You want bigger deals at the price you want. Not the same deal, discounted, after the fourth meeting, with that small knot in your stomach the moment you name the number.

The usual fix is more marketing. More posts, more ads, more leads. And the price stays exactly where it was, because nothing changed in what the buyer sees before you name it.

The order matters more than the effort. Proof first. Then the higher price. Then the first marketing dollar.

I talked this through with Richard Kaufman on the Vertical Momentum Resiliency Podcast (May 2025). Richard asked me what I'd do if I lost everything and had to start from zero.

The answer is a sequence. It works just as well when you launch a new offer or feel your price is too low. Listen to the full conversation: How To Level Up Your Sales Strategy, on Vertical Momentum

Step 1: Know who it's for, five levels deep

"The first important thing is to ask, who is it for and what is it for?"

Not "B2B companies." Five levels deep. Each level excludes someone. For a B2B founder that could be: industry, company size, the buyer's role, the situation they're in, the trigger that makes it urgent now.

Skip this and every email, video and proposal turns into what I called on the show "a love letter to whoever it may concern." Nobody pays a premium for a love letter addressed to nobody.

Then the second question: "what is coming for them in the next six months, 12 months, 18 months. And how can you help them be ready for what's coming?"

🐬 Two questions. No website, no logo, no ads yet. And your offer is already relevant and timely.

Step 2: Five clients, five video testimonials

Get your first five clients for this offer. Solve their problem with whatever works. Whatever works, you keep. It becomes a module, a tool, a step in your process.

Then ask all five for a two-minute video. The questions:

• Why did you work with me?
• What was the problem?
• "What was your hesitation in the beginning?"
• What happened, and what was the outcome?
• Who should do this, and why?

Those five videos go first on your website and your LinkedIn profile. Before any claim you write about yourself.

🐯 Notice the hesitation question. Your next buyer has the same hesitation. Now a peer answers it before you ever get on the call.

Step 3: 100 reviews, then double the price

The five testimonials become your first five reviews. Then you work toward a hundred. In B2B the form changes (Google reviews, LinkedIn recommendations, case videos). The principle doesn't: count your proof.

"When you got a hundred Google reviews, now you double your price."

Chew on this one. It feels too bold at first. "And this is where people say, what doubling? That's too much. No, it's not." By now the product is mature. It solves real problems. People refer other people. "Now double the price, which will double your revenue."

That's pricing power. It comes from a buyer who has already watched peers name the problem and the result before you name a number. Your price lands next to your clients' proof, not next to a competitor's discount.

Step 4: Only now, the first marketing dollar

On the show I used an example: "let's say you're making $35,000 now that you've doubled." Per month. "This is the first day where you will start spending your first dollar on marketing."

Still no paid ads. Bring in a freelancer and some software to create more content and stories about what you do. Ask lots of questions on social media. Go on podcasts, because now you have something worth saying. In the last minutes, tell people where to download something or how to reach you.

And then this happens: "a week later, you wake up in the morning and you have some people on your calendar." Someone who heard you a week ago booked themselves.

🌴 That's the difference between chasing buyers and leading the call. They arrive already knowing what you fix, already seeing the proof, already expecting the price.

Run the sequence this quarter: 5 steps

1. Write the five levels. One page. Who it's for, five exclusions deep.
2. Write what's coming for them. 6, 12, 18 months. How you get them ready.
3. Record five testimonials. Use the questions above, hesitation included.
4. Count your proof. Reviews, recommendations, case videos. Set the number that earns the higher price.
5. Then raise the price, then market. In that order. Never the other way round.

🐬 Right things, right order. The price stops being the scary part of the conversation, and every new offer gets a fresh start.

🐯 That's Sprintlife. Fewer deals, bigger ones, at the price you set, and the time back that comes with it.

Listen to the full conversation with Richard: Vertical Momentum with Simon Severino

Grab the free tools and join the Sprint Club: https://www.strategysprints.com

Ready to accelerate now? Book a Discovery Call: https://calendly.com/strategysprint/discovery-call

Happy hunting.
Simon & The Sprinters 🐬⚡️🐆