Qualification and healthy close
Saying no to the wrong opportunities and protecting margin: ICP, the 21% win rate, the discount that costs 8× EBIT, the toxic yes and incentive systems that destroy margin.
The toxic yes: why some closed contracts are born already destroyed
There is a recurring industrial commercial pattern: contracts signed with aggressive discount and operational ambiguity that turn into a loss before delivery is complete. Detecting the toxic-yes signature before accepting it is a specific executive capability.
The hidden cost of an imprecise customer profile in mid-sized industry
Defining the ideal customer by sector and size is the convention. The evidence shows that this definition is insufficient to govern an industrial pipeline, and that its imprecision costs more than the executive committee usually recognises.
Commissioning the industrial sales rep by volume: the system that pays to destroy margin
The most widespread incentive scheme in mid-sized industrial companies rewards volume closed, not margin captured. The consequence is a sales team that is individually rational and collectively erosive of profitability.
The 21 per cent win rate: why four out of five large bids the company writes are lost
The average B2B close rate is 21 per cent. In large transactions, it falls to 12-18 per cent. Accepting the figure forces a rethink of how, and to what, to decide to respond when an opportunity arrives.
The discount granted at closing is worth eight times more profit than it appears
The arithmetic of price in industrial B2B is counter-intuitive. One percentage point conceded in negotiation equates, on average, to eight points of EBIT lost. The discount conversation rarely incorporates that magnitude.