In Part 2 of our conversation with Steve Smith, Chief Revenue Officer at Live Oak Fiber, we go deeper into how his team is scaling with both agility and authenticity—blending AI, community engagement, and a customer-first mindset to win in a highly commoditized telecom market.

Steve unpacks what it really means to lead with transparency, build a culture that thrives across residential and B2B markets, and design a sales engine that delivers personalized value at scale. From t-shirt cannons to AI-assisted prospecting, it’s clear: growth happens when you meet your customers where they are—and actually understand who they are.

What You’ll Learn

• Competing Beyond the Product: Why the best way to differentiate is not what you sell—but how you serve.
• Human + AI Prospecting: Steve shares how Live Oak’s team blends digital ads, field outreach, and AI signals to achieve 80%+ MQL conversion.
• Leveraging Customer Context: How insights like home square footage and pool size help personalize campaigns—and why trust starts before the first call.
• Net Promoter as a North Star: The cultural and operational moves that helped Live Oak achieve a 76 NPS score—higher than Apple.
• Culture-Driven Growth: Why hiring “athletes,” not just resumes, is key to building high-performance sales teams in uncertain markets.
• AI Without the Hype: How Steve’s team uses AI practically—from outage alerts to upgrade prompts—without losing the human connection.

Key Topics

• GTM in both residential and business segments
• Creating “shock & awe” customer experiences
• Mapping Day 0 strategies with local event engagement
• Designing growth systems that work across sales channels
• Using CRM, digital behavior, and AI for smarter targeting
• Balancing automation with local, white-glove service
• Operationalizing culture in sales teams and hiring practices

Guest Spotlight: Steve Smith

Steve Smith is the Chief Revenue Officer at Live Oak Fiber, where he leads a people-first, tech-enabled go-to-market strategy across residential, MDU, and commercial segments. With more than 25 years of experience in telecom, Steve is known for his bold talent bets, operational creativity, and unwavering customer obsession.

Resources & Mentions

• Book: Good to Great by Jim Collins
• Book: Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
• Inspiration: The Savannah Bananas
• Sales Concept: “People don’t buy drill bits. They buy holes.”

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In this episode of Selling the Cloud, Steve Smith, Chief Revenue Officer at Live Oak Fiber, joins co-hosts Mark Petruzzi and KK Anderson to share what it really takes to stand out in a commoditized market. Drawing from 25+ years of telecom and GTM leadership, Steve reveals how Live Oak is building a “fiercely local” go-to-market model powered by customer obsession, simplicity, and a people-first sales culture.

From recruiting talent outside the industry to treating broadband like a luxury retail experience, Steve breaks down how to differentiate when your product looks the same as everyone else’s on paper, and why NPS scores in the 70s are possible when you design everything around the end user.

What You’ll Learn

• How to Compete in a Commodity Market: Why Live Oak avoids tech jargon and positions packages around home square footage—because customers don’t care about speeds, they care about experiences.
• Hiring Outside the Box: Why Steve hires from Louis Vuitton and paddleboard shops, not just telecom resumes—and how that decision drives creativity and customer care.
• Fiercely Local GTM: Learn how a hyperlocal mindset builds trust, unlocks referrals, and builds brand advocacy—especially in overlooked communities.
• Customer Experience that Rivals Apple: How Live Oak’s white-glove service and full-time technicians boost NPS to 76 (compared to cable companies’ scores below zero).
• Product Simplicity That Wins: How pricing transparency and a “price-for-life” model inspired by the Savannah Bananas builds loyalty and eliminates churn frustration.

Key Topics

• Building a customer-first sales culture
• Differentiating when your product is a utility
• Segmenting sales teams by audience (residential, MDU, SMB)
• Why most broadband companies have a bad reputation—and how to flip it
• Local community engagement as a growth strategy
• Metrics that matter: NPS, feedback loops, and service consistency

Guest Spotlight: Steve Smith

Steve Smith is the Chief Revenue Officer at Live Oak Fiber, where he leads go-to-market strategy across residential, business, and MDU channels. A veteran telecom executive with a passion for customer-first innovation, Steve is helping redefine broadband with a culture that starts and ends with people—both inside and outside the business.

Resources & Mentions

• Book: Good to Great by Jim Collins
• Book: Start with Why by Simon Sinek
• Inspiration: Savannah Bananas (yes, really!)

🎧 Listen now and subscribe to Selling the Cloud wherever you get your podcasts. Stay tuned for Part 2 with Steve next week!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In Part 2 of this Selling the Cloud episode, Jamie Wilkinson, CEO of Smart4Cloud.ai, continues his insightful conversation with Mark Petruzzi and KK Anderson on how today’s revenue teams must evolve beyond job specs and tech stacks.

From building integrated, cross-functional orgs to navigating partner ecosystems, Jamie breaks down how human-centered leadership and honest business assessment unlock true scalability. He also shares the key attributes that define top sales leaders and how to spot high-impact talent in any market.

What You’ll Learn:

• Cross-Functional Alignment is a Growth Lever: Why modern revenue teams can’t operate in silos and how top-performing orgs build “fluidity” between sales, finance, tech, and marketing.
• Humanizing the Hiring Process: How Jamie’s commitment model goes beyond résumés to find high-performing candidates who align with the company’s story—not just the bullet points.
• AI Isn’t the Enemy or the Answer: Jamie shares a grounded take on AI: it’s not about fear or hype, but about how humans apply it to improve real lives and sales performance.
• Build or Buy? Market Expansion Strategy: Jamie discusses when to build internally vs. leverage partner ecosystems, and why brutal honesty is the real unlock for scale.
• Agility, Honesty, and Culture: The traits Jamie believes will define successful GTM teams over the next 12–18 months.

Key Topics:

• Aligning technical, sales, and product leadership
• How to recruit talent that thrives in integrated orgs
• Getting past fear-based narratives around AI
• Internal vs. external capability building
• Leadership traits that matter in “normal” markets
• How to spot people with “G.A.S.” (Givers who actually… care)

Guest Spotlight: Jamie Wilkinson

Jamie Wilkinson is the Founder and CEO of Smart4Cloud.ai, a human-first revenue talent partner for modern B2B teams. With deep experience in building technical + sales hybrid teams, Jamie brings practical wisdom and a no-BS approach to growing revenue orgs that work.

Resources & Mentions:

• Part 1 of Jamie Wilkinson’s episode
• Guest Mention: Napoleon Baligan, founder of 1-800-Mattress
• Reference Book: To Sell is Human (by implication)
• Podcast: Selling the Cloud

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