Revenue Without the Burn

How growth-focused teams are increasing pipeline without more SDRs or ad spend

Author

Mark Walker
April 22, 2025

Hi ,

Due to the Easter bank holidays, I thought it was best to wait until today to send out the usual weekly newsletter.

We’ve been deep in conversation with marketing, sales and RevOps leaders over the past few weeks — across SaaS, fintech, and services.

And six themes keep coming up again and again:

📉 Inbound is high volume, but quality is highly variable
⏳ SDRs are bogged down in qualification
🐢 Speed to first touch is still too slow
🚨 Sales don’t trust lead handovers
💸 Everyone’s trying to do more with less
🤖 AI strategy is mandated — but unclear

This week, I’ve pulled together what we’re hearing most from the field — and how the sharpest teams are starting to respond.

If you’re trying to drive more revenue without hiring more SDRs or spending more on ads, it’s worth a read.

👇 Here’s what leading revenue teams are doing differently.

Schedule a call with our team to discuss your challenges and hear what we’re seeing from across the market.

Weekly quote to ponder

This week on How to Make Your Brand Stand Out, host Arlen Robinson sits down with visual artist and media entrepreneur Stewart Cohen to explore one of the toughest challenges in e-commerce today: brand differentiation. With decades of experience across photography, film, and licensing, Stewart shares what it really takes to rise above the noise in a saturated digital marketplace — and why true differentiation is about more than just being “better.”

In this episode, they unpack:

✅ How brands can thrive against industry giants by leaning into specialty and authenticity
✅ Why customer support and human touch are powerful differentiators in a tech-driven world
✅ The role of legacy, storytelling, and niche content in carving out market space

If you're building a brand and wondering how to stand out without getting lost in the crowd, this one’s packed with insights you don’t want to miss.

If you'd like to discuss any of the areas I cover in this newsletter each week, from sales leadership to marketing strategy, cross-functional alignment to scaling high performance...I'd love to help!

Enjoyed this content? Then please share it with just one other person you think would benefit from the ideas and advice I share each week...they'll thank you, I'll thank you, you'll thank you - it's the ultimate win win win!