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Here are the core areas we discuss in today's episode:

1: The Foundation: Why "How You Sell" Matters More Than Ever

Graeme opens with a powerful story that illustrates why sales approach can make or break even the most obvious deals. He shares an experience where a market-leading software company lost a sale at the one-yard line due to poor sales execution.

"Their rep was out for the week, right? And so actually, the very first demo and discovery have was with the sales manager, and the session was amazing... Following week, the actual AE who's assigned to our account, took over the call... This gentleman had been at the President's club the previous week, and he would not shut up about how much fun he had at this president's club."

2: SPICED as Framework, Not Methodology: The House Analogy

Graeme distinguishes SPICED from traditional sales methodologies by positioning it as a foundational framework rather than a rigid process. He uses a compelling house-building analogy to explain this concept.

"I personally don't believe that SPICED is a methodology. I believe it's a framework... As a framework I like to think of it's like your house, right? You're building your house, you have your, you know, 3 or 4 bedrooms. You have your 2 bathrooms, you have your kitchen, you have that very strong foundational framework. The brand of kitchen sink, or the brand of windows... That's more kind of a methodology."

3: The Critical Event Distinction: Why Most Deals Die on the Vine

One of Graeme's most powerful insights centers on the difference between critical events and compelling events, and why this distinction determines deal outcomes.

"Most deals die on the vine from customer indecision, right? And if we don't do a good job of digging into: Is it a critical event or a compelling event? They could have a big pain... We could have the decision makers mapped and the decision criteria known. But if their timeline isn't known, what's driving them to make a decision... a lot of the deals that die on the vine from customer indecision."

4: The Full Bowtie Impact: From Sales Qualification to Customer Success

Graeme emphasizes that SPICED's real power emerges when applied across the entire customer journey, not just the sales process. He explains how poor sales qualification directly impacts customer success outcomes.

"Are we qualifying these customers? Are we understanding what the impact is that they want before they sign up for a solution, so that when they sign up, they are able to actually get that impact and get the outcome that they want... And that very first call on the implementation side should be, listen, okay, let's recap why you purchased us. What outcome are you looking to achieve, and within which timeline?"

5: The Adoption Strategy: Domino Reps and Data-Driven Conversations

Graeme shares his practical approach for implementing SPICED across organizations, focusing on both top-down leadership and bottom-up adoption through what he calls the "domino rep theory."

"I'll do a specific training, and I will get some feedback from a couple of reps. Right? Not your top reps, but not your bottom reps. Right kind of your up and coming reps... I'll get them to test that... live in the field, and then we'll record those calls. Then I'll take those calls, and I'll showcase them when I do the overall training for the whole team."

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