Assumption vs Evidence

Last week, I introduced the framework I've been building to help sales teams eliminate their two biggest blind spots:

Excavate → Validate → Integrate.

Three steps to turn unconscious competence into something teachable, scalable, and repeatable.

Week one was about excavation. It’s the boardroom work that surfaces what your best people actually do. The behaviors, the instincts, the intangibles that nobody's written down.

This week is about validation, and it might be the most uncomfortable step of the three.

The Assumption Trap

If I asked 100 salespeople why their best customers buy from them:

• 5 would actually know because they've asked

• 15 would guess correctly because they're sharp and attentive

• 80 would be completely shocked by the real answer

I've been saying this for years. Nobody has ever disagreed.

That means 80% of salespeople are out there every day operating on assumptions dressed up as knowledge. They have theories about why customers buy, but they've never validated them with customers themselves.

Everything is an assumption until you meet reality. And most people never meet reality because they never ask.

Why We Don't Ask

It's not complicated. It's uncomfortable.

Asking your best customer, "Why do you really buy from us?" requires vulnerability. You're admitting you don't fully know. You're opening yourself up to answers you might not want to hear.

Most salespeople would rather assume they're right than risk finding out they're wrong.

But that discomfort is exactly why it works. Vulnerable conversations deepen relationships. They surface truths you can't get any other way, and they give you the exact language you need to find more customers like the ones you already love working with.

Clarity You Can Act On

My #ThankfulThursday post this week was about Mike Weinberg.

One of the things I said about Mike: "Lots of people can explain things simply. Mike's one of the few who makes you believe you can do the work."

That's what validation is about.

The excavation work gives you clarity about what makes you different. But clarity alone isn't enough. You have to believe it's true, and the only way to believe it is to hear it from the people who matter most.

When your best customer tells you, in their own words, why they chose you and why they stay, that's not a hypothesis anymore. That's evidence. And evidence gives you the confidence to act.

The 5 Questions

I've been teaching a framework called 5 Great Questions for Killer Customer Conversations for years. They're simple. They're powerful. And 95% of salespeople will never ask them.

I break down all five in this week's blog, along with why each one matters and how to use what you learn.

Read the full post here →

What's Coming

Next week: Integrate.

Excavation and validation only matter if you do something with what you learn. Integration is about embedding those insights into training, playbooks, team meetings, and coaching rhythms, so the knowledge doesn't stay locked in a slide deck or walk out the door when your veterans retire.

That's where most companies stall, and I'll dig into how to make it stick.

Where Do You Stand?

If you're wondering whether your team is operating on assumptions or evidence, the self-assessment can help.

It’s 14 questions. Most people get it done in less than 10 minutes. It’s totally free.

Take the assessment here →

The truth is undefeated, but you have to be willing to ask for it. Go have a meaningful conversation with a great customer this week, and tell me what you learn.

Cheers,
JB