you just got another text: "can you hop on this call?"
Dec 22, 2025
Brought to you by The Art Of Positioning Podcast
It's 2pm on a Tuesday.
Your PM had a lead conversation. Sounded solid. But somewhere between showing the portfolio and the first quote, the prospect got nervous.
So instead of closing it themselves, your PM texts you.
You hop on. You say the right things. Deal closes.
Then it happens again. And again. And again.
You hired good people. Your PM is solid. Your estimator can price anything. Your sales rep has the relationships.
But nothing closes without you in the room.
And you've started to notice something: your team doesn't even try anymore. They know how this ends. So they wait for the text.
Look, it's not that they're bad at sales.
It's that they don't know what they're actually selling...
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Taylor Wilson the founder of Creative Shizzle could only sell so much of herself. Leadership buy-in took forever. Budgets got cut. The model was breaking.
So she repositioned Creative Shizzle to work like Netflix. Monthly subscription. Get what you need. No massive proposals. No six-figure commitments required.
The transition wasn't smooth. Revenue forecasting was a nightmare. She invested in marketing way too late. She had to learn to say no to business that didn't fit.
But now? She's scaling faster, landing clients easier, and she shares her journey in this episode of The Art of Positioning Podcast.
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What This Really Costs
You're scaling yourself, instead of your businesses.
Every hour you're in a sales call is an hour you're not working on the business. You can't think about strategy, pricing, positioning, or who you should actually be chasing.
Your team knows they're backup.
So they don't develop ownership.
They don't develop intuition.
They just wait.
And if you ever want to step back, sell the business, or take a real vacation without your phone? Yeah, that's not happening.
And no buyer is paying for a business that only works if you're in it.
But the worst part is that your best people start to resent it.
They see deals close when you jump in, and they feel small.
The mediocre ones stay comfortable, never owning anything.
Let's fix this BEFORE 2026 kicks in. 👇
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😎 Enjoying your read so far? I've built a diagnostic that shows exactly where your brand may be bleeding revenue.
5 minutes. Spots the gaps and gives you fixes that you can sort right now, not in 6 months.
Been told I'm nuts for making it free: Time to get ahead of the competition.
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Badass Tip - 90 Minutes to Break This
The fix isn't hiring a better sales manager or running more marketing.
It's extracting what you actually know and turning it into something your team can carry.
Before the 1st of January, do this:
Step 1: Pull Three Real Wins (30 minutes)
Pick 3 projects that closed well. Not your biggest. Not your smallest. 3 solid fits where the client was genuinely happy to work with you.
For each one, write down:
Who it was: Client type? Project size? What was their main business or concern?
What they were worried about: Before they picked you, what kept them up at night? (Budget spiraling? Timeline slipping? Getting burned by another builder? Scope creep? Feeling like they weren't being heard?)
Why they said yes to you: Not why they liked you in general. Why did this client, with these specific worries, choose you? Usually it's one or two things, not ten.
What changed for them: Six to twelve months after you worked together, what was actually different? (Did they refer you? Did they come back? Did they sleep better knowing the project was locked in?)
Real detail. Rough notes are entirely fine.
Step 2: Find the Pattern (30 minutes)
Look at those three projects side by side.
Answer these three questions. One sentence each.
What worry keeps repeating? (The thing that makes them call you in the first place.)
What do they actually value when they choose you? (The thing that makes them say yes.)
What do we do differently that creates that value? (The quirk in your process that delivers it.)
That's it. Three sentences. Don't overthink it.
Example:
Worry: "They've been burned by a builder who disappeared mid-project."
Value: "They need someone who shows up and communicates."
Different: "We send weekly site photos and a Friday status email. Most builders only call when there's a problem."
Step 3: Build Your Sales Spine (30 minutes)
Now take those three sentences and slot them into the 3 part structure below.
This isn't a script. It's a backbone. Your team need to find their own words. But they'll have the shape to follow.
Part 1: The Industry Problem (use your "worry" sentence, but make it about the industry)
Consider: What does everyone else in your space do (or not do) that causes the worry you identified? What's the industry "should" that actually doesn't work?
Eg. "Most builders disappear mid-project. That's why clients panic and call me every Friday."
This isn't trash-talking competitors. It's naming a real friction that exists in your industry.
Part 2: What You Do Differently (use your "different" sentence)
Consider: What's the actual quirk in how you operate that sidesteps that problem?
Make it concrete. Make it specific. Make it weird if it needs to be.
Eg. "We send weekly site photos and a Friday status email. So they always know where things stand."
Your team needs to be able to say this. Not memorise it. Say it. In their own words, with the same spine underneath.
Part 3: The Proof (use your "value" sentence, but add a real number)
Back it with real outcome. Not a testimonial. A concrete result.
Eg.
"That's how we've delivered 14 custom builds in the last two years without a single budget conversation at close. Every client knew the cost before we broke ground."
"Last year we took on three supply jobs for contractors who were stuck with our competitors. All three found what they needed in half the time and are now exclusive with us."
"That's why 80% of our clients refer us. They never have to wonder if we're still on the job."
When your team actually has this (The signs):
Your salespeople stop sounding generic.
They're not reciting features or benefits.
They're telling a coherent story about why your way of working prevents the exact problem the prospect is scared of.
Your team stops waiting for you to rescue them.
Because they're not trying to "close" anymore, they're qualifying whether someone's a good fit for how you work. And honestly? That's easier to do than trying to convince someone you're good.
And when you do jump in on a call? It's not to save a deal. It's to deepen a conversation that's already moving in the right direction.
The Bottom Line
The reason you're the only one who can sell is simple: nobody else knows what you're actually selling.
You've got a process. You've got standards. You've got a way of handling the chaos. You've got hard-won knowledge about what actually works.
But if it lives only in your head, it's not a business. It's a personal brand.
The exercise above is how you turn "the way I work" into "the way we work."
It's 90 minutes of honest archaeology.
Do it this week. Write it down. Read it to your team. Ask them which parts feel true. Ask them which parts sound weird.
Then watch what happens when they can actually tell someone why you're worth choosing.
That's when you stop being trapped.
Your move: Pick 3 projects. Set a timer. Extract the story.
You might be surprised by what you find. 😉
P.S. If you're stuck on Step 2 (finding what you actually do differently), that's normal. Most business heads are too close to see it. Reply with what you wrote down, and I'll help you spot the pattern.
P.P.S. This is the last newsletter for 2025, I hope you have a freaking glorious holiday season and looking forward to catch you next year. Stay badass!
- B
