Sales training and coaching · Team foundations
Your biggest rival is probably the buyer's decision to do nothing.
A job story is one sentence that states who the buyer is, what situation they are in, and what they want to get done. A competition map lists everything buyers hire for the same job, including a notebook, a relative and doing nothing. Together they decide what your reps say and what you refuse.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
A job story is one sentence that states who the buyer is, what situation they are in, and what they want to get done. A competition map lists everything buyers hire for the same job, including a notebook, a relative and doing nothing. Together they decide what your reps say and what you refuse.
A coaching institute in Malleswaram writes its rivals down: three other institutes within two kilometres. Then it asks the parents who did not enrol, and hears a different list. Some hired a home tutor. Some chose an online course. The largest group sat on the decision until the exam was close and then did nothing. None of the rivals on the institute's list came up.
The job story forces precision. It is written as: when I am in this situation, I want this, so that I can get that done. After it comes a grid scoring how well you meet four requirements: the practical one, the money one, the one about how the buyer sees themselves, and the one about how others see them. The money requirement includes GST, since the buyer sees the total.
The owner drafts it from the interviews described in the customer job interviews page, and the sales head tests it against recent lost deals. Then the map decides where you stand: the alternative you beat easily becomes your positioning, and the job you should not be hired for goes on the not-for list.
Where this sits
Topic 5 of 8 in sales training and coaching: team foundations. The shared definitions a team needs before coaching.
- The topic before
- Objections and closing practice
- The topic after
- Coaching the sales team
If you want this done for you
Give a buyer one clear reason to choose you over the other tabs they have open.
The work
What this is actually like.
“Doing nothing wins more deals than any competitor”
Count the enquiries last quarter that went quiet without choosing anyone. That group is your largest rival, and it beats you with a shrug. A rep who knows this asks what happens to the buyer if nothing changes, instead of attacking another supplier.
“A workaround is a competitor with a low price”
A spreadsheet, a cousin who does the work free, a WhatsApp group that serves as the order book: these cost the buyer no money, so your price is measured against zero. Name each workaround on the map and write what it fails to do.
“The social dimension is easy to miss”
A buyer choosing a wedding caterer or a school for a child is also choosing what relatives will think. If you only score the practical and money dimensions, you will not see why a cheaper, plainer option lost to a better-known name.
“Say who should not hire you”
A not-for line such as "we are not the right choice for one-off orders under a set size" saves the rep's time and lifts trust with everyone else. Buyers believe a business that turns work away.
What we do
What you end up with.
The documents this topic produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
The job story
One to three sentences in the form: when I am (situation), I want (motivation), so that I can (outcome). Use the customer's phrases from the interviews, not marketing language.
Result: Finished when three recent customers read it and each says it describes them.
The four-dimension grid
A table with practical, financial, personal and social rows. For each, write what the buyer needs, your rating out of five, and the evidence for the rating, such as a review, a delivery record or a customer quote.
Result: Finished when no rating is a guess and the weakest dimension is named.
The alternatives map
Every option buyers use for the job: direct competitors, other types of provider, workarounds, partners and doing nothing. Beside each, the share of interviewed buyers who used it and your advantage out of five.
Result: Finished when the map has at least one entry that is not a business, such as a notebook or a family member.
The positioning line
One sentence aimed at the alternative you beat with least effort, saying what the buyer gets by choosing you over it.
Result: Finished when a rep can say it on a call without notes and the buyer understands it.
The not-for statement
A short written statement of the jobs customers should not hire you for, shared with the team and used in qualifying.
Result: Finished when a rep has used it to decline an enquiry politely in the last fortnight.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Your brief
Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Is a job story the same as a buyer persona?
How many job stories do we need?
Can I score myself honestly on the identity dimension?
How do I include GST in the financial dimension?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Where to go next
The work that carries this topic further.
The rest of team foundations
Or read all of sales training and coaching.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.