Scale: An OX7 Partners podcast

A CRM is a long-term, significant investment most firms make as they grow. Yet 70% of CRM projects fail to deliver value, with only 6% of those failures technical in nature. Dave Heywood discusses some of the major culprits driving CRM in the wrong direction and what good ultimately looks like What we discuss: Layering admin upon admin:  How over-engineered bloat and bureaucratic data requirements...

Most B2B marketing teams are highly confident, but they are consistently misreading what actually matters most to buyers Dave looks at a weighty new market study by Force24 that exposes the brutal reality gap between what marketers thing, and buyers actually value What we discuss: The ghost funnel:  Why the vast majority of prospects research your brand completely out of sight. The channels that m...

If your customer acquisition engine stalls the second you or a couple of your rockstar team members take a holiday, your valuation won't stand up to scrutiny. Investors are executing a ruthless flight to quality - with companies built on unsustainable models paying the price. Dave breaks down: Two firms - with a £7million valuation difference :  The factors that separate a key-person-dependent...

Data shows that over 70% of B2B buyers want to understand what you offer before they ever agree to a phone call. Dave looks at how lofty value propositions can work against your business, discussing: The incumbent illusion:  Why trying to copy the abstract branding of PwC or Salesforce is a structural death trap for mid-market firms who lack global market saturation. The buyer's trigger:  How...

Data shows that up to 80% of Account-Based Marketing programs fail to meet expectations. Dave strips away the illusions actively undermining modern targeting, discussing: Why chasing a fixed list of dream logos can be closer to gambling than strategic targeting. The immense risk of using Generative AI to fake human intimacy with discerning B2B buyers who can smell synthetic content a mile away. Th...

Making things has never been easier, but deciding what is actually worth making has never been harder. When driving, long-term growth - clarity is everything. Yet many teams are disoriented by their own internal data filters. Dave strips away the six cognitive biases actively undermining effective strategy, discussing: Why high-profile giants repeatedly misread temporary market distortions as perm...

In this opening episode, Dave Heywood sets the scene for the podcast. Drawing on a decade spent in the guts of businesses moving from startup to scale-up, and the growth pains from come with it, Dave shares what actually happens when a company tries to grow and professionalise. We look at why the 'osmosis' of the early days evaporates, why your sales message has gone off the boil and how an intell...