly plan based on real sales pipeline math. We talk through the data that makes the plan honest: average deal size, close rate, how many first conversations become qualified opportunities, and how to track where each opportunity actually comes from. Whether you use HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, or a spreadsheet, we share the habit that changes everything: logging attribution so you can stop guessing, cut waste, and double down on the actions that consistently create revenue. We also add an important reality check on timing, because one month of results is rarely enough to judge a marketing campaign or a relationship-based channel. Then we break down our favorite way to think about client mix for professional services, agencies, and growing firms: rabbits, deer, and elephants. We explain why chasing only small clients drains your time, why relying on one or two huge clients is risky, and how a balanced mix helps you scale without panic. We also tee up part two, where we go deeper and show how the tool turns your inputs into concrete targets. Subscribe, share this with a teammate who owns a number, and leave a review if you want more practical sales and marketing systems like this. What is the one metric you need to start tracking this week?

How To Measure Sales And Marketing ROI That Actually Matters

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2309825/fan_mail/new] Likes are easy to count. Profit is harder. Today we get brutally practical about measuring ROI across marketing and sales so you can stop guessing, stop “feeling busy,” and start building a growth system you can actually defend with numbers. We talk about what ROI really means, why tracking time and spend matters as much as tracking revenue, and how to tell the difference between activity that looks good and activity that closes business. We also unpack the simplest way to make sales and marketing work as one team. Craig shares why vanity metrics mislead leaders, and Evan explains the sales side scoreboard: lead source attribution, conversion rates from first conversation to first meeting, qualification rates, proposal to close ratios, and how long deals take to move through your pipeline. We connect those metrics to customer lifetime value, margin, and revenue by source so you can see what is working and what needs to be cut. Then we get into planning and accountability. If you set a revenue goal without a plan, you are just picking a number. We explain how a revenue calculator can map targets to the volume of qualified leads and closes you need, and why “throwing more money at it” fails when your team cannot handle the leads you already have. You will also hear why comfort activities like the same trade show every year should be treated as community, not prospecting, unless the data proves otherwise. If you want clearer customer acquisition cost, better lead quality, and a sales process that gets more efficient over time, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a teammate who owns a number, and leave a review telling us which ROI metric you track most closely. Beholder Agency [https://www.beholdermarketing.com/] We provide marketing strategies & services that increase in awareness, sales & engagement. Polin Performance Group [https://www.polinpg.com/] We 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.

LinkedIn Outreach That Actually Works

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2309825/fan_mail/new] If LinkedIn “doesn’t work,” we think it’s usually because it’s being used like a static profile page instead of a living sales and marketing system. Craig Andrews [https://www.beholderagency.com/about/craig-andrews] and Evan Polin [https://www.polinpg.com/about/evan-polin] sit down with LinkedIn expert Sharon Shapiro of Broly Marketing to get specific about what actually moves the needle: clean data, smart targeting, authentic messaging, and the discipline to turn online touchpoints into real conversations. We talk about LinkedIn as a constantly updated database for research and business development, then walk through a practical process you can apply right away. Evan explains how exporting your connections and grading them from A to F creates instant clarity on who will respond, who can refer, and who belongs in your next round of outreach. Sharon shares how her team segments audiences, A/B tests messages, and uses automation carefully within LinkedIn’s limits so outreach stays human and doesn’t trigger that “obvious bot” reaction we all hate. We also draw a hard line between helpful automation and wishful thinking. AI can support segmentation, analysis, and personalization at scale, but it cannot replace the human context that builds trust. Craig brings it back to measurement, too: clicks and impressions are meaningless if they don’t lead to replies, meetings, and conversions. The real goal is a predictable pipeline and stronger relationships, especially for professional services and high-ticket offers. If you want a LinkedIn strategy that’s measurable, respectful, and built for real sales conversations, press play. Subscribe, share this with a teammate, and leave a review with your biggest LinkedIn outreach question.