Practical help for B2B selling
Customers buy outcomes. Salespeople are measured on revenue.
We help salespeople, and the leaders who equip and inspire them, lead better conversations with customers about outcomes and value. Our films, practical guidance and AI prompts can help turn more proposals into decisions.
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Three things to try on your next proposal
01
Give your first draft a different job
Write it to be corrected, not to persuade. Mark what was said, what you're assuming, and what's still to be established.
02
Ask the question that invites correction
Send it when you said you would, with one question: "What have I got wrong, and what have I missed?"
03
Bring in the people who'll deliver
Brief the colleagues who will deliver before anyone commits. Their expectations count too.
FREE RESOURCE
The proposals guide and two AI prompts
A practical guide to proposals a senior reader can decide on. One prompt turns your conversation transcript and notes into a first draft. The other helps you improve a proposal as you learn more.
Get the guide and promptsA FIRST DRAFT MARKS THREE THINGS
What was said
In the customer's own words, checked against the transcript and notes.
What you're assuming
Stated openly, so the customer can confirm or correct it.
What's still to be established
Including what each person with a stake expects to achieve.
What's changing
Two accountabilities, not one
UNCHANGED
Commercial results
Winning the business your targets require. That doesn't change.
INCREASINGLY
The rigour of the agreement
How rigorously the expected outcomes of everyone with a stake, including your colleagues who'll deliver, are identified, defined, aligned and agreed before commitments are made.
Customers own their outcomes. What changes is the quality of the agreement everyone commits on. Peter calls this Outcome-Accountable Selling.
AI makes the work possible. Leaders make it accountable.
Aligning everyone's expectations before a commitment has always been good practice. In Peter's experience, very few salespeople could do it consistently. It took more time, skill and careful documentation than the job allowed.
With permission, conversations can now be recorded and turned into clear documents. Who said what, and what was agreed, becomes visible. A record alone changes nothing, though. It takes clear responsibilities, agreed standards and leaders who review the quality of the work.
WHO'S BEHIND SALES RESET
Peter Button
I've spent the last four decades as an independent B2B sales trainer, coach and consultant, developing other people's sales teams. I've seen what the best sellers do, and why most salespeople have found it incredibly hard to work that way. I believe AI is now making this possible for far more salespeople.
For the bigger argument about where selling is heading, read Peter's writing at peterbutton.com.
Practical guidance, by email
Short films, one practical thing to try each time, and free AI prompts that can help you turn more proposals into decisions. Free. Unsubscribe at any time.
