Why you, instead of nothing?

The five questions, and what each one disproves

Most deals aren't lost to a competitor. They're lost to nothing: the customer keeps what they have, the money goes elsewhere, the project waits a year. This checks whether you're beating nothing before it checks whether you're beating anyone.

NOTHING: What does inaction cost them? If you can't put a number, in their terms, on what happens if they don't act, then doing nothing is free, and free wins. This is the question sellers skip because the answer lives in the customer's world, not the product's.

SWITCH: What does leaving cost them? Incumbents don't win on merit. They win on the cost of change: retraining, migration, the person whose job is the current system. Know that cost and who carries it, or you'll lose to someone who never showed up to a meeting.

PREFERENCE: Have they said it? Not "we like your solution." An unprompted reason, in their words, why you instead of the alternative. Until you've heard it, you're a column in their comparison, and columns don't win.

PROOF: What can only you show? A reference they can call, a pilot in their environment, a result at a customer they respect. Claims are free. Proof they can check is the only thing the incumbent can't copy.

ACCESS: Who does the competitor own? Somewhere in the account there's a person the other side has been having lunch with for three years. Knowing who tells you where the fight is; not knowing means you'll find out in the debrief.

Four positions

Preferred. They've told you why, you can prove it, and you know the cost of nothing. Close.

In the mix. You're a real option. So is something else. Find the reason and get it in their words.

Behind. The incumbent or the competitor has something you don't: access, proof, or a friend. Name it before you spend another quarter here.

Nothing wins. Doing nothing is beating you, and it isn't even trying. Until inaction has a cost, you don't have a competitor. You have a hobby.

Questions