Stevenson's Last Look Playbook

A hand-built reference of the plays, moves, and mindsets Stevenson teaches. Start anywhere — every page links to where to go next, and related concepts auto-link as you read so you can meander.

55 pages · Industry-term glossary →

Start here

The teaching model underneath everything else.

The Adult Learning ModelAwareness → Skill → Practice → Results. It's why my company is called ASP Results. And it's why "just tell me the answer" is not how people actually change.
People Buy from PeopleCompanies don't buy from companies. Brands don't buy from brands. Humans buy from humans. If you forget that, you've handed the game to whoever remembers it.

How people work — DISC

The four styles, how to spot them, and how to talk to each one.

DISCThe answer key to people. If I only had thirty minutes with a new seller, this is where I'd spend them.
D-style customers — the Dominant buyerActive + task. The hardest style to sell to — and the most common buyer in our industry.
I-style customers — the Influential buyerActive + relationship. Fun to deal with — easy to confuse with friendship.
S-style customers — the Steady buyerPassive + relationship. The loyalists. Slow to choose you — even slower to leave you.
C-style customers — the Conscientious buyerPassive + task. The spreadsheet lovers. The why-people.
Style-matchingReading the style is the easy half. Actually changing how you sound is the skill.
DISC VoicemailTheir outgoing message tells you their DISC style before you've ever met them. Listen to it, match it, and leave the voicemail that sounds like it was made for them.
Why your buyers skew DThe one industry truth that changes how you read every interaction.

How people work — psychology

Everything that colors a conversation before anyone talks price.

Transactional AnalysisEric Berne figured out in the 1960s that every human conversation is two people firing at each other from one of three ego states. Once you can see the states, you can stop reacting and start choosing.
Ego States — Parent, Adult, ChildThe six voices in your head. At every moment, you're talking from one of them. So is the customer. Knowing which one is speaking is the whole game.
StrokesEverybody's walking around stroke-deprived. The seller who feeds them — honestly — becomes the one they want to work with.
The Communication Pie — 7 / 38 / 55The words are 7% of the message. Everything else is how you said it. Most sellers think they're working on the wrong 7%.
TonalityWhen they can't see you, 87% of what you are is your voice. And you're probably using it like you're sitting at your desk — because you are. Stand up.
VAK — Visual, Auditory, KinestheticYour customers are telling you, in every sentence, how they want to be communicated with. You just have to listen for it.

Posture & presence

How you show up — before you open your mouth.

Clark KentThe posture that unlocks information. Superman closes fewer deals than the guy who spilled mustard on his shirt.
KryptoniteEvery seller has one move the customer can make that stops them cold. It's not because the move is actually strong — it's because the move is **your** move, and you can't see through it. The one that doesn't rattle other sellers rattles you. Name yours.
Equal Business StatureThe customer isn't above you. You're not begging. They have a business, you have a business, you both need each other. When you forget that, you become the kid at the bottom of the pile.
Customer First, Order SecondThe customer who walks in the door is a human before they're a transaction. If your first move is to pitch the sale instead of say hello, you just told them which one matters more to you.
De-Escalation — Listen, Repeat, AcknowledgeWhen a customer is hot, they're not in their logical brain. You can't talk to them yet. Three steps turn the fire down so the adult can come back in the room.

Asking & listening

The questioning craft. Most sellers never learn this.

AWAQ — Answer a Question With a Question"Really — how come?" is the most powerful sentence in selling. You'll earn more information in three words than most sellers earn in three meetings.
The 3 Buckets of QuestionsEvery question you ask a customer belongs in one of three buckets. Most sellers only ever ask out of one of them — and wonder why the relationship doesn't go anywhere.
Information Pull vs. PushThe core skill underneath every other play. If you only learn one thing from me, learn this.
Listening for LeaksPeople leak information while they talk. The good stuff isn't in the answer to your question — it's in the aside they drop on the way to the answer. The seller's job is to catch it.
The Question-Asking ReflexEvery time you finish a sentence, ask a question. That's the whole game. The seller who holds the question is the seller who's holding the conversation.
Business Bond vs. Personal BondMost sellers rush to make customers their buddies. It feels like connection. It isn't. The bond that holds is the one built on how they run their business — not what their favorite hockey team is.

Getting in

Prospecting, introductions, and the moves that unlock a door.

First IntroductionReferrals are what amateurs ask for. Introductions are what closers ask for. The difference is whether the handoff actually lands you in the same room as the next customer — or whether it dies in a notebook somewhere as a name and a phone number.
Gatekeeper as Key MasterThe person you're walking past to get to "the important guy" is actually the one who can open every door in the building. Stop treating her like an obstacle.
The Infiltrate StrategyThe second a new customer says yes, you don't sit back and wait for the next pour. You get behind enemy lines and meet every single person in their building.
Six Degrees of SeparationYou are never more than six hops from anybody on earth. Your market is smaller than that. Act accordingly.
Meeting-SeekingThe phone call is a trap. The email is worse. If it matters, you have to be in the room. Ask for the meeting like you mean it.
The 30-Second CommercialDon't tell me what you sell. Tell me what your customers were frustrated about before they found you. That's the commercial that actually works.
Third-Party StoryThe most powerful story in a sales call is the one about somebody else. It teaches without preaching, warns without scolding, and sells without selling — because the customer gets to draw the conclusion themselves. Also: you're allowed to make it up.

Partnership & pricing

Classifying your book, moving customers up, and what to do when price hits the table.

Partnership ProgressionAnchor page. The cornerstone model for classifying every customer in your book.
The Partner BucketThe top of the Partnership Progression — and the only bucket where the price conversation actually goes quiet.
Above the Line / Below the LineThe people who know your value sit above the line. The people you usually talk to sit below it. That's why you keep losing on price.
Quote & HopeShe's not that into you. You're just the guy she lets buy her coffee.
Classify as TodayYour book is not what it was last year. Classify customers on what's true right now — or keep selling to ghosts.
Moving a Customer Up the ProgressionNobody jumps from stranger to partner in one call. Every bucket has its own gravity — you move people up one notch at a time.
The Last Look ConversationTactic page. What to do when a customer says "I want to work with you, but your price is too high."
The Match-Price ConversationSomeone's always going to come back with a lower number. The question isn't whether the conversation happens — it's whether you handle it like a vending machine or like a trusted advisor. The vending machine matches. The advisor reframes.
The Bidding MatrixStop quoting everything. Start quoting the ones you'll actually win.
The Greedy ReframeYour price isn't greedy. It's math. And if your customer calls it greedy, they're the one playing the game.
Price vs. Value Orientation"How's my price looking?" is a language trap. It trains your customer to only ever see you as a number.
Quote PostureThe quote is the thing they want. The second you hand it over — game over. How you hold it, and yourself, before, during, and after, decides whether you win.
The Pre-Quote ChecklistEvery seller has a checklist in their head. The good ones wrote it down. The great ones run it on every single quote request before a number ever leaves their mouth. "Don't quote to strangers" is the whole philosophy in four words.
Slowing Down Before You QuoteThe customer wants your number fast. That's exactly why you shouldn't give it fast. The quote is the one moment of leverage you'll ever have — don't burn it in 90 seconds.

Patterns & habits

The small disciplines that compound across a career.

Pattern BreakEvery customer runs a script on you. Your job is to break it before it runs.
Proactive vs. ReactiveToday's emergencies will eat your entire week. Tomorrow's deals will eat your whole career. Guess which one your calendar is actually protecting.
The Fuzzy FileYour CRM has fields for mix design and credit limit. It doesn't have a field for "his daughter plays travel soccer." That second thing is the one that builds partnerships. Keep your own file.
The Six-PackWhen you land one customer, there are five more exactly like him within 200 feet. Go get them.
Under-Promise, Over-DeliverThe seller who sets low expectations and then beats them looks like a hero. The seller who sets high expectations and then meets them looks like a disappointment. Same outcome, opposite reputations.
Differentiation Beyond the ProductThe concrete is the same. Your on-time rate is the same. Your driver's the same. So what the hell is different about you? If you can't answer that cleanly, you're selling a commodity and deserve commodity pricing.
ExpectationsChampagne taste, beer budget. Every customer you have. Every day. Your job is to get the expectation gap down to something human.