Marketing and sales lessons from the real world.
A selection of my Dutch articles, rewritten in English. Positioning, propositions, funnels and sales conversations. No theory, only what I have seen work.
Positioning: your competitor is not your problem
Three months spent analysing competitors gets you a copy of your competitor. Real positioning starts with a different question entirely.
Sharpening your proposition
"We help businesses grow" reaches nobody. The difference between what you do and why someone hires you, in three questions.
A marketing funnel for service businesses
Not fifteen steps but three: visibility, trust and a conversation. Most service businesses do not need more traffic.
The discovery call
The first conversation decides whether it becomes a deal. Five phases, when to say no, and why silence is your strongest question.
Selling on value
"Can you do anything about the price?" Why dropping your price says you were too expensive, and what to do instead.
The fractional commercial director
A full time commercial director costs 80,000 a year. There is an alternative for businesses that are growing but not there yet.
When to outsource sales
Keep doing it yourself, hire someone, or bring in a partner. Three questions that tell you which one fits.
Selling as an introvert
The best salespeople I know are introverts. Sales is not talking, it is listening.