Peakora

Partner

We at Peakora are convinced that there must be a brighter future for startups, that’s why we created a unique and game-changing approach called "Startup Enablement”. 

Startup Enablement is based on 3 core pillars:

1. A proven, step-by-step roadmap to build the needed systems to scale 
2. Direct, hands-on guidance and implementation from seasoned startup veterans, ensuring rapid results and accelerated growth.
3. A resource platform designed to enable and upskill the entire organization for sustained, long-term impact.

By partnering with us, startups such as Avrios, Climeworks and Wingtra unlocked the power of our bulletproof methods and achieved long-term growth. With Peakora, startups don't just survive, but have grown their revenue by up to 4x in just 6 months.

Growth Specialist

Smartlead

Certified Partner to implement Smartlead and run outbound emailing campaigns for startups and SMEs.
Already setup Smartlead for +20 companies and generated millions in pipeline value across our clients.

Smartlead Certified Partner

Clay

Certified Expert
Creating ready-made Clay templates and having fun exploring new enrichment and outbound workflows.

Use my special link to 3000 Clay credits for free (when subscribing):
https://clay.com/?via=baf816

Want some of my ready-made templates? DM me

Certified Clay Expert

HubSpot

With Peakora, you don't work with junior HubSpot Managers, but with actual experts that also bring the needed domain expertise into your setup.

Hence we offer fixed Packages depending on your needs, without hidden fee's, upselling or incentive to work slowly and log many hours.

Our Packages are highly structured and we also support in complete CRM Migrations (Excel, Pipedrive, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, Odoo, or any other).

Languages we can work with:
* English
* German
* French

Hubspot Partner

RiskDeck

Executive Director

We design custom solutions for institutional investors. Automate your back-office and centralise your investment & risk operations with a software created solely for you.

Head Of Development

Vades Wine

Distributing organic and natural wine from Georgia, the oldest wine region in the world. Discover wines made in traditional Qvevri (amphoras), orange wines and more in our online shop or through points of sales in Switzerland 🍷

Owner - Founder

Altarius

Altarius accumulates more than 15 years of ongoing activities and a regulated structure in Malta to serve the most demanding financial institutions. As a one-stop-shop solution provider, we are specialised in the onboarding of institutionals seeking to have their own regulated structure. We cover every aspect of your fund operations to ensure your only focus will be put on the optimal performance of the fund.

Altarius Asset Management Ltd is an Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM) licensed and regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) and is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser (Exempt Reporting Adviser).

Communications

Fusion Partners

Fusion is the leading Growth platform based in Geneva acting as a Catalyst for startup acceleration and corporate innovation. We enable world leading and disrupting organizations to imagine and build the future. We operate in 3 verticals: Fintech (finance), Proptech (real estate & smart city) and Lifetech (Digital Health & Wellness).

Operations: startup scouting and application funnelling for the 2017 Accelerator batch; operation of the Accelerator (selections days, workshops, internal events...); office management & administration
Events: responsible of events organized and hosted at Fusion, including planning, execution, community management, communication and logistics
Digital Marketing: coordinator of Fusion's social media (Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter) and other community platforms (Meetup, Eventbrite), website updates

Operations & Events

Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne

In charge of the Incubator’s day-to-day operations (administrative tasks, startup newsletter redaction, set a bridge between the school’s students and the Incubator).

Help in the development of the Incubator (installation in new working spaces, promotion, arrival/departure of entrepreneurs, business plan of support services).

Business Incubator Student Assistant

Entrepreneur-minded, curious and eager to learn new skills, I like exploring ways of developing ventures.

"The worst enemy you can meet will always be yourself" - Friedrich Nietzsche

Always eager to share a glass of wine with people 🍷

Lucas Maliczak 🧪

And that's how you wrap up the year with a special Christmas edition of the Clay Club 🎄 

So great to see so many regulars coming, as well as new faces showing their curiosity about Clay and GTM practices.

For this year's last edition, we started with the future of GTM and how this trend will continue to revolutionise Sales, Marketing and Customer Success. GTMe & RevOps roles already play a crucial role in one's organisation, with at least 25% directly reporting to CEOs or CROs.

Then we tackled the big topic of AI Agents with Dominique Michel, who explained in the first place what an AI Agent actually is, before sharing the pros and cons of building your own VS using existing platforms.

Finally, straight from the outbound sphere, Frank Sondors 🥓 who came down to Zurich to share his journey to 3M$ ARR. There was so much shared during that fireside chat that we could turn it into an e-learning course.

The energy was high.

Now it's time for a break and to come back stronger in next year's organisation.

Thanks again to all those who came throughout this year's event 🚀  

PS: want to have the slides from this session? Ping me and I'll be happy to share them.

RevOps Lead @ Peakora | Clay & Hubspot Expert

Bont.ai

Together with amazing co-founders, we’re building a software that will basically convert your data into closed deals (yes, also using AI ✨). 

Bringing all your CRM communications in one place, bont does this for you:
👉🏻 analyses all the marketing and sales data
👉🏻 creates a scoring system based on your criteria to bring your forecasting to perfection
👉🏻 uses AI-driven insights to provide valuable advice to your sales reps

bont increases your productivity up to 20% and your conversion rate up to 10%.

A real game-changer for sales teams 📈

CEO and Co-Founder

Teichmann Growth Partners

Teichmann Growth Partners is all about scaling and digitalization - from sales to strategy and more.
We support start- and scale-ups in their growth plans in the following areas:
➮ Implementation of new tools and processes
➮ We implement a clean and successful sales process, define KPIs and handle the implications for the team and the recruiting process
➮ Sparring partner for your questions as a founder, general support as role in the advisory board, board of directors or as an advisor

Managing Partner

hints

I founded hints, in order to create a modern, but affordable solution. The processes of hints are fully automised to keep the overall cost level as low as possible.

Alongside me, a seasoned marketing professional and a skilled developer bring their unique expertise to the table, ushering in innovative solutions.

Founder and CEO

Investor Rating

The purpose of the Investor Rating platform is to provide founders and CEOs of startups with first-hand information about what it's like to work with an investor. It allows individuals who have received funding from or had active funding conversations with venture capital, private equity, or other startup investment firms to share their experiences and insights through reviews. The platform aims to help founders make informed decisions when choosing funding partners and provide investors with an unbiased view of how startups perceive working with them.

Founder

Operation Libero

Board Member

LIO Consulting GmbH

As a Senior Advisor at LIO Consulting, my primary focus is on HR excellence projects, improving HR strategy, HR KPIs, and HR processes. I work closely with clients to help them become the best employer in their industry. By leveraging my expertise in HR analytics and data-driven decision-making, I assist clients in identifying areas of improvement and measuring the effectiveness of their HR strategies. I provide guidance on developing and implementing KPIs that align with their organizational goals. Additionally, I offer insights on optimizing HR processes to enhance efficiency and drive employee satisfaction. With my support, clients are able to elevate their HR practices and create a workplace that attracts and retains top talent.

Senior Advisor

Teichmann Ninja Investment & Advisory

Investor, advisor and board member for dynamic, growing companies / start-ups. Please send enquiries to dennis@teichmann.ninja

Owner

Moodtalk

As a Senior Advisor at Moodtalk, my primary objective is to optimize sales processes and drive revenue growth. With a strong background in sales and consulting, I am passionate about building repeatable sales methodologies that ensure long-term success. By leveraging my expertise, I will identify areas for improvement and implement proven strategies to drive revenue, reduce costs, and enhance the customer experience. My skills include accurate sales forecasting, minimizing ramp-up time for new hires, aligning CRM applications, establishing standards for pipeline and quality reviews, and aligning marketing efforts with sales.

Pult - Hybrid Work Solution

We are supporting Pult in order to further develop their sales strategy and their growth.
Pult is a hybrid-first company, meaning our employees have maximum flexibility. Pult is on a mission to make hybrid work people-centric.

Growth Coach (Advisor)

jacando

With our HR platform, we digitize the entire area of human resources. We see every day with our customers how much time flows into automatable processes and interface management. Through our all-in-one HR platform, we take the HR function to the next level.

Chairman

Lifting your close rate by 20% in 90 days by replacing standard playbooks with signal-driven sales | Co-Founder & CEO at bont | Business Angel

As Founder & CEO of jacando, an HR Tech SaaS company, I led a 20-person sales team facing these exact challenges. jacando provided an all-in-one HR platform to streamline recruiting, employee management, and talent management—yet despite strong demand, scaling sales efficiently remained a struggle.

We tried everything—more leads, more emails, more playbooks. Nothing moved the needle.

Then we discovered the power of real-time sales signals. By implementing a scoring model and AI-driven alerts, we increased our close rate by 20% in just 90 days.

That experience cemented my passion for sales—not just as a function, but as a dynamic, data-driven craft that balances strategy, psychology, and execution. This passion led me to found bont.ai, where we help sales teams stop losing deals due to missing insights. Our AI-driven pipeline prioritization, deal insights, and guidance ensure reps focus on the right deals at the right time—driving higher conversions and more predictable revenue.

What I Do
🔹 bont.ai (CEO & Co-Founder) – Transforming sales with AI-powered deal intelligence.
🔹 Teichmann Growth Partners (Managing Partner) – Helping startups scale with sales and growth strategies.
🔹 Investor & Advisor – Supporting B2B tech startups in optimizing sales and operations.

Let’s connect—whether to exchange ideas, explore collaboration, or discuss sales growth strategies. 🚀

Dennis Teichmann

We Gave Every Sales Rep AI Tools. 87% Never Used Them Past Week 2.

One of our Bont clients is burning €8,400 monthly on AI licenses.
Usage after 60 days? Three people. Out of forty-two.

The CFO called me last week:
"Dennis, we're paying for digital dust collectors."

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 1: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗼𝗻
Everyone logs in. Plays with the AI.
"This is incredible! It writes perfect emails!"
Usage: 100%. Enthusiasm: Maximum.

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 2: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻
"Wait, how do I integrate this with our CRM?"
"Why is the AI suggesting I call retired contacts?"
"This takes longer than doing it manually..."
Usage drops to 13%.

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 4: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁
AI tools become that gym membership from January.
Everyone knows they should use them.
Nobody does.
€8,400 monthly. Three active users.

But here's what actually worked:

𝗪𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 "𝗔𝗜 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀"

Not training everyone on everything.
Pick three power users. Make them experts.
Let them show others specific wins.

Real examples that clicked:
→ AI for competitive battlecards: Pull competitor weaknesses in seconds
→ Automated follow-up sequences: But only for specific deal stages
→ Deal risk scoring: AI flags when champions go silent

The uncomfortable truth:

Your team doesn't need AI tools.
They need someone to show them ONE thing that saves them ONE hour.

Start there.
Not with the 47-feature demo.
Not with the integration roadmap.
Not with the ROI calculator.

One person. One use case. One win.
Then another.

We tracked adoption across 12 Bont implementations:
- Traditional training approach: 19% adoption after 90 days
- Champion approach: 71% adoption, same timeframe
- Monthly burn rate dropped 62% (killed unused licenses)

The brutal reality:

Tools without training is just expensive shelfware.
But training without champions is just expensive theater.

Your AI vendor promised transformation.
What you got was another tab nobody opens.

The fix isn't more tools.
It's fewer tools with deeper usage.

How much are you spending monthly on tools gathering digital dust? 💡

li_at

JSESSIONID

Talks about #growth, #startup, #scaleups, #leadership, and #entrepreneurship

🚀 Boosting B2B Revenue & Retention with AI | Co-Founder & CEO at bont | Investor & Advisor

The Old Dennis vs. The New Dennis: How Building bont Changed My Sales Philosophy

Five years ago, I would've laughed at anyone who told me data beats gut feeling.

I was the guy who "just knew" which deals would close.
Trusted my instincts. Read the room. Felt the energy.

My hit rate? Maybe 40%.
But I remembered the wins. Forgot the misses.

Then I started building bont.

We analyzed hundreds of thousands of deals.
Every email. Every call. Every silence.
Looking for patterns my gut was supposed to catch.

Here's what the data showed me:

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗹𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝘀:
→ "I can tell this buyer is serious"
→ "My champion sounds committed"
→ "This deal feels alive"

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗗𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝘀:
→ Response velocity dropped 67% in week 3. Champion's disengaging.
→ Economic buyer hasn't appeared in 4 meetings. Deal's dying.
→ Language shifted from "when" to "if." Confidence is bleeding out.

The uncomfortable truth?

My gut was lying to me.
It was optimism dressed up as intuition.

But here's where it gets interesting:

Data alone doesn't close deals.
Empathy does.

The real shift wasn't from gut to data.
It was understanding that empathy is how you gather the data in the first place.

When you actually listen—really listen—buyers tell you everything:
→ Their fears show up in the questions they ask
→ Their timeline hides in how they schedule meetings
→ Their commitment reveals itself in who they bring to calls

Data captures these signals.
But empathy creates the space for them to appear.

𝗢𝗹𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝘀: Gut feeling wins.
𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗗𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝘀: Data wins. Empathy collects it.

Building bont taught me that the best salespeople aren't psychics.
They're pattern recognizers who create trust.

Your instincts aren't wrong.
They're just incomplete.

The data sees what your ego won't let you.
The empathy unlocks what data can't reach on its own.

What belief about sales have you completely reversed? 🎯

Static lead scoring is dead.

The future of sales starts with one overlooked AI move.

Here’s the tactic: use AI to score and prioritize accounts not just by firmographics, but by real-time buyer intent and engagement signals.

Most teams lean on static data. Things like company size, industry, or job title.

But there’s a better way: layer in real-time signals—website visits, content downloads, past conversations, even social activity.

AI ties it all together, picking up patterns and urgency that humans just can’t.

Imagine this:

A decision-maker at a high-potential account downloads your pricing sheet at 10 pm. AI instantly flags this, bumps them up your rep’s call list, and your team is first to reach out the next morning.

That’s not just faster, it’s smarter. That’s how winning teams fill their pipeline while others are still guessing.

The reality: most B2B SaaS sales teams still treat every lead the same, wasting time on cold accounts while missing the hot ones.

Are the teams seeing real growth? They’re using AI to work smarter—not harder.

You don’t need endless resources to start. Just the right mindset and the willingness to let your data work for you.

Are you still relying on static scoring, or is your team ready for what’s next?

We Told a €50M Company to Cancel Their AI Sales Project

They had the budget.
The board approval.
A vendor has already been selected.

We told them to kill it anyway.

Here's what their "AI-ready" sales org actually looked like:

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺

Pipeline data? Scattered across 4 systems.
Customer interactions? Half in email, half in someone's head.
Current deal status? "Let me check with Marcus."

Their CRM was a graveyard of outdated contacts and phantom opportunities.
Nobody trusted the numbers. Including the CEO.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗲

Asked their VP of Sales: "What's your real pipeline right now?"
Took him 3 days to answer.
Three. Days.

Reps had their own spreadsheets.
Managers had different spreadsheets.
Finance had a third version.

Three sources of truth means zero sources of truth.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻

They wanted AI to predict deal outcomes.
AI can't predict anything when it's fed garbage.

They wanted AI to identify at-risk deals.
AI can't identify risk when half the deals aren't even logged.

They wanted AI to coach reps.
AI can't coach when it doesn't know what reps are actually doing.

The uncomfortable truth:

𝗔𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝘅 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀.
𝗜𝘁 𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.

Bad data in = confidently wrong predictions out.
Missing data = blind spots at scale.
Scattered systems = AI that hallucinates your pipeline.

What we told them instead:

→ Consolidate your data into one system first
→ Make current pipeline visible in real-time
→ Get reps actually logging activity (not just outcomes)
→ Build the foundation for 6 months
→ Then come back

They weren't happy.
The AI vendor was furious.
But we saved them from a €200K mistake that would've failed in 90 days.

The brutal reality:

Everyone wants AI to transform their sales org.
Nobody wants to do the boring work that makes AI actually work.

Clean data isn't sexy.
Consolidated systems aren't exciting.
Real-time visibility doesn't make headlines.

But without them?
Your AI project is just expensive theater.

How many companies are buying AI tools right now that their data can't support? 🎯

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Your top reps follow their discovery script for exactly 3 minutes and 12 seconds. Then they throw it away. And close 3x more deals.

Several companies I work with started tracking their discovery calls.
Found the same pattern everywhere.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗹:

Minute 1: "Tell me about your current process..."
Buyer shares something unexpected.
Rep follows the script anyway.
Trust eroding.

Minute 2: "What are your main challenges?"
Buyer mentions unknown competitor.
Rep stumbles back to safe questions.
Connection dying.

Minute 3: "Who's involved in the decision?"
Buyer already answered. Twice.
They realize you're performing, not listening.
Deal's dead.

Top performers use scripts as launch pads, not railroads.

First 3 minutes: Follow the framework
After minute 3: Chase the conversation

One rep closed 73% more deals after we analyzed his calls:
"I was having two conversations. One with my script, one with the buyer. The buyer always lost."

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵:

We tracked script adherence vs close rates:
- 90%+ script adherence: 19% close rate
- 40-60% script adherence: 61% close rate

Your discovery script is training wheels.
Useful for new reps.
Deadly for experienced ones.

𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀:

Instead of: "What's your budget?"
Explore: Financial impact of status quo

Instead of: "Who makes the decision?"
Understand: Power dynamics and internal politics

Instead of: "What's your timeline?"
Uncover: What's driving urgency (or killing it)

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆:

Every time your rep chooses the script over the conversation, they're choosing compliance over connection.

Buyers feel it.
That moment when reps ask something already answered.
When they pivot to their next scripted question instead of digging deeper.

That's when you lose.

One client tested this:
Week 1: Strict script adherence
Week 2: Scripts as guidelines
Week 3: Themes-based discovery

Results:
- Meeting-to-opportunity: up 44%
- Average deal size: +€31K
- Rep satisfaction: highest ever

Your best reps already know this.
They start with the script.
Then throw it away.
That's when discovery actually begins.

Which scripted question kills more deals than any other? 🎯

One of our clients lost a €10M deal last month.
Perfect playbook execution. Every step by the book.
Deal died anyway.

Their CEO called me: "Dennis, I need you to see what happened here."

The buyer had just fired their last vendor mid-contract.
Massive implementation failure. CTO almost lost his job.
Trust was shattered.

Their rep?
Slide 1: "Let me show you our implementation methodology!"

The room went cold.

He kept going. Discovery questions. ROI calculations. Reference customers.
Textbook perfect.
Completely wrong.

What the buyer needed:
Someone to acknowledge their pain.
Someone to promise "never again."
Someone to show they understood the scars.

What they got:
Slide 17 of the standard deck.

Here's the uncomfortable truth:

**Your playbook assumes a neutral buyer**
→ No baggage from past failures
→ No political landmines to navigate
→ No scars from vendors who burned them

**Reality is messier**
→ Every buyer has a story you don't know
→ Every RFP hides a fear you haven't uncovered
→ Every "process" masks a human need

**Following the playbook means missing the moment**
→ When they need empathy, you show slides
→ When they need flexibility, you quote policy
→ When they need a partner, you act like a vendor

They salvaged that deal.
But only after throwing out the playbook.

Started over. No slides. Just conversation.
"Tell me what went wrong last time."

Two hours later, they understood.
Six weeks later, they closed.

Not because they had better features.
Because they had better ears.

The brutal reality:

Your playbook is optimized for the average deal.
But no deal is average.
Every buyer is fighting a battle your slides can't see.

Great reps know when to follow the map.
Elite reps know when to burn it.

What's the most expensive playbook mistake you've witnessed? 🎯

Most B2B teams obsess over the wrong 20%.

We tracked 2,300 sales decisions across bont's customer base last quarter.
Found something painful:

Teams spending 80% of their time on gut-driven activities.
While the 20% that actually moves revenue sits untouched in their data.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 20% (𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗢𝗯𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿):

"My gut says this deal will close"
Following the same playbook from 2019
Chasing every lead equally
Running demos because "that's what we do"
Weekly forecast calls based on feelings

One VP told me: "We've been running the same plays for 5 years. Why change what's always worked?"

His close rate: 11%.
Industry average: 23%.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 20% (𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀):

Normalized engagement signals across your pipeline
Email open patterns after week 6 (not week 1)
LinkedIn stalking behavior from buying committees
Calendar compression rates in final stages
Document request velocity

We fed these signals into bont's AI.
The results made several CEOs uncomfortable.

Their "sure things" based on gut? 
67% never closed.

The deals their data flagged as hot?
84% closed within 30 days.

Here's the brutal reality:

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻
→ It's biased by recent wins
→ It ignores silent signals
→ It overvalues smooth talkers

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱
→ Buyers changed, your process didn't
→ What worked in 2019 is killing you now
→ Standard plays create standard results

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴
→ But it's scattered across 14 tools
→ Not normalized, not comparable
→ Telling you exactly what to do next

One client switched their focus.

Killed the gut-based forecast calls.
Started tracking normalized signals.
Let data drive the next action.

Quarter-over-quarter improvement:
- Win rate: +31%
- Sales cycle: -22 days
- Forecast accuracy: 89% (was 54%)

The uncomfortable truth:

While you're trusting your gut, your competitor is trusting their data.
While you're running old playbooks, they're reading real signals.
While you obsess over feelings, they're following facts.

The right 20% isn't hiding.
It's in your CRM. Your emails. Your calendar patterns.
Waiting to be normalized and acted on.

What percentage of your sales decisions are actually data-driven? 💡

The €12M Revenue Graveyard: Mapping Where B2B Deals Actually Die

One of our clients mapped every dead deal from last year.
47 opportunities. €12.3M vanished.

Wasn't where they expected.
Not negotiation (8%). Not security review (4%). Not even procurement (11%).

77% died in three places their CRM couldn't track.

𝗗𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗭𝗼𝗻𝗲 #1: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗳𝗳 (31% 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲)

SDR spent 6 weeks building trust.
Handed to AE who started from scratch.

Buyer's actual feedback: "Your first guy really got us. The second one asked if we'd heard of your company."

Deal velocity dropped 68% at handoff.
Response times went from hours to weeks.

𝗗𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗭𝗼𝗻𝗲 #2: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗲 (24% 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲)

Week 4: Champion + manager. Excited.
Week 8: Finance joins. Questions everything.
Week 12: Legal appears. Needs contracts.
Week 20: Procurement arrives. Starts over.

Each new stakeholder reduced close probability by 30%.
By week 20, champion had zero influence left.

𝗗𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗭𝗼𝗻𝗲 #3: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 (22% 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲)

Three-month POC. Perfect technical success.
Deal still died.

The POC proved the tech worked.
Also proved their team would revolt.

Buyer: "We're not ready for this transformation."

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱:

Handoff fix: SDR joins first 3 AE calls. Just bridges context.
Result: 73% survival rate.

Committee fix: Map all stakeholders week 1. No power by week 6? Walk away.
Result: Saved 400+ hours on zombie deals.

POC fix: 30 days max. Measure adoption, not features.
Result: POC-to-close rate up 47%.

The brutal truth?

These deals didn't die from competition.
They died from self-inflicted complexity.

My client's head of sales stared at this data:
"We spent all year optimizing our sales process. Should've been simplifying it."

€12.3M taught them one thing:
The buyer's journey matters more than your sales process.

What's killing deals in your pipeline right now? 🎯

I fed 3 years of my lost deals into our AI.
It found the €2M mistake I've been making since 2019.

The pattern was brutal:
We were chasing dead deals for months.
Deals that died in week 3 but stayed in our pipeline until week 20.

Not because reps were lazy.
Because nobody told them the champion had quit.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 €2𝗠 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:

Our AI tracked every lost deal against LinkedIn data.
Found something terrifying:
In 67% of our dead deals, the champion changed jobs during the sales cycle.

We never noticed.

Still sending proposals to dead email addresses.
Still forecasting deals with ghosts.
Still wondering why they went quiet.

Meanwhile, their replacement was buying from our competitor.

The data made me sick:
- Average time wasted per ghost deal: 14 weeks
- Rep hours burned: 1,100+ annually 
- Pipeline fiction: €2.1M of phantom revenue

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱:

Champions don't announce their departures.
They just fade.

"Let me loop in Sarah from my team" = I'm transitioning out
"Still pushing internally" = I don't work here anymore
Meeting invites from new names = Your champion is gone
LinkedIn profile update = The deal died 3 weeks ago

But we kept selling to empty chairs.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄:

Every Monday, we run the Champion Check:
- LinkedIn scan on every active deal
- Email engagement tracking (sudden drops = red flag)
- New meeting attendees trigger immediate verification
- 2 weeks of silence = pick up the phone

Caught 8 champion changes last quarter.
Saved 5 of those deals by rebuilding with the replacement.

Here's the uncomfortable truth:

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗥𝗠 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴
→ Shows contacts, not relationships
→ Tracks activities, not engagement 
→ Counts emails to people who left 6 months ago

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹
→ It's the quarter you wasted chasing it
→ It's the 10 real opportunities you ignored
→ It's the rep who burned out pushing rocks uphill

𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀
→ That your champion still works there
→ That silence means they're "working on it"
→ That people tell you when they leave

We built this into bont because human optimism is expensive.
Really expensive.
€2M expensive in my case.

The brutal reality:

Half your pipeline is probably talking to people who don't work there anymore.

Your forecast is fiction.
Your deals are ghosts.
Your reps are wasting their lives.

Check LinkedIn right now.
I dare you.

How many of your "active" champions changed jobs in the last 90 days? 👻

I Analyzed 1,000 Lost Deals Running Through bont. 73% Failed This One Trust Test

Our AI flagged something disturbing across our customers' pipelines.

Same question killing deals everywhere:
"Can you show us how it works?"

Sounds reasonable. Normal even.
But it was destroying close rates.

Here's what bont's data revealed:

When buyers ask for demos before sharing their problems, they're not buying.
They're shopping.
And shoppers rarely become customers.

The pattern across our customer base was brutal:
→ Demo request in first 10 minutes
→ Rep jumps into presentation mode
→ 45 minutes of features nobody asked for
→ "We'll think about it" (translation: no)

We dug deeper into those 730 failed deals.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱:

Not "Show me your product"
But "Show me you understand my problem"

Not "Prove your features work"
But "Prove you've seen this before"

Not "Give me a demo"
But "Give me confidence you won't waste my time"

Here's the uncomfortable truth:

Buyers who demand demos early don't trust you yet.
They're using your demo as a screening tool.
To eliminate you.
Not to select you.

One of our clients tested a different approach.

When prospects asked for demos, their reps started responding:
"I could show you features for an hour. But without understanding what's broken in your process, I'd be wasting your time. What triggered this conversation internally?"

Initial resistance: massive.
Close rates: up 47%.

Why?

Because they stopped being vendors who demonstrate.
Started being advisors who diagnose.

The brutal reality:

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻:
→ It comes before discovery
→ It focuses on features over outcomes
→ It answers questions they haven't asked

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻:
→ It addresses specific problems they've shared
→ It shows only what matters to them
→ It proves you listened, not just prepared

Those 730 lost deals taught our customers something painful:

The buyers weren't failing their test.
They were failing the buyers'.

Buyers wanted a doctor who diagnoses before prescribing.
They got salespeople with slides.

Now we track something different in bont:
Time to first value conversation.
Not time to demo.

Because here's what those 270 successful deals had in common:

The demo came third.
Problem first.
Trust second.
Then, and only then, the product.

Your prospects are testing your reps from minute one.
Just not the way they think.

The data's screaming at us:
Stop showing. Start diagnosing.

What's the earliest demo request your team should've rejected? 🎯

The 90-Second Deal Death Detector: How bont Spots Dying Deals Before Reps Do

Last week, bont flagged 31 deals as "dead walking" for one of our clients.
Their sales team thought our AI was broken.
We were right about 29 of them.

Here's the uncomfortable truth:
Deals don't die suddenly. They bleed out slowly while everyone pretends they're fine.

I got obsessed with this pattern after analyzing data across our customer base.
€47M in "committed pipeline" that was never going to close.
Reps burning 70+ hours per quarter on corpses.

So we fed bont three years of deal data from our clients.
312,000 opportunities. Every email, call transcript, calendar pattern.
Looking for the moment deals started dying.

𝗗𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹 #1: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗳

Healthy deal: 3.2 days average between touchpoints
Dying deal: 8.7 days and growing

When momentum dies, the deal is already dead.
Your champion isn't busy. They've given up.
bont catches this shift 3 weeks before reps notice.

𝗗𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹 #2: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗰𝘁

Week 1: Economic buyer on every call
Week 4: "They'll join next time"
Week 8: You're talking to procurement

bont tracks email domains on threads.
When decision makers stop appearing, you're selling to ghosts.
Pattern recognition caught this 91% of the time.

𝗗𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹 #3: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘆

Early emails: "When we implement..." 
Later emails: "If we move forward..."

From certainty to possibility.
From ownership to distance.
bont analyzes sentiment shift across every interaction.

Subtle? Yes.
Accurate? Terrifyingly so.

But here's where it gets interesting:

bont doesn't just predict death.
It prescribes intervention.

𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹 #1?
Alert: "Schedule executive alignment call within 48 hours"

𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹 #2 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱?
Alert: "Stakeholder re-engagement required - suggest bringing in your CPO"

𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹 #3 𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴?
Alert: "Confidence declining - pivot from selling to diagnosing concerns"

Results across our client base after 6 months:
→ Saved 47 deals worth €18.3M that would've died
→ Killed 189 zombies 6 weeks earlier (saved 4,200+ hours)
→ Rep confidence up 34% (they trust their pipeline now)

The brutal part?

Every rep FELT these signals.
They just explained them away.

"Big companies move slowly"
"Q4 is always quiet"
"My champion says we're fine"

One client's head of sales threw his laptop when he saw bont's analysis:
"We knew. We all bloody knew. We just kept pretending."

Human optimism is expensive.
bont doesn't have feelings. Just patterns.

We're not replacing reps.
We're replacing their blind spots.

Because the uncomfortable reality is:
Your reps know which deals are dying.
They're just too invested to admit it.

bont? It'll tell you in 90 seconds.

What signal do you ignore even though you know it means death? 🎯

"We just lost our top rep. What now?" DM from a VP of Sales

My response shocked him:
"Your revenue's about to go up."

Sounds insane. Yet, my experience expected something different.

I am tracking what happens after companies lose their #1 performer.
Most companies saw a drastical (20% or more) saw revenue increase within 90 days.
Not despite losing them. Because of it.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝗥𝗲𝗽 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗽

Your best rep isn't just closing deals.
They're hoarding them.

The pattern we found:
→ Top rep controls 40% of pipeline
→ Rest of team gets scraps
→ Nobody else learns to hunt
→ Team becomes dependent on one person

When they leave, panic sets in.
"We're doomed without Sarah!"

But watch what actually happens:

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 1-2: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲
Everyone fights for the orphaned accounts.
Suddenly, your B-players are talking to A-prospects.
Energy shifts. Hunger returns.

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 3-4: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
That "average" rep closes a deal the top performer sat on for months.
Another finds opportunities your star missed.
Team discovers they're better than they thought.

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 8-12: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲
Pipeline distributes more evenly.
Three reps hit quota instead of one at 300%.
Team resilience builds. Single points of failure disappear.

One client's numbers after losing their top rep:
- Month 1: -18% (expected)
- Month 2: +7% (surprising)
- Month 3: +31% (shocking)

Why? They stopped being a sales team with a star.
Started being a team of sellers.

The uncomfortable truth:

Your top rep might be your biggest liability.

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴:
→ Learned helplessness in others
→ Political games for lead distribution
→ Excuse culture ("Well, I'm not Sarah...")

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴:
→ Other reps from developing
→ Process improvements (they don't need them)
→ Team collaboration (why share when you're winning?)

Here's the harsh truth:

Great individual contributors often make terrible team dynamics.

When that VP asked what to do, I told him:
"Stop trying to replace them. Fix what made you need them."

Build systems, not dependencies.
Create hunters, not order-takers.
Distribute opportunity, don't concentrate it.

Because here's what the data screams:

The best sales teams don't have heroes.
They have systems that create consistent winners.

Your top rep leaving isn't a crisis.
It's your chance to build resilience, not dependency.

Has losing your "best" person ever made your team stronger? 🎯

Tracked 847 follow-up sequences through bont. The difference between annoying and closing? 8 days.

Most reps play the numbers game wrong.
They think persistence = volume.
Send 12 follow-ups. Hope one sticks.

But our data revealed something brutal:

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿: 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲

Not 3 messages.
3 perfectly timed messages.

Here's what actually converts:

𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 #1: 𝗗𝗮𝘆 3 𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿
They downloaded your whitepaper Monday.
You follow up Thursday.
Not Tuesday (too eager).
Not next Monday (forgotten).

Response rate: 34%

𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 #2: 𝗗𝗮𝘆 8 - 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗗𝗿𝗼𝗽
Don't ask for time.
Share something relevant.
"Saw your competitor just launched X. Here's how three similar companies responded."

Not selling. Adding value.
Response rate jumps to 47%.

𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 #3: 𝗗𝗮𝘆 21 - 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘂𝗽
"Seems like this isn't a priority right now. Closing your file. You know where to find me when timing's better."

This message alone converts 23% of dead leads.
Why? You gave them an out.
People hate being chased. Love choosing.

The uncomfortable truth:

After 3 well-timed touches, conversion probability drops 78%.
Message 4-12? You're just training them to ignore you.

We tested this across 12 bont customers:
- Traditional approach (10+ follow-ups): 11% conversion
- Three-touch system: 41% conversion
- Time saved per rep: 6 hours weekly

But here's what kills deals:

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀:
→ Following up same day (desperate)
→ Waiting 2+ weeks between touches (forgotten)
→ Monday morning emails (inbox graveyard)
→ Friday afternoon outreach (already checked out)

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀:
→ Tuesday-Thursday, 10-11am
→ 3-8-21 day sequence
→ Value in message 2, not another ask
→ Clear exit in message 3

One client implemented this exactly.
Closed rate went from 19% to 52%.
Same leads. Same product.
Different timing.

The brutal reality:

Persistence without timing isn't persistence.
It's harassment.

Your prospects don't need 12 reminders.
They need 3 reasons to respond.
At the right moment.

Most of you are burning relationships with message 7.
When message 3 would've closed the deal.

The numbers game isn't about more numbers.
It's about the right numbers at the right time.

What's your follow-up sequence that actually converts? 🎯

You're chasing dead deals while live ones are screaming for contracts.

After tracking 892 deals through Bont's platform, I found 5 signals that mean "close this NOW."
Not next quarter. Not after another demo.
Now.

𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹 #1: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻

Your champion checks your profile 3x in one week.
Their boss views it twice.
Someone from procurement shows up.

They're not browsing. They're building a case.

When decision makers start researching YOU, not your product, they're selling internally.
The deal is hot. Move fast.

𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹 #2: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗛𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿

"Can you send that security questionnaire?"
"We need the implementation timeline again."
"Do you have customer references in our industry?"

Three document requests in 5 days?
They're not shopping. They're justifying.

Someone with a budget just asked for proof.
Your champion is scrambling to provide it.
Feed them everything. Now.

𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹 #3: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗲

Early calls: "Show us what it does."
Now: "How would this work for our Phoenix team specifically?"

When questions shift from features to implementation, they're mentally buying.
When they name specific teams and scenarios, they're already picturing it live.

Generic interest is dead. Specific application is alive.

𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹 #4: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻

First meeting: 2 weeks to schedule
Second meeting: 1 week out
Third meeting: "Can you do tomorrow at 2?"

Urgency doesn't lie.
When calendars suddenly open up, priorities have shifted.
You just became important.

𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹 #5: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻

"We're also looking at [Competitor X], but honestly..."
"They showed us their solution. Quick question about yours..."

When they start sharing intel about other vendors, you're winning.
They're not comparing anymore. They're confirming.

Here's what Bont's data revealed:

→ Deals showing 3+ signals closed 73% faster
→ Average contract value: 31% higher
→ Churn rate: 67% lower (they actually wanted it)

The brutal truth?

Most reps miss these signals completely.
Too busy following up on dead deals.
Too focused on pipeline coverage.
Too scared to push when the moment is perfect.

Your buyer is screaming "I'm ready!" in data.
But you're still scheduling another "check-in call."

The uncomfortable reality:

The best deals don't need convincing.
They need courage.
The courage to recognize the moment and strike.

When every signal points to yes, stop selling and start closing.

What signal tells you a deal is ready to sign TODAY? 🎯

I ran 500 sales calls through AI. Found €3M in missed revenue hiding in grammar.

Not kidding.

My client's best reps were blind to 14 buying signals.
Every. Single. Call.
The patterns were so obvious, their head of sales threw his laptop across the room.

I showed them the transcripts.

**Signal #1: The Timeline Bomb**

Actual call from a lost €85K deal:
Buyer: "Can you walk me through the Salesforce setup again? We need to present this Thursday."
Rep: *Launches into 12-minute feature demo*

The AI caught what the rep missed:
"Present Thursday" = They're building a business case RIGHT NOW.
Rep should've dropped everything to build their champion's slide deck.
Instead, they talked features while the buyer needed ammunition.

Deal died Friday morning.

**Signal #2: The Grammar Switch**

Early in call: "If we were to implement something like this..."
27 minutes later: "When your team comes onsite..."

IF became WHEN.
Hypothetical became concrete.
They'd mentally bought.

But the rep kept selling.
Pushed three more demos.
Talked them right out of the deal.

**Signal #3: The Deadly Pause**

I mapped silence patterns across all 500 calls:
- 3-second pause after pricing = processing
- 7-second pause = checking mental budget
- 12+ seconds = already decided yes, working logistics

When reps jumped into those long pauses to justify?
Close rate tanked 31%.
When they shut up?
Buyers said "That works."

**Signal #4: The Competition Tell**

"We're also looking at [Competitor]" = You're in the race
"We looked at [Competitor]" = Past tense. You've already won.
"Does yours handle X like [Competitor]?" = They want you but need this one thing

The AI caught reps missing these tense changes in 73% of calls.
€2.1M in misread pipeline because humans don't parse grammar under pressure.

My client stared at the data.
"We spend €200K annually on sales training. How are we missing this?"

Simple.
Your brain physically can't track 14 patterns while also running discovery.
Can't count pause duration while handling objections.
Can't parse verb tenses while building rapport.

The uncomfortable truth:

Your "rockstar" reps aren't better sellers.
They're just unconsciously catching 3-4 more signals than everyone else.
Those extra signals? Worth about €400K per rep annually.

We baked this analysis directly into bont.
Because watching deals die from missed signals physically hurts me.

These patterns were hiding in plain sight.
In every call.
Costing millions.

Your team is on calls right now.
Missing these signals right now.
Losing deals right now.

What would 500 of your calls reveal? 🎯

"Stop asking questions. Start listening to mine."

That's what saved a €320K deal that should've taken 8 calls.
Closed in 2.

One of our clients just flipped discovery on its head.
Their rep—Anna—was stuck with a notorious tire-kicker.
You know the type. Takes every meeting. Never buys.

First call starts.
Anna opens her mouth to begin discovery.
The buyer cuts her off:

"Before you start your questions, I have seventeen of my own."

Most reps would panic.
Anna shut up.

For 55 minutes, she answered:
- "How does your integration actually fail?"
- "What happens when your biggest client churns?"
- "Who's your worst customer and why?"
- "What did your last implementation disaster teach you?"

Brutal questions.
Zero slides shown.
No features mentioned.

End of call, the buyer says:
"You're the first vendor who didn't bullshit me. Send me a contract."

Second call: negotiation and signatures.

Done.

Here's what actually happened:

**The buyer already knew what they needed**
→ They'd researched for months
→ Talked to peers who used us
→ Read every case study

They weren't testing our product.
They were testing us.

**Discovery is dead backwards**
→ We interrogate buyers like suspects
→ We hunt for pain we can solve
→ We force them through our process

Meanwhile, they're sitting there thinking:
"Do these people actually get it?"

**The questions they ask tell you everything**
→ Integration questions = they've been burned before
→ Churn questions = they're scared of commitment
→ Disaster questions = they value honesty over polish

Anna didn't need discovery.
The buyer did it for her.

Here's the uncomfortable truth:

Your buyers are 57% through their journey before they talk to you.
They've already diagnosed their problem.
They know what they need.

They're not looking for a consultant.
They're looking for confirmation.

The smartest reps are flipping the script:

**Let them drive**
"What would you like to know about us?"
Watch what they ask first. That's what matters most.

**Answer the question behind the question**
They ask about price? They're really asking about value.
They ask about implementation? They're really asking about risk.

**Stop performing, start conversing**
Discovery calls have become theater.
Buyers can smell the script from miles away.

The brutal reality:

While you're following your 47-step discovery methodology, your competitor is having a real conversation.

Your BANT/MEDDIC/whatever framework assumes buyers are idiots.
They're not.
They're testing if you are.

Ever had a buyer take over your discovery call? What happened? 🎯

Yesterday I watched a €400K VP of Sales spend 47 minutes searching through emails for a calendar invite.

The board meeting started in 13 minutes.
He still hadn't found the revenue forecast someone sent Tuesday.

This wasn't unusual. It was Thursday.

Last month, I shadowed five sales executives for a week.
What I saw physically hurt:

9:14 𝗔𝗠: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆
VP opens inbox. 1,847 unread.
Searches "Q4 forecast." 
312 results.
Opens 23 emails looking for the latest version.
Finally finds it. Meeting's already started.

10:45 𝗔𝗠: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰
Board member asks about pipeline coverage.
VP scrambles to update CRM while screen-sharing.
Manually changes 12 deal stages.
Everyone watches him type.
"Sorry, just need to... okay, there we go."

2:30 𝗣𝗠: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿 𝗠𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆
"Didn't we have a call with Siemens today?"
Scrolls through three calendars.
Checks four email threads.
Teams, Outlook, Gmail, CRM.
Call was yesterday. They no-showed because the invite went to spam.

4:15 𝗣𝗠: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲
Big opportunity review in 15 minutes.
VP manually pulling data from six places.
CRM shows $2.3M. Spreadsheet says $1.8M.
Slack thread mentions $2.7M.
Goes with "approximately $2M" and hopes nobody asks.

One executive told me:
"I'm not a VP. I'm a highly paid admin assistant who sometimes makes strategic decisions."

His time tracking was brutal:
- 31% searching for information
- 24% manual CRM updates 
- 19% building reports that already exist somewhere
- 11% reconciling conflicting data
- 15% actual strategic work

€400K salary. 15% productivity.

Here's the uncomfortable truth:

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴.

Drowning in tools that don't talk.
In data that doesn't match.
In emails they'll never catch up on.

The math is devastating:
€192/hour executive time.
Spent on €15/hour tasks.
That's €177 per hour of destroyed value.

But the real cost?

While your VP updates Salesforce:
→ Your competitor's VP is coaching their team
→ Your deals are stalling without senior input
→ Your reps are making the same mistakes
→ Your strategy is dying in an inbox

I watched one VP transform this.

Killed the manual work.
Automated the admin.
AI handled the data reconciliation.

What'd he do with the time?

Jumped on 10 customer calls.
Saved three deals worth €850K.
In one week.

That's the difference between a €400K admin and a €400K executive.

The painful reality:

Every minute your executives spend connecting dots is a minute your competition is connecting with customers.

Your VP's not supposed to be searching for calendar invites at 9 AM.
They're supposed to be closing deals.

But here we are.
Watching €400K talent do copy-paste.
While revenue walks out the door.

What percentage of your executive's day is actually executive work? 💡

We Analyzed 1,847 Won Deals: The 3 'Life Signals' That Predict 91% of Closes

Most reps are chasing ghosts while real buyers are screaming "take my money" in ways they can't hear.

We pulled CRM data from 23 bont customers. 1,847 closed-won deals.
Found three signals that predicted success with 91% accuracy.

𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹 #1: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻

That proposal you sent 6 weeks ago? If it's still getting opened every 3-4 days, you're not dead. You're being discussed.

We tracked 500+ deals:
- Opens stop after week 2 = 87% chance of losing
- Regular opens after week 6 = They're building consensus

One rep saw his 2-month-old deck opened 47 times in one week.
Called: "Seems like there's renewed interest?"
They'd just gotten budget approval. €340K closed 10 days later.

𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹 #2: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲

Your prospect isn't researching you. Their entire team is.

The pattern:
- 5+ LinkedIn views from same company
- Website traffic from multiple IPs
- Colleagues asking about your expertise
- Getting tagged in relevant discussions

They're not evaluating your product. They're vetting YOU.

One founder noticed his blog getting traffic from a prospect's domain. Then the CFO viewed his LinkedIn. Then random technical questions appeared.

They were validating: "Can we trust this person?"
€185K deal. No second demo needed.

𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹 #3: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀

Here's the uncomfortable truth: If you're chasing, you've already lost.

Follow-up patterns from our data:
- 10+ follow-ups: 12% close rate
- <5 follow-ups: 73% close rate

Real buyers don't need convincing. They need to convince themselves.

Best reps sent this after 3 attempts:
"Seems like this isn't a priority. I'll close your file. You know where to find me."

41% responded within 48 hours with the actual blocker.

The brutal reality:

You're not losing deals from lack of follow-up.
You're losing them by following up with the wrong people.

Focus on the ones giving life signals:
- Still opening old emails
- Colleagues researching you at 9pm
- Multiple stakeholders engaged

Everything else is noise.

What signal have you been ignoring that's telling you everything? 🎯

The €100K Mistake Every Sales Leader Makes in Week 3 of Their AI Rollout

I tracked 47 AI implementations across my network.
Week 3 is when €100K starts burning. Every single time.

Not because the tech fails.
Because something else does.

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 1: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗞𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗼𝗳𝗳
CEO announces the AI transformation.
Vendor runs the 4-hour training marathon.
Everyone nods. Screenshots everything.
"This will change how we sell!"

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 2: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸
Reps try using it. CRM integration breaks.
AI suggests calling prospects at 3am Tokyo time.
"Why does it keep recommending dead leads?"
Usage drops to 31%.

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 3: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 €100𝗞 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻

This is when leadership panics.
And makes the mistake that costs them everything:

They double down on training.
More sessions. More documentation. More "adoption initiatives."
Mandatory usage metrics. Compliance dashboards.

One company burned €100K in Week 3 alone:
→ Emergency consultant: €35K
→ Additional training programs: €25K
→ "Adoption incentives": €15K
→ Lost productivity from forced usage: €25K

Six months later? 
11% adoption. 
€100K gone.
Team morale destroyed.

Here's what actually worked for the 12% who succeeded:

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲.

Week 3 pivot that saved them:
- Stopped the all-hands training circus
- Picked their 3 most tech-savvy reps
- Gave them ONE specific use case to master
- Let them show others when it actually worked

Real wins that spread naturally:
→ Meeting prep in 2 minutes instead of 20
→ Competitor battlecards pulled instantly mid-call
→ Follow-up sequences that actually sound human

The uncomfortable truth:

Your €100K mistake isn't picking the wrong AI tool.
It's forcing adoption instead of fostering it.

Sales reps adopt tools that make them money.
Not tools that management mandates.

Week 3 is your moment of truth:
Do you force compliance or find champions?
Do you train everyone or empower someone?
Do you measure logins or measure wins?

I tracked the data across those 47 implementations:

𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵:
- Week 3 spend: €85K average
- 90-day adoption: 19%
- Rep satisfaction: 2.1/10

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵:
- Week 3 spend: €8K average
- 90-day adoption: 71%
- Rep satisfaction: 7.8/10

The brutal reality:

Most sales leaders hit Week 3 and reach for their checkbook.
When they should be reaching for their best rep.

Your AI rollout doesn't need more money.
It needs one person who gets it.
One use case that works.
One win that others want to replicate.

Start there. Not with the corporate mandate.

What expensive mistake did you make in Week 3 of your AI rollout? 💡

Your playbook assumes buyers who stopped existing in 2019.

Last quarter, I tracked 89 lost deals across three of our clients.
The pattern was painful:
Same three buyer types kept appearing.
Same playbook approach kept failing.

**Buyer #1: The Walking Wounded**
They just fired your competitor mid-contract.
Implementation disaster. Trust shattered.
Your rep shows up with slide deck blazing.

"Let me show you our proven methodology!"

The room goes cold.
They don't need your methodology.
They need therapy.

What works: "Tell me what went wrong last time."
Then shut up and listen for 45 minutes.

**Buyer #2: The Internal Warrior**
Your champion is fighting for budget.
CFO thinks they're wasting money.
CEO questions if this is even a priority.

Your rep schedules a product demo.

"Look at all these features!"

Your champion dies inside.
They don't need features.
They need ammunition.

What works: Build them a business case they can defend.
Not sell. Defend.

**Buyer #3: The Burned Skeptic**
Technical buyer who's seen it all.
Every vendor promises the moon.
None delivered.

Your rep brings reference customers.

"These companies love us!"

The skeptic rolls their eyes.
They don't care who loves you.
They care what breaks at 2am.

What works: Give them your source code to review.
Show them your worst support tickets.
Let them break your product before they buy it.

Here's the uncomfortable truth:

Your playbook assumes rational buyers making logical decisions.
But every buyer is fighting a battle you can't see.

The rep who wins isn't following your slides.
They're reading the room.

We analyzed the 23 deals that closed despite these scenarios.
Not one followed the playbook.
Every single rep threw it out and responded to what was actually happening.

The brutal reality:
Your playbook is a starting point, not a bible.

Treat it like one.

Which buyer type has your playbook completely wrong? 🎯

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Dennis Teichmann

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