Revenue & Commercial
Past the Pilot
Discover before you demo. Practise framing outcomes instead of features with a buyer who has hidden concerns.
- You
- Solutions Consultant
- Across the table
- Vivek Nair, VP of Commercial Strategy, Amberleaf Foods
He speaks first.
Before you start, I want to be upfront about something. We've done this before. Different vendor, similar pitch, about a year and a half ago. It didn't go the way I told my own CCO it would. So I'm going to ask you something before you show me a single slide. What makes you think this time is actually different?
The brief comes after you sign in.
The situation
The assistant confirmed twice.
Vivek Nair's assistant confirmed the meeting twice in one email. The lobby wall is a history of packaging redesigns. You are here as the solutions consultant, and a pilot is the easy thing to talk about.
He has concerns the invite does not list. A demo before you know them is a guess.
- A pilot is the comfortable next step.
- His real worry is not on the agenda.
- You can fill the hour with features and learn nothing.
The session
About twenty minutes.
You sign in with your email, read the brief, and have the conversation. A short reflection comes first. Then the coaching debrief, on what you did. The transcript stays with the session. You do not see a score.
- Email sign-in
- Coaching debrief
- Up to 18 turns
Before you start
What people ask.
Who am I in this conversation?
You're the Solutions Consultant pitching a demand-forecasting engagement. Vivek Nair is VP of Commercial Strategy at the buyer. You get the full brief after you sign in.
Do I need analytics or FMCG experience to practise this?
No. The brief covers the prior pilot and what is at stake. You're practising discovery before demo when the buyer has already been burned.
What do I leave with?
A transcript of what you actually said, and a coaching debrief on what it cost you. You answer a short reflection before that debrief appears. You do not see a score.
Can a team run the same scenario?
Yes. Each person gets their own conversation. A pilot is how a cohort starts: same brief, separate transcripts, one place for the programme lead to read them.
Beside this one