In this eye-opening episode of The Revenue Room, we sit down with Jeremy Schwartz, Senior Manager of Global Lead Management & Strategy at Palo Alto Networks, who shares how his team revolutionized their approach to B2B marketing by moving beyond traditional MQLs to focus on buying groups.

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Part 1 of our conversation dives into the "why" behind this transformation and how to build organizational buy-in. Jeremy unpacks the reality many of us are facing: while B2B buying has fundamentally changed, most marketing playbooks are stuck in 2015. We're seeing this across our client base - marketing teams grinding out MQLs while sales teams are trying to navigate complex buying committees. It's like trying to play chess with checkers pieces.

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What you'll learn in Part 1:

• Why the traditional MQL model is broken for modern B2B buying (hint: your MQLs are probably coming from the wrong people)
• How to build the business case for change using data-driven insights
• The strategic reason to start with BDR teams first (and why it worked brilliantly)
• How Palo Alto Networks ran a successful pilot that demonstrated clear ROI, including improved conversion rates, larger deal sizes, and better pipeline progression

The best part? Jeremy isn't just theorizing. He shares the real, sometimes messy details of implementing this change at enterprise scale. When their pilot showed a projected 13% increase in revenue, suddenly everyone was paying attention.

Stay tuned for Part 2, where we'll dig into the nitty-gritty of implementation - from technical challenges to cross-functional alignment between marketing, BDRs, and sales. We'll explore how they operationalized their buying group strategy and the creative solutions they developed when faced with obstacles.

Want to get started on your own transformation? Here's Jeremy's key advice: Begin with understanding your true buying groups through closed-won deal analysis. Don't assume - let the data tell the story.

Ready to revolutionize your marketing strategy? Listen to the full episode at The RevRoom on Spotify or Apple Podcast, and keep an eye out for Part 2 dropping next week.