Return-Path: Delivered-To: andrew@sterlingcal.com Received: from reseller401.webserversystems.com by reseller401.webserversystems.com with LMTP id oK3ZD9hSPmZYGgYAchKAPA (envelope-from ) for ; Fri, 10 May 2024 12:01:12 -0500 Return-path: Envelope-to: andrew@sterlingcal.com Delivery-date: Fri, 10 May 2024 12:01:12 -0500 Received: from o9.ptr9577.mail.beehiiv.com ([149.72.190.201]:37502) by reseller401.webserversystems.com with esmtps (TLS1.2) tls TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 (Exim 4.96.2) (envelope-from ) id 1s5TcN-001giW-0j for andrew@sterlingcal.com; Fri, 10 May 2024 12:01:12 -0500 DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=mail.beehiiv.com; h=content-type:from:mime-version:subject:reply-to:list-unsubscribe:to: cc:content-type:from:subject:to; s=s1; bh=C4y08nvnSfFu+3vNi7bjJyr9NpmE0cQ1yavEZPyh0QA=; b=KWYIaYYop1l2/ujF88VjcGd3Sm2p8ntqW81LO1rHF4Jat94vdj1ri1YL3i42N7+3q4Mt HrsAGB6HWrCupazaCaw38js9qsSz/N6xKBkMFrSG/2MCn7iOhxTR5IBma/vhaqMBN72wAj 9Pt5ICoztNJy9eRyu3pPtJ6OJB/eSAXJhM4hd4lXCAearAMdW9dJakpVZdyStyeOKiat7u a6Oqmr6rWcHNS65r5Mb/IMmDxZrQXveMMqVK3dUNQ0Ah7SuY5dDjt/tcZAuOequfL8428d tqHaYjsI1BBYLRdxSKwkUofDjO92MTF2pfvC9QUls1C2ysJW0bfYwB/J+NVI6kfA== Received: by filterdrecv-6867b5c97d-dz6ch with SMTP id filterdrecv-6867b5c97d-dz6ch-1-663E52C5-218 2024-05-10 17:00:53.959008678 +0000 UTC m=+929986.537506243 Received: from NDAyMzQxODk (unknown) by geopod-ismtpd-19 (SG) with HTTP id Xgs2r3hcTu-jSaXzX80C7Q Fri, 10 May 2024 17:00:53.428 +0000 (UTC) Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=3afebd947087738d0af9c56986344092c59141d4631842a62f9c9b7168f1 Date: Fri, 10 May 2024 17:00:59 +0000 (UTC) From: Collin Stewart Mime-Version: 1.0 Message-ID: Subject: how I handle stress Reply-To: Collin Stewart List-Unsubscribe: =?us-ascii?Q?=3Cmailto=3A3c5b97ff-00a9-4acc-916d-c137bca24b1d+1d17dc26-c1df-44e?= =?us-ascii?Q?0-812a-883b6ad5b6bc+b65eb3d0-ea87-40d6-?= =?us-ascii?Q?80d7-5898c0ea70c0=40unsub=2Ebeehiiv=2Ecom=3E=2C?= =?us-ascii?Q?_=3Chttps=3A=2F=2Fpredictablerevenue-newsletter=2Ebeehiiv=2Ecom=2Fsubscribe=2F1?= =?us-ascii?Q?d17dc26-c1df-44e0-812a-883b6ad5b6bc=2Fman?= =?us-ascii?Q?age=3Fpost=5Fid=3Db65eb3d0-ea87-40d6-80d7-589?= =?us-ascii?Q?8c0ea70c0=3E?= x-list-id: 3c5b97ff-00a9-4acc-916d-c137bca24b1d x-newsletter: https://predictablerevenue-newsletter.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-close x-list-owner: x-beehiiv-type: newsletter Feedback-ID: =?us-ascii?Q?b65eb3d0-ea87-40d6-80d7-5898c0ea70c0=3Anewsletter=3A3c5b97ff-00a9-?= =?us-ascii?Q?4acc-916d-c137bca24b1d=3A23270855726497d?= sId: 3c5b97ff-00a9-4acc-916d-c137bca24b1d x-beehiiv-ids: =?us-ascii?Q?{=22account=5Fname=22=3A=22https=3A=2F=2Fpredictablerevenue-newsletter=2Ebeehiiv?= =?us-ascii?Q?=2Ecom=2F=22=2C=22campaign=5Fid=22=3A=22b65eb3d0-ea87-40d?= =?us-ascii?Q?6-80d7-5898c0ea70c0=22=2C=22category=22=3A=22newsle?= =?us-ascii?Q?tter=22=2C=22email=5Fgenerated=5Fat=22=3A1715360452=2C=22?= =?us-ascii?Q?user=5Fid=22=3A=223c5b97ff-00a9-4acc-916d-c137b?= =?us-ascii?Q?ca24b1d=22}?= x-newsletter-signup: https://predictablerevenue-newsletter.beehiiv.com/subscribe x-newsletter-id: https://predictablerevenue-newsletter.beehiiv.com/ X-SG-EID: =?us-ascii?Q?u001=2E7ozyt+tmjDsHnEocxX8pymFA2v5OOh2V4Pdr6hGVjZo99sLHT4OeEg7as?= =?us-ascii?Q?oEFtQzIa0qAOkk1QezFA4qrCcff9558yNK8x6zQ?= =?us-ascii?Q?0aLhxDCyAuB9kgcSLas3IIKR+fvCUJBB1E4Lfki?= =?us-ascii?Q?2eE6DsVlITlOjyyY1wrFBwocZnXLi=2Ft4S5gQu=2FW?= =?us-ascii?Q?BLixwPfpdG5ERAl4Du6RrxIL1q1GkVxezhHRHyn?= =?us-ascii?Q?1CBsBhqKdyDrIq3NtXp5pJUweFV8aFwetcblCx7?= =?us-ascii?Q?1pyu7ku7=2FDpkkIrIuGzEOA3bdPGc1PiegnVQRC7?= =?us-ascii?Q?wofoeIgk=3D?= X-SG-ID: =?us-ascii?Q?u001=2ESdBcvi+Evd=2FbQef8eZF3BpTL9BgbK5wfSJMJGMsmprAVgeiC8iaV7rEmQ?= =?us-ascii?Q?+cYi2k7KIocO22PEoKCIwBFU8p3O0wQwTiZMKyU?= =?us-ascii?Q?wP8ZQ3hVbfP26pCycPTOVQYLK85eZ60HJAYV5LY?= =?us-ascii?Q?LPHURvNq6x2I4sSzBkakp9JpxMjpbFz0T3lMZXM?= =?us-ascii?Q?iDQFUcysoghPuast5AkiAkJPS=2FP6OXZVWwpwoKz?= =?us-ascii?Q?e7UYs=2Fwpim2EUKzJquEqAMDa94XJ4c32v+GHsbK?= =?us-ascii?Q?bniIx+hVY5aqlh19EMISJjoPNw=3D=3D?= To: "andrew@sterlingcal.com" X-Entity-ID: u001.RuZ2+X9IBGtjUb8qq3teHQ== X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.6 X-Spam-Score: -5 X-Spam-Bar: / X-Spam-Flag: NO --3afebd947087738d0af9c56986344092c59141d4631842a62f9c9b7168f1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Mime-Version: 1.0 Good morning Andrew,=20 I sat down last night with a founder from the community to give him some fe= edback on his pitch. He=E2=80=99s built a pretty interesting product for a = well defined niche but hasn=E2=80=99t been closing as many deals as he=E2= =80=99d like. I took a few notes during our conversation and thought I=E2= =80=99d share.=C2=A0 I knew it wasn=E2=80=99t going to be a perfect call when he insisted on pul= ling out his deck. Personally, I hate sales decks. Professionally, I unders= tand there are occasionally times when they can be helpful. The biggest rea= son slide decks suck in a sales conversation is they are built on the assum= ption that the person putting the deck together knew exactly what you wante= d to see ahead of time.=C2=A0 This is never the case.=C2=A0 The best part of talking to a salesperson is you get a bespoke experience. = A good rep will have a deep understanding of the problem space, ask questio= ns to understand your circumstances, and only share relevant information.= =C2=A0 Great salespeople are great problem solvers. We are the catalysts that brin= g the benefits of our products to the customer.* If you want to be a catalyst, you need to start by asking questions and you= absolutely need to listen more than you speak. A slide deck puts you into = presentation mode.=C2=A0 _*thanks Darius, I stole these words from our conversation yesterday.=C2=A0= _ **Progress.** Step one to closing a deal is understanding the progress the prospect is tr= ying to make. If you lead off with a 15 minute presentation, at best you=E2= =80=99re delaying the start of the _real_ sales conversation. At worst, you= =E2=80=99ve already lost the sale because the prospect turned off their vid= eo and started checking their email.=C2=A0 **Fit.** Step two in closing a deal involves determining whether your solution can h= elp the prospect with their desired progress. If you=E2=80=99re not going t= o be able to help, it=E2=80=99s best to find out before you=E2=80=99ve put = too much time into the conversation. Working a deal is hard work. So be hon= est with yourself and your prospect, it=E2=80=99ll let you focus your energ= y on deals that have a better chance of closing.=C2=A0 **Profit.=C2=A0** Step three in closing a deal involves making the business case. There is on= ly one reason a business does anything, profit. There are three slightly hi= gher order reasons that all lead back to increasing profit:=C2=A0 * Grow revenue =E2=86=92 sell more things=C2=A0 * Decrease costs =E2=86=92 lower the cost of the things I sell=C2=A0 * Decrease risk =E2=86=92 lower the probability of losing future profit=C2= =A0 If you cannot tie what it is that you do to one of the above, you=E2=80=99r= e going to have a very hard time getting deals through the door.=C2=A0 **Urgency.=C2=A0** Step four in closing a deal is overcoming the inertia of doing nothing. Mak= ing a change in an organization means more work and political risk. If your= Champion is going to take on that risk, they=E2=80=99re going to need to u= nderstand why their company will lose X in profit for each day they hesitat= e to pull the trigger.=C2=A0 **There are no magic words.** When I first got into sales, I remember reading books furiously to find the= magic words I needed to say to get prospects to buy. I found many books th= at claimed to know the words but they were about as useful as a parachute m= ade out of forks. What we=E2=80=99re putting together in each of the steps = is a logical argument for doing something now. If your logic is good then p= eople will buy.=C2=A0 **Try on this shirt.** One thing I think many salespeople get wrong is they think of prospects as = adversaries. Objections need to be overcome, negotiations need to be won, a= nd closing is something we do _to them_. It=E2=80=99s less fun this way. I = prefer to team up with a prospect to assemble the logical argument together= . At the end of each step, I=E2=80=99m summarizing what we=E2=80=99ve learn= ed and asking the prospect to try it on and see if it checks out.=C2=A0 Here, let me _sell _you on reading my newsletter using this process. I=E2= =80=99ll pretend we=E2=80=99ve had a few conversations and gone through the= steps. Here=E2=80=99s a rough summary I=E2=80=99d share at the end of each= of the conversations.=C2=A0 **Progress**: It sounds like you=E2=80=99re a founder responsible for reven= ue and you=E2=80=99re looking for guidance on how to find more customers. Y= ou=E2=80=99ve built a great product, have some good early traction, and are= trying to figure out how and when to invest in growth. What did I miss?=C2= =A0 **Fit**: We talked about how you like to learn and it sounds like reading a= round 1500 words every week is the right amount of time you want to invest = at this stage. Did I get that right?=C2=A0 **Profit**: You are currently selling N units every week and by reading the= se 1500 words it sounds like you might be able to capture an additional uni= t every week. This means you would increase revenue by an additional Y this= year. Is my math right?=C2=A0 **Urgency**: You mentioned that you either need to show a profit by August = or raise another round. If you=E2=80=99re not on track that=E2=80=99ll mean= cuts to your team and a lower growth rate for the year, which would make r= aising cash more difficult. How am I doing so far?=C2=A0 At this stage, you can feel if the rock is rolling uphill or downhill. If i= t=E2=80=99s rolling downhill, they=E2=80=99ll be asking you about when they= can get started. If it=E2=80=99s rolling uphill and you=E2=80=99re losing = momentum, then chances are you=E2=80=99ve missed something.=C2=A0 How=E2=80=99d I do? Will you buy a subscription to my newsletter? You get 1= 500 words, delivered right to your inbox, every week, for 12 easy payments = of zero dollars.=C2=A0 Collin=C2=A0 PS - I wrote this immediately after a conversation with Darius from MEDDIC = Academy. He=E2=80=99s the master of finding urgency in a deal and I=E2=80= =99m interviewing him about it on my podcast in a few weeks. If you want to= listen in to the recording or set up a Q&A with Darius, hit me back and I= =E2=80=99ll see if we can set something up. =E2=80=94=E2=80=94=E2=80=94 You are reading a plain text version of this post. For the best experience,= copy and paste this link in your browser to view the post online: https://predictablerevenue-newsletter.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-close --3afebd947087738d0af9c56986344092c59141d4631842a62f9c9b7168f1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 Mime-Version: 1.0 how I handle stress
I sat down last night with a founder from the community to give = him some feedback on his pitch. He=E2=80=99s built a pretty interesting pro= duct for a well defined niche but hasn=E2=80=99t been closing as many deals= as he=E2=80=99d like. I took a few notes during our conversation and thoug= ht I=E2=80=99d share.=C2=A0  ‌ ‌ ‌ &#= 8204; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ = ;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌&#= 160;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌= ; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ = 204; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ = ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌= 60;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌=  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ R= 04; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ &= #8204; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌= 0;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌&= #160;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ̴= 4; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ &#= 8204; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ = ;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌&#= 160;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌= ; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ = 204; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ = ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌= 60;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌=  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ R= 04; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ &= #8204; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌= 0;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌&= #160;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ̴= 4; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ &#= 8204; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ = ;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌&#= 160;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌= ; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ = 204; ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ = ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌= 60;‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌=  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ R= 04;
=

M= ay 10, 2024   |   Rea= d Online

How to close

= <= td style=3D"padding-bottom:12px;padding-left:37px;padding-right:27px;paddin= g-top:12px;" class=3D"ee">

  • Grow rev= enue =E2=86=92 sell more things=C2=A0

  • Decrease costs =E2=86=92 lower the cost= of the things I sell=C2=A0

  • Decrease risk =E2=86=92 lower the probability o= f losing future profit=C2=A0

= <= /tr>=
Good morning Andrew,

I sat down last night with a founder from the community to give him so= me feedback on his pitch. He=E2=80=99s built a pretty interesting product f= or a well defined niche but hasn=E2=80=99t been closing as many deals as he= =E2=80=99d like. I took a few notes during our conversation and thought I= =E2=80=99d share.=C2=A0

<= span style=3D"color:rgb(44, 62, 80);">I knew it wasn=E2=80=99t going to be = a perfect call when he insisted on pulling out his deck. Personally, I hate= sales decks. Professionally, I understand there are occasionally times whe= n they can be helpful. The biggest reason slide decks suck in a sales conve= rsation is they are built on the assumption that the person putting the dec= k together knew exactly what you wanted to see ahead of time.=C2=A0<= /p>

This is never the case.=C2=A0

The best part of talking= to a salesperson is you get a bespoke experience. A good rep will have a d= eep understanding of the problem space, ask questions to understand your ci= rcumstances, and only share relevant information.=C2=A0

Great= salespeople are great problem solvers. We are the catalysts that bring the= benefits of our products to the customer.*

If you want to be= a catalyst, you need to start by asking questions and you absolutely need = to listen more than you speak. A slide deck puts you into presentation mode= .=C2=A0

*thanks Darius, I stole these words from our conve= rsation yesterday.=C2=A0

Progress.

S= tep one to closing a deal is understanding the progress the prospect is try= ing to make. If you lead off with a 15 minute presentation, at best you=E2= =80=99re delaying the start of the real sales conve= rsation. At worst, you=E2=80=99ve already lost the sale because the prospec= t turned off their video and started checking their email.=C2=A0

=

Fit.

Step two in closing a deal involves determini= ng whether your solution can help the prospect with their desired progress.= If you=E2=80=99re not going to be able to help, it=E2=80=99s best to find = out before you=E2=80=99ve put too much time into the conversation. Working = a deal is hard work. So be honest with yourself and your prospect, it=E2=80= =99ll let you focus your energy on deals that have a better chance of closi= ng.=C2=A0

Profit.=C2=A0

Step three in cl= osing a deal involves making the business case. There is only one reason a = business does anything, profit. There are three slightly higher order reaso= ns that all lead back to increasing profit:=C2=A0

If you cannot ti= e what it is that you do to one of the above, you=E2=80=99re going to have = a very hard time getting deals through the door.=C2=A0

Urg= ency.=C2=A0

Step four in closing a deal is overcoming the= inertia of doing nothing. Making a change in an organization means more wo= rk and political risk. If your Champion is going to take on that risk, they= =E2=80=99re going to need to understand why their company will lose X in pr= ofit for each day they hesitate to pull the trigger.=C2=A0

There are no magic words.

When I first got into sales, I= remember reading books furiously to find the magic words I needed to say t= o get prospects to buy. I found many books that claimed to know the words b= ut they were about as useful as a parachute made out of forks. What we=E2= =80=99re putting together in each of the steps is a logical argument for do= ing something now. If your logic is good then people will buy.=C2=A0=

Try on this shirt.

One thing I think many sale= speople get wrong is they think of prospects as adversaries. Objections nee= d to be overcome, negotiations need to be won, and closing is something we = do to them. It=E2=80=99s less fun this way. I prefe= r to team up with a prospect to assemble the logical argument together. At = the end of each step, I=E2=80=99m summarizing what we=E2=80=99ve learned an= d asking the prospect to try it on and see if it checks out.=C2=A0

Here, let me sell you on reading my newslette= r using this process. I=E2=80=99ll pretend we=E2=80=99ve had a few conversa= tions and gone through the steps. Here=E2=80=99s a rough summary I=E2=80=99= d share at the end of each of the conversations.=C2=A0

Pro= gress: It sounds like you= =E2=80=99re a founder responsible for revenue and you=E2=80=99re looking fo= r guidance on how to find more customers. You=E2=80=99ve built a great prod= uct, have some good early traction, and are trying to figure out how and wh= en to invest in growth. What did I miss?=C2=A0

Fit: We talked about how you like to= learn and it sounds like reading around 1500 words every week is the right= amount of time you want to invest at this stage. Did I get that right?=C2= =A0

Profit

Urgency: You mentioned that you either need to show a profit= by August or raise another round. If you=E2=80=99re not on track that=E2= =80=99ll mean cuts to your team and a lower growth rate for the year, which= would make raising cash more difficult. How am I doing so far?=C2=A0

At this stage, you can feel if the rock is rolling uphill or downh= ill. If it=E2=80=99s rolling downhill, they=E2=80=99ll be asking you about = when they can get started. If it=E2=80=99s rolling uphill and you=E2=80=99r= e losing momentum, then chances are you=E2=80=99ve missed something.=C2=A0<= /span>

How=E2=80=99d I do? Will you buy a subscription to my newslet= ter? You get 1500 words, delivered right to your inbox, every week, for 12 = easy payments of zero dollars.=C2=A0

Collin=C2=A0

<= /td>

PS - I wrote this immediately after a conversation with Darius from MEDD= IC Academy. He=E2=80=99s the master of finding urgency in a deal and I=E2= =80=99m interviewing him about it on my podcast in a few weeks. If you want= to listen in to the recording or set up a Q&A with Darius, hit me back and= I=E2=80=99ll see if we can set something up.

<= /td>
3D"yt"=
 

Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here=

© 2024 Predictable Revenue: Founders Editi= on

#304 210 Carrall Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 2J1, Canada

3D"bee=<= span style=3D"padding-left:11px !important;display: inline-block !important= ;">Powered by beehiiv
--3afebd947087738d0af9c56986344092c59141d4631842a62f9c9b7168f1--