Triple Threat Selling: Mastering Science, Art & Heart in a Complex  Buying World

Antoine LeTard is a seasoned APJ SaaS Vice President and leader who has worked for iconic SaaS brands and built and led high-performance teams across RSA Security, AppDynamics and Rubrik. He is also very intentional, grounded and authentic which draws leaders and sellers into everything he is saying and doing.

I remember the first time I heard Antoine say, “It’s not just the head or the heart—it’s also the science.” I felt my shoulders drop. Finally, a frame that matched the reality I see across a hundred AEs and a dozen leaders every single week. When deals stall today, it’s rarely because the product is bad or the rep is lazy. It’s because modern buying is complex: more stakeholders, more scrutiny, more internal politics, more “We’ve already got a tool for that.” Single-threaded sellers—whether robotic playbook machines, charismatic storytellers, or bleeding-heart helpers—get exposed in that noise.

Antoine calls the antidote “Triple Threat Selling”: the science (process, methodology, research), the art (story, experience, judgment), and the heart (curiosity, service, humility). Miss one, and you limp. Balance all three, and you fly.

Here is his advice for becoming a Triple Threat Seller

1) Stop Playing One Note: Blend Science, Art, and Heart

— Build a spine of science
I’ve watched good people show up to first meetings to “do discovery”… by asking questions they should have answered in five minutes of research. The science is doing the homework: stakeholder map, language of the business, what they’ve already tried, what budgets are under pressure. It’s the entry/exit criteria that keep an opportunity healthy rather than hopeful. It’s knowing exactly what must be true to move a deal one stage forward—because hope is not a stage.

— Make it sing with art
The art is how you bring that research to life. Early in my career, I was a world-class product pusher—until I moved into selling services. No shiny box. No spec sheet. I had to be reborn as a solution seller. Story became my tool. “Here’s what we saw in a bank just like yours… here’s how the champion won consensus… here’s the 90-day outcome.” Not drama—just clean narrative arcs that reduce perceived risk.

— Lead with heart
Heart is the motive force. It’s curiosity before conclusion. It’s the mindset of service that says, “Your outcome first; my quarter second.” When you show up that way, customers lean in. They reciprocate. They take you into the real rooms. That’s not soft—it’s commercial. The most reliable way to hit number is to be the person who helps the customer hit theirs.

Tactical takeaway: Before every meeting, write three lines: Science (one insight about their world), Art (one short, relevant story), Heart (one service-first question). Use them. Tight, simple, consistent.

2) Use the Playbook—Don’t Let It Use You

— Process keeps you honest
When Antoine said, “That’s where the art and the heart come into it,” he nailed it. A methodology is there to stop you skipping the unsexy bits—like multi-threading, risk mapping, or attaching to business outcomes. The point isn’t to make the customer feel processed; it’s to make the rep act professionally. Science reduces avoidable loss.

— Make the process invisible to the customer
Young reps often bring the playbook into the room. It feels stilted, and stakeholders recoil. Seasoned pros internalise it. They use the steps, but what the customer experiences is momentum and clarity. My rule: the customer should feel coached, not qualified.

— Research first, not during
If your first meeting is you discovering what the website already says, you’ve burned credibility you can’t buy back. I come in with context and use discovery for nuance: “You’ve got three data platforms in play; which one is politically most defensible if we consolidated?” That’s a service question masquerading as discovery—and it moves the deal.

Tactical takeaway: Turn your stage gates into customer-facing promises (“By next Tuesday, we’ll map your buying group, identify a business sponsor, and draft a mutual plan”). It converts process into value.

3) Coach Champions, Not Just Deals

— Tone at the top sets behaviour
Antoine’s right: if leadership only worships what (the number), the field will cut corners on how. When leaders prize renewals, value realisation, and multiyear relationships, the culture shifts. People stop chasing dopamine highs from POs and start building strategic equity.

— “A customer isn’t a customer until they renew”
That line should be painted above every sales floor. Renewal thinking changes first-meeting behaviour. You ask better questions. You avoid bad-fit promises. You plan for the internal presentation your champion must give without you in the room.

— Help them win their rooms
Complex deals die in side meetings you’re not invited to. I equip champions with simple, sharp artefacts: one-page problem framing, a 4-bullet outcome summary, and a quantified 90-day impact hypothesis. We rehearse the tough questions. We draft the email they’ll send to the sceptic. That’s art and heart serving the science.

Tactical takeaway: Every opportunity gets a Champion Enablement Pack (one-pager, FAQ, ROI napkin math). If I can’t build it, I don’t understand the deal.

4) Graduate from Salesperson to Sales Professional

— Train like an athlete
Usain Bolt didn’t “wing it.” He stacked micro-improvements with coaches, doctors, and feedback loops. In sales, the equivalent is targeted practice: call reviews, objection sprints, whiteboard storytelling. Not more hours—better reps.

— Be pathologically coachable
I can hear in five minutes if someone invests in themselves: the references they drop, the questions they ask, the absence of defensiveness. The “I’m good, thanks” rep has already peaked. The curious rep compounds.

— Upgrade your toolbox
Relationships matter, but they’re not the whole toolkit. Pros add consensus coaching, negotiation hygiene, executive brevity, and commercial maths. When I shifted from products to services, my old tools weren’t enough. Learning to discover before I prescribe was humbling—and profitable.

Tactical takeaway: Run a skills portfolio: list five capabilities you rely on, five you lack, and one you’ll build this month. Calendar the practice. Protect the hour.

5) Serve First, Sell Better (Heart Isn’t “Soft”)

— Customers don’t care about your quarter
I’ve heard the “It’s my number” speech too. The customer’s response is consistent: “Not my problem.” When you serve their outcome with integrity, many will move mountains to help you hit your target—because you’ve helped them hit theirs.

— Psychological safety sells
People buy from those who make them look smart and feel safe. Safety comes from honesty (“We don’t do that”), preparation (“Here’s what we learned about your environment”), and partnership (“We’ll own the onboarding risk, here’s the mitigation plan”).

— Humility wins consensus
Humility isn’t meekness. It’s accuracy. It keeps you from over-promising. It opens space for the sceptic and defuses politics. That’s commercial courage.

Tactical takeaway: Start one meeting a week with, “What am I missing? And who else needs to see this to feel safe?” Then shut up and write.

6) Intentionality Beyond the Quarter (Build a Life, Not Just a Number)

— Start with self-inquiry
Antoine’s closing punch landed: ask not just what you want from life, but what your life will contribute. That reframes ambition. My own “golden question” with leaders is simple: “What do you want from the next three to five years?” Eight out of ten haven’t done the thinking. No judgement—just an opportunity.

— Define your impact zones
Family. Team. Customers. Community. Write a single sentence outcome for each. If your calendar and pipeline don’t reflect those sentences, something’s off.

— “How great am I willing to let life be?”
That’s Antoine’s platinum question. It dismantles self-imposed ceilings. In work, it sounds like: “What’s the highest-leverage skill I can master this quarter?” In life: “What would a brilliant father/partner/friend do this week?” Then do that—on purpose.

Tactical takeaway: Run a weekly intentionality check: 15 minutes on Friday to align next week’s calendar with your four impact zones. Add one deliberate action per zone.

7) Practical Routines to Build Triple Threat Skills Without Overwhelm

— The 3-3-3 cadence
Three pre-call research bullets (science). Three customer stories rehearsed (art). Three service-first questions (heart). That’s five minutes of prep that changes everything.

— One skill sprint per month
Month 1: executive narratives. Month 2: mutual action plans. Month 3: commercial maths. Keep it tight, measurable, and visible. Coaching isn’t a pep talk; it’s a plan with reps and review.

— Leader scaffolding
If you run a team, build the environment where science, art, and heart are normal: pipeline reviews that probe how, call libraries of crisp stories, and a weekly “customer win of the week” focusing on value realised, not logos signed.

Tactical takeaway: Add a renewal rehearsal to late-stage deals: “If this goes live, what must be true in 90 days for them to renew?” Then reverse-engineer the onboarding plan.

Summary

Modern buying is messy, which punishes one-note sellers. Triple Threat Selling—science for structure, art for momentum, heart for trust—turns chaos into clarity. Use the playbook, but make it invisible. Coach champions, not just deals. Train like an athlete and stay coachable. Serve first to sell better. And build a life on purpose: contribution before consumption. Ask Antoine’s question: How great are you willing to let life be? Then go prove it—one intentional week at a time.