Stage 1 gets sharper the longer you run it
Every signal in Stage 1 starts from a default weight. Then your own reply rates move it. Here's how the Board learns which signals work for your firm.
2 min read
Blog
The Stage 1 blog
How services firms find accounts getting ready to buy, get in through people they know, and open conversations worth having. Written by Kevin French.
Buyers20 postsIndustries38 postsLeadership37 postsMethod50 postsPipeline40 postsProduct6 postsReplies21 postsSignals57 postsWarm intros32 posts
Latest
Your first Board in two minutes
What happens in the two minutes after you sign up for Stage 1. Work email, confirm your company, and your first Board of ranked accounts builds itself.
3 min readWarm paths in Stage 1
Stage 1 looks for a warm path to every buyer before it drafts a cold note. How it finds intro paths in your network and drafts the ask to forward.
3 min readInside the Brain. How Stage 1 learns your business
The Brain is how Stage 1 learns what your firm sells and how it talks, from your website and documents, so its research and drafts sound like you.
3 min readHow Stage 1 ranks accounts on the Board
How the Stage 1 Board ranks your target accounts. Ten signals, weighted by strength, stacked at the account and faded with age so fresh activity rises.
3 min readIntroducing Stage 1
Stage 1 watches your target accounts for ten buying signals, finds warm intro paths, and drafts openers your team approves before they go out.
3 min readTeaching the method to a new seller
How to teach Inversion Selling to a new seller in their first weeks. Start with research, coach the guess, and let real buyer corrections do the teaching.
3 min readThe same signal means different things by industry
A new CIO, a hiring spree or a funding round can mean opposite things in different industries. How to read a signal in the context of the business.
3 min readSelling to a board
You rarely sell to a board directly, but boards decide big services spend. What directors own, what they ignore and how to write for the boardroom.
3 min readSelling to insurance brokers
How services firms sell to insurance brokers. Who buys, the pressure of constant acquisitions, the signals that matter most and an example opener.
3 min readObjections that are really questions
Many objections in a reply are questions in disguise. How to hear what the buyer is really asking, the reply to send, and what not to say back.
3 min readLessons from scaling a services sales team
Scaling a services sales team breaks things a small team hides. Hard lessons on hiring, territory, research habits and keeping quality as you grow.
3 min readWhat a healthy Stage 1 looks like on one page
A healthy Stage 1 pipeline fits on one page. What goes on it, what to leave off and how to read it in five minutes every Monday.
3 min readInterim leaders and how to approach them
An interim leader isn't a new-leader signal in the usual sense. What an interim title tells you, what they can buy and how to open with them.
3 min readInversion Selling in renewals and expansion
Renewals go stale when sellers assume they know the client. How to use research and a Hypothesis Opening to renew and expand existing work.
3 min readSelling to aerospace and defense suppliers
How services firms sell to aerospace and defense suppliers. Who buys, the pressures they carry, the signals that matter and an example opener.
3 min readIntros inside a client's own company
Your best warm intro is often inside a company you already serve. How to ask a happy client to open a door to another division, and what to send.
3 min readThe opener that gets corrected wins
The best cold opener isn't the one that's right. It's the one that's easy to correct. Here's why a wrong guess gets senior buyers talking.
3 min read