I’ve spent most of my career believing that if you do the work, make something exceptional, and treat people well, sales will follow. That belief carried us for nearly four decades—until we acquired a Bay Area installation business led by master installer Martin Brooks and I quickly learned there was more to the story. 

On a Saturday morning in January 2025, I watched a recorded discovery call (with permission) of Martin with one of our clients. What I saw was both shocking and illuminating. Despite Martin's incredible experience and knowledge, he wasn’t asking open‑ended questions, wasn’t creating emotional clarity, and wasn’t guiding next steps with confidence. After seeing that first call, I had a stark realization: If this is what our one-salesperson installation business was like, what was going on in our core 50-person tile sales team? So, I started watching and listening to calls—and it became clear we didn’t just have a mild cold, we had a full‑blown infection. The talent was obvious; the consistency wasn’t. 

Despite having a lot of pride in the talent on our team, the technology platform and systems we use, and our beautiful and domestically produced product, it was clear that our team lacked a selling framework that ensured a consistent experience for all of our clients, residential and commercial. 

Here’s how we set about to change that. 

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Give Excellence a Name (and a Scorecard) 

After surveying SPIN, Challenger, MEDDIC and others, our VP of Sales, Caitlin Child, helped us codify our GANAS Selling Framework—a values‑rooted framework that gives everyone the same map (Ganas, the spanish word for desire or effort, is one of our five Core Values): 

● Gather the Vision 

● Anchor the Value 

● Navigate the Decision 

● Align the Plan 

● Show Gratitude

Leveraging industry and sales methodologies best practices, we created a training guide, role plays, scorecards, and coaching tools. And then we decided we needed to not just re-train people in our typical way, we needed to fully embrace this and invested over $100,000 in flying all 50 sales reps to a multi-day in person training to re-establish who we are at Fireclay and how we sell. By ensuring that we made the investment, took time to ensure everyone received in person training, and setting the foundation, we could then start to put GANAS in action. 

When we first introduced GANAS, I’ll never forget the mix of excitement and nerves in the room. Some longtime team members were skeptical—others were instantly energized—but everyone leaned in once they saw how this framework could make selling feel more natural and connected. 

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Watch the Tape, Together 

One of the most effective ways we did this was we began recording initial client discovery calls on Google Meet (with client permission), then scoring them against a simple rubric. We built a feedback loop—Google Meet → AI reviewed scorecard → simple Slack message to rep and manager—so managers could coach while the conversation was still fresh. Role‑plays moved from awkward to energizing because reps could practice the exact moments they wanted to improve, using segment‑specific scenarios (residential, trade, commercial). In 7 weeks we went from our team averaging C's and D's to A's. 

The result: We replaced “heroic, individual styles” with a coachable standard—same moves, personal voice. Calls feel warmer and more directed. Hand‑offs across teams feel like one company. We have a common framework to ensure we are moving forward consistently and collaboratively, with the Client and their experience and success at the center. 

We now share a common language (GANAS) across our online, showroom, and commercial teams, and managers regularly observe calls to keep everyone learning from the same playbook. ● Practice is becoming part of our culture. Role‑plays and short skills sessions use real client scenarios and constructive feedback so improvement feels natural and safe.  We’re already seeing encouraging signs: clearer discovery conversations, stronger guidance on next steps, and a noticeable lift in confidence across the team.

What remained constant was our craft. The artisan, domestic story still matters—but now it’s supported by discovery, visuals, and clear next steps instead of carried by them. 

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A Field Guide for Peers: How to Start (and Keep Going) 

These steps aren’t just internal tricks—they speak to a larger design‑industry challenge of building consistent, trust‑centered sales cultures in creative businesses. 

1) Watch three calls this week 

Get permission, record, and sit with your salespeople (or yourself) for 60 minutes. How did it go? Is it what you expected? Name the moments that matter (opening, discovery, next‑step close). Decide what “good” is—together. 

2) Pick one framework and publish it 

There are many out there, and frankly they are all great. Spend a weekend reading up on a few - SPIN, Challenger, MEDDIC, - and see what resonates. We took a very culture-specific approach, but you may be able to get meaningful value from a template that already exists and is proven effective. 

3) Turn practice into a ritual 

Try some role-play. It will feel awkward at first, but over time you and the team will get better. Rotate seller/client/observer; pull scenarios from live deals; score them. Keep it safe and specific. 

4) Use AI 

We gained tremendous leverage using OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google Gemini to do the heavy lifting including helping us create a framework, training plans, role plays and scorecards. We also use AI to score calls, saving us time while maintaining consistency across calls and managers. 

5) Make it Fun! 

Celebrate progress, not perfection. This is all about making the client experience better and helping you and the team get better. The best teams in the world practice all day every day, and practice should be both difficult but extremely rewarding by measuring progress.

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This story is from Issue 8 of The Quarterly. Click here to see the full issue.