Michael Skriver started in finance and IT, then — as he puts it — upgraded to sales. He's spent his career leading complex B2B organizations across Europe and Asia, and he came into this conversation with a line his CEO once dropped on three thousand people: you have no clue how to sell, you're a bunch of traders.

That CEO was right. And what he taught Michael next is the through-line of this episode: if you say you're customer-centric, show me in your decisions, otherwise it's a slogan.

We get into what that looks like when it's real. Executive sponsors who put their own credibility at stake instead of approving account plans from a desk. KPIs that measure when a shipment leaves your factory instead of whether it arrived usable. Technical and commercial sellers working as a pair, with the person in the white coat doing the digging — because everyone knows the guy in the tie is dangerous, especially if his title is long.

The middle of the conversation is a masterclass in cross-cultural selling. A Japanese general manager telling Lee three times "I want you to do a good job," and what he was actually protecting. A boss who couldn't sit through 45 minutes of small talk and killed the relationship in seven. Twelve Japanese executives across the table. And the karaoke moment that wasn't an invitation — it was a test.

They close on the thing every seller hears in every market on earth: our market is different. Michael's read on what that sentence is really asking for is worth the listen on its own.

Also in here: the $700 shoes, why interrogation shuts buyers down, intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation, and a CEO's advice to stop doing more with less and start doing less with less.

Guest: Michael Skriver — futuresalesglobal.com

Host: Lee Levitt — sales coach, podcast host, and author of The Second Meeting and Together We Win, both available at books.acelera.group

Questions or comments? Use the contact form at podcast.thoughtsonselling.com, or grab time to talk at meet.acelera.group.

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