Motivation – James White

The Very Best Salespeople Practise Hard (And Why Preparation Beats Talent Every Time)

James White — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 11:07:09 +0000

Executive Summary

Many salespeople believe confidence comes naturally to top performers. It doesn’t.

Just as professional golfers spend countless hours preparing before The Open Championship, the best salespeople rehearse the conversations, questions and objections they’ll face long before they sit in front of a prospect.

In this article you’ll learn:

What Can Salespeople Learn From The Open Championship?

Every July, millions of people watch The Open Championship.

We admire the incredible approach shots, pressure putts and dramatic finishes. We celebrate the winner lifting the famous Claret Jug.

What we rarely see is what made those moments possible.
The early mornings.
The hundreds of balls struck on the practice range.
The countless hours spent working on putting, bunker play and course management.
Recently I watched Rory McIlroy preparing for The Open. He wasn’t competing. He was preparing.

It reminded me of something I see repeatedly in sales.
The very best performers don’t simply turn up hoping to have a good day.

They rehearse.

They prepare.

They practise.

Professional golfers understand something many salespeople forget:

Confidence is built long before performance begins.

Why most discovery calls fails (and how I run mine)

Why Do Most Salespeople Underperform Under Pressure?

Unfortunately, many salespeople treat live customer conversations as practice sessions.
They spend hours preparing proposals.
Very little time preparing themselves.
The first time they deliver a new introduction is during a real sales meeting.
The first time they ask a difficult discovery question is with an actual prospect.
The first time they deal with an objection…
…is when somebody objects.
Imagine if Rory McIlroy’s first drive of tournament week happened on the first tee on Thursday morning.
It would be unthinkable.
Yet many salespeople do exactly that every single week.

Why MSP Prospects Don’t Buy (And Why You Usually Discover It Too Late)

What Should Salespeople Practise?

From coaching hundreds of sales professionals, I’ve found four areas consistently separate top performers from everyone else.

1. Practise Your Opening

Your opening isn’t about explaining what your company does. It’s about giving your prospect a reason to keep listening.

Can you explain—in under a minute—why your organisation matters?

Not your services.
Not your certifications.
Not your technology.

Why should your prospect care?

2. Practise Your Discovery Questions

Great discovery isn’t improvised.
The strongest questions have already been thought about.
Refined.
Tested.
Practised.
The better your questions, the more valuable information you’ll uncover—and the more relevant your recommendations become.

3. Practise Handling Objections

Every MSP hears the same objections.

“We’re happy with our current provider.”
“We’ve got no budget.”
“Can you send me some information?”

None of these should ever catch you by surprise.
If you hear them regularly, your response should already have been rehearsed dozens of times.
Preparation allows you to remain calm instead of becoming defensive or reactive.

4. Practise Asking For Commitment

This is where many opportunities stall.

The meeting has gone well.

The prospect is engaged.

Everyone appears positive.

Then the salesperson finishes with:

“Let me know what you think.”

Instead, practise confidently asking for the next step.

Whether that’s arranging a technical workshop, introducing decision-makers or booking another meeting, progressing opportunities requires deliberate practice.

Why most discovery calls fails (and how I run mine)

Does Practice Really Build Confidence?

One of the most common things I hear is:

“I wish I was more confident.”

Confidence is rarely the starting point.

Preparation is.

The golfers competing at The Open don’t suddenly become confident standing on the first tee.

Their confidence comes from knowing they’ve already hit that shot hundreds—if not thousands—of times before.

Sales works exactly the same way.

You won’t rise to the pressure of an important sales meeting.

You’ll fall back on the preparation you’ve already done.

How Can MSP Salespeople Improve Quickly?

You don’t need to spend six hours a day practising.

Even thirty minutes each week can dramatically improve your performance.

Role-play objection handling with a colleague.

Record yourself delivering your introduction.

Review your discovery questions before every meeting.

Practise asking for commitment until it feels natural.

Small improvements made consistently create a significant advantage over time.

The Value Gap: Why Prospects Think You’re Too Expensive

Final Thoughts

There are no shortcuts to becoming exceptional in sales.

The best salespeople don’t simply work harder.

They prepare harder.

So before your next prospect meeting, ask yourself one question:

3. Practise Handling Objections

Because when pressure arrives—and it always does—you won’t perform at the level of your ambition.

You’ll perform at the level of your preparation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does practising sales really make that much difference?

Yes. Practising common sales scenarios allows you to communicate more naturally, ask better questions and respond confidently when objections arise.

What should I practise first?

Start with your opening, your discovery questions, common objections and how you’ll ask for the next step. These four areas have the biggest impact on sales performance.

How often should salespeople practise?

Like any professional skill, little and often works best. Even 20–30 minutes each week can significantly improve confidence and consistency.

Is role-playing worthwhile?

Absolutely. Role-playing allows you to test different approaches in a safe environment before using them with real prospects.

Why MSP Prospects Don’t Buy (And Why You Usually Discover It Too Late)

James White — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 09:27:09 +0000

Executive Summary

If you’ve ever delivered what felt like the perfect proposal, only to hear “We’ve decided to stick with our current provider” or “We need to think about it,” you’re not alone.

Most MSP sales aren’t lost because your price was too high or your proposal wasn’t compelling enough.

They’re lost because concerns that existed throughout the buying journey were never uncovered during discovery.

In this article, you’ll learn:

The five hidden reasons MSP prospects don’t buy.
Why objections rarely appear at the end of the sales process.
The discovery questions that uncover concerns before they become deal killers.
How the best MSP salespeople prevent objections instead of trying to overcome them.

They Don't Stop Buying At The End. They Stop Buying Much Earlier.

Every MSP owner has experienced it.
The discovery meeting felt positive.
The chemistry was good.
The proposal reflected everything the prospect asked for.
You leave the meeting convinced you’re about to win another managed services contract.
Then…

Nothing.

The follow-up email gets a polite response.
“We’re still discussing internally.”

A week later:
“We’ve decided not to move forward.”

Most salespeople immediately assume something changed.
In reality, very little usually changed at all.
The concerns were there from the beginning.
The prospect simply never voiced them.
After working with thousands of B2B salespeople over the past three decades, I’ve found that the strongest performers don’t have better closing techniques.
They have better discovery conversations.
They’re not experts at handling objections.
They’re experts at preventing them.
By the time a prospect objects to your proposal, they’re often just putting words to concerns they’ve held for weeks.
That’s why discovery—not closing—is where MSP sales are really won.

Why Do MSP Sales Stall After The Proposal?

One of the biggest myths in sales is that objections happen at the end.
They don’t.

They develop quietly throughout the buying journey.
Every unanswered question…
Every unspoken concern…
Every assumption left unchallenged…
Adds another brick to the wall between you and the sale.
Then, when the proposal arrives, the prospect finally has a reason to delay.
“It’s more than we expected.”
“The timing isn’t right.”
“We’re going to stay where we are for now.”

Those aren’t always the real reasons.
They’re often the safest reasons.
The real concerns appeared much earlier.
Let’s look at the five most common ones.

1. Is Solving The Problem Important Enough?

One of the easiest traps to fall into is mistaking activity for intent.
The prospect replies to emails.
They attend meetings.
They ask intelligent questions.
They compliment your proposal.

None of that guarantees they’re committed to making a change.
Many MSP salespeople continue investing time simply because the prospect is being polite.
Politeness isn’t commitment.
Interest isn’t urgency.
One question I often recommend is:

“Can I ask you something honestly? Based on everything we’ve discussed, how important is solving this problem to your business this year?”

That single question changes the conversation.
If they tell you it isn’t a priority, you’ve saved yourself weeks—or months—of chasing a deal that was never likely to happen.
If they tell you it is important, you’ve confirmed you’re working on a genuine opportunity.

My Experience

Across hundreds of MSP sales reviews I’ve conducted, this is probably the biggest early indicator of pipeline quality.
Salespeople often measure engagement.
Successful salespeople measure commitment.

Why This Matters

A prospect who isn’t genuinely motivated rarely becomes more motivated after receiving a proposal.

The proposal simply gives them another opportunity to delay making a decision.
Instead of asking whether they like your solution, find out whether solving the problem matters enough for them to act.

2. Why Don't Prospects Believe Your MSP Can Deliver?

This objection has become far more common over the past few years.
Not because MSPs have become worse.
Because buyers have become more cautious.
Many businesses have already switched IT providers once.
Some have switched twice.
They’ve experienced poor communication, missed SLAs, failed migrations or promises that never materialised.
So when they sit across the table from you, they aren’t necessarily questioning managed IT services.
They’re questioning whether your MSP will be any different.

They might never say it out loud, but they’re thinking:

“Will they really answer the phone when we need them?”
“Will the onboarding disrupt the business?”
“Are they overpromising like the last provider?”
“Will this still feel this good six months from now?”

Until those concerns are addressed, they’ll struggle to move forward—no matter how impressive your proposal looks.

One of my favourite questions is:

“Can I ask what concerns you most about moving your IT support to another provider?”

It’s a simple question, but it often unlocks the real conversation.

Typical responses include:

“We’ve been promised fast response times before.”
“Our last migration was a nightmare.”
“I’m worried about the disruption to the business.”
“We’ve had providers disappear after we’ve signed.”

Now you know what evidence they’re looking for.

Instead of simply telling them you’re different, show them.

Share client success stories.

Walk them through your onboarding process.

Explain how you’ll minimise disruption.

Demonstrate your SLA performance.

Introduce them to customers who have successfully made the same transition.

The best MSPs don’t win because they promise more.

They win because they reduce the buyer’s perceived risk.

My Experience

One thing I’ve noticed working with MSPs is that technical capability is rarely the deciding factor.
Most providers can deliver excellent IT support.
What separates the winners is their ability to make prospects feel confident before they’ve signed the contract.
Confidence sells.
Technology supports it.

3. Why Don't Prospects Trust You?

This is probably the most uncomfortable objection because sometimes it has nothing to do with your company.
Sometimes it’s you.
Perhaps you’ve rushed discovery.

Perhaps you’ve spent too much time presenting.

Perhaps you’ve answered questions before fully understanding the business.

Or perhaps you’ve simply sounded like every other MSP they’ve spoken to.

Trust isn’t built through impressive PowerPoint slides.
It’s built by making the prospect feel understood.
If you genuinely feel trust is missing, don’t ignore it.
Address it.

One question I’ve used for years is:
“Can I ask you an awkward question? I get the feeling there’s still something making you hesitant. Have I missed anything, or is there something you’re unsure about?”

Most salespeople avoid asking that question because they’re afraid of the answer.
The best salespeople ask it because they want the answer.
You can’t rebuild trust until you understand what’s damaged it.

The Trust Equation

In my experience, trust in MSP sales is built through four simple behaviours:
Listening more than you speak.
Asking thoughtful follow-up questions.

Demonstrating genuine curiosity.
Providing evidence instead of promises.
Prospects don’t expect perfection.
They expect honesty.
Ironically, acknowledging uncertainty often builds more trust than pretending to have every answer.

4. Why Don't Prospects See Enough Value?

One of the biggest mistakes MSP salespeople make is talking about technology instead of business outcomes.

Your prospect isn’t buying:

24/7 monitoring
Microsoft 365 management
Endpoint protection
Faster response times
Backup software

They’re buying something much more valuable.

They’re buying confidence.

They’re buying fewer interruptions to their staff.

They’re buying reduced downtime.

They’re buying protection from cyber threats.

They’re buying the freedom to focus on growing their business instead of worrying about IT.

If those outcomes haven’t been explored during discovery, your monthly fee becomes the only thing the prospect has left to compare.

That’s when your proposal starts looking expensive.

During discovery, ask questions such as:

“What impact does your current IT support have on the business today?”

Then follow up with:

“If nothing changed over the next twelve months, what would that cost the business?”

Now you’re discussing:

Lost productivity.
Staff frustration.
Security exposure.
Downtime.
Customer experience.
Missed growth opportunities.

That’s a completely different conversation from discussing antivirus software or response times.

Features vs Outcomes

Your MSP Talks About	Your Prospect Thinks About
24/7 Monitoring	Less downtime
Cyber Security	Reduced business risk
Microsoft 365	Staff productivity
Backup & Recovery	Business continuity
Fast Response Times	Peace of mind
Strategic IT Reviews	Better business decisions

The best MSP salespeople don’t spend their meetings defending their price.

They help prospects understand the cost of doing nothing.

When buyers understand the commercial impact of staying where they are, investment becomes much easier to justify.

5. Are You Speaking To Someone Who Can Actually Say Yes?

This catches more MSP salespeople out than almost anything else.

You’ve built a fantastic relationship with the Operations Manager.

The Technical Director loves your proposal.

The IT Manager thinks you’re exactly what the business needs.

Then comes the sentence every salesperson dreads.

“We just need to run this past the owner.”

Suddenly you’re back to square one.

The person you’ve invested weeks with can’t actually make the decision.

This isn’t their fault.

It’s yours.

You should have established the buying process much earlier.

One simple question can prevent weeks of frustration:

“Apart from yourself, who else will need to believe this is the right investment before we move forward?”

Notice the wording.

You’re not asking who signs the contract.

You’re asking who needs to believe.

That subtle difference often reveals everyone involved in the decision-making process, from business owners and finance directors to board members and operational stakeholders.

Great salespeople don’t just identify decision-makers.

They understand how buying decisions are made.

That’s a huge difference.

In complex B2B sales—particularly managed services—multiple people influence the final outcome.

Your job is to uncover that process before the proposal lands, not after.

The Common Thread Behind Every Stalled MSP Sale

Looking back at these five reasons, there’s one pattern that connects them all.

None of them are really about closing.

They’re about discovery.

The prospect wasn’t interested enough.

They didn’t believe you could deliver.

They didn’t fully trust you.

They couldn’t see enough value.

Or they simply weren’t the person who could make the decision.

None of those problems suddenly appeared when you sent the proposal.

They were there all along.

The proposal simply exposed them.

This is why I spend so much time coaching MSP sales teams on discovery. A great discovery meeting isn’t about gathering information to write a proposal. It’s about understanding the prospect’s business well enough to remove uncertainty before they ever have to make a buying decision.

The better your discovery, the easier the proposal becomes.

Key Takeaways

If there’s one lesson I’d like you to take away from this article, it’s this:

Great MSP salespeople prevent objections instead of trying to overcome them.
Prospects buy certainty before they buy managed IT services.
Trust is built by asking better questions, not delivering better presentations.
Value comes from understanding business outcomes, not explaining technical features.
Most stalled deals can be traced back to something that wasn’t uncovered during discovery.

The next time a proposal goes quiet, don’t immediately assume it’s the price.

Ask yourself:

What concern did I fail to uncover?

More often than not, that’s where the answer lies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do MSP prospects go quiet after receiving a proposal?

In many cases, the proposal isn’t the problem. It simply gives prospects time to reflect on concerns that were never discussed during discovery. These concerns might relate to trust, perceived value, risk or internal decision-making.

How can MSP salespeople uncover objections earlier?

By asking open, consultative questions throughout the sales process rather than waiting until the closing stage. Great discovery creates honest conversations where prospects feel comfortable sharing concerns before they become objections.

Should MSPs discuss pricing early in the sales process?

Pricing should never be a surprise, but it should follow a thorough understanding of the prospect’s challenges, goals and the commercial impact of those challenges. When value has been established first, pricing discussions become far easier.

Why do prospects say they need more time to think?

Sometimes they genuinely do.

However, it’s also one of the safest ways to avoid expressing an underlying concern. Rather than accepting the response at face value, good salespeople explore what still needs to happen before a decision can be made.

What's the biggest mistake MSP salespeople make during discovery?

Talking too much.

Many salespeople spend discovery meetings explaining services instead of understanding the prospect’s business. The best discovery meetings are driven by curiosity, thoughtful questions and active listening.

If you're finding that too many proposals are ending with "We've decided to stay where we are" or "We need to think about it," the problem may not be your proposal at all.

It may be your discovery process.

At James White Sales Success, we help MSPs build structured, repeatable sales processes that uncover objections earlier, improve conversion rates and create a more predictable pipeline of high-value opportunities.

If you'd like to improve how your team discovers, qualifies and closes opportunities, get in touch to find out how we can help.

About the Author

James White is Founder of James White Sales Success and is known as The IT Sales Expert. Over the past three decades he has helped more than 5,000 businesses improve their sales performance, with a particular focus on helping Managed Service Providers build predictable sales pipelines, improve discovery conversations and win more high-value business.

Desperation is a Stinky Aftershave

James White — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 07:12:36 +0000

Executive Summary

Desperation is one of the biggest deal-killers in sales. When prospects feel a salesperson is focused on selling rather than understanding, trust disappears and the salesperson becomes just another vendor. The best salespeople approach conversations as problem-solvers, listening carefully, asking insightful questions and focusing on the prospect’s challenges before recommending a solution. The less desperate you are to sell, the more likely you are to make the sale.

Desperation is a Stinky Aftershave

You might not notice you are wearing it, but everyone else in the room can smell it.

And in sales, especially in IT and MSP sales, I see this all the time.

A salesperson walks into a meeting with a prospect and, whether they realise it or not, their whole energy says: “I need to sell something here.”

They want to pitch.

They want to prove themselves.

They want to explain the service.

They want to tell the prospect how good they are, how experienced the business is, how quickly they respond to tickets, how strong their cyber credentials are, how brilliant the onboarding process is and how they are different from every other MSP in the market.

And here is the brutal truth.

Most prospects don’t care.

Not yet anyway.

The prospect isn’t thinking about any of that.

They are thinking about themselves:

Their problems.
Their frustrations.
Their risks.
Their challenges.

Before they care about what you do, they need to believe you understand what they are dealing with.

That is where so many salespeople go wrong – they walk into meetings with a preconceived idea of what they want to sell, instead of being curious about what needs to be solved.

And prospects can feel it.

They might not say it. They might sit politely and listen. They might nod along and let you finish your pitch. But deep down, they are thinking: “This person is not listening to me. They are just waiting for their turn to talk.”.

The moment that happens, you stop being an advisor.

You become a vendor.

And vendors get compared on price.

The funny thing is that many business owners were actually better salespeople before they ever hired a salesperson.

I see this regularly when working with MSP owners and IT businesses. The businesses that consistently win new clients focus on diagnosis first and recommendations second.

Not because they had sales training.

Not because they had a CRM.

Not because they had some fancy discovery framework.

They were better because they cared about solving problems

When you started your business:

You didn’t lead with a presentation.
You didn’t start with your packages.
You didn’t launch into a list of features.

You sat down and tried to understand what was wrong.

You wanted to know what was causing frustration.

You wanted to know what wasn’t working.

You wanted to know what was keeping the customer awake at night.

You focused on the problem.

And because you focused on the problem, people trusted you.

As businesses grow, they often lose this.

They replace curiosity with process.

They replace listening with pitching.

They replace problem-solving with product explanation.

And then they wonder why conversion rates start falling.

The truth is simple.

Most prospects don't want your pitch.

Not yet.

They want to know whether you understand their world.

Whether you understand the consequences of getting it wrong.

Whether you genuinely care about helping them.

Trust comes before solutions.

Trust comes before proposals.

Trust comes before sales.

And trust is impossible to build if your prospect feels like you’ve already decided what you’re going to sell before you’ve understood their situation.

The best salespeople aren’t obsessed with making a sale.

They’re obsessed with understanding the problem.

In fact, one of the most effective ways to do this is through structured questioning. I’ve written previously about my LAPS methodology and how it helps salespeople uncover what prospects are really thinking and feeling.

Because when prospects feel understood,

they relax,
they open up,
they tell you more,
and they trust what you recommend.

That’s when sales become easier.

But here’s the important thing…

Mindset Before Method

Whenever I work with sales teams, people often ask me, “What’s the best sales technique?” or “What questions should I ask?”

The truth is, the technique doesn’t matter if the mindset is wrong.

If you walk into a meeting desperate to sell, no script in the world will save you.

If you walk into a meeting determined to understand, you’ll naturally ask better questions, listen more carefully and build more trust.

The mindset comes first.

The method comes second.

And next week, I’ll show you exactly what that method looks like.

I’ll share how the best salespeople uncover what is really going on beneath the surface, why the first answer is almost never the real answer, and how a few simple follow-up questions can completely transform your sales conversations.

Spotting the stinky aftershave is one thing.

Knowing what to wear instead is another.

We’ll cover that next week

In conclusion, the irony is that the less desperate you are to sell, the more likely you are to make the sale. People buy from people who are trying to solve their problem, not people who are trying to hit a target.

So next time you walk into a meeting, leave the stinky aftershave at home.

Don’t go in determined to sell.

Go in determined to understand.

That’s my view anyway…

If you’d like to hear me expand on this topic, I’ve also discussed the importance of curiosity, questioning and trust-building on the podcast.

Do you agree with me?

Have you ever been on the receiving end of a salesperson who was trying far too hard to sell?

Or have you caught yourself doing it?

Let me know. I read every reply, even if I don’t always get chance to respond to them all.

Thanks as ever for being part of my community.

Have a brilliant sales week ahead and remember, Eat or be Eaten.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do prospects dislike sales pitches?

Most prospects don’t dislike salespeople; they dislike feeling sold to.

When a salesperson launches straight into a pitch, the prospect immediately feels like the conversation is about the salesperson’s targets rather than their own challenges.

Buyers want to feel understood before they hear recommendations. They want confidence that you understand their situation, the risks they face, and the outcomes they are trying to achieve.

The best sales conversations start with curiosity, not a presentation.

How can salespeople avoid sounding desperate?

The simplest way to avoid sounding desperate is to stop focusing on what you want to sell and start focusing on what the prospect needs to solve.

Desperate salespeople enter meetings hoping to present their solution.

Trusted advisors enter meetings hoping to understand the problem.

Ask questions, listen carefully, and avoid rushing to explain your services. The more interested you are in understanding the prospect, the less pressure they will feel from you.

Ironically, that often makes them far more willing to buy.

Why are founders often better at sales?

Many founders become successful because they built their business around solving a specific problem.

When they meet prospects, they naturally focus on understanding the challenge rather than delivering a sales pitch.

They ask questions because they are genuinely curious.

As businesses grow, sales processes and presentations often replace that curiosity. The challenge for sales teams is to maintain the same problem-solving mindset that helped the founder win customers in the first place.

How do you build trust in a sales conversation?

Trust is built when a prospect feels heard, understood, and respected.

That means asking thoughtful questions, listening without interrupting, and taking the time to understand the full situation before offering advice.

Many salespeople rush to recommend a solution after hearing the first problem.

The best salespeople dig deeper.

They explore the impact of the problem, why it exists, how long it has been happening, and what happens if nothing changes.

The more thoroughly you understand the prospect’s world, the more credibility your recommendations will have.

What should MSP salespeople focus on during discovery meetings?

The purpose of a discovery meeting is not to sell managed services.

The purpose is to understand the prospect’s business.

Focus on uncovering:

Current frustrations with IT
Business risks and vulnerabilities
Cyber security concerns
Productivity challenges
Previous experiences with IT providers
Future growth plans
The consequences of doing nothing

The more clearly you understand the problem, the easier it becomes to determine whether your services are genuinely the right fit.

A good discovery meeting should leave the prospect feeling understood, not pitched to.

Why do the best salespeople ask so many follow-up questions?

Because the first answer is rarely the real problem.

A prospect might say they are unhappy with response times, but the real issue could be a lack of trust, poor communication, cyber security concerns, or frustration that their provider is not being proactive.

Great salespeople understand that valuable information is often hidden beneath the first answer.

By asking thoughtful follow-up questions, they uncover the real challenge, which allows them to provide better advice and more relevant solutions.

As I often say, the sale is not in the first answer.

The sale is in the follow-up question.

“Over the last 30 years, I’ve worked with more than 5,000 business owners, salespeople and sales teams. One pattern appears repeatedly: the salespeople who focus most on understanding the problem consistently outperform those who focus on presenting the solution.

Prospects rarely buy because of the best pitch. They buy because they feel understood.

The Difference That Wins Deals

Time to drink my own champagne

James White — Sat, 30 May 2026 09:47:30 +0000

In today’s edition, we explore one of the biggest mistakes I made in my first business, why “small businesses” is not a target market, and why it is finally time for me to drink my own champagne and focus on a niche within a niche within a niche. Let’s get to it.

One of the things I talk about a lot is niches.

In fact, if you’ve listened to my podcast, attended one of my talks, or worked with me directly, you’ve probably heard me say the same thing over and over again.

Be something to someone. Not everything to everyone.

And yet, if I’m being completely honest, this is advice I haven’t always followed myself… which means it is time to drink my own champagne.

For years, we have helped business owners from a wide range of industries improve their sales performance. We’ve worked with manufacturers, professional services firms, software companies, consultants, construction businesses and many others.

The challenge with serving everyone is that eventually your message becomes too broad.

You become relevant to lots of people.

But highly relevant to very few.

And relevance is what drives sales.

One of the biggest mistakes I made in my first business was saying our target market was “small businesses”.

There were millions of them. At the time, that sounded fantastic – a huge market with endless opportunity.

The problem? "Small businesses" isn't a target market. It's far too broad.

Looking back, we should have focused much sooner. For example:

Accountants.

Then a specific type of accountant.
Then a specific challenge within that market.

A niche within a niche within a niche.

The businesses that win are rarely the ones trying to appeal to everybody.

They are the ones that become known for solving a specific problem for a specific group of people.

Which brings me to the point of today’s email.

From June onwards, we are going to be focusing much more of our content on MSPs (Managed Service Providers).

I will still be sharing lots of sales content that is applicable to all industries, but the examples and focus will be MSP-driven. I appreciate that if this isn’t your area, then you may decide my email is no longer for you. If that’s the case, then I totally respect and understand that.

Why focus on MSPs?

Because it is our sweet spot.
It is the audience we understand best.
It is where we know we can create the biggest impact.

And it is where we see the same sales challenges appearing time and time again.

Businesses that rely heavily on referrals.
Founders who are carrying too much of the sales burden themselves.
Companies with excellent technical delivery but inconsistent lead generation.
Sales processes that exist in someone’s head rather than in a repeatable system.

The fear many people have is that focusing on a niche means turning opportunities away.

I don’t see it that way.

The service can always be adapted.

The real question is whether your message is relevant enough to get attention. Because when somebody reads your content and thinks, “That’s exactly my situation”, everything changes!

Your marketing improves.
Your sales conversations become easier.
Your positioning becomes stronger.
And your prospects are more likely to engage.

So from June, expect more content around:

Generating leads for MSPs
Building predictable sales pipelines
Creating sales processes that don’t rely on the founder
Increasing client value and retention
Winning larger and better-fit opportunities
Building a business that can grow without everything depending on you

This isn’t a change of direction.

It’s a sharpening of focus.

It’s us doing exactly what I encourage other business owners to do.

Finding our sweet spot.

Doubling down on relevance.

And becoming something to someone rather than everything to everyone.

So let me leave you with three questions.

Is there enough of them?
Are they prepared to pay?
And do you actually enjoy working with them?

If the answer is yes to all three, don’t be afraid to focus.

In fact, it may be the most important growth decision you make.

For us, the answer is clear, which is why it’s time to drink our own champagne.

Focus isn’t limiting. Focus is liberating.

Thanks as ever for being part of my community.

Have a brilliant sales week ahead and remember: Eat or be Eaten.

Create Urgency Without Discounting

James White — Sat, 02 May 2026 09:29:40 +0000

In today’s edition, we’re talking about urgency… and more importantly, how to create it without immediately reaching for a discount when things get uncomfortable.

People love a deal. That’s never going to change.

If a buyer thinks there’s even a small chance they can get what you’re offering for less, they’ll usually take that opportunity. Not because they’re difficult, but because it’s human nature.

The problem is what happens when you give in.

Because the moment you drop your price to “get it over the line,” you’re not just winning a deal, you’re setting a precedent. You’re showing the buyer that your pricing is flexible and, more importantly, that pressure works on you.

That’s a tough position to recover from.

The Reasons for the Urgency?

It’s worth asking yourself a slightly uncomfortable question here…

Why do you feel the need to discount in the first place?
Is it genuinely because the price is wrong?
Or is it because you need the deal more than they do right now?

Targets, deadlines, pipeline pressure… it creeps in quickly. And before you know it, you’re trying to solve your urgency problem with their wallet.

But here’s the reality—your timeline and their timeline are rarely the same.

And when you try to force urgency through price, it usually backfires.

How to Create Urgency

So if discounting isn’t the answer, what is?

It starts with understanding, not pushing.

When you take the time to really uncover what’s going on for the buyer (the real problem, not just the surface-level version) they begin to feel understood. And when that happens, conversations move forward more naturally.

From there, you need clarity on timing. When do they actually want to solve this? If it’s not a priority for them now, dropping your price won’t magically make it one.

You can also introduce urgency through real constraints:

your availability,
your capacity, or
timelines that exist regardless of price.

These are far more credible and far more effective.

And then there’s the most important piece…

Helping them understand the cost of doing nothing.

What happens if they wait? What continues to frustrate them? What gets worse?

When that becomes clear in their mind, urgency no longer needs to be manufactured.

Your Rates Are There for a Reason

I was talking about this on a podcast recently using the example of flights.

You don’t negotiate with an airline. The price is the price.

You either see the value in that seat, at that time, for that journey… or you don’t. And that’s exactly how your service should be positioned.

Because the moment you introduce a discount at the point of decision, whether you realise it or not, you’re sending a signal that your original price wasn’t solid.

It doesn’t build trust. It raises questions.

Your pricing exists for a reason. It reflects the value you deliver, the work that goes in, and the outcomes you create.

And if you don’t stand behind it, why should anyone else?

So next time you feel that pull to “just drop it slightly” to get the deal done…

Pause.

Go back to the problem. The impact. The consequence of waiting.

That’s where real urgency lives.

Have a brilliant sales week ahead, and remember: Eat or be eaten.

it’s 3 or 4

James White — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 11:12:48 +0000

In today’s edition, we explore why you need more deals in your pipeline than you think to achieve your revenue goals—and what the implications are if you don’t have this in place. Let’s get to it.

We always need more than we think.

Especially in sales.

I was asked a question some time ago about how you can ensure you hit the targets that you have.

Do you need to be lucky?
Do you need to work incredibly hard?
Do you need to charge higher prices?

All these things help, but there is one simple way of hitting your targets, and that’s to build a pipeline full of leads.

So, what do you need in your pipeline? And what should a good pipeline look like?

I always work on a simple rule:

Ensure that your pipeline and the final stages of your sales process are a minimum of 3 (and ideally 4) times the value of the target you want to hit.

Let’s break it down a bit more.

Let’s say your business wants to achieve a new
revenue target of £500,000 for the year.

You may have certain months that are stronger or weaker than others, but for the sake of this example, let’s say the target is spread across a 12-month period.

To achieve your target, you will need to hit a revenue of £42,000 per month.

So, to hit this number, what should the value of your pipeline be?

The answer is a minimum of £126,000, but ideally £168,000. Let me explain why.

There are two main reasons:

We don’t win all the business that we have (or think we will)
All too often, deals don’t come in when we want them to

I was once told some sage advice by an old Sales Director:

“Plan conservatively but execute optimistically.”

Put simply, don’t do what most salespeople do
and expect that everything will come in. Be realistic.

We always need more than we think.

We might have a good feeling about all the leads we have, but if you are converting more than 2 in 3 leads at the final stage of your sales process, then you are probably too cheap. Even the very best salespeople in the world wouldn’t expect to convert more than 2 out of 3 in the final stages.

In addition, even good deals that will happen often get delayed for different reasons. A person has left or just joined the business, a budget has been put on hold for a few months, or a bigger, more important priority has come up.

Whilst we always try to avoid these issues, they happen. It’s life.

What matters is that we don’t totally rely on them to achieve the targets we want. Doing this means we become prisoners of hope—and no one wants to be a prisoner of anything.

When our pipeline is the same as, or just over, the target, we also exude desperation—which is always a bad thing in a sales deal. We make rash decisions and push prospects to do things “just to hit the target,” and invariably that works against us.

Yet when we have a funnel full of leads that we are engaging with and having good conversations with, the pressure is off. That comes through in the way we work, and that “hidden 10%” is the secret to winning more.

The best way to see your pipeline is like people spinning plates. They continue to put plates up on tall needles and spin them so they can keep adding more. They keep an eye on each plate and give them a nudge now and again to keep them going—until the end of the act, when all the plates come down in an orderly way.

So, what is the best way to build up a 3 to 4 times pipeline?

ABP – Always Be Prospecting.

All too often, people do some prospecting, add some good deals to the pipeline, and then get overconfident. They assume that because they have £500,000 in their pipeline, the year is done. They relax. They take their foot off the gas—and when this happens, the car comes to a stop.

The way to avoid this is to put time aside daily for new prospecting.

Whether that’s contacting people through LinkedIn, sending prospecting videos, making calls, or another form of outreach—build it into your routine.

Make it a discipline. Set yourself mini targets: connect with 3 people a day, create 5 videos, or make 10 calls.

When you do this (alongside your existing sales work), you give yourself the best chance of adding new leads—and you also subconsciously take the pressure off the current deals in your pipeline.

What’s the worst that can happen?

You have too much business coming in?
You can choose who you work with?
You can raise prices due to demand?

None of these are bad outcomes.

So, work on the rule of 3 or 4.

Commit to doing something daily to build your pipeline.

You can never have enough leads—and when you have more than you need, good things start to happen, and targets start to get hit.

Try this out and let me know how you get on. A good starting point is to look at your current target, review your pipeline (especially the final two stages), and identify the gap. If it’s not 3 to 4 times the target, get to work.

Does this cover a challenging sales or business situation you’ve had?

If not, what would you like me to cover in a future newsletter?

Let me know. I read every reply, even if I can’t respond to them all.

Thanks, as ever, for being part of the community.

Have a brilliant sales week ahead, and remember: Eat or be eaten.

Find your reason WHY

James White — Sat, 09 Nov 2024 08:06:29 +0000

Hello Reader,

This is Week 4 of the 5 week email series related to Emotional Intelligence.

We have covered:

Self Awareness – The ability to know when others aren’t listening to you
Self Control – The ability to control your emotions and keep your mouth shut
Socialisation – The ability to build relationships

All 3 of these are key skills to master if you want to become successful in selling and there is one BIG trait we are going to cover next week which is the ability to show Empathy.

This week, we’re talking about MOTIVATION.

But, being able to motivate yourself is vital if you want to achieve consistently and the very best at selling know how to dig into that core human emotion which many desire to have but which very few actively show or develop.

Motivation shows itself in many different ways within sales.

Getting up early to prepare for a key meeting you have
Staying up late to ensure a proposal is delivered on time
Saying no to an event which might be good to attend but which may mean you don’t make those extra calls that you know are needed

The list can go on and on.

When things are going our way, it’s easy, but when problems and challenges arise (and they will), it’s easy to give in and take the easy path.

And as our motivation dips, we go further and further off-track, and trying to get back on is yet another draining process.

So, how do you prevent yourself from reaching that awful point? How do you avoid your business draining your soul to the point where “throwing in the towel” slowly creeps its way up on your “most viable” options list?

Well, here’s a few tips: Everytime you feel your motivation declining, go back to ground zero.

And here’s what I mean by “go back to ground zero”…

Take a minute to return to your roots. Remember where you’ve come from and all that you’ve accomplished.

Why did you start? What kept you going? What are you doing this for?

What motivated you to chuck the duvet to the side and leap out of bed…

Every single morning?

Was it because someone told you that you couldn’t achieve it?
Was it because you had a vision of something big that you wanted to achieve?
Was it because you failed in the past and it annoyed you?
Was it because you wanted to provide for the most important people in your life?

Remember how hungry you were back then?

Remember your first big sale when you smashed it out of the park and did incredibly well?

Think back to that person saying ‘you will never make it’ or a boss saying ‘you don’t have the skills for this’. Use these moments as FUEL to drive your own motivation.
Get a photo, a commemorative chip or anything to remember it by. Look at it when you’re feeling low to remember that pivotal moment that brought you here.
Create a vision board with photos of items or places that motivate you to do the hard work when you really don’t want to.
Keep a copy of key deal you won or a payslip that you earned when good times happened.

Use these motivators when you feel low and you have the feeling of your back against the wall with no other option but to “make this work”, to drive you to want to be.

You’ve come this far because of that hunger… that drive… that ambition to win.

And there’s absolutely no reason why you can’t keep going and growing.

We all want success, but the reality is that we have to continually motivate ourselves to keep doing the work needed for success.

To keep striving and to keep learning.

But remember, hunger alone might not cut it…

What’s equally important is that you also trust yourself.

Look, you’re told all the time to build trust with your buyers…

So why not build trust with yourself too?

Learn to trust yourself and your capabilities.Believe in who you are and what you have achieved.

Write down the list of your top 10 achievements in life and keep these close to you to develop that inner steel and self appreciation.

It’ll morph into confidence, and your buyers will see that. And buyers buy confidence.

Plus, you’ll feel and become more high-value.

And most importantly, with that new-found confidence, you’ll stay motivated.

Like I said, you’ve come this far when you started with nothing but hunger.

Now add your confidence and the experience you’ve accumulated thus far into the equation…

Can you imagine the possibilities?

I can, and it looks massive! I want the best for you, and my mission is to help you achieve all that you desire.

So trust yourself, and stay hungry.

Develop that Motivation to achieve and do more, and watch the results and successes start to come your way.

Trait 4 is done. Just one left now. And I think it happens to be the most important trait in sales alongside asking questions and listening.

Showing empathy.

It’s vital. It’s a game-changer. We will cover how you can develop these skills next week and add them to the others so you become a sales superstar!

Until then wishing you all a brilliant week ahead. Keep smiling and stay focused on becoming a fly on the wall of the brain of your buyer.

James

Motivation – James White

The Very Best Salespeople Practise Hard (And Why Preparation Beats Talent Every Time)

Executive Summary

What Can Salespeople Learn From The Open Championship?

Why Do Most Salespeople Underperform Under Pressure?

What Should Salespeople Practise?

1. Practise Your Opening

2. Practise Your Discovery Questions

3. Practise Handling Objections

4. Practise Asking For Commitment

Does Practice Really Build Confidence?

How Can MSP Salespeople Improve Quickly?

Final Thoughts

3. Practise Handling Objections

Frequently Asked Questions

Why MSP Prospects Don’t Buy (And Why You Usually Discover It Too Late)

Executive Summary

They Don't Stop Buying At The End. They Stop Buying Much Earlier.

Why Do MSP Sales Stall After The Proposal?

1. Is Solving The Problem Important Enough?

My Experience

Why This Matters

2. Why Don't Prospects Believe Your MSP Can Deliver?

My Experience

3. Why Don't Prospects Trust You?

The Trust Equation

4. Why Don't Prospects See Enough Value?

Features vs Outcomes

5. Are You Speaking To Someone Who Can Actually Say Yes?

The Common Thread Behind Every Stalled MSP Sale

Key Takeaways

Frequently Asked Questions

If you're finding that too many proposals are ending with "We've decided to stay where we are" or "We need to think about it," the problem may not be your proposal at all.

It may be your discovery process.

If you'd like to improve how your team discovers, qualifies and closes opportunities, get in touch to find out how we can help.

About the Author

Desperation is a Stinky Aftershave

Executive Summary

Desperation is a Stinky Aftershave

Most prospects don’t care.

They were better because they cared about solving problems

Most prospects don't want your pitch.

They want to know whether you understand their world.

Mindset Before Method

Frequently Asked Questions

The Difference That Wins Deals

Time to drink my own champagne

The problem? "Small businesses" isn't a target market. It's far too broad.

The businesses that win are rarely the ones trying to appeal to everybody.

And it is where we see the same sales challenges appearing time and time again.

Create Urgency Without Discounting

People love a deal. That’s never going to change.

The Reasons for the Urgency?

How to Create Urgency

Your Rates Are There for a Reason

It doesn’t build trust. It raises questions.

it’s 3 or 4

We always need more than we think.

Let’s say your business wants to achieve a new revenue target of £500,000 for the year.

There are two main reasons:

Put simply, don’t do what most salespeople do and expect that everything will come in. Be realistic.

ABP – Always Be Prospecting.

What’s the worst that can happen?

Find your reason WHY

Let’s say your business wants to achieve a new
revenue target of £500,000 for the year.

Put simply, don’t do what most salespeople do
and expect that everything will come in. Be realistic.