Guides
In-depth, practical guides on sales technique, tools and process. Every number is sourced or labelled as an example.
How to Write a Sales Proposal That Gets Signed
A practical structure for B2B sales proposals: what to include, what to cut, how to price clearly and how to write something a buyer can forward internally.
Dealing With Procurement in B2B Deals
What procurement teams are measured on, how to prepare before you are handed over, and how to protect your price once the deal leaves your champion.
How to Create Urgency Honestly
Fake deadlines and manufactured scarcity destroy trust. Here are the legitimate sources of urgency in a B2B deal and how to raise them with a buyer.
When and How to Walk Away From a Deal
How to tell the difference between a slow deal and a bad one, and the words to use when you decide to step away without burning the relationship.
How to Negotiate Without Discounting
Practical ways to hold your price in a negotiation: trade instead of concede, change the scope, and use words that keep a deal alive without cutting the fee.
Closing Techniques That Don't Feel Like Tricks
Closing techniques that help a buyer make a decision they already want to make, plus the classic tactics worth retiring and what to say instead.
Discovery vs Demo: Why Doing Both at Once Kills Deals
Why combining discovery and the demo into one call produces generic pitches and stalled deals, and how to separate them without losing the prospect.
How to Find the Real Decision Maker
How to work out who actually signs off a purchase, the questions that get you there without insulting your contact, and what to do when you are blocked.
Unsourced
Myth: "Only 3% of your market is buying right now" — a good idea with a borrowed number
Chet Holmes's buyer pyramid says 3% of any market is buying now. We looked for the data behind it and found show-of-hands polls, not published research.
Partly true
Myth: "B2B buyers are 57% through before they talk to sales" — a real study, stretched
The 57% stat comes from a real 2011 CEB survey of 1,500 buyers at big B2B suppliers. What it measured, what it did not, and what newer research says.
Misapplied
Myth: "A new customer costs five times more than keeping one" — the car-maker sum behind the slogan
The "5x" retention stat traces back to one US car maker's sums in the early 1980s. Here is what the source said and why the ratio will not fit your business.
Unsourced
Myth: "80% of sales are made on the 5th to 12th contact" — the follow-up stat nobody can produce
The famous 80% follow-up stat is pinned on a 1942 survey of under 40 people that nobody seems able to produce. What we found, and what to do instead.
Misapplied
Myth: "93% of communication is non-verbal" — what Mehrabian actually measured
The 7-38-55 rule is real research applied to the wrong question. Mehrabian himself says it only covers feelings and attitudes. Here's what it means in sales.
Unsourced
Myth: "the Rule of 7" — why seven touches is a rule of thumb, not a finding
The Rule of 7 says prospects need seven touches before they buy. We traced it to a 1990 marketing book and a Hollywood tale, and found no study behind it.
How to Spot a Deal That's Never Going to Close
The signals that a deal is dead long before it gets marked lost, how to test a stalling opportunity, and why clearing them out fixes your forecast.
How to Handle "We Don't Have Budget Right Now"
The budget objection usually means something else. Here is how to work out which version you have, what to say, and when to accept it and move on.
How to Handle "We're Already Using a Competitor"
What to say when a prospect already has a supplier, how to find the gap without slating the incumbent, and when the honest answer is to leave them alone.
How to Build a Prospect List That's Worth Calling
A practical method for building a UK B2B prospect list, including qualification filters, data sources, list hygiene and the signals worth tracking.
Cold Calling Scripts: A Framework That Doesn't Sound Robotic
A flexible cold calling script framework with real wording for the opener, the reason for calling, the hook and the ask, plus how to handle early pushback.
Cold Email Follow-Up Sequences: How Many and How Often
How many follow-up emails to send, how far apart, and what each one should say, with a full five-touch sequence you can copy and adapt.
Discovery Call Questions That Uncover Real Problems
The discovery call questions that get past surface answers, how to follow up on a vague reply, and how to tell when there is no real problem to solve.
Email Deliverability for Sales Teams: Why Your Emails Land in Spam
A plain-English guide to SPF, DKIM, DMARC, domain warm-up, sending volume and the content habits that decide whether your cold emails reach the inbox.
Getting Past Gatekeepers Without Being Sleazy
How to work with receptionists and PAs rather than around them, with exact wording, what to do when you are blocked, and the tactics worth avoiding.
How to Write a LinkedIn Connection Request That Gets Accepted
Exact wording for LinkedIn connection requests that get accepted, when to send a note and when not to, plus what to say after they connect.