Ton Verleg · 28 December 2025 · 2 min read
Modern Buyers Will Stop You
Modern buyers don’t need more meetings.
They need better conversations.
If I were a buyer, here’s who I would politely decline meetings with — salespeople who…
1. Come half-prepared to meetings
Because preparation means you respect my time. If you haven’t invested time to understand my business, my market, and my role — why should I invest time in you?
2. Follow traditional discovery questions
Because I just heard these fifty times in the last month. Scripted discovery tells me you’re following a sales playbook — not my reality.
3. Probe for pain points
Because I’m not “in pain.” I’m running a business. Probing for pain is such a downer. Help me see opportunities, risks, and trade-offs — not manufacture problems.
4. Are not insightful in the first 5 minutes
Because first impressions signal you have some value to offer. If you can’t bring perspective early, I’ll assume the rest of the meeting will be more of the same.
5. Don’t help me bring other stakeholders on board
Because buying is a team sport. If you only sell to me but don’t help me sell internally, you’re creating friction — not progress.
6. Ask: “What keeps you awake at night?”
Because it’s lazy, transparent and what they did in the nineties. It tells me you’re searching for leverage instead of understanding context and bringing perspective.
7. Push solutions
Because solutions without shared understanding create resistance. Help me see differently first — the solution will follow naturally.
8. Don’t share insightful third-party research
Because opinions aren’t enough anymore. Insight is earned through data, patterns, and what’s changing beyond my four walls.
9. Don’t understand my internal buying process
Because decisions don’t happen in a straight line. If you don’t know how my organisation decides, you can’t help me move forward.
10. Are obsessed with speaking to “the decision maker”
Because there rarely is just one. Influence today is distributed — and ignoring that shows you’re selling the past.
Selling is about helping buyers think, align, and decide.
Modern Buyers. Modern Selling.
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