The Johnny Cash Principle
A rockabilly band, a Cotswolds festival, and the moment everybody finally looked up: why every pitch should open with what your audience already knows, and the ABC model that makes it happen.
I was at a summer festival in the Cotswolds this weekend.
It was great. The sun was out, there were families, beer was flowing, and fast-food vans circled the field. It was very well organised (even the Portaloo toilets were executive quality… lovely ;-). At one end of the field there was a stage; this is where local bands set up and played their sets.
One band came on at about 4 pm. They were a Rockabilly band. They sounded amazing, and you could tell they were passionate, well-rehearsed and thoroughly enjoying themselves. The perfect set.
Well… not so much.
I looked around the field and noticed that for the first 6-7 songs, literally nobody was listening. No singing, no dancing, no foot-tapping… zilch. Everybody was just chatting and getting on with their afternoon.
And then they played song no. 8.
It was a Johnny Cash song (I think it was Walk The Line… to be fair, I was on beer no. 3 by this point, so I can’t quite remember).
BUT, what a difference!
Nearly everybody looked and watched. People moved, sang, tapped their feet and enjoyed the band. What a difference. My heart warmed a little for these guys… they deserved some love for all the effort they put in.
I did think, though… and hence this (lighter than usual) newsletter… I see this phenomenon quite a lot with KAM and strategic selling.
Key Account Managers are like a festival Rockabilly band.
Not all, obviously… but there is a trap you can fall into.
Why? Because you are passionate, trained, equipped and (usually) incentivised to talk about YOU… to talk about your nerdy products and services.
That’s fine, but you should always think about the people you are presenting to… and you need to grab their attention quickly.
How? You discuss things they are familiar with first (just like that Johnny Cash song that everybody has heard before).
And for the customer, what they are most familiar with is: themselves, their business, and their problems.
Focus on that, and you will grab attention.
Here is a simple way to make that happen.
The Johnny Cash Principle
My basic engagement model should be applied. It is ABC:
A: Audience. Who are you presenting to? What do they like and need?
B: Behaviour. What do you want them to do? Maybe not sing and dance… but what?
C: Content. What will you present to make them look, listen and give you their time?
Always think ABC before you pitch.
The principle
The Johnny Cash Principle goes like this:
- Think about your next pitch or communication.
- Apply the ABC model above.
- Practice in the mirror.
- Ask yourself the question in the box below.
Will your audience lean in… or zone out?
A simple model
It is easy to remember, and once you start applying it you will see countless examples where people are not doing engaging communication. Also, notice how those who have this skill have greater success.
Have a go, and good luck.
What next?
Three things, if this issue struck a chord.
Come and hear us speak. Richard Brooks and I will be presenting “How to create a customer value proposition with AI” at a Cubs Prive event hosted by Mark Cubbon on Thursday 17 September 2026, 6.00pm to 7.45pm, in the Heaviside Room at IET London: Savoy Place, 2 Savoy Place, London WC2R 0BL. Tickets: buytickets.at/cubsprive/2228019.
Join AKAM. The Association for Key Account Management is the leading community advancing KAM as a strategic organisational capability.
Talk to us. Email me at mark@value-matters.net. Always happy to talk.
If this is your problem too, bring this into your organisation as a talk or workshop, or talk to us.
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