Managing Remote Sales Teams

Here’s the proposal template that helped me close over $100 million in enterprise sales: It’s also helped my clients close more than 50% of their deals when they use it. And until now, I’ve never shared it publicly. Most sellers are great at pitching features. But the ones who consistently win big deals? They know how to tell a great story. The truth is, executives don’t buy products - they buy confidence. They buy vision. They buy a story they want to be part of. If you want to sell like a top 1% seller, you need a proposal that doesn’t just inform… it moves people. Here’s how I do it 👇 The Story Mountain Framework for Sales Proposals: 1. Exposition – Introduce the characters and setting. Start with them: → “You’re trying to expand into new markets… to grow revenue… to unify your tech stack…” Set the vision. Make them the hero. 2. Rising Action – Lay out the challenges and obstacles. → “But growth stalled. Competitors moved faster. Customer churn increased.” Quote discovery calls. Surface real pain. Build emotional tension. 3. Climax – Introduce your solution. → “Then you found a better way…” Now show how your solution helps them overcome the exact obstacles you outlined. 4. Falling Action – Ease the tension. → “Here’s our implementation plan. Here’s the ROI. Here’s how others in your industry succeeded.” Give them confidence that this won’t just work—it will work for them. 5. Resolution – End with clarity. → “Here’s our mutual action plan. Let’s get started.” Lock in buy-in, next steps, and forward momentum. This structure has helped me close some of the biggest deals of my career—including an $8-figure enterprise deal at Salesforce where I used this exact approach. I broke it all down in this week’s training—and for the first time ever, I show you the actual proposal I used AND tell you how to access my Killer Proposal Template for free. 👀 Watch the full training here: https://lnkd.in/gPY_cvv5 No more boring product pitches. No more ghosting after the readout. Just proposals that close.

During my time at Qwilr, I’ve seen THOUSANDS of proposals. Here are 4 proposal plays that the best sellers use to close deals: #1 Lead With Problems Start your proposal by articulating your prospects' problems, ideally in their own words. Using quotes from relevant stakeholders within their organisation will grab your buyers’ attention and show you understand their problems. This immediately demonstrates that this isn’t just a generic pitch – you actually understand them and are focused on their specific issues. Doing this also puts decision-makers in somewhat of a tricky situation. They must either… 1. Disregard the opinions of their team as incorrect 2. Acknowledge they’re facing a problem, but decide not to look for a solution 3. Look for a solution (which you are providing in the rest of your proposal) Most (good) leaders will opt for the latter and will read on to better understand your offering. #2 It's Easy to Digest You MUST ensure your proposal is clear, straightforward and easy to understand. Remember, the folks who will be reviewing your proposal are incredibly busy and don’t have time to decipher endless information, searching for what is relevant for them. If your offer is easy to understand, it’s easier to say yes to. Avoid dense walls of text, and use images, graphics and interactive elements to simplify complex ideas. Always steer away from jargon. While it might showcase a level of expertise, you have to keep in mind that it’s likely a number of people will review your proposal. You need to make sure that EVERYONE will buy in. #3 Make It Relevant Buyers want to know that you’ve helped organisations that look like them, or the type of organisation that they aspire to be. Making sure that your proposal speaks to your buyers’ industry, needs, challenges and objectives will increase the likelihood of engagement Build your case by including concrete data and case studies that resonate with your client’s situation. CAUTION: It can be tempting to litter your proposal with logos and quotations from your “biggest” clients. You should not (always) do this! Instead, focus on featuring logos of similar companies or aspirational peers, not just massive brands. Remember, just because a company is “big” to you, that doesn’t mean your client will care. They want to know you can help THEM! #4 Keep Next Steps Simple It’s essential that you break down your proposal into clear, actionable steps – giving your client a roadmap on how to proceed and what will happen when they sign. You should also educate your champion on how to position the proposal to the buying committee, arming them to sell internally. Meet with them and go through your proposal, asking what needs to be removed and added (for other stakeholders) and how they plan to share it more widely. Want to send proposals that impress buyers and close deals? Try Qwilr for free at https://getqwilr.com

Shared digital context means people can understand what is happening and what has been decided, even when teams work across time zones and different tools. Global teams do not struggle only because they are far apart. They struggle when information is scattered and people have to rebuild the context before they can do the work. The solution starts with making decisions visible. A team should be able to see what was agreed, who owns the next step, and where the relevant information sits. Without that shared view, every handover becomes slower and more fragile. Asynchronous work also needs better closing habits. A clear update at the end of one person’s day can become the starting point for another person’s work, but only if the context is easy to find and written for people who were not in the room. Culture needs the same care. The same message can be read differently across teams, so shared expectations help reduce misunderstanding and keep collaboration more human. Tools should connect conversations and decisions, not create new fragments. The goal is simple: help people see the same picture and continue the work without waiting for someone else to reconstruct it. #DigitalWorkplace #FutureOfWork #CreateImpact

We stopped sending proposals six months ago. Our close rate went up. Our work quality didn’t change, but our pitch did. We used to sell like every other agency. Intro call. Discovery. Proposal. Follow up. Follow up again. Cross our fingers. Keep following up if the door isn’t closed. Close rate within 30 days hovered around 30%. Standard for services. Nobody was complaining since timing is often hard to pin down. Then we changed one thing. A prospect reached out about their sales team's onboarding. They were losing reps in the first 90 days and wanted a system to fix retention before it became a hiring problem. The old approach: send a proposal. Phases. Deliverables. Timeline. Price. The standard document that looks like every other agency's standard document. Instead we opened Replit the night before our second call. Described what their onboarding tracker should do. Reps in the pipeline, weekly milestones, manager visibility into who's falling behind and why. Nothing complex. Just clear. Took about two hours. By the time we joined the call we had a working prototype with their actual problem solved on screen. I shared my screen. The client stares, a little puzzled. "Wait. You already built this?" That was the close. They didn't ask for a proposal. Didn't negotiate. Didn't need to think about it. They saw their problem solved before they signed anything. That was six months ago. We've done it nine times since. Closed seven. The psychology is straightforward. A proposal asks someone to trust you can do the work. A prototype proves you already started. One is a promise. The other is proof. It doesn't work for every deal. It works best when the client has a specific, definable problem. Something you can build visually in a few hours. And especially when they're comparing you to other agencies or operators. While the other company sends a 12-page proposal, you share your screen and show a working tool. Different conversation entirely. We use Replit for every one of these builds. Describe what the tool should do, get a working version, deploy it. The time cost is low enough that building before billing actually makes sense. If the deal doesn't close, you lost an evening. If it does, you skipped two weeks of follow-ups. And the client already trusts your work because they already got a taste. The best pitch is a prototype. Try Replit here: https://lnkd.in/eB2cJgc6 When you sign up and upgrade to Core, we both get $10 in credits. シ Follow me for more and save this for later. #ReplitPartner #AgencyGrowth #FractionalExec

"Send me a proposal." Sounds like progress. But it's actually one of the most dangerous moments in BD. Because most people say "I'll get that over to you by Friday." And that's where the deal quietly dies. After thousands of BD conversations, here's what I've learned: A premature proposal isn't a next step. It's a polite way of ending the conversation. Before you write a single word, ask yourself these questions: Do I actually understand their problem? ↳ Without that, your proposal is just a guess. Are they shopping around? ↳ Ask: "What criteria matter most in your decision?" ↳ Now you can write something that actually fits. Have we agreed on scope? ↳ Ask: "Can we spend 20 minutes aligning on goals first?" ↳ Clients approve what they helped shape. Is everyone at the table? ↳ Ask: "Who else should be involved before I write this up?" ↳ The person not in the room is usually the one who stalls it. Has budget come up? ↳ Ask: "Do you have a range in mind for this work?" ↳ Design the right solution — not just any solution. Does this even feel real? ↳ Ask: "Is this a real priority right now?" ↳ An honest conversation now saves weeks of wasted effort. And the most powerful shift of all? ❌ Don't say: "I'll draft something and send it over." ✅ Do say: "What if we worked through the approach together in 30 minutes?" Clients commit to solutions they helped design. Every time. The proposal isn't where you win the work. The conversation before it is. Stay curious. Ask better questions. Co-create the path forward. And when you do send that proposal? They'll already know the answer. What's one question from this list you could use this week? ♻️ Valuable? Repost to help someone in your network. 📌 Follow Mo Bunnell for client-growth strategies that don't feel like selling.

What does empathy look like in leadership? Last night I sat in an after-hours clinic until 10 p.m. The place was filled with tired parents and restless children as winter illnesses spread across New Zealand. The wait was long, yet the clinic stayed calm. Two nurses worked with precision, and three doctors kept a steady rhythm from room to room. One nurse knelt to a child’s eye level to explain the delay. Another placed a cup of water in a worried mother’s hands without a word. They stayed late so everyone was seen. I was one of the last to be seen, but that is ok because kids deserve to be seen first. Year after year our health system face staff shortages and limited resources. Yet medical staff do their best to make a difference. Last night was a quiet masterclass in empathy, not as a PR slogan to "be kind," but as the culture of showing up when people need you. Then there’s the moment in this clip when Juan Martín del Potro pauses a tennis match so that an injured ball girl can be comforted and replaced. No glory and no extra point for his sportsmanship. Just presence and empathy under pressure. Virtue signaling posts values on a wall and calls it done. Real empathy, by contrast, seeks no recognition and genuinely serves others. The people on my team have families. If work wins and home loses, we all lose. The community pays first, and the business pays later. So, here are my 5 simple tips on how you can lead with empathy: 1. Ask real questions: ⇀ What really matters this month? ⇀ What would make work better? 2. Set humane rules: ⇀ Name the top three priorities. ⇀ No stealth weekend work. 3. Be present in hard moments: ⇀ Have the tough conversations early. ⇀ Support your team in public. 4. Share the load: ⇀ Move deadlines and reassign work. ⇀ Cover a shift. 5. Measure what matters: ⇀ Track energy, trust, and safety. ⇀ Let those guide decisions. Empathy is how we show up for each other, week after week - whether it's for our teams, families, or communities. How has empathy shaped the way you lead, or the way you’ve been led? ------- ➕ Follow Jonathan Maharaj FCPA for finance‑leadership clarity. 🔄 Share this insight with a decision‑maker. 📰 Get deeper breakdowns in Financial Freedom, my free newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gYHdNYzj 📆 Ready to work together? Book your Clarity Session: https://lnkd.in/gyiqCWV2

If you're sending proposals to find out what people think, stop. I watch salespeople send proposals every day hoping they magically create momentum. Here's the rule: Never send a proposal until you've reached agreement from the stakeholders, not just on the solution, but the problem they're solving. If everyone doesn't agree on the problem, they'll never agree on the investment. Three strategies: 👊 Nothing in the proposal should be new: Price, terms, options. A proposal is simply a written recap of a conversation you've already had. 📧 Don't email it and pray. Walk them through it. If you're not there when objections surface, you're giving up the chance to address them. 🎥 If you can't get everyone together, send a video. Most buyers open a proposal and go strait to price A three-minute screen-share video forces them to see the value before they see the number. Remember: The proposal isn't where deals are won, it's where the deal is confirmed.

“Becoming a digital first organization doesn't block your ability to have a functioning hybrid organization, it enhances it. It will help people get the most out of work, whether they're in the office or not.” - “JJ” Jessica Reeder, a workplace innovation and culture transformation leader. In my latest podcast episode, JJ shares wide-ranging practical insights about effective distributed work strategies and tactics, including from her intentional choices to learn from and contribute to pioneering fully-remote companies. “Having standard operating procedures and behavioral standards clearly documented and consistently applied throughout the organization is crucial in remote work.” JJ discusses core principles from her time at GitLab and Upwork starting with becoming digital-first. “All of the things that you need to have a highly functioning team can be empowered by really embracing the digital-first mentality.” She hones in on self-management (watch this clip) that she finds GitLab excelled at early, enabling decentralization of work without overloading managers. JJ elaborates on the critical practices of understanding time (the red flag is having too many meetings!), communicating digitally, and systematizing collaboration. “Collaboration is really just about trading work back and forth and doing it in a very effective way.” She is clear about purposeful work design, methods, and habits. "You need to have specific ways that things are done throughout the organization.” “It is absolutely a deal breaker if you don't have people understanding how they are supposed to work.” JJ has practiced, studied, taught, and refined how distributed work is enabled effectively for companies with hybrid, remote-first, and fully-remote policies. If your team, managers, and organization’s leaders could benefit from JJ’s illuminating experiences and learnings, watching or listening to my interview with her is a must. Use the links in the comments below 👇 ____________________________________ Don't forget to subscribe below to my Work In Progress Report newsletter to get weekly wide-ranging insights and intelligence to accelerate your adaptation to distributed modern work.

"Just checking in on that proposal." I sent this email the other day. My 4th "check-in" to this prospect. No response. Frustrated, I called my sales amigo: "I don't get it. Great demo, they loved our solution, but now they've gone dark." He asked a simple question: "What content have they engaged with since your demo?" I had no idea. The truth hit me: I was flying blind. I sent PDFs, presentations, and pricing. But had zero visibility into what they actually viewed. Were they showing it to others? Did they have concerns? Was anything resonating? I had no clue. Last week, I tried a different approach: After a promising demo, instead of attaching files to an email, I created a digital sales room. Inside: - Everything they needed to evaluate us - Organized by their specific priorities - Clear calls-to-action for next steps The difference was immediate: Day 1: The main contact viewed the ROI calculator twice Day 2: They shared it with their CFO (who I'd never spoken to) Day 3: The CFO spent 30 minutes on pricing information Day 4: They downloaded our security documentation Day 5: The main contact viewed implementation timeline 3 times I picked up the phone: "I noticed you've been looking at our implementation process. Any questions about that timeline?" Their response: "How did you know? Yes, actually, we're concerned about..." The objection surfaced BEFORE it killed the deal. Old school selling: Send content. Cross fingers. Guess what's happening. Modern selling: Share content. Watch engagement. Address concerns proactively. The hard truth: 90% of buying happens when you're not in the room. Are you still pretending those blind "check-in" calls are a strategy? Or are you watching how prospects actually consume information when you're not there? Stop asking prospects to update you. Start building systems that show you what's really happening. Agree?

Every single sales team I’ve evaluated has one thing in common Their lowest score is on the closing competency. Most teams lose the deal long before they ever talk numbers. If your sales reps can’t clearly articulate the client’s pain, connect it to a specific solution, and build a narrative that positions your offer as the only logical next step. They’re not closing. They’re just quoting. ❌ Combining discovery and proposal into one call short-circuits the sales cycle and kills momentum. ❌ Leading with company-centric messaging instead of client pain points loses buyer interest early. ❌ Generic, uncustomized pitch decks fail to engage and don’t advance the deal. When I coach leaders through this, their close rates go up because the conversation shifts from "here’s what we do" to “here’s how we help you.” Here’s how I coach teams to flip the switch: Customize the proposal based on THEIR stated needs and pain points Start with their top 3-5 challenges (from discovery) Confirm you captured them correctly, it builds buy-in Connect ONLY the relevant solutions to each challenge Limit your company’s slides to 2- 3 slides with clear value proposition, this isn’t about you Share a relevant testimonial right before presenting pricing THEN present pricing once they see the value. If your team is stuck in the present and pray proposal cycle, let’s talk. It’s time to teach your sellers how to connect, position, and close with purpose.