What Makes GOATs Stand Out
"Usually, most players receive the ball and the aim is to pass it from A to B.
The top ones, when they pass from A to B, they are thinking ahead and looking to see how it will influence C then D.
But with Zico, Maradona and Messi, the realms they are going to are G, H and beyond."
In the build-up to the World Cup Semi-final between England and Argentina. The words of a former Scotland captain, who played against Maradona five times.
This makes terrific solution sell juice on many a level.
Take 'entry' for starters. A standard discovery call can reveal plenty of basic A to B passing.
seller: 'What's your biggest challenge?'
prospect: 'Our [so-and-so] is slow'
seller: 'That's great, as our product does Fast'
The C to D is different. It probes that slowness. How it spreads malady in the surrounds.
Then G, H & beyond opens up things like legacy. Both professional and personal.
Slow reframed as competitor-beater promotion, through us, the only show in town.
Beyond this, I can't help but smile, process.
Note the linearity of most Sales thinking. Sadly all a bit too 'lead-demo-Prop-close'.
Where A can be landing a successful hook. B the procurement gatekeeper in the crosshairs and little else. Bashing around from meeting to meeting.
C to D might well know different and alt engagement counts more. Likewise vitals like collaborative Business Case acceptance and buyer-side 'hero' champions.
Then Gs on, going beyond immediate pain points. Bringing the Enterprise-grade pinnacle of strategic partnership into play. Whilst at the same time, refining our own sales process. So that it stays unique, delivers as close to all the time as possible, and ensures more deals, in less time, with customers for life.
And also, given my most recent AI 'trendwatch' angles, there's further sparks along the lines of 'Sales Bots Stop at D, But Not You'.
As in, AI cannot get to G. Because to get there aren't logical progressions on a spreadsheet. We sell in the realm of human idiosyncrasy, unexpressed anxieties, and political shifts within a buying committee.
Where our field of play gets rapidly automated, we succeed when remaining irreplaceable. Not acting like algorithms. But start looking for the spaces that only human intuition can see. Unspoken political friction, the switch from pause and new angle, mobilise a fresh sequencing.
How close to G is your thinking today?