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.
Most SME sales conversations lose money in the first sixty seconds — not because the price is wrong, but because of the order it gets said in. Lead with your price before the customer understands what they're actually buying, and you have just handed them the only number they'll remember, no matter how good the pitch that follows is. This is the price anchor mistake, and it is quietly costing SME owners margin on deals they should be winning at full price.
Behavioural economists have shown for decades that the first number mentioned in a negotiation — the anchor — disproportionately shapes everything that follows, even when both sides know the anchor is somewhat arbitrary. The original research on anchoring and adjustment found people's final judgments stay tethered to whatever number they heard first, even absurdly unrelated ones. In a sales conversation, that means whoever states a number first controls the emotional reference point for the rest of the conversation — and most SME salespeople hand that control to the customer, or burn it too early themselves, by quoting price before value.
The enemy is not your price. It is sequencing: quoting before the customer has built enough perceived value to receive the number without flinching.
This is the three-step order Kevin coaches sales teams to follow, every time, no exceptions.
1. Confirm the cost of the problem first — get the customer to say, in their own words, what the problem is currently costing them in time, money, or missed opportunity. This becomes your real anchor, and it is usually far higher than your price.
2. Present the solution before the number — walk through exactly what they get and why it solves the cost they just named. Price introduced here lands against their own stated cost, not in a vacuum.
3. State the price once, then stop talking — the most common self-inflicted wound in SME sales is filling the silence after the price with a justification or a discount nobody asked for yet.
"Kevin has some amazing ideas around marketing, things we would have never thought of ourselves. He also helped us through the process of getting into supermarkets. He has gone above and beyond what he needed to!"
— Amy Nixon, Icehouse Coaching Programme
Most SME sales training covers the words to say. Very few cover the order to say them in, so salespeople default to whatever order feels least awkward — which is usually price early, to "get it out of the way." That instinct is the exact opposite of what wins the deal at full margin. It takes deliberate practice and, frankly, someone listening to your calls to catch the pattern, because it is nearly invisible to the person doing it.
This is a five-minute fix once someone points it out — and a fix most SME owners never make on their own, because nobody is reviewing their sales calls for sequencing, only for outcome.
If your sales team is quoting price before the customer has said what the problem is costing them, that's the first thing Kevin helps you fix.
...and you become the owner who wins deals at full price because the customer sees the value first.
Thursday, September 10, 2026
Most stalled SME deals aren't lost to a competitor — they're lost to silence. Here's the Urgency Ladder framework that turns "went quiet" into a real answer.
Thursday, September 10, 2026
Your website works 24 hours a day, yet most SME sites haven't been touched in years. Run the five-minute audit that shows exactly where it's losing you customers.
Thursday, September 10, 2026
Most SME owners make their biggest calls alone, with no one qualified to challenge them. Here's how to build a "kitchen cabinet" that gives you real strategic pushback — without a formal board.
Wednesday, September 09, 2026
Revenue is climbing and you feel like you're winning — until you check what's actually left over. Here's the simple two-number habit that stops growth from quietly eating your margin.
Wednesday, September 09, 2026
Your accountant, a podcast, a mastermind group and a mate all just told you something different about your business. Here's how to audit that noise and consolidate around one voice that actually knows your numbers.
Wednesday, September 09, 2026
Every new hire without a system takes twice as long to become productive, and you end up re-explaining the same things forever. The 90-Day Ramp Map fixes that in four steps.
Wednesday, September 09, 2026
Your best salesperson might be the one quietly eating your margin. Here's how to audit and rebuild your commission structure so it rewards the sales that actually grow your business.
Wednesday, September 09, 2026
Most SME owners quietly go quiet on marketing right when customers are buying the most. Here's the simple plan to hold your ground through Nov-Jan without burning out your team or your budget.
Wednesday, September 09, 2026
That pricing review, that org chart, that product line nobody will kill — they're not neutral. Learn how to spot and pay down the strategic debt quietly taxing every decision you make.
Wednesday, September 09, 2026
Most business owners survive the slow season and wait for trading to pick up. The ones who grow fastest use the quiet to fix last peak's bottlenecks, cross-train their teams, and renegotiate supplier terms.
Wednesday, September 09, 2026
When coaching starts feeling comfortable, most owners think they've outgrown their coach. Usually they've just outgrown the scope. Here's how the Scope Reset Conversation keeps a great coaching relationship producing great results.
Wednesday, September 09, 2026
At five people, the founder is the system. At twelve, that system breaks. The Ten-Employee Wall is a predictable structural failure — and here's the Systems Reset framework that gets you through it.
Wednesday, September 09, 2026
January is the hardest month to sell in — and the work that prevents the January gap needed to start in September. Here's the 90-Day Pipeline Bridge framework that fills the gap before it opens.
Wednesday, September 09, 2026
Category managers at major retailers are making their Q1 2027 ranging decisions right now. Most FMCG founders find out too late. Here's the Buyer-Ready Proof Pack framework that gets you into the conversation.
Wednesday, September 09, 2026
Most businesses plan for Q4 in January — after it's already over. The owners who consistently outperform their peers write their Q4 plan in September, while there's still time to act on what they find.