Most weeks, my son asks if he can quit piano. Practicing isn't something he loves — it's something he tolerates, and some weeks barely that. My answer is always the same: there are sports you can choose. This is one thing I'm choosing for you.You'll thank me for it later.

This morning, his exam results came in. He'd put in the work all year, so he was prepared.And yet the first thing he asked wasn't about the score. It was, "did I pass?"

Despite all his effort, he questioned his own abilities the moment it came down to hearing how he did.

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He got his answer: 85%, Gr 1-Royal Conservatory of Music. And the relief on his face turned into something bigger — real pride, the kind that comes from knowing exactly what that number took.

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Belief re-entered him — a quiet knowing that he'd earned, and was able to experience firsthand, what was possible for himself.

His sister was standing right there. She doesn't love practicing either — she's asked more than once if she can quit too. But she watched her brother's face. She watched us celebrate with him. She's been at the piano more this week, and nobody asked her to.

We're at that same kind of checkpoint with our pipelines right now. Mid-year is when we find out what our effort actually built — and whether it's honest.

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Three things worth checking before we push into Q3

1. Are we multi-threaded with the right people?

Being connected to multiple people on an account isn't enough if we don't actually understand them. For each stakeholder we're talking to, do we know their priorities for the remainder of this year? What projects are they working on right now? Who influences their decision, and what criteria are they using to make it? And the question we skip most often: why would they choose to stay put and do nothing?

Say we've been working a deal through one VP for four months. She's engaged, but we've never asked who she needs sign-off from, or what she's personally being measured on this year. If we don't know that, we're guessing at what"yes" actually requires. A stronger move: ask her directly who elsen eeds to be comfortable with this decision, and what would make them say no.That single question often surfaces a stakeholder, a budget cycle, or a competing priority we didn't know existed.

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2. Is our outreach still relevant, timely, and worth a response?

Channel variety matters — video, a handwritten note, WhatsApp, whatever fits the relationship — but the channel isn't the only point. The message is. Is what we're sending tied to a problem they're actively trying to solve, or a goal they're trying to hit this quarter? Or better — are we sharing something that makes the invisible visible: an insight, an introduction, a piece of information that lets them see or do something they couldn't before?

A generic "checking i n" email rarely earns a reply, no matter which channel it's sent through. But a video proposal that breaks down the investment clearly, tied to what they said mattered in our last conversation, or an introduction to someone solving the exact problem they mentioned last quarter — that's worth opening.If we're sending the same update we sent in Q1, dressed up in a new channel, we haven't actually changed anything.

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3. Are we seeing evidence, or hearing what we want to hear?

Happy ears and confirmation bias are easy to fall into, especially on deals we want to close. The question worth asking: is there physical evidence from the prospect's side that this deal is moving, or are we just confirming what we already believed?

For complex deals, do we have a mutual action plan? Are we assigning them homework —something concrete that measures real intent — or is this a one-sided effort we're carrying alone? If we ask a prospect to pull together their internal stakeholders for a working session and they can't find thirty minutes in three weeks, that's evidence, even if it's not the evidence we wanted. A deal that's really moving shows up in shared next steps, not just warm conversation.

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My son didn't rediscover belief in himself because someone told him he was capable. He experienced it firsthand — proof, not praise, is what changed how he sees what's possible for himself now.

His sister watched that unfold. She's been at the piano more this week, and she's now open to writing her own exam — something she wasn't considering a month ago. She didn't need a pep talk. She needed to see it happen for someone close to her.

That's what celebrating a teammate's win does on a sales floor too. It's not just recognition — it's a mirror. When we see someone else close, learn, or grow, we get proof of what's possible in us. The more visibly we celebrate that, them ore it spreads.

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Whose win on your team could we celebrate louder this week — not only for them, but for what it might unlock in someone watching?

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Here's to your Success!

— Karen

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