Enough theory. This is a real assignment from last month, from first contact to agreement.
Six days. Four emails. No objection handled, no pressure applied, no deadline invented.
Day 1 — handing the stake back
"You want to move the bookkeeping and the payroll filings to us. But the most important thing you gave me is something else: your daughters already work in the business and one of them will take it over. You want that properly arranged. I fully agree, which is why it starts now, not later."
"My question to you: is this what you expect from us, given what we discussed?"
Those daughters are the stake. Not invented, not sold. Handed back.
Day 2 — he makes it smaller
The reply cuts the assignment back. Bookkeeping only. The payroll filings stay with the payroll administrator. And: "I hope there is already some indication of price."
This is where nine out of ten salespeople defend the full package.
"Your choice is clear. I agree with you. Starting small and doing it well works better than everything at once. And you now know what is ready the moment your daughter grows further into the business. Then we won't have to start that conversation from scratch."
Not giving in. Oxygen.
Day 2, later — the price becomes arithmetic
No negotiation, one variable: how many transactions per month? With four practical questions alongside. Which package are you on, do invoices arrive digitally, where do you invoice, and how much do you want to keep doing yourself.
Next to that last one it says literally: that is a real choice, not a trick question.
He answers all four inside his own email, between the lines of mine. Thirty to forty transactions. Bank linked. Everything digital. I'll keep doing the invoicing.
That is the baseline, carried out by the client.
Day 4 — the offer, with an unusual heading
A hundred euros a month, all in. And above it a heading almost no one writes: what is not included. Not the annual accounts, not corporate tax, not payroll.
Plus an offer to contact his current accountant himself about the handover, so he doesn't have to be the messenger.
Day 6
"All good, here is my agreement."
The part that nearly went wrong
Internally it was suggested to add a discount and speed things up. Waive the setup fee, and attach an annual contract to it.
It didn't make it into the email. Not out of principle, but because a discount you offer while no decision is on the table tells your client your price was negotiable.
You buy heat with oxygen. Always the most expensive trade there is.
And one more honesty: a quote was eventually sent in this case. My client hadn't made that step yet. That isn't a failure, it is the same model applied to your own organisation. That one moves in small steps too.
The exercise
Take your last won deal and put the emails in order.
Find the email in which the client wrote down what he wants. Not his agreement, his description.
If it isn't there, he judged your proposal instead of his own situation. That works sometimes. It just isn't a method.
The closing question
If you work this way, what is left in your pipeline?
That is session 10: your pipeline without “working on it”.