Every organisation has a Sales Operating System

When I first started working with him, being fresh into a P&L ownership role, I was focused mainly on shorter-term results. David helped me step back and think more strategically, challenging my assumptions, pushing me outside my comfort zone, and developing my understanding of the wider commercial picture. As a result, I became more confident, more decisive, and far more effective as a leader. For me David's stand out is how he coached. Rather than giving answers, he asks the right questions, forcing you to think differently and take ownership. He helped me build stronger accountability within my team, handle performance conversations with clarity, and lead with more structure and consistency. This translated into real results: improved engagement, clearer ownership of targets, and more consistent KPI delivery. From our interactions it built £1m in a brand new revenue line from scratch that first year.

I've had the pleasure of working with David during his delivery of sales training and consultancy, in several businesses now and the impact he makes is immediate and tangible. He has a rare ability to combine strategic insight with practical, real-world application, ensuring that sales theory actually translates into results on the ground. He quickly builds trust with the team, tailors his approach to our specific challenges, and delivered clear frameworks that were easy to adopt and consistently apply.

David helped me move beyond a focus on short-term results and think more strategically as a leader. He challenged my thinking, pushed me outside my comfort zone, and gave me the confidence to be more decisive and commercially aware in my role. What sets him apart is how he coaches. He doesn't simply give answers, he asks the right questions, encouraging ownership and accountability. Through his mentorship, I strengthened how I managed performance, improved team accountability, and brought more structure and consistency to my leadership. This translated into tangible results: stronger team engagement, clearer ownership of targets, and more consistent delivery against KPIs.

He quickly understood our commercial goals and helped sharpen our approach to business development and new client acquisition. David combines strong strategic insight with practical execution, giving the team clear, effective frameworks to improve enquiry handling, client conversations, and conversion. The result was a noticeable uplift in confidence, pipeline quality, and new business won.

I've had a quick flick through The Sales Operating System by David Standing and it looks like an interesting read. Page 77 particularly caught my attention, with the section on leadership questions and the importance of asking the right questions to get the best out of your team. It's given me some food for thought already, and I'm looking forward to reading it in more depth.