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 LearnCompeting 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 TopicsGTM in both residential and business segmentsCreating “shock & awe” customer experiencesMapping Day 0 strategies with local event engagementDesigning growth systems that work across sales channelsUsing CRM, digital behavior, and AI for smarter targetingBalancing automation with local, white-glove serviceOperationalizing culture in sales teams and hiring practicesGuest 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 & MentionsBook: Good to Great by Jim CollinsBook: Blink by Malcolm GladwellInspiration: The Savannah BananasSales Concept: “People don’t buy drill bits. They buy holes.”🎧 Listen now and subscribe to Selling the Cloud wherever you get your podcasts. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.