Being certain during uncertain times

We all have beliefs. Some call it gut instinct or intuition.

But we can’t see them, we have to believe it’s there, and no one can argue with us, as they themselves will not be able to prove it.

But when it comes to brand, sales, or storytelling, even what can be measured is often avoided.

Because if we measure, we might need to admit we were wrong or that we have to do better.

Or worse, that we cannot do it.

I’m working with a client. Over the years, we did a few projects together, and these last few months were very interesting.

I was invited to join the board, help reshape the brand, come up with an updated tagline, and help management streamline how the brand operates across the company.

Marketing started to see growth again.

Consistency meant we rebuilt the whole customer experience. The journey was good, now it’s amazing, but we noticed that while sales were improving, they did not improve as needed.

So I asked for data.

Data came back clear.

Our discovery call sucks.

More than that, we have a bad pitch.

But measuring that was easy.

How many leads, how many closings, versus where we need to be.

The hard part is convincing sales people they must measure themselves.

What worked well? What didn’t?

I wrote a discovery call outline, a sales pitch, based on my trailer pitch method.

I built a new form, and they started to fill it out.

And we started to train the sales teams.

I always find it interesting how much resistance sales reps have, considering each improvement is directly connected to their bottom line.

And guess what?

Numbers were up, we saw the gaps, we understood what to fix.

But sales people... they said they got it and they don’t need to fill out the form anymore.

The world of tech is moving fast, but sales is moving slow.

It’s still based on conversations, improvising, emotions, and a lot of wrong or misguided gut feeling.

Start asking your sales reps for data and demand constant personal feedback.

Oh, and the numbers?

We got 42% going from discovery call to meeting.

Across the board. All sales people. Leads who knew us or never heard of us.

If we keep working like this, by the end of 2026, we will break an all-time sales record.

Your sales people are leaving money on the table.

Distraction is the easiest way to be busy without moving forward.

A good friend of mine grew his business to eight figures, with a few hundred employees, no outside investors, and when asked how he did it, he said:

If my idea was making a few thousand dollars but did not have the potential to become 10 million, I shut it down and kept going.

One idea at a time.

And I have another friend, a successful author and speaker.

He has talks, retreats, sells his time, but also has about 20 books, a few bestsellers that have been selling for over a decade.

When asked how he did it, he said:

If it’s an idea I want to do, and it is aligned with who I am and my other projects, I’ll do it.

The main thing is planning my time.

I feel I’m stuck somewhere in the middle right now.

With two planned books, more clients coming for pitching and raising capital, my cue card platform, YouTube, and a few more, I feel overwhelmed.

But it’s all under the same roof, right?

Well, not quite.

Language, geography, subjects, concepts.

I need to align it all.

So it’s been about that these past two weeks.

Clients who need to pitch better: sales or raising capital.

They need a platform: cue cards, renamed to "Stook."

An idea I started to build in 2021, based on the book method of how to pitch.

A combination of story and hook.

This will be the main Building in Public updates from now on.

Content will be based around this topic.

Next course is: Pitch to Win – How to Write Your Trailer Pitch.

It was hard saying no to projects, especially because I like the clients and the concepts.

From now on, I’ll have to stay focused on saying no.

Every week, I collect things I enjoy online. This is my curated top three: playlists to work with, trailers, videos, or just fun stuff.

🎧 Music
This week’s Storyletter was created while listening to Bob Marley. Here is a playlist.
👉 Listen

⚡ Break Free
This great short animated movie, Out of the Ordinary by Tommy Kinnerup, made me think.
👉 Watch

🤯 When an ad blows your mind
This ad for CoinBase is just crazy. Why? Well, these are real actors.
👉 Watch

And here is the behind-the-scenes.
👉 View