Win-loss analysis for B2B sales. Learn how to capture clean, candid buyer feedback, stop guessing in CRM, and turn every pursuit into future wins. Author of “Rebirth of the Salesman” Cian McLaughlin joins Marc Crosby on Burn The Playbook to share 15+ years of hard lessons from enterprise pursuits at SAP, Cognizant, and Trinity.

What you’ll learn

• Why seller self-reports distort win-loss data and what to do instead
• How to set debrief expectations during the cycle to boost candor and participation
• The “separation principle” for unbiased feedback buyers will actually share
• How to triangulate truth across multiple stakeholders
• Three frictions that kill enterprise deals but never show up in CRM
• Why risk beats price, and how to surface value drivers that matter
• A simple post-sale loop that turns insights into actions buyers notice
• Where AI helps in prep and follow-up, and where humans must lead

Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:31 Meet Cian + why teams guess on win-loss
01:09 The Emperor’s-New-Clothes problem in sales
04:57 Stop making AEs pick “reasons” in CRM
07:27 Set debrief expectations early
10:33 Why rigorous debriefs impress buyers
12:22 Clean intelligence in practice
15:03 5 principles: context, value, teaching, co-creation, professionalism
18:22 Professionalism as the true differentiator
19:01 3 frictions CRM misses: oral phase, risk, value vs price
23:22 How many deals die in the first meeting?
26:31 After the win: manage risk like an incumbent
29:58 AI with a human in the loop
33:29 What AI still misses
35:59 Burn It or Build It: 10 hot takes
43:32 One thing sales leaders can do tomorrow
44:42 Where to find Cian

Who this helps

• Enterprise sales leaders and CROs
• AEs, SEs, and pursuit teams selling complex deals
• RevOps leaders fixing CRM noise
• Founders selling to the mid-market and up

Guest

• Cian McLaughlin, Founder, Trinity; author, “Rebirth of the Salesman”
• Website: https://usetrinity.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cianmcloughlin/

Host

• Burn The Playbook Podcast — Marc Crosby, Digital Rebels Consulting
• https://DigitalRebelsConsulting.com

• 1: Your CRM isn’t truth. Here’s how to get real win-loss signals. #WinLoss
• 2: Stop guessing why you lost. Ask buyers the right way. #B2B
• 3: Risk beats price. Learn to surface and share it. #EnterpriseSales
• 4: Make AEs stop self-reporting reasons. Create separation. #SalesLeadership
• 5: Close the loop. Show buyers what you fixed. #SalesProcess
• win-loss analysis, B2B sales, enterprise sales, CRM accuracy, buyer feedback, stakeholder mapping, deal risk, value vs price, oral presentations, pricing vs value; sales professionalism; co-creation; RFP response; QBR; sales risk; oral presentation phase; AI in sales; Trinity usedtrinity; Cian McLaughlin; Rebirth of the Salesman

• Website → DigitalRebelsConsulting.com
• Linktree → https://linktr.ee/digitalrebelsconsulting
• Socials → Follow us on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/marcccrosby
• Email → marc@digitalrebelsconsulting.com
• Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/burn-the-playbook/id1828969451
• Burn The Playbook Website → https://www.buzzsprout.com/2522863

Views expressed are our own and do not represent any organizations

© 2025 Digital Rebels Consulting. All rights reserved.

Innovation playbooks that work. In this episode of the Burn The Playbook Podcast, Marc Crosby sits with Tendayi Viki, partner at Strategyzer and author of Pirates in the Navy, to break down how large companies build a repeatable system for real innovation instead of theater. You’ll learn how to run sprints, scorecard bets, and connect sales, R&D, and leadership so ideas turn into revenue.

What you’ll learn

• What an effective innovation playbook looks like and why “traditional” playbooks stall
• How to define innovation outcomes, not activities
• A simple cadence and timeline for sprints (6–12 weeks) that actually ship learning
• How to blend bottom-up rebels with top-down support
• Ways to stop one-customer projects from trapping your roadmap
• How to use AI without speeding in the wrong direction
• The scorecard question every leader should answer tomorrow morning

Tendayi's Bio

Tendayi Viki is an author and corporate advisor specializing in securing buy-in for
innovation, transformation and breakthrough ideas. With a PhD in Psychology and
an MBA, he helps leaders and teams bridge the gap between how organizations
plan change and how people actually experience it. As a Partner at Strategyzer, he
has worked with global organizations like Symrise, Novartis, Unilever and Pearson. A Thinkers50 Innovation Award finalist, he was also named on the Thinkers50 2018
Radar List for emerging management thinkers.

Chapters
00:00 Cold open
00:31 Intro and guest setup
01:07 Tendayi calls in from Harare, Zimbabwe
01:42 Why traditional playbooks freeze innovation
04:01 What “innovation” means beyond a workshop
05:26 Timelines: day workshop vs 6–12 week sprint
06:48 Sales, customers, and avoiding innovation theater
08:12 Pirates in the Navy: rebels plus relationships
10:25 “Show me when it hits the bottom line”
13:17 Culture: bottom-up and top-down at the same time
14:53 Connect sales and R&D with a continuous loop
17:20 The single-customer trap and how to test for scale
19:19 “Moneyball” innovation: start without budget, plan funding early
21:47 AI hype vs. real transformation
24:04 Can AI accelerate in the wrong direction? Guardrails
30:23 Burn it or Build it: rapid-fire takes
40:33 One action to start tomorrow: innovation scorecard
41:40 Where to find Tendayi and Strategyzer

Who this helps

• Manufacturing and industrial leaders with flat growth
• Business unit heads under quarterly pressure
• Sales and product teams tired of “throw it over the wall”
• Corporate innovators who need executive air cover

Guest

• Tendayi Viki, Partner at Strategyzer; author of Pirates in the Navy and The Lean Product Lifecycle
• Website: https://tendaiviki.com
  
  
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tendaiviki
  
  

Host

• Burn The Playbook Podcast — Digital Rebels Consulting
• Site: https://DigitalRebelsConsulting.com
  
  
• Host: Marc Crosby

• Website → DigitalRebelsConsulting.com
• Linktree → https://linktr.ee/digitalrebelsconsulting
• Socials → Follow us on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/marcccrosby
• Email → marc@digitalrebelsconsulting.com
• Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/burn-the-playbook/id1828969451
• Burn The Playbook Website → https://www.buzzsprout.com/2522863

Views expressed are our own and do not represent any organizations

© 2025 Digital Rebels Consulting. All rights reserved.

Strategy in business is simple: create unique value people can’t get anywhere else. Author and consultant Alex M H Smith breaks down “No Bullshit Strategy” so leaders stop chasing buzzwords and start making real choices.

What you’ll learn

• What “strategy” means in business and why most teams get it wrong
• How to define unique value vs. “better” or “best in class”
• Innovation that counts: new vs. incremental “enhanced”
• Agile where it belongs: execution, not direction
• Differentiation in commodity markets that buyers notice
• Why “customer centric” can mislead strategy, and where customers fit
• Cascading the story so the whole org pulls in one direction
• One practical move you can ship today

Chapters
00:00 Intro and setup
00:24 What strategy really is: unique value, not flabby plans
04:45 Value that counts and why it must be unique
09:36 Emotional vs. utilitarian value in B2B
14:40 What makes a company innovative
17:22 Agile vs. strategy: be agile in execution
23:43 Turning strategy into a clear company story
27:57 “Best in class” vs. being the only in class
30:31 Differentiation in commodity markets
36:09 The limits of “customer centric” strategy
41:21 Burn It or Build It: 10 hot topics
53:28 One actionable idea leaders can use now
54:10 Where to find Alex

Who this helps

• Founders and CEOs who need a clear market position
• Sales and marketing leaders stuck in feature fights
• B2B teams in “commodity” categories
• Operators who want a simple, durable direction

Guest

• Alex M H Smith, Founder, Basic Arts; Author, “No Bullshit Strategy”
• Website: https://basicarts.org/welcome
• LinkedIn: Alex M H Smith

Host

• Burn The Playbook Podcast by Digital Rebels Consulting
• Site: https://DigitalRebelsConsulting.com
• Host: Marc Crosby, LinkedIn: Marc Crosby

business strategy, unique value, differentiation, innovation, agile execution, company story, alignment, B2B marketing, commodity markets, best in class myth, customer centric, Peter Drucker create a customer, Marc Crosby, Digital Rebels Consulting, Alex M H Smith, Basic Arts, No Bullshit Strategy

#BurnThePlaybook #Strategy #B2B #Leadership #Marketing #Differentiation

business strategy; unique value; differentiation; innovation vs enhancement; agile execution; alignment; company story; B2B marketing; commodity markets; best in class; customer centric myth; Peter Drucker create a customer; Marc Crosby; Digital Rebels Consulting; Alex M H Smith; Basic Arts; No Bullshit Strategy; Burn The Playbook

• 1: Strategy = create unique value only you provide. #Strategy
• 2: Stop “best in class.” Be the only in class buyers need. #B2B
• 3: Innovation isn’t “better.” It’s new. Full stop. #Leadership
• 4: Agile belongs in execution, not direction. #Operations
• 5: Your strategy needs a story people remember. #Marketing

• Website → DigitalRebelsConsulting.com
• Linktree → https://linktr.ee/digitalrebelsconsulting
• Socials → Follow us on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/marcccrosby
• Email → marc@digitalrebelsconsulting.com
• Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/burn-the-playbook/id1828969451
• Burn The Playbook Website → https://www.buzzsprout.com/2522863

Views expressed are our own and do not represent any organizations

© 2025 Digital Rebels Consulting. All rights reserved.