Saturday, November 14, 2026
Roughly one in six US owners track nothing meaningful about where growth actually comes from (PYMNTS, 2026). Goldratt's Theory of Constraints shows SME owners how to find the one number that matters.
Last updated 15 November 2026. Published by Simple-Growth (Motherbase Limited). Market: United States.
This is a story about an owner who wants every real opportunity followed through to a yes — but who finds out a deal went cold three weeks after it actually went cold, because nobody was asking the questions that would have surfaced it in real time. You pitched. They sounded keen. You moved on to the next thing, like you always do, and assumed silence meant "still thinking it over." It didn't. It meant gone, and you were the last to know.
A 2026 survey of 404 US sales and marketing managers, run by Centiment for Zapier, found 92% say qualified leads are regularly dropped every month (Zapier, US, 2026). That's not mostly a follow-up problem. It's a qualification problem — leads get pitched the same generic pitch regardless of what's actually going on for that buyer, so the real signal of whether they're genuinely close gets buried under enthusiasm that was never tested.
Neil Rackham's SPIN Selling, built on research into what actually separates sales conversations that close from ones that stall, gives a simple sequence of questions that surfaces the truth before you've spent your best pitch on someone who was never going to move.
Kevin's seen the payoff of asking two sharp questions instead of chasing a dozen vague ones. Working with a group of six physio clinics, the fix wasn't a bigger reporting pack — it was a single Monday morning email tracking exactly two numbers: capacity against an 85% target, and income against forecast. Everything else was noise. The clinics that knew, every single Monday, whether those two numbers were on track made faster, calmer decisions than the ones still trying to read a dashboard of twenty metrics to find the one that mattered. Sales conversations work the same way — two sharp questions beat twenty generic ones, every time.
"Dynamic, empowering, and absolutely transformative! Kevin leaves every audience armed for victory."
Darilyn Kane
Coaching and Advisory Lead, The Icehouse
Asking a hard implication question feels slower than launching straight into the pitch you've already rehearsed, even though it's the fastest way to find out whether the pitch is even worth giving. This isn't for you if you're already qualifying every lead with real questions before you pitch — some owners genuinely do this instinctively, and their pipeline reflects it. It's for the owner whose "pipeline" is really just a list of people who once sounded interested, with nobody quite sure which ones are actually still live.
You can't close a deal that was never real. You can find that out in week one instead of week eight — and spend the time you save on the ones that were.
A questioning sequence from Neil Rackham — Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-payoff — designed to surface a buyer's real urgency and the true value of solving their problem, before a seller commits to a full pitch.
If you can't answer what happens to them if the problem stays unsolved for six months, and what solving it is actually worth to them in their own words, you haven't qualified the lead yet — you've only pitched to it.
It risks losing leads that were never going to convert, which is the point. It rarely loses a genuinely interested buyer — a well-asked implication question usually increases urgency rather than creating it.
If you don't know which deals in your pipeline are actually still live, that's the first thing to find out.
Thursday, October 22, 2026
Roughly one in four founders report loneliness and isolation running their business. Here's what a coach actually does differently, and why the first session is rarely about strategy.
Thursday, October 22, 2026
NZ small business sales rose 8.6 percent this quarter, but growth ranged from 2.9 to 16.3 percent by industry. Here's the three-number check that tells you whether your growth is actually yours.
Thursday, October 22, 2026
Only 30 percent of business change efforts fully succeed. Here's the three-part diagnosis, borrowed from strategy academic Richard Rumelt, most owners skip before fixing anything.
Thursday, October 22, 2026
Close to six in ten of this year's US holiday shoppers are already buying, in October or year-round. Here are three sales moves to make this week before Black Friday arrives.
Thursday, October 22, 2026
77.6 percent of US consumers used AI to help with a purchase decision in the past six months. Here are three moves that make your small business visible when customers ask AI about you.
Thursday, October 22, 2026
54 percent of US business owners have no real plan, and only 11 percent have anything detailed. Here's the one-afternoon exercise that gives your business a sharper three-year direction than any spreadsheet.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Before you spend another dollar on ads, staff or software, find the one step that limits your growth. Here is a one-hour spend-gate test you can run this week.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
ActionCOACH began in Brisbane, Australia. What does its story tell US owners about where good growth ideas come from, and how to test an outside idea in your own business?
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
SME owner confidence is climbing, but for most, revenue isn't following. Here's why time isn't your real constraint, and the three-step framework that finds the one that is.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
49% of business owners question monthly whether running the business is worth it, a US survey found. Here's what changes when someone else is asking that question with you.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Nearly half of NZ SME owners are planning Christmas trading changes, MYOB research found, and most of it is a discount. Here's how to build memory before you build the offer.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
46% of New Zealand business owners aren't paying themselves, Xero research found. Here's the Profit First fix that changes the order money moves through your business, not the hours you work.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
The share of businesses reporting serious dead stock has doubled since 2024, new research found. Here's why rising revenue can still mean tightening cash, and the three numbers that catch it early.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
42% of business owners named efficiency their top 2026 priority, a US survey found. Here's Michalowicz's Clockwork system for building a business that doesn't need you in every decision.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
B2B win rates fell to 19-21% in 2025. Here's why a quiet Q4 pipeline is usually a budget deadline in disguise, and the three moves that use it instead of waiting for January.