Coaching Over 1000 Business Owners Taught Me This
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Most service business owners think better work leads to more revenue. After coaching over 1,000 business owners, I've learned that's rarely true. In this video, I break down the 7 lessons that separate businesses that consistently grow from those stuck in feast-and-famine cycles—including sales systems, pipelines, closing deals, and the habits that actually drive long-term growth. If you run a service business, this could change the way you think about sales forever.
CHAPTERS: 0:00 - The Biggest Myth About Growing a Business 1:07 - Lesson 1: Quality Work Doesn't Win Revenue 2:16 - Lesson 2: Make Your Pipeline Visible 3:54 - Lesson 3: The Feast and Famine Trap 5:34 - Lesson 4: The Mistake of Hiring a Closer Too Soon 7:50 - Lesson 5: You Don't Have to Be a "Salesperson" 10:12 - Lesson 6: The Deal You Don't Ask For is the Deal You Lose 12:56 - Lesson 7: The Power of Boring Fundamentals 16:41 - How to Build a Repeatable Sales System
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Service business owners who break through revenue plateaus succeed not through better work quality, but by implementing simple, consistent sales systems and asking for the business—a fundamentally different skillset from service delivery that most entrepreneurs neglect.
- Quality work is necessary but not sufficient; sales systems are the actual lever for revenue growth
- Seven recurring patterns emerge across 1,000+ coached business owners regardless of industry or revenue level
- Consistency in executing basic sales activities (finding prospects, moving them through pipeline, asking for business) compounds into dramatic revenue growth, not innovation or complexity
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Scaling sales via hiring requires two distinct sequential stages: first, build a proven, reliable sales system; second, hire, incentivize, and manage the right person to implement that system consistently.
“So, scaling sales by hiring sales people needs to happen in two very distinct stages. First off, you've got to build a proven, reliable sales system, which is what we did for this client. And then you obviously need to hire, incentivize, and manage the right person to have their bum in the seat to actually run the machine, to implement the system.”
The fix for pipeline invisibility is simple: make the pipeline visible in one unified view (e.g., Kanban dashboard) showing all live deals and their stages, which immediately allows spotting cold deals before they go cold and identifying high-value opportunities being ignored.
“The fix is just stupidly simple. You've just got to make your pipeline visible. One view, every live deal within it, every stage of your pipeline there in front of you. Not because a Kanban style dashboard like this is some kind of black magic, but because the moment that you can see the entirety of your pipeline, you can stop guessing and you can stop bullshitting yourself. You can spot the deal that's just about to go cold before it goes cold. You can also spot the big opportunity within the smaller ones that are taking up lots of your time where you should be spending the time on the bigger, more lucrative deal that is sat right there.”
The first step to building a predictable sales process is to time block 1 hour per day with the sole objective of moving deals in the pipeline to the next stage of the buyer's journey, with no other goals or complexity.
“Now, the idea of building a predictable sales process might seem like a big challenge to you. But the first step is just to time block 1 hour a day into your calendar with the sole single objective of moving the deals in your pipeline to the next stage of their buyers journey. Don't overcomplicate this.”
The specific application of Lesson 6 is simple: before ending any sales conversation, ask 'Does it make sense to [action]?' either to start, book a meeting, discuss a proposal, etc., and always progress the next step—never let 'I'll follow up next week' be the last thing said.
“Before you end any sales conversation, you've got to ask the question, does it make sense to do and then the thing, right? And then close the sale or at a minimum, you've got to progress the next step of the sales process. So, you might say, 'Does it make sense to get started today? Does it make sense to get that next meeting booked in the diary right now?' You might say, 'Sure, I can send over a proposal. Would it make sense to jump on a quick call tomorrow and we can run through it?' Don't let the 'I'll I'll follow up next week' be the last thing that's said in a sales conversation because the deal that you don't ask for is the deal that you're inevitably going to lose.”
Prospects choose competitors who ask for the business because they want to hand their painful problem off to someone to solve, and they give that problem to whoever in the least friction gives them an invoice.
“Why have they gone with that competitor? Because they asked for the business and the prospect wants the painful problem solved and so they asked that person to solve it. I mean, it's pretty obvious, right? If I've got a deeply painful business problem, I want to hand that problem off to someone to solve. And often the prospect is going to give that problem to whoever in the least friction gives them the invoice to pay so they can just get it off their plate.”
Asking someone if they'd like you to help solve their problem is not pushy when you've genuinely shown you can solve their pain point and the math makes sense for them—at that point, not asking is actually leaving them stuck with the problem.
“Asking someone if they'd like you to help them solve their problem isn't pushy when you've genuinely shown that you can solve their pain point and the maths make sense for the buyer. At that point, not asking isn't polite. You're just leaving them stuck with the problem that they came to you to solve.”
The fundamentals beat lots of attempts at brilliance over and over again—this is what 1000+ coached business owners have taught.
“And what I've learned having mentored over 1,000 business owners at this point is that the fundamentals tend to beat lots of attempts at brilliance over and over and over again.”
You don't need to become a sales person; you only need to implement a sales system—a critical reframe that separates identity from business function.
“Here's the reframe that I give to them, and I'm going to give to you. You don't need to become a sales person. You just need to implement a sales system.”
A well-designed sales system absorbs the awkwardness that business owners feel about selling because the system removes the need for improvisation and instinct-based performance.
“When you build an effective sales system, the system absorbs a lot of the awkwardness that you personally might feel about selling. And so, you get to run the machine, run the sales process, and just stay exactly who you are. Because think about it, right? The reason that sales feels horrible to you right now is that you're doing it on instinct. In the moment, you've got no roadmap. Every call is a fresh improvisation where you you're hoping that you're going to say the right thing. Of course, right? Of course that's stressful.”
The question to ask is not 'How do I make my work even better?' but rather 'What needs to happen to turn strangers into customers instead?'—a fundamental reorientation of the business owner's mental model.
“So, stop asking, 'How do I make my work even better?' and start asking, 'What needs to happen to turn strangers into customers instead?'”
The belief that growing a business requires getting better at service delivery is false and is the primary mechanism keeping service businesses small; better work is the price of entry, not the lever for revenue.
“Most business owners think that the way to grow is to get better at the work that they actually deliver. And I get why you might think that because the deliverables are the bit of business that you actually love, the bit that you're actually proud of. But that belief is quietly keeping a lot of really good service businesses small because better work was never the lever to more revenue.”
Business owners who win and those who stay stuck are not separated by talent or quality of work; this separation is caused by a handful of factors almost nobody teaches, specifically seven lessons that recur across industries and revenue levels.
“The business owners who win and the ones that stay stuck aren't separated by talent. They're not separated by how good their work is. Honestly, half the time, the ones that are stuck are actually better at the service delivery. What actually separates them is a handful of things that almost nobody teaches you. Seven things, in fact. Seven lessons that come up over and over again, no matter what the industry, no matter what the revenue number.”
Business owners are emotional, busy humans operating in delivery mode who react to immediate stimuli; without a visible unified pipeline view, they are not running the business—the business is running them.
“Here's why understanding your pipeline matters so much. It's because you are an emotional, busy human being. You're in delivery most of the week. You're reacting to whatever shouts loudest in the morning, what's at the top of your inbox. And when the only view of your pipeline that you have is the conversation that you kind of half remember that you had 5 minutes ago with someone who's potentially a customer, you're not running the business, the business is running you.”
Business owners describe feast-and-famine sales cycles as inevitable ('like the weather'), but consistent revenue is achievable by building and feeding a sales machine with new opportunities consistently.
“For years, I'd hear business owners describe the feast and the famine sales cycle of running a service business like it was they'd talk about it like it was the weather. Like it was something that they couldn't do anything about and some days it would rain and some days it would be dry. It's just how my business is or it's just how my industry is, I'd hear over and over and over again. Business owners would proclaim this as if it was fact. But the reality is you can have consistent revenue if you build a sales machine and then you feed it consistently with new opportunities.”
Many business owners believe deep down they are 'just not a sales person'—a technician or craftsperson—and that sales is for a different type of human: the confident, gift-of-the-gab type; this belief, once reframed, becomes the most liberating lesson.
“There's so many business owners have decided deep down that they are, quote, just not a sales person. They are a technician, a craftsperson, a a deliverer of great work, and the sales bit is for some other kind of human, the the confident, slippery, gift of the gab type.”
The best sales principles are almost too simple and feel too simple at first; people won't tell you this because they're trying to sell complex AI and software that isn't needed at this stage of entrepreneurial journey.
“And here is the thing that nobody tells you. The best sales principles are almost too simple. At least they feel too simple at first, and people won't tell you this because they're trying to flog AI or sell you some complex software that you don't really need at this point in your entrepreneurial journey.”
The brain has been programmed by society that making money is hard and business is complex, so it constantly wants fancy new tactics and tools; but most business owners who even have something working will tinker, get bored, and abandon the fundamentals that got them there.
“Your brain has been programmed by society that making money is hard, and that sales and business is complex. And so it wants the the fancy new tactic, the new tool. It wants the the the reinvented process. So most business owners, when even when they've got something working, they will tinker. They'll get bored. They'll abandon the fundamentals of the business that's got them to where they are right now.”
The market doesn't reward the best work; it rewards the best sales system.
“So, those are the seven lessons that coaching over 1,000 business owners actually taught me. So, the market doesn't reward the best work, it rewards the best sales system.”
The prescription is to invest in a simple sales system and protect it from your own urge to overcomplicate things; don't reinvent every fortnight, commit to at least a couple of months before judging results.
“Invest into a simple sales system, and then try and protect it from your own urge to overcomplicate things and ruin it. Don't reinvent every fortnight. Commit to at least a couple of months before you start to judge the results from it.”
You can't fix a process that you can't see, referring to the inability to improve sales without pipeline visibility.
“You can't fix a process that you can't see.”
Sam, a marketing agency owner consistently winning awards and delivering superior client outcomes, was losing deals to one-person competitors working from home because those competitors had better sales systems and closing ability, despite Sam's objectively superior service quality.
“I met this lady called Sam. She's currently in my business mentorship and she's a great example of this. Sam runs a marketing agency and she's consistently delivering amazing results for her clients. She's constantly entering and then winning awards for her work, but she joined the mentorship because she was pissed off at constantly, over and over again, losing potential clients to one-man bands in the marketing space working out of the back room of their their dingy flat. And even though she delivered better work and she delivered better client outcomes, she was getting out-sold by these competitors who knew the sales game better than what she did.”
The emotional and financial pain of feast-and-famine cycles—fear of making cash then not having enough for payroll, excitement followed by devastation—is caused by the absence of a step-by-step sales process that produces predictable outcomes.
“The harsh reality is that they're all living with this painful up and down of revenue. The fear of making a bunch of cash and then not making enough money to pay payroll a couple of times a year and then get excited one month and then devastated the next when the cash that they could pull out of the business essentially disappears and goes to zero. And this is all because they didn't build a step-by-step sales process that led to predictable outcomes.”
Hiring a sales person without first building a proven, reliable sales system in place is one of the most expensive mistakes business owners make repeatedly, even with good intentions.
“This next one I've got to be careful with because it's one of the most expensive mistakes I watch business owners make and they make it on purpose time and time again, even if it is with the best of intentions. Okay, so the logic from the business owner goes like this. I hate selling. I'm not very good at it, so I'm going to hire someone who is good at it and they're going to magically fix this issue for me.”
The sixth lesson is that business owners end conversations with interested prospects without asking for the business, and deals silently die while competitors capture them by asking.
“The sixth lesson is one that I see kill more good opportunities than almost anything else. And it's so quiet that you probably barely notice it happening. So, you end up chatting with a warm prospect, the call goes well, the prospect seems genuinely excited, there's real interest, and then nothing happens. Why? Well, it's cuz the business owner hasn't actually asked for the business and so they don't get it.”
Sales feels horrible to most business owners because they're doing it on instinct without a roadmap, with every call being fresh improvisation where they hope to say the right thing, which is inherently stressful.
“Because think about it, right? The reason that sales feels horrible to you right now is that you're doing it on instinct. In the moment, you've got no roadmap. Every call is a fresh improvisation where you you're hoping that you're going to say the right thing. Of course, right? Of course that's stressful.”
Competitors who beat you at sales but are worse at service delivery are not more talented; they're just more comfortable at sales or have better systems, and this comfort allows them to take the ego out of the process and execute sales effectively.
“The competitor who's beating you, who is worse at the service that you deliver, that is admittedly annoying, right? If that is the case, they're probably not more talented than you. They're just more comfortable at sales. Or they've got better systems to fall back on and so they're able to take the ego out of the process and just get the sales job done.”
Winners keep doing the same boring handful of actions day after day; a few months in, the pipeline that used to terrify them is full and visible; 12 months in, 2 years later, they've closed more deals and generated more revenue than they ever thought possible.
“The same boring handful of actions day after day, and a few months in, that pipeline that used to terrify them is now full, and it's visible. 12 months in, 2 years further down the line, they've closed more deals and generated more revenue than they ever thought was possible.”
Most business owners doing under 2-5 million in revenue wing (do without intentional planning) the most important business function: the sales process.
“So, we sorted out sales systems and she's doing great now, but I see this all of the time. You put out great work and then you wing the most important thing for businesses that are doing under 2 to 5 million in revenue, you wing the sales process.”
A case study: A UK painting and decorating business owner added 30% net new revenue year-on-year for 5 years straight, growing from small to 3M+ pounds annually while working 4 days a week, despite not being the sharpest tool in the shed—purely through ability to chip away at key sales activities daily like a robot.
“There's one guy from the UK that I've been coaching at this point forever. He is lovely. He's a complete legend. And he would admit this as well, but he's perhaps not the sharpest tool in the shed. Regardless, he's added 30% net new revenue to his painting and decorating business year-on-year for the past 5 years. His business now, that started off very small with him and one of his mates, his business is now generating over 3 million pounds a year, and he only works 4 days a week. He's absolutely crushing it, and he's living the life of his dreams, having come from, like myself, a very working-class family. And the crazy thing of all of this is that he'd be the first to tell you that he isn't the the brightest, most exceptional entrepreneur out there.”
For service business owners doing the selling themselves or with a small team, if you're tired of not bringing in the revenue your service deserves, the speaker offers to help install a proven, repeatable sales system with money-back guarantee.
“And if you own a service business and you're the one doing all the selling, or perhaps you've got a small team that are doing sales on your behalf, and you're tired of not bringing in the revenue that you know that your service deserves, well, click the link below this video to book a call into my calendar. I might be able to help you install a proven, repeatable sales system that's going to help you close more sales. And if not, we'll give you your money back.”
To know the fundamental sales processes capable of doubling revenue in 6 months, watch another video—described as quickest way to stop losing sales to competitors and start bringing in deserved revenue.
“And if you want to know the fundamental sales processes that are capable of doubling your revenue in the next 6 months, well, click here to watch this video. It's the quickest way to stop losing sales to competitors and start bringing in the revenue that you really deserve.”