Two Tall Guys Talking Sales

Stop Celebrating B2B Sales Wins Without Learning Why You Won

17 min · 12. maj 2026
episode Stop Celebrating B2B Sales Wins Without Learning Why You Won cover

Description

In this episode of Two Tall Guys Talking Sales, hosts Kevin Lawson and Sean O'Shaughnessey break down a sales management practice that too many teams underuse: reviewing won deals with the same discipline they apply to lost deals. The conversation moves past celebration alone and into the real operating question: did the team win because the sales process worked, or because someone hit a lucky buzzer-beater? For leaders serious about Sales success, Revenue generation, and building repeatable Sales processes, this episode is a reminder that the best wins are not always the dramatic ones. Often, they are the boring, well-managed, properly documented deals that never should have been in doubt. Key Topics Discussed Why Won Deal Reviews Matter as Much as Lost Deal Reviews — 00:20 Kevin opens the episode by comparing won deal reviews to a SportsCenter highlight reel. Lost deal reviews help teams understand what went wrong, but won deal reviews reveal whether success came from strong Sales strategies, disciplined execution, or simple luck. Celebrate the Whole Team, Not Just the Closer — 01:40 Sean emphasizes that a true win often involves more than the salesperson. Proposal writers, credit teams, delivery teams, operations, and others may have played a role. Strong sales management means recognizing the system behind the win, not creating a hero culture around one person. Buzzer-Beater Wins vs. Controlled Wins — 03:00 Sean challenges leaders to determine whether the deal was won late through a heroic save or whether the team was in control from the beginning. The better business model is not dramatic last-second selling. It is predictable Revenue management through process discipline. Doing "Winner Stuff" in the Sales Process — 04:06 Kevin lays out the behaviors that separate consistent winners from lucky sellers: good notes, timely follow-up, clear problem statements, expectation management, proper sequencing, and bringing the right people into the deal at the right time. That is where Business acumen meets execution. Review Wins by Sales Stage, Not Storytelling — 06:41 Sean argues that leaders should avoid letting won deal reviews become casual storytelling sessions. Instead, they should walk the team through each stage in the CRM: discovery, scoping, economic buyer engagement, validation, proposal, and close. That structure turns a win into training, reinforcement, and better future Messaging. How New Sellers Learn from Won Deal Reviews — 09:27 Kevin explains why won deal reviews are especially valuable for newer reps. They may not yet have their own deep sales stories, but they can learn the questions, positioning, Value selling behaviors, and customer impact examples that successful sellers used. Key Quotes Kevin Lawson — 01:09 "You never know until you start doing the analysis, which is the same thing as not doing the analysis on your lost deals." Sean O'Shaughnessey — 03:40 "Sure, it makes you, puts you on SportsCenter, but let's be honest. Let's be boring. Let's just bring in the revenue." Kevin Lawson — 05:29 "The simple stuff done well at scale becomes quota-busting kind of behaviors and quota-busting kind of performance." Sean O'Shaughnessey — 07:53 "Step by step, walk through the story as stages of the sales process." Kevin Lawson — 11:17 "How could I instead go value, impact, value, impact, value? Because that's what drives customer expectation, which drives reputation, which drives stickiness." Sean O'Shaughnessey — 13:40 "When you're doing a win deal, celebrate the win. Really give the right team all of the credit." Additional Resources B2B Sales Lab Sean refers listeners to B2B Sales Lab, a community where sales professionals and sales leaders can discuss real sales challenges, share wins, and sharpen their Sales processes. Visit b2b-sales-lab.com to learn more. Moneyball / Billy Beane Reference Kevin references the Moneyball idea of winning through disciplined, repeatable base hits instead of relying on grand slams. The sales parallel is clear: sustainable Revenue generation comes from consistent execution, not occasional heroics. A Significant Actionable Item from this Podcast Pick one recently won deal and run a formal won deal review by CRM stage. Do not ask the salesperson to "tell the story." Walk through discovery, qualification, scoping, economic buyer access, validation, proposal, negotiation, and close. At each stage, identify what was done well, what was skipped, who contributed, what customer insight was captured, and what should be repeated. The decision you are making is simple: was this win evidence of a repeatable sales process, or was it a lucky outcome dressed up as Sales success? Summary This episode is a sharp reminder that winning is not enough. Sales leaders have to understand why the team won, whether the win can be repeated, and whether the process created value for the customer before the proposal ever arrived. Kevin and Sean make the case that won deal reviews are not administrative exercises. They are sales management tools that improve business acumen, strengthen messaging, reinforce value selling, and help create a team that wins more often without relying on last-minute heroics. Listen to this episode if your team celebrates wins but has not yet extracted the operating lessons from them. B2B Sales Lab is a private, member-led community for sales professionals who want actionable insights, not theory. It's a space to ask real questions, share proven practices, and connect with others who are serious about improving revenue performance. Designed and led by veteran sales leaders, the Lab is where strategy meets execution. Join us at b2b-sales-lab.com You can reach out to Sean at New Sales Expert, LLC - Sean@NewSales.Expert [Sean@NewSales.Expert] - https://www.linkedin.com/in/soshaughnessey/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/soshaughnessey/] You can reach out to Kevin at Lighthouse Sales Advisors & Sales Xceleration - kevin@lighthousesalesadvisors.com [kevin@lighthousesalesadvisors.com] - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwlawson/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwlawson/] You can book time on Kevin's calendar at https://lighthousesalesadvisors.pipedrive.com/scheduler/JP7rZXH3/virtual-meeting-booking-time-with-kevin [https://lighthousesalesadvisors.pipedrive.com/scheduler/JP7rZXH3/virtual-meeting-booking-time-with-kevin] You can book time on Sean's calendar at http://newsales.expert/sean-oshaughnessey-calendar/

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179 episodes

episode When Buyers Don't Care: Stop Selling Features and Start Selling Value artwork

When Buyers Don't Care: Stop Selling Features and Start Selling Value

Opening a prospecting conversation with "we have 180 million contacts" may sound impressive inside the seller's company, but it often misses the buyer's reality. In this episode of Two Tall Guys Talking Sales, Kevin Lawson and Sean O'Shaughnessey challenge salespeople and sales leaders to stop confusing features with value. They unpack why strong Messaging starts with the buyer's problem, how Value selling creates separation, and why better sales management requires sales teams to understand what customers actually buy—not just what sellers think they sell. Key Topics Discussed Why "more data" is not the value proposition — 00:00 Sean opens with a sharp critique of prospecting tools that lead with database size. A salesperson does not need 10 million contacts. They need the right four people inside the right account. That distinction is central to effective Sales strategies because activity without relevance does not generate Revenue. The buyer does not buy your product; they buy the outcome — 01:56 Kevin reframes the discussion around the "why" behind value propositions. Customers rarely wake up wanting sales infrastructure, fractional sales leadership, or backend data aggregation. They want reliability, growth, better decision-making, and improved business performance. That is where real Business acumen enters the sales conversation. The hospital cleaning example: selling safety, not cleaning supplies — 04:21 Kevin shares a memorable story about a janitorial services salesperson who understood the true value of his work. In a hospital, the outcome was not a clean room. It was a safe, sterile environment for children receiving serious care. That example lands because it shows how Value selling moves beyond product language into buyer consequence. Sean's college selection story: outcomes beat features — 07:02 Sean explains how his college won his attention not by selling class size, curriculum, or facilities, but by emphasizing employment outcomes. For a young person entering a difficult economy, "graduates get jobs" mattered more than institutional features. The lesson applies directly to modern sales processes: speak to the outcome the buyer is trying to achieve. Using PONI to uncover what customers really value — 09:33 Sean introduces PONI: Project, Old way, New way, Improvement. It is a simple but powerful way to build case studies, sharpen Messaging, and identify what your product actually does for customers. The improvement is the story. The product is only the mechanism. Stop training buyers to shop you on price — 10:52 Kevin gets practical about a common sales mistake: opening with "I can save you money." That may feel buyer-friendly, but it teaches the customer to evaluate you on price alone. Strong Revenue management depends on protecting margin, defending value, and guiding the buyer toward profit, growth, reliability, and strategic impact. Key Quotes Sean O'Shaughnessey — 00:32 "I have never needed 10 million people that I need to talk to. What I needed was the four people at that company." Kevin Lawson — 04:21 "You all have the need to sell your product, but your customer may not need to buy your product. They need what your product does for them." Sean O'Shaughnessey — 09:57 "What was the improvement? Go figure that out, and then from that point on, always talk about the improvement." Kevin Lawson — 11:13 "If all you can do is save them money, you're not adding any other value." Kevin Lawson — 13:39 "Revenue feeds ego, profit feeds family." Additional Resources B2B Sales Lab — Kevin invites listeners to join the B2B Sales Lab for office hours, peer discussion, and deeper work on real-world sales challenges. Visit b2b-sales-lab.com. PONI Framework — Sean's practical structure for turning customer stories into stronger sales conversations: Project, Old way, New way, Improvement. CIH and Metrics — Kevin references prior podcast discussions on CIH and metrics as foundational to improving sales execution, qualification, and the probability of success in major opportunities. A Significant Actionable Item from this Podcast Interview your five best customers and ask them to show you how they use your product or service. Do not ask what features they like. Ask what changed. What was harder before? What is easier now? What risk disappeared? What cost came out? What revenue opportunity opened up? Then rewrite your primary sales message around the improvement rather than the product. That single exercise will expose whether your current Messaging supports real Sales success or merely describes what you sell. Summary This episode is a direct challenge to lazy positioning. Kevin and Sean are not arguing against features, data, tools, or price discipline; they are arguing against making those things the center of the sales conversation. Buyers care about outcomes, risk, growth, profit, reliability, and internal justification. If your sales management system, Sales strategies, and sales processes do not force sellers to uncover and communicate those outcomes, your team will drift toward feature dumping and price defense. Listen to this episode if you want a sharper way to explain value, protect margin, improve Revenue generation, and turn customer outcomes into sales conversations that actually matter. B2B Sales Lab is a private, member-led community for sales professionals who want actionable insights, not theory. It's a space to ask real questions, share proven practices, and connect with others who are serious about improving revenue performance. Designed and led by veteran sales leaders, the Lab is where strategy meets execution. Join us at b2b-sales-lab.com You can reach out to Sean at New Sales Expert, LLC - Sean@NewSales.Expert [Sean@NewSales.Expert] - https://www.linkedin.com/in/soshaughnessey/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/soshaughnessey/] You can reach out to Kevin at Lighthouse Sales Advisors & Sales Xceleration - kevin@lighthousesalesadvisors.com [kevin@lighthousesalesadvisors.com] - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwlawson/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwlawson/] You can book time on Kevin's calendar at https://lighthousesalesadvisors.pipedrive.com/scheduler/JP7rZXH3/virtual-meeting-booking-time-with-kevin [https://lighthousesalesadvisors.pipedrive.com/scheduler/JP7rZXH3/virtual-meeting-booking-time-with-kevin] You can book time on Sean's calendar at http://newsales.expert/sean-oshaughnessey-calendar/

2. juni 202618 min
episode The Sales Management Metric That Reveals Whether Your Pipeline Is Real artwork

The Sales Management Metric That Reveals Whether Your Pipeline Is Real

In complex B2B sales, the best opportunities rarely move forward because of a single perfect conversation with a single perfect buyer. They move because the seller creates enough meaningful customer interaction to uncover problems, build internal consensus, reduce the risk of being ghosted, and increase the odds of winning larger deals. In this episode of Two Tall Guys Talking Sales, Kevin Lawson and Sean O'Shaughnessey dig into Customer Interaction Hours, or CIH. This practical sales management metric helps sellers evaluate the real quality of their meetings, expand influence inside target accounts, and improve Sales success in longer, more competitive sales cycles. Key Topics Discussed Customer Interaction Hours as a better measure of meeting quality — 00:53 Sean introduces CIH, a metric built around the value of longer meetings with more customer stakeholders. Rather than treating every sales call as equal, CIH forces sellers and sales managers to ask a harder question: Did this meeting create enough interaction to advance the deal? Why bigger meetings create better sales intelligence — 02:09 Sean explains why larger, longer meetings often reveal more useful information than short, single-threaded conversations. More people in the room usually means more questions, more objections, more hidden politics, and more clues about the real buying process. How CIH helps sellers stay alive in competitive deals — 05:49 Sean frames one of the episode's central ideas: if the customer is still talking to you, you are still in the deal. CIH gives salespeople a way to measure whether they are creating enough meaningful interaction to remain relevant, especially in enterprise-level opportunities. Using customer conversations to diagnose business pain — 08:22 Kevin connects CIH to Value selling, Business acumen, and better discovery. When sellers involve more people across the customer's organization, they uncover operational issues, technical constraints, conflicting expectations, and financial priorities that would never surface in a narrow conversation. Reducing the risk of ghosted deals through multi-threading — 10:19 Sean explains why deals often disappear when sellers know only two or three people within the account. Customer Interaction Hours push sellers to build more relationships, improving deal visibility and making it harder for an opportunity to die quietly. Applying CIH in small and mid-sized business sales — 11:45 Kevin and Sean make clear that this is not only an enterprise sales strategy. Whether selling to a company of 10 or 10,000, sellers need to understand who influences the buying decision, who uses the product, who owns the risk, and who can block Revenue generation. Key Quotes Sean O'Shaughnessey — 01:45 "If you have a relatively long, complicated sales cycle, CIH or Customer Interaction Hours is a great way to think about it." Sean O'Shaughnessey — 05:49 "If we are still talking, then we are still in the deal." Kevin Lawson — 08:22 "We have to get in front of the right people at the right time with the right message, and getting them talking about their problems is key." Kevin Lawson — 09:14 "Don't sell the product you have. Sell the problem you solve." Sean O'Shaughnessey — 11:31 "You do not get ghosted if you know a dozen people at the company. It takes a big conspiracy to have 12 people not return your phone call." Sean O'Shaughnessey — 14:22 "Do it yourself because it's a way to keep the salesperson going the right direction and thinking about, 'How do I make my deals bigger, my meetings bigger?'" Additional Resources Sean invites listeners to continue the conversation inside B2B Sales Lab, where salespeople and sales leaders can ask questions about Customer Interaction Hours, sales metrics, Sales strategies, Sales processes, Messaging, Revenue management, and practical ways to improve complex B2B selling. A Significant Actionable Item from this Podcast Review the last five meaningful sales meetings on your calendar and calculate your Customer Interaction Hours. Look at how long each meeting lasted and how many customer participants were involved, then ask whether your most important opportunities have enough interaction to justify confidence. If your largest deals are built around short meetings with one or two contacts, that is not a pipeline strategy. That is hope wearing a CRM costume. The next step is direct: choose one active opportunity and identify three additional stakeholders who should care about the business problem you solve. Then create a reason to engage them. Not a generic "checking in" message. A real business reason tied to risk, implementation, financial impact, user adoption, or strategic value. Summary This episode gives salespeople and sales managers a sharper way to think about deal momentum. Customer Interaction Hours are not just another metric to stuff into a CRM dashboard; they are a practical lens for understanding whether a seller is creating enough customer engagement to win. Kevin and Sean make the case that bigger meetings, broader stakeholder coverage, and deeper conversations are not administrative extras. They are core to Value selling, better qualification, stronger Business acumen, and more predictable Revenue generation. Listen to this episode if you manage complex opportunities, sell into competitive accounts, or want a better way to know whether your sales pipeline is real or just politely optimistic. B2B Sales Lab is a private, member-led community for sales professionals who want actionable insights, not theory. It's a space to ask real questions, share proven practices, and connect with others who are serious about improving revenue performance. Designed and led by veteran sales leaders, the Lab is where strategy meets execution. Join us at b2b-sales-lab.com You can reach out to Sean at New Sales Expert, LLC - Sean@NewSales.Expert [Sean@NewSales.Expert] - https://www.linkedin.com/in/soshaughnessey/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/soshaughnessey/] You can reach out to Kevin at Lighthouse Sales Advisors & Sales Xceleration - kevin@lighthousesalesadvisors.com [kevin@lighthousesalesadvisors.com] - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwlawson/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwlawson/] You can book time on Kevin's calendar at https://lighthousesalesadvisors.pipedrive.com/scheduler/JP7rZXH3/virtual-meeting-booking-time-with-kevin [https://lighthousesalesadvisors.pipedrive.com/scheduler/JP7rZXH3/virtual-meeting-booking-time-with-kevin] You can book time on Sean's calendar at http://newsales.expert/sean-oshaughnessey-calendar/

26. maj 202617 min
episode Sales Metrics That Matter: How to Protect Your Pipeline, Quota, and Commission Check artwork

Sales Metrics That Matter: How to Protect Your Pipeline, Quota, and Commission Check

Metrics are not just a sales management dashboard issue. In this episode of Two Tall Guys Talking Sales, Kevin Lawson and Sean O'Shaughnessey make the case that salespeople need their own working metrics, the numbers that help them protect commission income, smooth the revenue rollercoaster, improve forecast accuracy, and make better decisions about where to spend time. This is a practical conversation about pipeline coverage, deal velocity, prospecting discipline, relationship touches, product mix, and the sales processes that turn activity into Sales success. Key Topics Discussed Salesperson Metrics vs. Management Metrics — 00:00 Kevin opens by separating metrics that matter to salespeople from the broader numbers that matter to marketers or sales managers. The real issue is not reporting. It is knowing whether you are doing enough of the right work to make quota. Pipeline Coverage and Forecasting for Yourself — 01:26 The conversation moves into pipeline coverage, deal movement, and the danger of being able to hit quota without knowing when you will hit it. That gap creates weak forecasting, poor Revenue management, and avoidable stress. Avoiding the Sales Commission Rollercoaster — 03:41 Sean explains why inconsistent revenue hurts individual salespeople more than sales managers. A manager can average performance across a team, but a salesperson lives with the direct financial impact of pipeline gaps, delayed deals, and uneven prospecting. Matching Sales Activity to Sales Cycle Length — 05:28 Sean makes the point that a 60-day sales cycle and a six-month sales cycle require different behavior. The salesperson must understand how much time belongs in prospecting, discovery, qualification, scoping, closing, and relationship development. Measuring Deal Creation and Customer Touches — 07:07 Kevin discusses why the number of new deals created matters, especially when viewed by time period and business model. He also shifts into relationship metrics, including how often salespeople intentionally reconnect with customers, former customers, and referral sources. Planning to 110% with A, B, and C Deals — 12:12 Sean closes with a practical quota-planning model: build the year around 110%, then break the number into A, B, and C deal sizes. This forces better Sales strategies, sharper prioritization, and more realistic Revenue generation planning. Key Quotes Kevin Lawson — 00:00 "I want to talk about metrics that matter to salespeople, not marketers, not sales managers… but the people out there carrying the bag." Sean O'Shaughnessey — 03:41 "I want to talk about the ability to not ride the rollercoaster." Sean O'Shaughnessey — 05:50 "If you have a six-month sales cycle, same problem, but you have more time to budget it out. You can go a week without prospecting, but you can't go a month without prospecting." Kevin Lawson — 07:40 "I really like for all sales teams to know how many deals need to come into their pipeline per time period." Kevin Lawson — 10:24 "Being intentional with the relationship is as important." Sean O'Shaughnessey — 12:34 "Start the year assuming you're going to go to 110%. Build your plan to go to 110%." Additional Resources B2B Sales Lab Sean and Kevin referenced the B2B Sales Lab, a community where B2B salespeople can ask questions, get feedback, and talk through real-world Sales strategies, sales processes, Value selling, Messaging, Business acumen, and Revenue generation challenges. Learn more at b2b-sales-lab.com. Traction by Gino Wickman https://a.co/d/0c9rXQMz Kevin referenced the idea of "traction" while discussing relationship discipline and consistent outreach. The point was not about theory. It was about keeping sales relationships active before the pipeline forces you to care. A Significant Actionable Item from this Podcast Build a simple personal pipeline math model this week. Start with your annual quota, then plan to 110%. Break that number into A, B, and C deal sizes. Estimate how many of each deal type you need, then work backward into how many opportunities must be created each month based on your close rate and sales cycle length. From there, decide whether your current prospecting, customer outreach, referral activity, and deal advancement work can actually support the number. If the math does not work, the problem is not motivation. It is the plan. Summary This episode is worth listening to because Kevin and Sean take a topic many salespeople avoid, metrics, and make it directly relevant to the person carrying the number. The conversation is not about building a prettier CRM report or giving sales management more inspection points. It is about using metrics to protect your income, reduce uncertainty, improve your forecast, and make better daily decisions. If you have ever had a great month followed by a weak one, or a full pipeline that somehow failed to convert when you needed it, this episode will sound uncomfortably familiar. More importantly, it gives you a practical way to regain control before the rollercoaster starts again.

18. maj 202617 min
episode Stop Celebrating B2B Sales Wins Without Learning Why You Won artwork

Stop Celebrating B2B Sales Wins Without Learning Why You Won

In this episode of Two Tall Guys Talking Sales, hosts Kevin Lawson and Sean O'Shaughnessey break down a sales management practice that too many teams underuse: reviewing won deals with the same discipline they apply to lost deals. The conversation moves past celebration alone and into the real operating question: did the team win because the sales process worked, or because someone hit a lucky buzzer-beater? For leaders serious about Sales success, Revenue generation, and building repeatable Sales processes, this episode is a reminder that the best wins are not always the dramatic ones. Often, they are the boring, well-managed, properly documented deals that never should have been in doubt. Key Topics Discussed Why Won Deal Reviews Matter as Much as Lost Deal Reviews — 00:20 Kevin opens the episode by comparing won deal reviews to a SportsCenter highlight reel. Lost deal reviews help teams understand what went wrong, but won deal reviews reveal whether success came from strong Sales strategies, disciplined execution, or simple luck. Celebrate the Whole Team, Not Just the Closer — 01:40 Sean emphasizes that a true win often involves more than the salesperson. Proposal writers, credit teams, delivery teams, operations, and others may have played a role. Strong sales management means recognizing the system behind the win, not creating a hero culture around one person. Buzzer-Beater Wins vs. Controlled Wins — 03:00 Sean challenges leaders to determine whether the deal was won late through a heroic save or whether the team was in control from the beginning. The better business model is not dramatic last-second selling. It is predictable Revenue management through process discipline. Doing "Winner Stuff" in the Sales Process — 04:06 Kevin lays out the behaviors that separate consistent winners from lucky sellers: good notes, timely follow-up, clear problem statements, expectation management, proper sequencing, and bringing the right people into the deal at the right time. That is where Business acumen meets execution. Review Wins by Sales Stage, Not Storytelling — 06:41 Sean argues that leaders should avoid letting won deal reviews become casual storytelling sessions. Instead, they should walk the team through each stage in the CRM: discovery, scoping, economic buyer engagement, validation, proposal, and close. That structure turns a win into training, reinforcement, and better future Messaging. How New Sellers Learn from Won Deal Reviews — 09:27 Kevin explains why won deal reviews are especially valuable for newer reps. They may not yet have their own deep sales stories, but they can learn the questions, positioning, Value selling behaviors, and customer impact examples that successful sellers used. Key Quotes Kevin Lawson — 01:09 "You never know until you start doing the analysis, which is the same thing as not doing the analysis on your lost deals." Sean O'Shaughnessey — 03:40 "Sure, it makes you, puts you on SportsCenter, but let's be honest. Let's be boring. Let's just bring in the revenue." Kevin Lawson — 05:29 "The simple stuff done well at scale becomes quota-busting kind of behaviors and quota-busting kind of performance." Sean O'Shaughnessey — 07:53 "Step by step, walk through the story as stages of the sales process." Kevin Lawson — 11:17 "How could I instead go value, impact, value, impact, value? Because that's what drives customer expectation, which drives reputation, which drives stickiness." Sean O'Shaughnessey — 13:40 "When you're doing a win deal, celebrate the win. Really give the right team all of the credit." Additional Resources B2B Sales Lab Sean refers listeners to B2B Sales Lab, a community where sales professionals and sales leaders can discuss real sales challenges, share wins, and sharpen their Sales processes. Visit b2b-sales-lab.com to learn more. Moneyball / Billy Beane Reference Kevin references the Moneyball idea of winning through disciplined, repeatable base hits instead of relying on grand slams. The sales parallel is clear: sustainable Revenue generation comes from consistent execution, not occasional heroics. A Significant Actionable Item from this Podcast Pick one recently won deal and run a formal won deal review by CRM stage. Do not ask the salesperson to "tell the story." Walk through discovery, qualification, scoping, economic buyer access, validation, proposal, negotiation, and close. At each stage, identify what was done well, what was skipped, who contributed, what customer insight was captured, and what should be repeated. The decision you are making is simple: was this win evidence of a repeatable sales process, or was it a lucky outcome dressed up as Sales success? Summary This episode is a sharp reminder that winning is not enough. Sales leaders have to understand why the team won, whether the win can be repeated, and whether the process created value for the customer before the proposal ever arrived. Kevin and Sean make the case that won deal reviews are not administrative exercises. They are sales management tools that improve business acumen, strengthen messaging, reinforce value selling, and help create a team that wins more often without relying on last-minute heroics. Listen to this episode if your team celebrates wins but has not yet extracted the operating lessons from them. B2B Sales Lab is a private, member-led community for sales professionals who want actionable insights, not theory. It's a space to ask real questions, share proven practices, and connect with others who are serious about improving revenue performance. Designed and led by veteran sales leaders, the Lab is where strategy meets execution. Join us at b2b-sales-lab.com You can reach out to Sean at New Sales Expert, LLC - Sean@NewSales.Expert [Sean@NewSales.Expert] - https://www.linkedin.com/in/soshaughnessey/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/soshaughnessey/] You can reach out to Kevin at Lighthouse Sales Advisors & Sales Xceleration - kevin@lighthousesalesadvisors.com [kevin@lighthousesalesadvisors.com] - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwlawson/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwlawson/] You can book time on Kevin's calendar at https://lighthousesalesadvisors.pipedrive.com/scheduler/JP7rZXH3/virtual-meeting-booking-time-with-kevin [https://lighthousesalesadvisors.pipedrive.com/scheduler/JP7rZXH3/virtual-meeting-booking-time-with-kevin] You can book time on Sean's calendar at http://newsales.expert/sean-oshaughnessey-calendar/

12. maj 202617 min
episode Stop Blaming Price: The Real Reasons Sales Deals Are Lost artwork

Stop Blaming Price: The Real Reasons Sales Deals Are Lost

Lost deals are not just missed revenue. They are evidence. In this episode of Two Tall Guys Talking Sales, Kevin Lawson and Sean O'Shaughnessey challenge the easy excuses salespeople often use after a loss, especially "we lost on price" and "the customer made no decision." The real issue is usually deeper: weak value selling, poor discovery, unclear messaging, bad fit, or a failure to create enough business pain to justify change. If you care about Sales success, Revenue generation, and better Sales processes, this episode gives you a practical way to turn lost deals into better sales management decisions. Key Topics Discussed Why lost deals teach more than won deals — 00:42 Sean opens with a blunt premise: if you occasionally lose, you have something to learn. Won deals prove you did enough right. Lost deals expose where your Sales strategies, messaging, value creation, qualification, or execution broke down. Why "we lost on price" is usually the wrong answer — 01:16 Sean and Kevin push back on the idea that price is the real reason deals are lost. Their argument: price objections often reveal that the seller failed to establish enough value, urgency, or business impact. That is a Revenue management problem, not just a discounting problem. The danger of "no decision" as a sales excuse — 02:00 Kevin reframes "no decision" as a cop-out. If the customer does not act, the salesperson may not have created enough contrast between the pain of staying the same and the pain of change. Measure losses by stage, count, and dollars — 04:24 Kevin makes an important sales management distinction: losing an early lead is not the same as losing after scoping, quoting, proof of concept, or negotiation. Teams need to know where deals are leaking, how many are being lost, and how much revenue is being lost. Use lost deal analysis to sharpen your ideal client profile — 10:50 Sean connects lost deals directly to the ICP discipline. If your team repeatedly works hard and still loses with a certain type of prospect, that may not be a sales execution problem. It may be a market selection problem. RFPs, go/no-go decisions, and disciplined deal reviews — 12:43 Kevin points out that RFPs require a different level of structure. If your team keeps saying, "We never win those," the answer is not to complain. The answer is to inspect the process, build better decision rules, and stop chasing work you were never positioned to win. Key Quotes Sean O'Shaughnessey — 00:42 "You will learn more from analyzing your lost deals than analyzing your won deals." Kevin Lawson — 02:00 "No decision is a cop-out." Sean O'Shaughnessey — 04:09 "You don't lose a deal on price. No salesperson ever loses a deal on price." Kevin Lawson — 08:40 "Don't ask the five whys, ask the 500 whys when you don't know what's going on in your business." Sean O'Shaughnessey — 12:21 "Spend that time prospecting for more customers that are just like your ideal client profile, and you'll win rate what's going on." Kevin Lawson — 12:50 "Often simple is smooth and smooth is fast." Additional Resources Sean references the classic Strategic Selling gap concept: where the customer is today, where they want to be, and whether the gap is large enough to justify action. https://a.co/d/09kL0gKA Kevin also mentions the B2B Sales Lab, a private community where salespeople and sales leaders can bring real sales challenges, including lost deals, RFP struggles, ICP questions, and value proposition issues, into a practitioner-led environment for peer review and practical advice. b2b-sales-lab.com A Significant Actionable Item from this Podcast Review your last 10 serious lost deals, not unresponsive leads, but real opportunities that reached scoping, proposal, proof of concept, quoting, or negotiation. For each one, document the stage where it was lost, the dollar value, the reason given, the reason you believe is true, the customer type, and whether the prospect matched your ideal client profile. Then look for patterns. The value is not in explaining away one loss. The value is in finding the repeatable leak in your Sales processes. Summary This episode is a useful listen for any salesperson, sales manager, or business owner who wants better Business acumen around lost opportunities. Sean and Kevin argue that lost-deal analysis is not administrative cleanup. It is one of the fastest paths to better Value selling, sharper Messaging, stronger qualification, and more predictable Revenue generation. The conversation is direct, practical, and uncomfortable in the right way, because it forces the listener to stop accepting vague explanations and start inspecting the sales system. Listen to this episode of Two Tall Guys Talking Sales if you want to improve win rates by learning what your losses are already trying to teach you. B2B Sales Lab is a private, member-led community for sales professionals who want actionable insights, not theory. It's a space to ask real questions, share proven practices, and connect with others who are serious about improving revenue performance. Designed and led by veteran sales leaders, the Lab is where strategy meets execution. Join us at b2b-sales-lab.com You can reach out to Sean at New Sales Expert, LLC - Sean@NewSales.Expert [Sean@NewSales.Expert] - https://www.linkedin.com/in/soshaughnessey/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/soshaughnessey/] You can reach out to Kevin at Lighthouse Sales Advisors & Sales Xceleration - kevin@lighthousesalesadvisors.com [kevin@lighthousesalesadvisors.com] - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwlawson/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwlawson/] You can book time on Kevin's calendar at https://lighthousesalesadvisors.pipedrive.com/scheduler/JP7rZXH3/virtual-meeting-booking-time-with-kevin [https://lighthousesalesadvisors.pipedrive.com/scheduler/JP7rZXH3/virtual-meeting-booking-time-with-kevin] You can book time on Sean's calendar at http://newsales.expert/sean-oshaughnessey-calendar/

5. maj 202617 min