๐ช๐ต๐ ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ปโ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ฒ โ๐๐ฎ๐๐โ - ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ช๐ต๐ ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐
Last year I wrote about a pattern we kept seeing in customer interviews.
We expected buyers to choose vendors for features, speed, or price.
They didnโt.
They chose partners who could help them solve strategic problems โ even when โeasierโ software existed.
At the time, we framed this as a positioning insight.
It was actually a buying insight.
When we went back through the interviews, something else was obvious.
These buyers werenโt comparing products.
They were trying to make a decision they wouldnโt regret.
One customer had already piloted two โeasyโ competitors boasting AI this and that.
And the question in the "AI-first" World, is, "why did they walk away?"
Not because the tools failed.
Because no one helped them think through:
โข how this would scale across hundreds of locations
โข how it would stand up in front of a CEO
โข how they would justify the trade-offs internally
โEasyโ didnโt reduce risk. It increased it.
Another customer put it more simply:
โThe better we worked with their team, the better our operations got.โ
That wasnโt about software.
It was about progress. What most sellers miss is that this work happens ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ a vendor is chosen.
By the time sellers show up, buyers are already:
โข aligning stakeholders
โข securing funding
โข weighing alternatives
โข trying to avoid a bad call
If you donโt help them through that, you donโt get chosen โ even if your product is good.
This is why so many deals die quietly in no-decision.
Not because buyers donโt like the solution.
Because they canโt get comfortable moving forward.
The slide below is how we now model this.
Itโs not a sales process.
Itโs a buying loop.
Once you see it, a lot becomes obvious:
โข why โeasyโ loses to expertise
โข why demos come too early
โข why specialists get dragged in to rescue stalled deals
โข why improving seller activity doesnโt change outcomes
The real competitive edge isnโt better selling.
Itโs helping buyers make a confident decision.