Breaking Down Code Yellow Essentials

By Rich Galgano

April 23, 2025

Code Yellow is a critical thinking system built for high-stakes communication and decision-making. It lives in sales, but it applies anywhere clear thinking matters.

It starts with situational awareness—being fully locked in to what’s happening around you and what needs to happen next. No guessing. No assumptions. Just clarity, earned through preparation.

At the core are The Three Essentials:

Product – What are you really offering, and why does it matter?
Customer – Who are they, what’s driving them, and what problem are they actually trying to solve?
Competition – What noise do you need to cut through? What options are they weighing, even if they haven’t told you?

From there, you operate through Three Phases—every time:

Discovery – You collect information, ask better questions, and understand the terrain before you act.
Courtship – You position, persuade, and separate. This is where trust is built, and deals start to form.
Closing – You don’t apply pressure. You bring clarity, simplify decisions, and move things forward with purpose.

And running underneath it all is a disciplined questioning process:

For them: Who, What, When, Where, Why, How
For you: Is, Am, Will, Do, Have, Should

These questions are your internal playbook. You use them before a call, during a meeting, and after a decision’s made. They keep you honest. They keep you sharp.

That’s the foundation. And until that’s built—you don’t move on. Because you can’t frame a great question, test a real hypothesis, or deploy advanced closing techniques unless you’re grounded in the basics.

Code Yellow is for professionals. People who don’t want to wing it. People who want to win through preparation, clarity, and execution. It doesn’t just help you sell—it helps you think.

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Why Most Sales Conversations Fail Before They Ever Get Contentious

By Kasey Kasey • January 19, 2026

Most sales conversations fail long before anyone raises their voice or digs in their heels. Not because people disagree. But because they are talking about different things. That distinction matters more than most people realize. When a conversation breaks down, the assumption is usually conflict. Objections. Resistance. Pushback. In reality, what is happening far earlier and far more often is misalignment. One person is thinking about price. Another is thinking about career risk. Another is thinking about internal politics. Another is thinking about timing. No one is wrong. No one is arguing. They are simply operating on different mental maps. And when people are navigating different terrain in their heads, communication breaks without anyone noticing why.