Ryan Sangster

Seller notes get a bad reputation in SMB deals.   Buyers hesitate to ask for them. Sellers hesitate to offer them. And deals that could close fall apart.   So where does the stigma come from?   𝟭. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 “𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻” 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗱. Fake dealmakers push 100% seller financing. Sellers hear it and think: “Why should I take all the risk while the buyer puts in nothing?” That mindset has soured many sellers on notes altogether.   𝟮. 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘀. Plenty of lawyers, brokers, and consultants preach: The only money a seller can count on is what’s paid at closing. The message: seller notes are risky and unreliable.   Both views miss the point.   A well-structured seller note: • Aligns incentives, keeping the seller invested post-closing. • Bridges valuation gaps without stalling the deal. • Protects sellers with clear remedies if payments aren’t made.   Yes, it isn’t cash on the table. But they can give sellers more leverage than sitting behind the bank. And in a strong company, with a capable buyer and good terms, the odds of default are far lower than the myths suggest.   Seller notes aren’t “dirty.” They’re one of the most practical tools to align interests and get deals done.   Good dealmakers don’t run from them. They use them to close gaps, manage risk, and finish the deal.   𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗱𝗱 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳? #SellerFinancing #MergersAndAcquistions #SMB #BusinessBuying  

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𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝘄𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘁 Sail With AI: AI shouldn’t replace salespeople. It should protect their time and effort. Most lost deals aren’t lost in discovery or negotiation. They’re lost before a human ever gets a chance. Coverage first. Humans always in control.

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Your rep just had their first call in 2 months with a prospect. They dive straight into "so where are we at with the proposal?" The deal dies 10 minutes later. Here's what they should have done instead. Run a "What We Learned" call to get re-aligned before moving forward. I just coached a rep through this exact situation. She hadn't talked to the prospect since August. It's now October. She's got a meeting scheduled and she's planning to just pick up where they left off. I said stop. We need to back up. Here's why deals die after time gaps. When you haven't talked to a prospect in weeks or months everything has changed. Their priorities shifted. New stakeholders got involved. Budget conversations happened. Internal politics moved. But your rep is still operating on information from 2 months ago. So they show up to the call completely out of sync. The prospect is thinking about different problems now. Your rep is pitching old solutions. Nobody's aligned. The deal stalls or dies. Here's what elite reps do instead. They run a "What We Learned" call. Before they talk about next steps or proposals or pricing they get everyone back on the same page. You create a simple slide deck. Current problem and pain. Ideal state. Key points that matter most. Then you get on the call and say “hey, it's been a few months since we talked. Just want to make sure we're 100% aligned. Based on our past conversations here's what we learned. Here's the big challenge you're facing. Here's what's at risk if you don't solve it. Does this still sound accurate?” Let them correct you if things changed. Take notes. Adjust your understanding. Because here's what most reps don't realize. Your prospects don't remember everything you discussed 2 months ago. They've had 50 other meetings since then. They're dealing with fires you don't know about. When you recap what you learned you're doing two things. You're showing them you actually listened and understood their problem. And you're giving them permission to update you on what's changed. Here's the exact framework. Create a "What We Learned" slide with 3-4 sections: → Key priority and impact → Current state with specific problems → Ideal state with desired outcomes → Other relevant details (if applicable) (Bonus points if you have their core metrics and KPIs on there with quantified impact) Walk through each section. Get them to agree or correct you. Make it conversational. Then once you're aligned move into their questions and next steps. Most sales leaders don't teach their teams this. They just tell reps to "follow up" after deals go quiet. The rep sends an email. Books a call. Shows up unprepared. Wonders why the deal feels off. Teach your team how to recover momentum after time gaps. It's one of the most important skills they need. Your reps should never walk into a call after a time gap and wing it. They should have a "What We Learned" deck ready. For more insights dive into the comment section👇

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Three things I've learned about sales while growing Pliable from 0-1: 1. Aggressive disqualification is the single most important thing for an efficient growth engine. It can both force prospects who really want your product to admit it early on, and weed out prospects who would have otherwise wasted your time. Be a (polite) asshole and protect your time. 2. Nothing is better than warm intros via your network. Pre Series-A, hire someone with a deep and meaningful network over someone who is good at cold outreach and/or demand gen. 3. Anyone selling you automated B2B outbound programs has no idea what they're talking about, will fail 100% of the time, and will blame it on your lack of specificity on ICP no matter how specific you are. There is no substitute for a full-time person who has skin in the game and can switch gears in real time. #sales #startup #bizdev #growth

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I want to offer a different take on why quota attainment has hit historic lows. Salesforce's 2024 State of Sales report found only 28% of reps hit their number last year. The default narrative is that sellers aren't working hard enough, or the market is tougher, or the leads aren't good. I'd argue there's a harder-to-see factor at play. HubSpot's data shows sales reps spend just two hours a day actually selling. The rest goes to admin, internal meetings, and CRM updates. That's not laziness — it's a system problem. But it also means reps get very few at-bats per week to practice the craft of consultative selling. And practice, it turns out, is exactly what's needed. Researchers studying remote work's effect on communication found that the conversational skills that get built through years of in-person interaction — reading a room, holding silence, knowing when to push and when to listen — don't develop the same way over video. A study in the Journal of Neuroscience found that Zoom-based conversation actually shifts the brain into coherence states that suppress natural turn-taking and dialogue flow. Reps aren't failing at discovery because they're incapable. They're doing it with a neurological handicap most people don't even know exists. Add to this that 78% of reps rate their coaching as only moderately effective or worse (Salesloft, 2025), and the picture becomes clear: sellers are getting fewer reps, less feedback, and harder conditions than any generation of sales professionals before them — and then being held to the same quota expectations. This isn't an excuse. It's a diagnosis. And the answer isn't working harder. It's getting smarter, more frequent, more specific feedback on what's actually happening in your conversations. That's what we built CloseRate to deliver. Not a performance review. Consistent, trusted coaching — built from your own calls, benchmarked against what your best conversations look like — that shows you exactly what to adjust and why. It's focused, accurate, and effective. The skills are recoverable. The feedback loop just has to exist. #Sales #SalesCoaching #QuotaAttainment #SalesEnablement #CloseRateAI

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The $500K deal didn’t move forward. Price wasn’t the problem. It needed a clearer mutual execution plan. Early in my enterprise sales career, my boss told me: “It’s not just your own execution plan. It’s mutual or it doesn’t work.” That stuck. I quickly learned selling complex software isn’t just about the demo. It’s about the business outcome and sequencing decisions together. A real mutual execution plan includes: • Alignment on goals and evaluation criteria • Confirmed stakeholders and approvals • A demo built around real workflows • Defined ROI, implementation, and timeline • Agreed next steps in writing • Reviewed in person or on a call with the client When the plan lives only in your CRM, it’s incomplete. When it’s shared and owned on both sides, momentum builds. That's what makes deals predictable.

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I’m a 40-year-old seller who has generated +75% of my own pipeline over the last 10+ years. I say this because it’s come to my attention that there’s a misconception that longer tenured or higher segment sellers don’t prospect. This couldn’t be more wrong. No matter my age and tenure, the need to self source pipeline has not changed. Because I’ve yet to meet a seller who regularly exceeds their number relying on others to bring in the majority of their pipeline. Pipeline generation never stops. But I do think it starts to look different the longer you are in this role. Heres how I strategically prospect after 12 years: - Deep account research and lower level converstions to create a POV to send to VP and C-suite - Writing ghost notes for my executives to send to prospect execs for alignment - Enabling partners to sell on my behalf, by helping them understand our value prop and my POV on accounts - Seeking out referrals and warm intros anywhere I can - Finding past customers or users in my prospect orgs to engage with - Working with my marketing and sales dev org to focus on key targets and operate in tandem to generate pipeline - Coming up with creative campaigns and personalized gifts to send to execs - Trying to get people out to events and in person - Attending industry events and conferences and tracking people down Iive - Sharing relevant industry insights, articles, podcasts and learning opportunities None of that is rocket science. The reality is, while I may have far less volume in my outreach, my intent is still the same: set meaningful meetings with key stakeholders that lead to pipeline that will convert and revenue that will close. And that doesn’t change regardless of age, tenure or segment. Here is a full breakdown of how I generate pipeline: https://lnkd.in/g7hTH77r

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Putting Value-Added Selling into Practice: Always Thinking "What's Next?": Empowering Territory Managers with Actionable Sales Intel A seasoned leader at a major construction equipment dealer and rental company shared what keeps him up at night: the relentless need to anticipate what's next amid shifting markets and uncertainties. He coaches his territory managers to pivot after a lost deal, missed participation, or market changes while grappling with tools that must evolve faster, better, and cheaper to sustain productivity. In an industry where hesitation costs market share, a forward-thinking mindset is essential, yet it demands data that delivers clarity without delay. At BiltData.ai, we make "what's next" actionable in seconds. Picture a territory manager in the field: our platform, analyzing over 100M transactions, starts with 817 compact equipment buyers from your fleet data (1,363 units). One click on "best" narrows it to 78 high-value prospects with $18M in equipment potential. A second click targets landscape contractors, filtering to the top performers with precise contact details for the full decision-making - no more cold calls to the wrong doors. In just three clicks, reps shift from being overwhelmed to targeted outreach, boosting participation rates by 30% and turning prospects into loyal growth drivers. BiltData.ai equips OEMs, dealers, and rental firms with this predictive buyer intelligence via the most advanced map-driven tool, transforming data complexity into immediate, confident action.

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Most SDRs try to pitch first on cold calls. Big mistake. Start by winning the objection - then win the trust - then sell. (great cold calling skills will be your secret weapon in 2026) Here’s a simple 5-step cold call framework I’ve taught to 1000s of SDRs👇 1. Opener → Trigger the truth 🎯 Use their name and yours ❌ Don’t pitch yet 💬 Ask a low-context question to gauge their energy Example: “Hey Mark, it’s Chris Ritson - got a minute?” Listen closely to their tone - it'll tell you a lot about how they are feeling so you can respond effectively. 2. Reason for the call - Get Aligned ✅ Outline why you called them 👬 Refer to their persona so they feel like you understand their day to day challenges and role. 💥 Example: “Reason I called is I work with [insert persona] like you on challenges like [insert common challenge]. Mind if I grab a minute to chat more on that? This acts as a double permission based opener. The goal? Make them trust you so when you ask 'pain' questions they'll be more likely to tell you. 3. Comfort Blanket → Uncover Pain ✅ Recap how you help 🧠 Use “typically” language to surface real problems by listing 2/3 common challenges. 💥 Example: “Typically, when I speak with [insert persona] they tell me A, B & C are challenges. Then Ask: “Do either of those feel familiar?” The goal? Make them feel understood before you qualify. 4. Problem Storytelling → Build belief 🧩 Share a relevant story 🔍 Focus on the problem, not the company logo 📈 Use tangible, specific results Example: “John’s team went from 45% to 85% hitting quota in 3 months...” No need for industry-perfect stories - just relatable problems. 5. Confident Recommendation → Book it 🗓️ Recommend next steps, take control 🎁 Highlight what’s in it for them ⏰ Offer 3 times Example: “I recommend a 30-min call. Free tomorrow at 1, 2 or 3 - what works best?” Pro tip: book it within 5 days = 90%+ show rate. Bonus: One Last Thing → Qualify Smart 🎯 “What’s your ideal timeline to fix [problem]?” 👥 “Would it help to loop others in?” Use the last 30 seconds to learn just a little more. If your cold calls feel like battles, try flipping the script: Objection first. Then trust. Then value. Which step are you most excited to try? Let’s talk cold calls 👇

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