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A weekly micro-lesson for B2B sales teams. In each 5–10 minute episode, we share one practical idea, model or strategy for how you become brilliant at growing sales with integrity. All focused on building trust and delivering real value to your clients. Find more learning at https://www.showinguplearning.com/
Welcome everybody, it’s great to have you with us. I’m your host, Benjamin Western.
Very Good Sales, is the podcast brought to you by Showing Up.
We help people get 1% better every day at sales and business development.
Each wee k, we bring you a short micro lesson you can put into practice right away.
It’s all about becoming irreplaceable to your clients by building trust, bringing value, and in the process, unlocking your potential and growing sales.
And head over to showinguplearning.com for more free learning and or to enquire about working with our team.
Today’s mirco-lesson is ….what is your White Whisky
So, let me tell you a story. When Vladimir Smirnoff fled Russia during the revolution, he didn’t exactly pack a suitcase full of valuables. He left with very little. But in his pocket, he carried something special: a recipe. A recipe for something almost completely unknown in the West at that time—vodka.
Now, this wasn’t just any family hobby. Back home, the Smirnoffs had been distilling vodka since 1864. The House of Smirnoff supplied the Imperial Court of the Tsars. Think prestige, wealth, and some serious spirits credibility. But the Bolsheviks weren’t handing out sympathy cards. The revolution swept everything away—his business, his home, his entire country.
So Vladimir started again. First in Poland, then in France, and eventually, through a string of licensing deals and, let’s be honest, a bit of good luck, his vodka landed in the United States.
Here’s the snag, though: America didn’t want vodka. This was the 1930s. Whiskey was king. Rum had pirates. Gin had speakeasies. But vodka? Nobody had even heard of it. It had no image, no story, no market. Honestly, trying to sell vodka in the US back then was like trying to sell a fax machine to Gen Z today. People would just look at you blankly.
So what did Vladimir and his partners do? They didn’t try to force vodka down people’s throats—literally or figuratively. Instead, they rebranded it. They called it white whiskey. And the pitch? No taste, no smell. That was the hook. Something familiar—whiskey—and something just different enough—white. It was genius. A half-step forward. Not so far that people rejected it, but far enough to get them curious.
Then along came the Moscow Mule. A drink built entirely to sell vodka. Copper mug. Fresh lime. Ginger beer. Absolutely delicious—and more importantly, cool. By the time the Mule took off, people were finally ready to hear the word: vodka. And the rest is history. Today, Smirnoff is the best-selling vodka in the world. Over 28 million cases a year. All of it traced back to one man who understood something crucial: meet people where they are, then walk them half a step forward.
Here’s your micro lesson: Just Half a Step. Your clients don’t live in your world. They’re not reading your strategy deck. They don’t know your jargon. They’re not walking around all day thinking about your product. So when you pitch, don’t start in your world. Start in theirs.
White whiskey wasn’t vodka’s identity. It was the invitation. The bridge. Nobody was ready for vodka. But they were ready for something that sounded like whiskey—just lighter, cleaner, fresher. White whiskey. One half-step forward. Then came the next step, the Moscow Mule. Then, eventually, global dominance. Smirnoff didn’t push. It guided.
So here’s an exercise for you—the Half-Step Test. Take your value proposition, your pitch, the way you introduce your company. Now ask yourself: where’s the jargon? Where are you meeting the client—in their world? Are you taking them half a step forward? Or no steps at all? Or maybe way too many? Rewrite it until it hits that sweet spot.
That’s how you find your own white whisky.
So, thanks for listening to Very Good Sales brought to you by Showing Up. I’m Benjamin Western, and I hope today’s micro lesson gave you something practical to take into your client conversations this week.
If you’d like to go deeper, our platform gives you complete access to a comprehensive library of learning. It’s been designed so you can learn on your own or as a team, whether that’s in a meeting room together or online at a time that suits you. Each module is highly practical, built around real-world scenarios, and focused on helping you build trust, bring value, and grow sales.
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