The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving 623: Bain's Rishi Dave, the Secret of Top Sellers (Strategy Skills classics)
Jan 28, 2026
Rishi Dave, a Bain partner and former global CMO with deep B2B and digital marketing chops, explains the Day One List and three routes to get onto buyers' shortlists. He breaks down what a sales play is, how to build and scale plays quickly, and how to get sellers to adopt them through measurement, change management, and a focused play factory.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Day One Lists Decide Most B2B Wins
- B2B buyers arrive with a 'day one list' of vendors they will mostly choose from when they start a buying process.
- Getting on that initial list is the single most important determinant of winning big B2B deals.
Three Ways To Get On Buyers' Shortlists
- Do prioritize three routes to join a buyer's day one list: past work, trusted recommendations, or prior awareness of your brand.
- Invest in customer experience, referral networks, and discoverable educational content to secure those routes.
Educate Buyers Before They Want To Buy
- Do educate target buyers before they're ready to buy via thought leadership, SEO, reviews and targeted digital content.
- Use company- and person-level targeting to be discoverable where your buyers research and learn.