Structure your thinking with canvases
In this week’s newsletter I want to introduce you to canvases - for me one of the biggest hacks to structuring my thinking and guiding my work as a seller.
Canvases are what they sound like - blank templates that you can doodle on as you work through specific tasks:
Researching an industry
Planning a negotiation
Mapping out your commission potential
For many sellers, the days are busy and work comes at you through your email inbox.
It can be difficult to take the time to,
Stop
Think
Plan
And instead we continue rushing from call to call, meeting to meeting.
The canvases give you the time and the structure to spend 20-30 minutes thinking about a specific challenge and planning your next steps to address it.
Firstly, you can grab all the current canvases for free on the button below.
Once you download them you will find both a Word version (that could also be uploaded to your Google Docs), and a PDF version (my favourite) for printing out and doodling on.
In it you will find:
Forecast canvas - guides you through your forecasting process
Account canvas - structures your thinking around company research
Qualification canvas - simplifies your decision process
Opportunity canvas - quickly understand what information is missing
Negotiation canvas - plan your strategy before you try and strike a deal
Loss preview canvas - understand why you might lose a deal and build a strategy to change the outcome
Commission canvas - understand how your performance affects what you'll earn. Work back from what you want to earn to what you need to close.
Industry canvas - guide your research as you uncover strategic priorities in your target industry.
Territory Plan canvas - Use this canvas to develop your thinking as you approach your territory
I would print out one of each to start with and then follow the short video walkthroughs that are also included in the bundle as I show you how to use them.
If you like the idea of the canvas - but wish they came pre-printed and bundled in a book, then you are in luck!
You can find The Sales Journal on Amazon which includes the most popular canvases - including 52 weekly forecast canvases to help you plan for your manager’s forecast call.
That’s it for this week - happy canvasing, I’ll see you next Saturday
Whenever you are ready, there are three ways that I can help you:
Get How To Sell Tech as a paperback, hardback, Kindle or audiobook for a deep dive on how to hit your target in your first sales role.
Subscribe to Research Hub where we publish up to date industry and enterprise account analysis to help accelerate your research and personalise your outreach.
CxO Advisory where I help senior leaders with strategic challenges holding back their revenue engine.