ivan s.

🚨 just dropped a new issue of Sales Beyond Fight or Flight 👉 When Both Sides Are Protecting Themselves some of the most frustrating deals don’t actually fail they just… slowly stop moving 👀 good conversations positive signals “helpful” meetings next steps that somehow never happen from the outside it looks like progress underneath? both sides are protecting themselves customer protects against making a bad decision seller protects against losing the deal and that’s where weird things start happening: • more info gets shared, but clarity doesn’t improve • timelines drift but nobody addresses it directly • seller becomes “more helpful” but avoids hard questions • customer stays engaged… without really committing the dangerous part? it still feels collaborative in this issue I break down: • why stalled deals are often parallel protection loops • how sellers unintentionally mirror buyer hesitation • why pressure usually increases threat (not movement) • a simple framework I use a lot now: → Name → Normalize → Neutralize basically: make the protection visible without making it wrong example: instead of “can we lock the next step?” try “it feels like we might both be approaching this carefully — would it help to talk through what feels uncertain?” that one shift changes conversations fast 🤓 curious where this shows up most for others: discovery? deal progression? forecasting? QBRs? customer success conversations? would genuinely love to hear patterns others are seeing When Both Sides Are Protecting Themselves

Hi everyone! 👋 I'm Ivan Stevanovic, Sales Enablement & Excellence Leader based in Tenerife, Spain (remote EU). Open to fractional enablement roles with SMBs/startups.https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivanb2bsalesenablementleader/ & [email protected] 20+ years in complex B2B at 3M (manufacturing/MedTech): Grew sales teams 1M→3M€ via outbound. Global Training Manager scaling 2,600+ sellers across EMEA/LATAM/APAC. Delivered Salesforce 0→85% adoption, certification 75→95%, 44% performance jumps through coaching frameworks and playbooks. Now targeting SMBs/startups - especially SaaS, professional services, fast-scaling companies. Love the speed and ownership! Also open to fractional sales enablement - helping you build playbooks, coach reps, drive pipeline discipline part-time while you scale. Would love guidance from anyone who's jumped enterprise→startup. How do enablement priorities shift? What metrics matter most at SMB scale? Any SaaS playbooks I should know? Happy to share manufacturing/MedTech frameworks - enterprise rigor often translates well. Looking forward to learning! 🚀

🚨 New issue just published: Sales Beyond Fight or Flight 85% of decisions are made subconsciously. If that’s true, most commercial systems are aimed at the wrong level. In RevOps and Enablement, we optimize process, tech, and messaging — but performance ultimately runs on subconscious state, not dashboards or data. That’s why we see numbers like: • 95% of buyers not in buying mode • 80% of sellers still predominantly pitching • 40–60% of deals lost to indecision • 50% of sellers missing quota • 80% of buyers preferring rep-free experiences Each of these points to the same gap: Systems are fast. The human brain is not. And under pressure, the subconscious protects — it simplifies, avoids risk, stalls decisions. In this issue, I unpack: • how subconscious threat distorts pipeline performance • why persuasion rarely solves indecision • what “state regulation” means for sales leadership and enablement design • a simple practice to create psychological safety in conversations Read here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/85-decisions-subconscious-ivan-stevanovic-kehxe/?trackingId=Rdhlu8sWSM2UsJenEojRYQ%3D%3D — Curious to hear from this group: How are you designing systems and cultures that reduce subconscious threat — instead of amplifying it?

🚀 Sales Beyond Fight or Flight: Reduce Stress, Boost Collaboration In modern B2B sales, both buyers and sellers operate under constant pressure:

Most interactions happen not from calm collaboration, but from an automatic threat state—fight or flight—where brains default to competition instead of partnership. Sales Beyond Fight or Flight uncovers the hidden GAPs that quietly shape outcomes:

For enablement specialists, managers, and leaders, applying these insights helps: ✅ Reduce deal loss caused by cognitive misalignment ✅ Unlock ROI of existing sales methodologies and enablement programs ✅ Minimize wasted customer interactions The goal: recognize these states, design conversations and processes from trust, not threat, and create more effective, collaborative, and human-centered outcomes. 💬 Join the conversation: Where do you see these GAPs in your teams or deals? Share comments, questions, or real-life situations. 💬 Let's connect & collaborate on this topic. 📖 Explore more in the newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/sales-beyond-fight-or-flight-7403823171088400385/

👋 I'm Ivan Sales Excellence Coach! Founder of Trust Learn Improve - Develop while doing your job! 📍 I live in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivansalesexcellencecoach/ 🎉 For fun: Music, Concerts, Carnaval, Nature, Hiking, Martial Arts, Running, Books, Neuroscience, Sales, Networking, Helping. 💬 Let's talk about: the biggest GAP between modern B2B Buyer and Seller, how to transform training & development from cost to value creation center, how to help customer switch from Threat state to Trust state, how to replace emotional reactions with strategic responses, how to stay in collaborative mode despite the other person wanting to dominate, how to make this world a better place through your life calling (whatever it is).