Concepts

Communicating effectively online.

You’ve just had a forty-minute video call. Four people, all with their cameras on, everyone nodding. Nobody asked a follow-up question. Two days later, the decision-maker emails a question that you’d already answered in the sixth minute. And the decision is postponed by a week. What exactly went wrong there, and how often does it happen?

You have just come out of a forty-minute pricing call. You, your CFO, your VP Sales and your Head of Product, all cameras on, everyone nodding. Nobody pushed back. Two days later your CFO emails to ask which customers fall under the new price, a point you covered in minute six. The price change slips a week. What exactly went wrong, and how often does it happen?

You have just finished a forty-minute rate review with your biggest shipper. Their logistics manager, their buyer, your planner and you, cameras on, everyone nodding. Nobody pushed back. Two days later the buyer emails to ask how the fuel surcharge is actually calculated. You showed that in minute six. And the new contract rate slips by a week. What went wrong, and how often does it happen?

You have just spent forty minutes walking through a fixed-price proposal. Their CTO, the product owner, someone from procurement, cameras on, everyone nodding. Nobody pushed back. Two days later the CTO emails to ask whether hosting and support are included, exactly what you showed in minute six. The signature on the statement of work slips a week. What went wrong there, and how often?

You have just finished a forty-minute Teams call about a quote for a special machine. On the other side sat purchasing and two engineers from a German customer, cameras on, everyone nodding. Two days later the buyer emails to ask which payment you expect at acceptance. It was on slide six. The order slips into next quarter. What went wrong there, and how often?

I would like my Startclaim and transfer clauses in writing

90 mins · senior consultant · no slide deck

Work out your repeat rate

Behind a screen, the room is nothing

The mechanism is simple. In a theatre, the space itself tells your story. Behind a screen, nothing tells your story apart from the sequence you have created yourself.

The mechanism is simple. At the board table, the room carries your story. On a Zoom with your investors nothing carries it, except the sequence you built yourself.

The mechanism is simple. Walk a shipper across your yard and the full loading dock tells your story. On a Teams call he sees no trailer, only the order you built yourself.

The mechanism is simple. At the client's table the whiteboard carries your story. In a shared screen showing a Jira board, nothing carries it except the order you built yourself.

The mechanism is simple. At a factory acceptance test in your hall, everyone points at the same part. In a call about that machine, only the sequence you built carries the story.

The participant listens whilst having a second screen open. Their attention comes in thirty-second bursts, not forty-minute ones. What they take away isn’t your argument. It’s the one sentence they can repeat to someone who wasn’t there.

A close-up of a single key against a dark background

The division, with your own diary alongside it

Work it out for yourself. Take your decision-making calls from the past four weeks – in other words, only the calls where a decision had to be made.

Work it out for yourself. Take the calls from the last four weeks where something had to be decided: a new hire, a discount, a roadmap choice.

Work it out for yourself. Count the calls from the last four weeks where something had to be decided: rate reviews, lane allocation, peak capacity.

Work it out for yourself. Count the calls from the last four weeks in which a proposal, a change request or a go-live had to be signed off.

Work it out for yourself. Count your calls from the last four weeks where something had to be decided: quote reviews, change-order approvals, a moved delivery date.

Add two things to this: how many there were, and how many of them required a follow-up call simply to clarify what had already been said. Divide the second figure by the first. The denominator is therefore the total number of decision calls during those four weeks.

0,42

Example using real maths

An example involving actual maths. Twelve decision-making calls in four weeks. Five of these were followed up with a clarifying call. 5 divided by 12 is 0.42. That is your follow-up rate. If a follow-up call takes 45 minutes involving four people, that amounts to three man-hours each. Five follow-up calls amount to fifteen man-hours every four weeks, plus the lead time that the decision delayed.

An example with real arithmetic. Ten decision calls in four weeks. Four of them needed a follow-up call to clarify. 4 divided by 10 is 0.40. That is your repeat rate. If a follow-up takes an hour with you, your CFO, VP Sales, CTO and Head of Product, it costs five person-hours. Four of them is twenty hours of leadership time every four weeks, plus the weeks your next AE starts later.

An example with real arithmetic. Ten decision calls in four weeks. Four of them needed a follow-up call to clarify. 4 divided by 10 is 0.40. That is your repeat rate. Put four people on a 45-minute follow-up, you, your planner, your fleet manager and your controller, and each one costs three hours. Four of them is twelve hours every four weeks, plus the week you kept driving at the old rate.

An example with real arithmetic. Sixteen decision calls in four weeks. Six of them needed a clarifying follow-up. 6 divided by 16 is 0.375. That is your repeat rate. If each one-hour follow-up takes three of your people, account manager, project manager and lead developer, that is three hours nobody bills. Six of them make eighteen hours every four weeks, plus the sprint that starts late.

An example with real arithmetic. Ten decision calls in four weeks. Four needed a clarifying follow-up. 4 divided by 10 is 0.40. That is your repeat rate. If each follow-up takes an hour with three of your people on it, project manager, head of engineering and sales, each one costs three hours. Four of them cost twelve hours, plus the down payment that arrives a month late.

0,30

Our rule of thumb

Our rule of thumb: above 0.30, the problem lies in the form, not the content. That is our assessment based on our own experience, not a measured standard. Second-order costs are the troublesome ones: your forecast shifts, your work in progress piles up, and scope creep creeps in because nobody remembered the exact same decision. It persists because nobody measures it. After all, a poorly managed discussion feels perfectly fine whilst it’s happening.

Our rule of thumb: above 0.30 the problem lies in the form, not the content. That is our estimate from our own practice, not a measured norm. The second-order costs are the nasty ones: the forecast in your board deck slips, your CAC payback stretches because the new packaging goes live later, and your CTO and VP Sales each remember a different roadmap decision. It persists because nobody measures it. A badly directed call feels fine while it is happening.

Our rule of thumb: above 0.30 the problem lies in the form, not the content. That is our estimate from our own practice, not a measured standard. The second-order costs are the nasty ones. The new rate reaches the invoice a month late, so for that month you carry the difference. Your DSO rises because invoices wait for sign-off. And the extra unloading time you agreed quietly becomes free, because nobody remembered the same decision. It persists because nobody measures it. A badly directed call feels fine while it happens.

Our rule of thumb: above 0.30 the problem lies in the form, not the content. That is our estimate from our own practice, not a measured standard. The second-order costs are the nasty ones. The retainer in your forecast starts a month late. Your work in progress climbs. And your lead developer builds something other than what the product owner thought was agreed, so your team redoes that sprint at its own cost. It persists because nobody measures it.

Our rule of thumb: above 0.30 the problem sits in the shape of the conversation, not in your machine. That is our estimate from our own practice, not a measured norm. The second-order costs are the nasty ones. Your order intake for the quarter slips, work in progress grows while the milestone invoice waits, and engineering hours overrun because nobody remembered the same change order. It persists because nobody measures it. A badly directed call feels fine while it runs.

Our estimate; not a measured standard.

[ Four questions ]

Step one of our consultation

This is the first step in our consultation, and I’m sharing it here. Answer the questions whilst referring to your own diary, not from memory.

herhaalquote = vervolgcalls ter verduidelijking / totaal aantal beslissingscalls

  1. How many decision calls have you had over the past four weeks, and what is your repeat rate according to the breakdown above?

  2. Which single sentence from your last call could the decision-maker literally repeat to his CFO?

  3. At what point in that conversation was the decision actually made, and had you planned that moment in advance?

  4. How many participants didn’t say a single word during your last call, and do you know why?

SPOT, our own working method

We work with SPOT. Important: this is our own working method; it is not a published framework, nor is it a method devised by an author whom I could cite here.

I call it that because it makes it easier to remember and test, not because it carries any authority that I cannot live up to. SPOT stands for Start Claim, Peak Moment, Transfer, Review.

Opening statement

The first thirty seconds are for a sentence of no more than 25 words, which the first participant can repeat word for word. No agenda, no round of introductions, no apologies. You must write this sentence down before you start the call.

Peak moment

A single moment in the conversation when the decision is made. You plan that minute, the question you’ll ask then, and the screen that will be visible at that moment. One climax, not three. Everything leading up to it builds towards it; everything that follows is confirmation.

One moment in the call where the decision lands. Minute 32 of your leadership call: the cohort chart with your net revenue retention on screen, you ask whether your SMB tier closes now or after Q2. One peak, not three. Everything builds to it.

One moment in the call where the decision falls. Minute 25: the map of your empty kilometres Venlo–Duisburg is on screen, and you ask whether they will guarantee the Tuesday backhaul. One peak. Everything before builds to it, everything after confirms it.

One moment where the decision falls. Minute 30: you put the change request's price next to the remaining sprint budget and ask whether it goes into this release or the next. One peak, not three. Everything before builds towards it, everything after confirms it.

One moment where the decision falls. For a service contract on twenty installed machines, that is minute 25: the response-time table is on screen and you ask the plant manager to sign off. Everything before builds towards it, everything after confirms.

Transfer

You should write out in advance the two sentences that the participant will forward internally to those who weren’t there. In their own words, not in your sales pitch. This is the step that almost everyone skips, and the step where the decision usually falls through.

You write in advance the two sentences your lead investor forwards on Monday to the partners who were not there. For instance: runway to month 22, and the enterprise tier is the bridge to Series B. In his words, not your pitch language. This is where the decision usually dies.

You write in advance the two sentences the logistics manager forwards to his CFO. For example: "The Tilburg–Ruhr rate goes up. In return we get fixed slots and no more Saturday surcharges." This is the step almost everyone skips, and the step where the contract usually dies.

You write in advance the two sentences the product owner forwards to his CFO: phase two moves to a fixed price with a defined backlog, anything else becomes a separately priced change request. In his words, not your sales language. Almost everyone skips this.

Beforehand, you write the two sentences the German project manager forwards to his head of purchasing. For example: ‘Delivery in week 38, two years of spare parts in the price. Second instalment only after a passed SAT.’ In his words. This is where decisions usually die.

Watch again

You record your own conversation and watch the last two minutes. The recording belongs to the speaker themselves: they decide whether to share it and then delete it afterwards. This is explicitly not an assessment tool for managers, nor is it a record for the files. The aim is to reduce the number of meetings the speaker has to attend, not to allow anyone to monitor them.

A portrait of Jean Maurice, founder of Beyond Borders Marketing Consultancy
Jean Maurice

Week one as the person with final responsibility

What you do in Week One as the person with final responsibility: calculate your repeat business rate, select the three most challenging decision-making calls for the coming month, and for each one, draw up only the ‘Start’ and ‘Handover’ documents.

What you do in week one as founder-CEO: calculate your repeat rate, pick next month's three heaviest calls, such as the Q1 budget call and the renewal with your largest customer, and write only the Opening Claim and the Handover for each.

What you do in week one as owner-director: work out your repeat rate, pick your three heaviest calls of next month, such as the annual rate round or the lease talk with your bank, and write only the Opening Claim and the Handover for each.

What you do in week one as managing director: calculate your repeat rate, pick next month's three heaviest calls, such as the rate increase for your retainer clients, and write only the Opening Claim and the Hand-over for each.

What you do in week one as managing director: work out your repeat rate, pick next month's three heaviest calls, such as a retrofit quote or a lead-time talk with group purchasing, and write only the Opening Claim and the Hand-over for each.

That’s one A4 page. Nothing more.

A sailing boat on the open water, the sail taut and on a steady course
[ By sector ]

The unit of measurement, the instrument and the clock

The four steps remain the same. What differs from sector to sector is the unit of measurement, the instrument and the time.

SaaS scale-up

Measurement unit: the proportion of demos that progress to the next stage. Timeframe: per two-week sprint. Tool: the call recordings that are already being saved in your CRM.

  1. 01 Opening pitch: a single sentence about the buyer’s problem, tested against the fact that your champion has to repeat it internally to a procurement committee that wasn’t present.
  2. 02 The pivotal moment: the minute when you switch from a feature demo to a pricing model. Plan that minute, because at the moment it happens at random.
  3. 03 Task: two sentences for your champion to paste into Slack. Check whether they use them as they are.
  4. 04 Review: for each sprint, select three of your own recordings and check only whether the ‘Startclaim’ was made within the first thirty seconds.

Logistics

Unit of measurement: the number of call-back requests following the daily kick-off. Time: per shift, i.e. daily at six o’clock. Metric: the exceptions that still appear in your TMS after the daily kick-off.

  1. 01 Startclaim: one sentence about today’s deviation, not about today’s schedule. Planners already know the schedule.
  2. 02 Peak moment: the moment when you triage the anomalies. That’s at the three-minute mark, not the eleven-minute mark.
  3. 03 Handover: the two instructions that the dispatcher passes on to the driver who was not on the call.
  4. 04 Review: for a week, count the number of follow-up questions asked at the start of each day. That figure is your score, not how you felt about the call.

Mechanical Engineering

Unit of measurement: the number of clarifying questions per quotation process. Time frame: weeks to months, per quotation. Tool: the screen layout shown, in which you go through the bill of materials or the service report.

  1. 01 Tagline: a single sentence explaining what the customer stands to gain from this machine, expressed in terms of their utilisation rate, not in terms of your specifications.
  2. 02 The tipping point: the moment when you switch from technical options to additional work and scope. That’s where the discussion about additional work arises later on.
  3. 03 Presentation: two sentences with which the contact person defends the investment to his management team internally.
  4. 04 Review: count the number of clarification questions received for each quotation. If that number is falling, then your process is working.
Please bring

The discussion facilitator

The instructions below guide you through a specific decision-making discussion. It prompts you for further details if your input is insufficient, rather than making something up.

Before you use this

First, the practical bit about data, because this is where things go wrong before it delivers any value. Do not include customer names, personal data, rates or anything covered by an NDA in a model. Use roles rather than names: “the CFO of a medium-sized freight forwarder” works better than a real name and yields a more precise result. What makes this safe for business information is a business subscription with a data processing agreement, not a free consumer account. With those two things in place, you can get this up and running today.

Je bent mijn gespreksregisseur voor een online beslissingsgesprek.

Ik geef je: de ROLLEN van de deelnemers (geen namen), het besluit dat ik
eruit wil hebben, de duur in minuten, en de drie bezwaren die ik verwacht.

Lever exact vier dingen, in deze volgorde:
01 STARTCLAIM: een zin van maximaal 25 woorden die de eerste deelnemer
   letterlijk kan navertellen. Geef drie varianten. Zeg per variant welk
   van mijn drie bezwaren hij vooraf ontkracht.
02 PIEKMOMENT: op welke minuut het besluit valt, welke vraag ik daar stel,
   en welk scherm dan zichtbaar is. Precies een piek, niet drie.
03 OVERDRACHT: de twee zinnen die een deelnemer intern doorstuurt aan wie
   er niet bij was. Schrijf ze in zijn woorden, niet in mijn verkooptaal.
04 TERUGKIJKTEST: drie ja-nee-vragen waarmee ik mijn eigen opname na
   afloop in twee minuten toets.

Ontbreken de rollen, het besluit of de bezwaren? Vraag ze eerst bij mij op.
Verzin ze niet.

This is an agentic pattern known as role-based generation, with a mandatory output structure and a feedback loop. The structure makes the response verifiable, whilst the feedback loop prevents the model from filling in gaps with plausible nonsense.

Where this ends

Where SPOT doesn’t work. It won’t fix a weak offering. If your proposition isn’t right, a tightly scripted call will only speed up your rejection. That’s a win, but not revenue.

Where SPOT does not work. It does not fix a weak offer. If your SMB tier keeps churning or nobody buys your enterprise plan, a tightly directed call only speeds up the no. That is a gain, but not ARR.

Where SPOT does not work. It does not fix a weak offer. If you run Venlo–Lyon dearer than an Eastern European haulier with no better on-time record, a tight call only speeds up your rejection. A gain, not revenue.

Where SPOT does not work. It cannot fix a weak offer. If your retainer is a bundle of support hours with no agreed outcome, a tight call only speeds up your rejection. That is a gain, but not revenue.

Where SPOT does not work. It does not fix a weak offer. If you promise forty weeks' lead time where your competitor offers twenty-six, a tight call only speeds up your rejection. That is a gain, not revenue.

Nor does it work in purely informative meetings where no decision is taken. No decision means no peak moment, and then the method breaks down.

And it isn’t worth it if there are fewer than five decision calls a month. In that case, the cost of intervention is higher than the cost of the error. That’s our threshold, not a measured standard.

Read more

Stage one real-life decision-making meeting.

In a 90-minute workshop, I’ll work with you to rehearse one key decision-making meeting from your diary for the coming month. You’ll leave with the following, set out on paper and ready to use straight away:

In a ninety-minute working session, I direct one real decision call from next month's diary with you, such as your term-sheet conversation or the board call on your budget. You leave with, ready to use:

In a ninety-minute working session I direct one real decision call from next month with you, for instance the rate round with your chilled-freight shipper. You leave with, ready to use:

In a ninety-minute working session I direct one real decision call from your next month with you, such as the go/no-go on a fixed-price proposal. You leave with, on paper and ready to use:

In a ninety-minute working session, you and I direct one real decision call from next month's diary, for example the order release of a special machine. You leave with, on paper and ready to use:

  • the Startclaim
  • the expected peak time
  • the two transfer sentences
  • the look-back test

No interview, just work.

I would like my Startclaim and transfer clauses in writing

90 mins · senior consultant · no slide deck