About John Sambrook
Practical sales help for owners who already know their craft and still want more of the right customers.
Common Sense Sales is the sales practice of Common Sense Systems, the Kirkland firm I founded in 1996. I spent years building software for medical devices and other systems where a vague answer is a dangerous answer. That habit is useful in selling: most owners do not have a “motivation problem.” They have one stuck step between a conversation and cash.
I studied Theory of Constraints with Eli Goldratt, including the Jonah program. The method is simple to say and hard to fake: find the constraint, understand the conflict that keeps it in place, and change that. Applied to a small business, that usually means looking at the offer, the next step after a good talk, and who is allowed to ask for the business.
I still do the work myself. You will not be handed to a junior closer with a script. If the first conversation shows that marketing, operations, or a website problem is the real cap on sales, I will say that instead of selling you a pipeline workshop.
Based in Kirkland, Washington. I work with owners in the Puget Sound area in person when it helps, and with owners elsewhere by video.