Thursday, November 05, 2026
Revenue's climbing and the bank balance still isn't. The real fix usually isn't your price — it's that your marketing never said who you're actually for.
Count how many pages your last sales proposal ran to, then ask yourself honestly how much of it the buyer actually read before they made their decision. If the answer is “most of it,” you're unusual — most buyers skim the first page, jump to the price, and decide in the first ninety seconds whether they're leaning yes or no. Everything after that is the sales team convincing themselves they've been thorough, not convincing the buyer. After 30+ years of pitching everything from FMCG ranging deals to boardroom strategy at IBM and McDonald's, Kevin's view is that the deals that close fastest are almost never the ones with the longest deck. They're the ones with the clearest single page.
Most SME sales proposals are built backwards — from the seller's need to justify the price, not the buyer's need to make a fast, confident decision. Twenty pages of company history, methodology, and case studies feels thorough to the person writing it. To the buyer, it's a wall between them and a yes. Every extra page is another chance for a decision-maker to get distracted, hand it to a colleague who wasn't in the room, or simply run out of time to read it and quietly let it go cold. The enemy here isn't your price or your competitor. It's your own proposal, working against you.
This replaces the 20-page deck with a single page the buyer can act on immediately.
1. The problem, in their words — One sentence stating the exact problem they told you they have, not the problem you're best at solving.
2. The fix and the number — What you'll do, what it costs, and by when — no ranges, no “starting from.”
3. The proof — One result from a comparable client. Not five. One, specific, and relevant.
4. The next step — A single, dated action: “Sign by Friday to start Monday.” Remove every other possible next step.
Every long-form proposal you're currently sending can still exist as a backup document — but it goes second, only if asked for. The one-pager is what gets read, and what gets signed.
“Kevin doesn't just present — he electrifies the room and drives massive, real-world value! He drops game-changing insights and actionable shortcuts that show businesses exactly how to turn everyday customers into raving, loyal fans — and acquire new ones faster than ever thought possible.”
— Gareth Bayliss, Sales Manager, The Icehouse
Salespeople resist cutting the deck because it feels like removing evidence of effort — and because a thick proposal is a comfortable place to hide a fuzzy price or an unclear next step. Stripping it back to one page forces total clarity on the offer, which is exactly the discipline most SME sales processes are missing. This is where a second set of eyes matters: someone willing to tell a sales team that their beautiful 20-page deck is the reason deals are stalling in “still reviewing,” not the buyer's budget.
If your proposals are getting read but not signed, the fix usually isn't your price — it's the eighteen pages standing between your buyer and the decision.
...and you become the owner whose buyers say yes faster because the decision is clear on one page.
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Confidence up a quarter, down the next, tariffs easing then tightening — waiting for certainty is its own decision, and usually the wrong one. Here's a simple way to keep deciding well when the ground keeps moving.
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
There's one role almost every SME owner has avoided filling for a year or more — while quietly doing it themselves instead. Here's the Who Not How framework, and the three-step test that makes the hire obvious.
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
They nodded, asked great questions, said it's exactly what they need — then disappeared. Here's why warmth isn't a buying signal, and the three-message sequence that gets stalled deals talking again.
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Most SME marketing describes the product and targets a demographic — and both miss why people actually buy. Here's the Jobs To Be Done framework, and how to find the job your business is really being hired to do.
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Nearly half of businesses miss the target they set for themselves — and it's rarely because the team didn't try hard enough. Here's the three-number check that builds a 2027 target you can actually hit.
Monday, October 26, 2026
ActionCOACH, an EOS Implementer or an independent coach? A fair, source-linked guide for US owners, with a six-question test to match the help to your biggest constraint.
Monday, October 26, 2026
Gallup's 2026 global workplace data shows manager engagement is collapsing faster than everyone else's. Here's the research-backed 3-step fix for SME owners wearing the manager hat too.
Monday, October 26, 2026
Only about a third of seasonal businesses hold enough cash to cover their leanest months before the slow season hits. Here's the ten-minute reserve check before this year's peak trade.
Monday, October 26, 2026
A well-known coaching ROI study found a $7.90 return per $1 spent. Here's an honest look at where that number comes from, and what actually transfers to an SME owner.
Monday, October 26, 2026
Only around 20% of companies complete 80% of their strategic goals, and fewer than half of employees know what's expected of them. Here's how OKRs fix that at SME scale.
Monday, October 26, 2026
Bain research shows winning a new customer can cost up to 25 times more than keeping one you already have. Here's the CLV/CAC discipline that flips where your sales effort goes.
Monday, October 26, 2026
A 2026 Gartner survey found SMEs put just 12% of marketing spend into brand-building, against the 60% long-term research recommends. Here's what that costs you eighteen months from now.
Monday, October 26, 2026
Fewer than 5% of employees understand their company's strategy well enough to act on it. Here's the one-page scorecard that fixes it, reviewed in 15 minutes a week.
Sunday, October 25, 2026
Help to Grow: Management, a peer group like Vistage, or a business coach? An honest UK comparison, with best for and not ideal if for every option.
Sunday, October 25, 2026
Free and low-cost mentoring suits some NZ owners; paid coaching suits others. Here is how to tell which fits your stage, your problem and your budget.