Ryan Hall stood up to talk about sales. What he actually gave us was a talk about communication.
It wasn’t about how to sell. It was about how the sale looks from the buyer’s side of the table.
His line that stuck: people want the cake, not the ingredients.
The ingredients don’t solve the problem.
Ryan’s point was simple. The buyer is sitting in a different seat, trying to solve a different problem. Talk from there.
People with a problem want the end result. Your process, method and experience still matter, but they belong in the background, in consistent messaging and positioning, not at the front of the pitch.
Some speakers tease, tease, tease, then finally land something modest.
Ryan didn’t over-egg the pudding.
He was open and direct about his path to success and how he helps others get it.
For someone sketching live, that’s a gift. Each idea arrived clean, so I could sketch it straight away.
He opened with what busy business owners live with every day: hundreds of decisions. I sketched a blindfolded figure juggling on a ball on top of a wobbly three-legged stool. Next to it, a figure spinning plates. Lots of plates up, no view of the room.
Then he moved to what the buyer wants: the solution. Here’s how I saw his advice. The buyer points clearly at the problem: a wall between them and the value. The expert doesn’t describe the wall. They offer three ways over it: a hang glider, a catapult and a springboard.
Ryan’s approach is all about building trust. I saw an honest sense of how long the journey is and how many pitfalls there are. Especially when the conversation is only about what the seller thinks is important.
Ryan finished on scale. I loved his take: chaos scales fast, which is exactly what we don’t want, and the mistake we make is betting on luck.
Framed that way, it’s so absurd and so obvious that we can’t ignore it. And once we see it, we can course-correct towards better actions and better decisions.
Afterwards, I chatted with another attendee. We agreed it was good to hear the foundations again. It validates the effort we’re already putting in.
None of it is rocket science. We know eating well and moving more are good for us, and we still find them hard. Selling from the buyer’s seat is the same. Knowing isn’t the problem. Doing it consistently is.
Sometimes you just need to hear it from someone you respect. On Tuesday, I did.
[Download a PDF of all the sketches from Dropbox — link]
Drop me a message if you want me to sketch your event.
Executive communication coach helping business leaders use speaking to drive growth. My 5 Steps of Intentional Communication turns every stage, meeting, or keynote into a business opportunity.
You need to load content from reCAPTCHA to submit the form. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More Information
