"Winter is the killing season. The hunters and the strong stalk the weak. The foolish. The unprepared. Only the fiercest creatures survive.
Winter is the time of the wolf and the lion. When nature's failures become someone else's meal.
Only fire has more effect than the blizzard. Here, creatures will wander in maddening circles until snowdrifts cover them and freeze them in place. The blizzard drives man and animal mad with hunger, and the disorienting nature of no sun, no moon, leaves them without direction. No compass to guide their movement nor reason."
— Taylor Sheridan, 1923
Winter is coming—and it’s coming fast.
Not the kind of winter marked by snowfall and cold—but the winter of markets collapsing under uncertainty.
The winter of political upheaval, economic turbulence, and AI tearing apart the old ways of doing business.
Those of us in B2B sales will feel this acutely.
A winter driven by forces beyond your control—and Buyers lost in their own storm, unsure which way to turn.
Survival belongs to those with the discipline to think clearly. To those who excel at strategy. Who move with power & purpose, while others freeze in place.
Don’t succumb to a world where people wander in circles, mad with effort, lacking direction, and freezing because they have no compass to guide them.
Because winter doesn’t care how hard you work. Or how much you hope things return to "normal."
It only respects those who know how to think clearly, who are agile, who can adapt and move with purpose and power.
The survivors are those who plan ahead and have multiple options based on the environment they are in.
Strategy is the discipline of creating the power to achieve your goals in competitive and uncertain environments. You must excel at strategy to prosper in winter.
The Storm We’re All In
The brutal truth is:
You’re not just competing against other companies.
You’re fighting three enemies at once:
1. Direct competitors — those selling similar solutions, vying for the same prize.
2. Indirect competitors — internal initiatives, politics, and priorities inside your Buyer’s organization that steal budget and attention.
3. The most dangerous enemy of all: No Decision.
In winter, deals don’t just get lost to competitors—they die in the snowdrifts of indecision, inertia, and fear.
Without a clear strategy, you’re simply reacting to these forces.
You are prey!
The Cost of No Strategy
Many will default to brute force—pushing harder, discounting deeper, flooding the market with noise.
But effort alone isn’t enough.
Strategy is what separates those who survive from those who freeze in place. Strategy is about discipline. It’s about power to move with purpose.
If you don’t have a strategy, your Buyer and your competition will choose one for you.
And it likely won’t serve you—or them.
---
This Is Not a Zero-Sum Game
Strategy isn’t about defeating the Buyer.
It’s about helping them find their way through the storm, too.
They’re in winter alongside you—under pressure, trying to make decisions in a blizzard of uncertainty.
Sales strategy is about how to help your customers, your partners, your team find their footing so you can both survive and thrive.
The strong don’t scavenge scraps like a hyena.
The strong hunt, share the meal like a lion, and keep moving.
You’re not here to win at their expense.
You’re here to lead—so you both survive and prosper.
Your competitors? You outthink them, outmaneuver them—and leave them to freeze.
Welcome to Winter
This isn’t fear-mongering.
It’s reality.
The forces tearing through markets, careers, and industries aren’t slowing down.
You can complain about it.
You can wish for calmer days.
You can keep doing the same things because they always worked in the past.
Or you can sharpen your strategic skills and learn to move in the storm.
Because winter doesn’t care how hard you work.
It doesn't care how good you were yesterday.
It doesn't care how much you want to win.
It only respects those with discipline and who move with power & purpose.
Who know how to compete to win.
Who can see the landscape clearly and choose winning sales strategies with precision.
This is the time of the wolf and lion.
Choose your strategy—or freeze in place while others feed.
Navigation:
This is the Preface to the series of 8 Compass Sales Strategies.
Each strategy serves a specific purpose in different competitive deal scenarios.
I train sales professionals, business leaders, and their AI agents on Sales and Deal strategies using the Compass AI Sales Strategy system. This training acts as a force multiplier, empowering you and your AI agents to work in alignment to win business and exceed your number in competitive environments.
This was written while listening to ‘Fire in the Ocean’ by Shane Smith and the Saints.
Artwork: The Wolf by Sora
