Blog
Short, practical notes on revenue operations and using AI without giving up quality. Written for owners and sellers who run the business.
Revenue systems and how I work (13)
How I think about building revenue systems, and the rules I work by.
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How to get ready to win government bids
The method government contractors use to win bids, why the industry runs on it, and what a person or a small company needs to compete.
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If the CRM doesn’t enforce it, reps will skip it
Rename a stage and nothing changes unless the CRM asks for evidence. What three CRMs say they enforce.
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Find your ideal customer in the deals you already closed
Your best customers are already in your CRM. Here is the rule I use to find them.
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Three filters that cut your list of sales steps
List every step in a deal, then keep only what is required, factual and inspectable.
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Name your stages for what the buyer did, not what the rep did
Ask three reps what Proposal means. Then name every stage for a buyer action.
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A do-not-contact field belongs on every person in your CRM
One field, set once, that people can check before they write to someone.
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Why sales systems should be built by someone who sells
After 26 years of quota and a decade inside startups, here is why the builder’s background matters.
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Building a go-to-market engine alone: the order I’d do it in
Profile, scoring, stages, forecast, then AI. The order matters more than the tools.
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Test it small, then expand only what works
A short pilot around one number tells you what to keep before you scale it.
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No proof, no move: how to write pipeline stages a stranger could check
Two people read the same stage name two ways, and the forecast mixes them. A 10-minute fix.
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Automate what repeats, and keep one-off work manual
A task that happens every week is worth a workflow. A task that happens once is worth a person.
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Why my portfolio project is about a company that doesn't exist
No employer data on the site, ever. So I invented a drone maker to show the work.
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Start with the number: what should move before you build anything
If you can’t name what should move, you’re not ready to build.
AI agents (8)
The agents I build for revenue operations, and how each one is controlled.
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Why my design agents don’t grade their own work
Builders build, a critic scores against a rubric, and QA measures. No agent signs off its own work.
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The QA agent that checks the other fourteen
When you change one agent, a QA agent checks that the rest still do what they should.
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The data agent: ask the CRM a question in plain language
Ask a question in plain words, get an answer from the CRM, and queue any changes for approval.
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The customer handoff agent: what a new account owner needs on day one
A full transition report when an account changes hands, so the history isn’t lost.
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The customer health agent: a rating is only useful with its evidence
Green, yellow or red, with the evidence cited and a next action for each account.
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The call recap agent: a transcript becomes a CRM note and a follow-up
Transcript in, CRM note and follow-up draft out, and nothing saved until a person reads it.
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The deal progression agent: one next step per open deal
Every open deal, its momentum, what blocks it, and one next step.
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AI drafts, people decide: the approval rule behind every agent I build
The one rule I never drop on AI work, and the flow that enforces it.
Claude prompts for the sales week (19)
Claude prompts for each moment of a sales week, with the check to run before you use them.
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Explain this week’s numbers in plain language, without claiming causes
Turn a table of numbers into a plain update, and keep the causes as questions to check.
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Weekly ops: a Friday summary and a check for process leaks
Close the week in five minutes, and find where your process leaks.
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A cold email with one ask and no invented proof
One ask, under 90 words, and the rule that you never invent a customer result.
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Outbound: start from a trigger and plan four touches
Write to people for a reason, then plan a sequence that does not repeat itself.
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A blameless review of a deal you lost
Find where the deal turned and one thing to change, without blaming anyone.
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Stalled deals: reasons to reach out that are not ’checking in’
Three honest reasons to write to a quiet deal, and which lost deals to revisit.
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Objections: reply with a question, then keep a log
A reply that asks instead of argues, and a log that shows which objections repeat.
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A reply to a discount request that holds the price
Hold the price, offer a trade, and decide what you will trade before you send.
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Proposals: start with their words, then offer three options
Outline the proposal in the buyer’s language, and give them a real choice.
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Am I covered? A pipeline-versus-quota check you can read as a range
Show the math, state the assumptions, and treat the answer as a range, not a promise.
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A skeptical sales manager for your own deal
Let Claude ask the hard questions before your real manager does.
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Pipeline review: a Monday scan and a plan for the week
Find the deals that need you this week, and the ones to stop chasing.
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The word “missing”: a one-line fix for CRM notes nobody can use
One line in a prompt turns gaps in your notes into questions for the buyer.
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Clean CRM data with three prompts and one rule
Fields from a transcript, duplicate companies, and lost reasons you can report on.
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Review your own sales call from the transcript
Honest feedback on your own call, with quotes, and a note on recording consent.
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After the call: the recap email and the follow-up that adds something
A recap that records what was agreed, and a follow-up worth reading.
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Discovery: find the gaps in your notes and who really decides
Two prompts that turn thin discovery notes into the next questions to ask.
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An opener from their own words, with no flattery
A first line that quotes what they wrote and skips the compliment about their career.
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Before the call: a two-minute brief and one clear goal
Two prompts for the ten minutes between no prep and an hour of prep.