Salespeople Can't Be Trusted to Run QBRs!
Sales Today
Why Quarterly Business Reviews should be about customer value, not sales pitches Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) are supposed to strengthen relationships, demonstrate value and identify future opportunities. Too often, however, they become little more than product presentations. In this episode, Fred Copestake is joined by Celia Sanchez Garcia (Celia SGAR), Founder of Vendor Manager Hub, to discuss why many QBRs fail and what salespeople can do differently. Drawing on over 16 years of supplier and vendor management experience, Celia shares why customers should often take the lead in...
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What Can Sales Learn From Customer Success?
Sales Today
Take the free Collaborative Selling Scorecard Winning new customers is only half the story. The real commercial advantage comes from helping customers achieve the outcomes they were promised, long after the contract has been signed. In this episode of Sales Today, Fred Copestake is joined by customer success expert Anika Zubair to explore what sales professionals can learn from one of the fastest-growing disciplines in modern business. Together they discuss why customer success isn't simply account management, why discovery remains the most valuable commercial skill, and how focusing...
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A Smarter Way to Sell in Engineering Businesses
Sales Today
Free Collaborative Selling Scorecard If you would like to assess how your sales approach aligns with today’s buying environment, you can take the free Collaborative Selling Scorecard: In this final episode of the Sales Today mini series, Fred brings the threads of the series together and explains the deeper issue sitting underneath many of the challenges explored in the previous episodes. Deals stall. Price becomes the focus. Conversations stay too low in the organisation. Teams struggle to engage senior stakeholders. Sales training makes sense, but behaviour doesn’t...
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Why Most Sales Training Fails Engineering Teams (And What Actually Works)
Sales Today
If you would like to assess how your sales approach aligns with today’s buying environment, you can take the free Collaborative Selling Scorecard: In this episode, Fred explores a frustration shared by many engineering and technical businesses: You've invested in sales training. The team enjoyed it. The ideas made sense. But six months later… very little has actually changed. Fred explains why the problem is rarely the quality of the training itself. More often, it's the gap between understanding new ideas and applying them in real sales situations. In this...
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The “Ah” Moment That Changes Every Sale
Sales Today
Free Collaborative Selling Scorecard If you would like to assess how your sales approach aligns with today’s buying environment, you can take the free Collaborative Selling Scorecard: In this episode of the Sales Today Podcast, Fred explores one of the most important moments in any sales conversation. It's not when the customer agrees to a meeting. It's not when they ask for a proposal. And it's not when they say yes. It's that subtle moment when they pause and say: "Ah... right, that makes sense." Fred explains why this seemingly small moment represents a major...
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Why Being Too Technical Can Cost You Deals
Sales Today
Take the Collaborative Selling Scorecard: In this episode of the Sales Today Podcast, Fred Copestake explores a pattern he often sees in engineering-led sales organisations: What he calls The Engineering Super Ego. Despite the provocative name, this isn't a criticism of engineers. In fact, it comes from one of their greatest strengths: deep expertise, technical excellence, and the ability to solve complex problems. The challenge is that, in sales conversations, this strength can sometimes become a weakness. Fred explains why customers don't necessarily need more...
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Why Sales Teams Struggle to Reach Senior Decision Makers (And What to Do About It)
Sales Today
Take the Collaborative Selling Scorecard: Connect with Fred: Watch Fred’s FREE YouTube Course: Sales Mastery for Engineers: Watch the full mini series playlist In this episode of the Sales Today Podcast, Fred Copestake tackles a challenge that many engineering and B2B sales teams face: Why is it so difficult to engage senior stakeholders? The common assumption is that senior decision-makers are simply too busy, too difficult to reach, or unwilling to engage. But what if the real issue isn't access at all? Fred explores why many sales conversations naturally sit...
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You've Got a Great Product So Why Aren't You Winning More Deals?
Sales Today
Take the Collaborative Selling Scorecard: Connect with Fred: Watch Fred’s FREE YouTube Course: Sales Mastery for Engineers: Watch the full mini series playlist Most engineering businesses already have strong products, strong expertise, and strong technical capability. So why do so many opportunities still fail to convert? In this 5th episode of the Sales Today Mini Series, Fred explores one of the biggest misunderstandings in modern B2B sales: A strong solution does not automatically create buying confidence. Customers are not simply evaluating products in...
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Why Deals Don’t Move - Even When They Look Good
Sales Today
Take the Collaborative Selling Scorecard: Connect with Fred: Watch Fred’s FREE YouTube Course: Sales Mastery for Engineers: Watch the full mini series playlist In this episode of the Sales Today Podcast, Fred Copestake explores one of the most frustrating realities in modern B2B sales: The deals that never actually say “no” - but never really move forward either. The pipeline looks healthy. The conversations seemed positive. The proposal was submitted. And then… nothing. Fred explains why stalled deals are often misunderstood. In many cases, the issue...
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Why B2B Sales Conversations Always End Up About Price
Sales Today
Take the Collaborative Selling Scorecard: In this episode of the Sales Today Podcast, Fred Copestake explores one of the most common frustrations in engineering and B2B sales: Why do so many deals eventually come down to price? While it is easy to blame procurement pressure, competition, or tighter budgets, Fred explains why pricing pressure is often only a symptom - not the real problem. The real issue usually sits in where the sales conversation begins and the level of value being discussed. In this episode: Why cost-focused conversations naturally invite comparison ...
info_outlineTake the Collaborative Selling Scorecard: https://collaborativeselling.scoreapp.com
In this episode of the Sales Today Podcast, Fred Copestake explores one of the most common frustrations in engineering and B2B sales:
Why do so many deals eventually come down to price?
While it is easy to blame procurement pressure, competition, or tighter budgets, Fred explains why pricing pressure is often only a symptom - not the real problem.
The real issue usually sits in where the sales conversation begins and the level of value being discussed.
In this episode:
- Why cost-focused conversations naturally invite comparison
- How many sales teams unintentionally commoditise their own offering
- The hidden danger of leading with efficiency and savings
- Why “better value” often becomes shorthand for “lower price”
- The difference between cost saving, efficiency, effectiveness, and competitive advantage
- How value positioning changes the level of stakeholder engagement
- Why senior decision-makers think differently about value
The Value Pyramid
Fred introduces a simple way to think about value in B2B sales:
- Cost Saving → reducing spend
- Efficiency → doing things right
- Effectiveness → doing the right things
- Competitive Advantage → helping customers perform better in their market
The lower the conversation sits, the easier it becomes for customers to compare suppliers directly.
The higher the conversation moves, the harder it becomes to compare purely on price.
Key Takeaway
If your deals regularly end up focused on price, the important question is not:
“Why are customers pushing on price?”
It is:
“Where is our value sitting in the customer’s mind?”
Because the level of value you create shapes the conversation you ultimately have.
Mentioned in this episode
The Collaborative Selling Scorecard - a free tool to assess how aligned your sales behaviours are with modern buying environments.. https://collaborativeselling.scoreapp.com/
Connect with Fred
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredcopestake
If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the Sales Today Podcast and share it with others
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/sk1yE6tH38E
Watch the full mini series playlist here
Watch Fred’s FREE YouTube Course: Sales Mastery for Engineers: https://bit.ly/Sales-Mastery-For-Engineers