Sage Sayings and Wise Words to End 2025 and Start 2026

 

Do the Last Thing First!

 

Peel Back the Layers

 

Encrispen!

 

Avoid Buying It Back.

 

Execute all pathways with the fewest number of clicks.

 

Secure the order with the least expensive form of proof.

 

Zippy Mouse Syndrome is curable.

 

Walk a mile/kilometer in your prospects’ shoes!

 

Diagnose before offering a prescription.

 

One great Illustration is worth a thousand mouse clicks!

 

The vendor that is perceived as doing a superior job 

in discovery is in a competitively advantageous position!

 

We are victims of momentum.

 

Stop selling when your prospect is ready to buy.

 

Don’t become a member of the Sales Prevention Team!

 

Your prospect’s Critical Date is not your end of quarter.

 

Sometimes it takes a direct conversation with a customer!

 

Don’t inflict corporate overview presentations 

on your prospects.

 

Never take your prospect on a trip you wouldn’t take yourself!

 

There’s a lot we can learn from improv!

 

Fail fast, fail early, fail cheaply.

 

You can overcome the Dunning Kruger Effect!

 

With great curiosity comes great opportunity!

 

For every generalization there is a population 

of meaningful of exceptions.

(Including this one!)

 

We live our lives in a state of constant confirmation bias.

 

Don’t suffer from the Curse of Knowledge!

 

It’s OK, dear prospect, to say no…

 

When opportunity knocks, open the door!

 

It’s like peeling back the layers of an onion: 

What happens if you peel back the layers too far? 

You cry!

 

People learn best from people they don’t know – ask any parent!

 

Marketing is a gateway drug to sales…!

 

There’s nothing sacred about Slide-Show mode…

 

All my heroes are imperfect; 

I’m working hard to follow in their footsteps!

 

There are many better check-ins than, “Any questions so far?”

 

Make seventy-six seconds your target Speaker-Switch duration.

 

Don’t end a sales cycle before it can begin.

 

Sales can be an honorable profession!

 

 

Still working to improve the world one discovery conversation 

and one demo at a time…

 

 

And if you are unfamiliar with any of the above, 

you’ll find the sources here!

 

Suspending Disbelief:

https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy 

 

Doing Discovery:

https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/

 

Great Demo! Third Edition:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/

“Here’s the Truth?”

 

When someone starts a sentence with the phrase,

"Here's the truth," I'm immediately skeptical!

“Customer Fill In” – A Truly Terrific Demo Tip!

 

This tip will change your demos BIG time…

 

Encourage your prospects to actively PARTICIPATE in your demos by gently (but firmly!) forcing them to CHOOSE demo options, whenever possible.

 

If there is a list of five options on a menu, ask your PROSPECT which one they’d like.

 

If there is a need to name something, ask your PROSPECT what to name it.

 

If there is a choice of options for a workflow, ask your PROSPECT which path to pursue.

 

Compared to typical demos, your prospect will be MUCH more engaged. Even better, they will have had to THINK about which choices they want and will begin to take ownership for the outcomes.

 

Absolutely terrific!

 

Here’s the background to led to this:

 

I was watching demos that highlighted vendors’ customer-facing intake forms/portals and noted some poor practices. Each vendor claimed that end-customers “can complete the process in five minutes or less,” but:

 

-        They turned the 5-minute workflow into 15-30 minutes…!

-        They used obviously fake demo data.

-        They covered many options, often exhaustively!

-        It was obvious that the demonstrators had presented the same demo pathway dozens of times (it sounded like the presenters were boring THEMSELVES!).

-        The prospects were largely silent during the entire demo.

-        And the vendors NEVER asked prospects to provide input into the workflows…

 

This last item really struck me as a MAJOR error! Our objective is to turn demos into CONVERSATIONS.

 

Here’s a truly terrific tip for these situations: Invite your prospect to be the end-customer and fill in the form, through you!

 

Let’s say your software offers an intake portal for consumers who want a loan. You say to your prospect, “OK, let’s have YOU play the part of your customer. YOU tell me what to enter on each screen…”

 

Advantages?

 

-        You and your prospect COMPLETE the intake form in five minutes (proving your original claim).

-        Your prospect gains a first-hand vision of how the process works.

-        Your prospect THINKS about the options and asks relevant questions.

-        And your prospect is fully engaged throughout the process!

 

This approach is called “Customer Fill In.”

 

Any time there is an option to choose from (and you don’t care about the choice), invite your PROSPECT to make the choice. They’ll be engaged, taking ownership of the process and the result. Delightful!

 

You’ll find many more great tips in “Great Demo!” here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/ 

Tell Your Prospects “It’s OK to say no…”

Most people, as prospects, are uncomfortable saying “no” to sales teams. Prospects will say “yes” to small steps rather than to stop the process and disappoint the vendor, even if they never intend to purchase.

 

This is a serious time waste for both prospects and vendors!

 

Consider the following engagement:

 

A prospect reaches out to a vendor asking to see a product demo.

 

An overview demo is delivered. The prospect doesn’t see the offering as a good fit but DOESN’T SAY SO!

 

Vendor asks, “What did you think?” Prospect responds, “It’s OK…”

 

Vendor says, “Well, let’s organize a deep dive demo for you – how is next week?”

 

Prospect responds, “Um, sure…” 

 

Vendor preps demo.

 

Next week comes and vendor presents a deep dive demo.

 

Vendor asks, “What did you think?” and prospect responds, “Well, we’re not sure…”

 

Vendor says, “What you like to do a POC?” and prospect responds, “OK…”

 

Vendor sets up a POC.

 

Vendor and prospect run the POC consuming a few weeks of time and energy for both parties.

 

At the end of the trial, the vendor asks, “What did you think?” Prospect responds, “Well, not really sure…”

 

Next, the vendor works to “handle objections” in an effort to convince the prospect to continue this unproductive process… It may never end!

 

This was huge, useless investment for no change.

 

The opportunity was not going to close because the prospect didn’t see the product as a good fit right from the beginning, but was uncomfortable telling the vendor “No.”

 

Before pursuing “next steps” in a sales process, particularly if your prospect doesn’t seem compelled by your offering, consider saying, “If you’d like to continue this process, great. However, it’s ALSO OK if you tell me ‘No, this isn’t a good fit at this time.’ That will help both of us…!”

 

Have YOU ever been uncomfortable saying “No” to a vendor?

An End of the Quarter Dialog

 

This same conversation occurs hundreds of times, all around the world every year!

 

“A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.”

 – Mark Twain

 

It was December 27, and I was working in my office when the phone rang. 

 

I picked it up and said, “Good morning…?”

 

The voice on the other end greeted me saying, “Hi, this is ___ with ___.  I want to check in with you regarding your interest in our software. Did you receive our proposal?”

 

“Yes,” I responded. “It’s a thing of beauty.”

 

“Great,” he said. “Is there anything else you need?”

 

I answered, “Well, not that I can think of…”

 

He tried another tactic, “Have any of the vendors been eliminated?”

 

“Absolutely,” I replied, “but you’re lookin’ good…!”

 

“Are you close to a decision?”

 

“Definitely!” was my response.

 

He pivoted slightly, “Should I be optimistic?”

 

“Certainly – as I said, you guys are lookin’ good...!"

 

He grew more direct, “Can we close this before the end of the quarter?”

 

I replied, “I don’t see why not…”

 

Sounding slightly relieved, he asked, “Is there anything you need to move this forward?”

 

“Well, nothing that I can think of,” I said, “but perhaps you might have some ideas…?”

 

He hesitated and then the words I’d been waiting for came tumbling out, “Would a discount help?”

 

I smiled and replied encouragingly, “Yes, I believe so…!”

 

He offered, “How about a five percent discount, then, on the software…?”

 

I rapped my phone on my desk and then picked it up again, responding, “I’m sorry; must have been a bad connection!”

 

He got the hint and tried again, “How about ten percent?”

 

I said, “Deeper, deeper…”

 

“Twenty percent?” He asked, timidly.

 

I replied, “Make it a twenty-five percent discount on the software plus free training and you’ve got a deal!”

 

Relieved, he said, “OK, I’ll send over an updated proposal shortly…”

 

Moral: Your prospect’s Critical Date is not YOUR end of quarter.

 

 

You’ll find more stories like this in “Suspending Disbelief” here!

https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy