Layer 1 · Why do organisations buy?
Where value sits in a business and who owns the budget for it. Figuring this out naturally guides deals downstream.
How to Use This Guide
I didn’t set out to build a system. I set out to close deals.
And when you close enough six-figure deals, you can’t help but notice patterns. At the deal level, the organisation level and the industry level. I kept noticing three areas that came up again and again, and as I paid attention to them, I could cut through a lot of the noise in a deal cycle.
The areas came down to this. If I understood the value my product created. If I could reach the right people and say the right things. And if I could run the conversation confidently while reading, honestly, whether the deal had any substance to it.
Those three are how I read a deal. The clearer I got in these areas, the tighter I could run a cycle. A tighter cycle meant I poured less time into deals that were never going to close and more into the ones that were. The same lens reads the other way too - the three that explained why I won also explained why I lost. The same three, deal after deal, win or lose. Over time, these three areas presented themselves as a system. Which raises the obvious question: who could use this?
Who Could Use this
Section titled “Who Could Use this”Everything here comes from deals I’ve actually run. Enterprise sales motions into publicly listed and public sector organisations. Deal sizes that are six figures and above. The types of deals with lots of moving parts - think buying committees, enterprise architecture, business cases.
But the system isn’t exclusive to the enterprise, because a system can adapt to most scenarios. Whether it’s a committee of twelve or a deal with three people in the room, the same three areas apply - they just get more pronounced as deals carry more risk. If you’re still reading, you’re probably keen to learn more.
What you’ll learn
Section titled “What you’ll learn”The three layers split into strategy and execution. Layers 1 and 2 are the strategy - where your product creates value, who actually buys, and what to build before you engage. Layer 3 is the execution - how to run the cycle that closes, and how to read a real deal from a fake one. Strategy without execution is a slide deck. Execution without strategy is noise. You need both.
Layer 2 · What do you sell?
The inputs you build before you engage - value map, qualification, mutual action plan, champion, give/get - and one story for the whole team to take into the market.
Layer 3 · How do you sell?
The sales cycle itself: which stage you’re in, which input it needs, and how to tell a real deal from a fake one.
By the last page you’ll have built a skeleton version of all three for your own situation.
About the frameworks
Section titled “About the frameworks”Some of what’s here is from established work - frameworks for mapping value, classifying process, qualifying deals. I didn’t invent those, and I’ll point to each as it comes up. What’s mine is the synthesis: the way they connect into one system that satisfies both the technical buyer and the business buyer at every stage.