Product leaders often feel they must present a perfect, unassailable plan to executives. However, the goal should be to start a discussion. Presenting an idea as an educated guess allows for a collaborative debate where you can gather more information and adjust the strategy based on leadership's feedback.

While remote sales works, it prevents leaders from developing intuition. John McMahon relies on reading a room—body language, handshakes, eye contact—to identify champions and enemies. This "gut feel" is a second processing engine that is nearly impossible to replicate over Zoom, making sales more difficult.

Most salespeople fear silence and rush to fill it, appearing insecure. By intentionally embracing silence, you reframe it as a tool. It signals confidence, gives the buyer critical time to process information, and, like a pause in a performance, can make them lean in and pay closer attention.

People are practiced and guarded during formal meetings. To understand their true nature, Negreanu suggests engaging with them in informal environments like a meal or drinks. This disarms them, making their reactions more authentic and revealing.

Don't assume a sales call's purpose is universal. In some cultures, like Vietnam, the goal is deep information exchange, and meetings run long. In others, like Spain, the focus is on relationship-building over extended, informal dinners. Misreading this core objective will lead to failure.

Your physical energy is a key non-verbal signal of competence and reliability. Potential hires, investors, and partners subconsciously assess your energy to gauge if you can deliver on promises. Low energy can communicate untrustworthiness, causing you to lose high-caliber opportunities.

When presenting to a CFO, brevity is critical. They think in summaries and bullet points, and a lengthy presentation is a sign of disrespect for their time. Your entire business case should be distilled into a single, powerful page to maintain their attention.

In virtual settings, the lack of physical presence causes people to "over-index" on the few non-verbal cues available, like facial expressions. A leader's innocuous action, such as rubbing their face, can be misinterpreted as negativity. Leaders must be hyper-aware that their virtual body language is under a microscope.

When communicating with executive leaders, always begin with the high-level, strategic view (the "macro") to establish context and alignment. However, you must be prepared to dive into any level of detail ("micro") they ask about. This approach respects their time while demonstrating your comprehensive understanding and credibility.