Latest / Sales Leadership with Fexingo: Quota Carriers, Sales Managers, and Revenue Teams / How Top Reps Turn a Positive ROI into a Decision
Transcript
- Lucas: So Luna, you know that moment in a deal when the numbers are finally on your side — the ROI model shows a hundred and eighty percent return over three years, the champion is on board, even the CFO nods — and then... nothing. The CEO says 'looks great' and the deal just sits there. Luna: Oh, that's the worst. The 'positive ROI stall.' It's like the prospect agrees with everything but somehow the purchase never happens. Lucas: Exactly. And I think that's one of the most underdiagnosed problems in B2B sales. We spend so much time learning how to build a business case, but almost no time on what happens after the business case is accepted. That's the gap I want to dig into today. Luna: So what's the root cause? If the ROI is clear, why would a decision maker still stall? Lucas: Well, I've been looking at this, and there's a really good framework that a friend of mine — she runs sales enablement at a mid-market software firm — calls the 'Decision Gap.' The idea is that there's a difference between agreeing that something is a good idea and being willing to make a decision that has personal, political, and operational consequences. Luna: So it's not about the math, it's about the risk. Lucas: Right. And the risk isn't financial — it's reputational. If the CEO signs off and the implementation hits a snag, their judgment is questioned. Even if the expected value is positive, the downside is personal. Luna: So what do top reps do differently? They don't just accept the 'we're excited' and hope? Lucas: No, they do a few specific things. First, they reframe the conversation from 'is this a good investment?' to 'how will this get implemented and who is accountable?' And they bring a tool called an implementation charter. Luna: An implementation charter — that's like a mini project plan, right? Lucas: Exactly. It outlines the first ninety days after signing: who owns the rollout, what resources are needed, what the milestones are. And crucially, it forces the prospect to think about the cost of doing nothing — not in terms of missed ROI, but in terms of operational drag. Luna: That makes sense. If the CEO sees that the team is already stretched, they might realize the real risk is not implementing. Lucas: And that's where the second technique comes in: building a decision timeline. Top reps don't just ask 'when do you want to start?' They map out the entire decision process — who needs to sign, what else is competing for budget, and what the natural decision points are. Luna: So you're kind of project managing the decision itself. Lucas: Precisely. And there's a great case that illustrates this. I was talking to a rep at a manufacturing software company — I'll call her Sarah. She had a deal with a mid-sized industrial firm, about three hundred employees. The CFO was fully on board — the ROI was undeniable — but the CEO kept postponing the final signature for two months. Luna: That's the classic stall. What did Sarah do? Lucas: She didn't push for a commitment. Instead, she asked the CEO a simple question: 'What would need to be true for you to feel comfortable moving forward?' And the answer surprised her. It wasn't about the money — it was about the IT team. They were already swamped with a ERP migration, and the CEO was worried the new system would just add to the chaos. Luna: So the real objection was operational capacity, not ROI. Lucas: Exactly. Sarah then worked with the champion to create a phased implementation plan that delayed the heavy lifting until after the ERP migration, and she got the CEO to agree to a pilot with just one plant. That reduced the perceived risk enough to get the green light. Luna: And how long did it take to close after that? Lucas: Three weeks. The point is, once the real blocker was addressed, the deal moved fast. But if she had just kept pushing on ROI, it might have stalled forever. Luna: That's such a good lesson. It's not about the numbers — it's about the narrative around the numbers. Lucas: Right. And there's a deeper psychological principle at play here, too. It's called the endowment effect — people overvalue what they already have. The status quo is powerful. Even if a new system is clearly better, the current process feels 'safe' because it's familiar. Luna: So how do you overcome that? You can't just say 'your way is wrong'. Lucas: You don't have to. You can use what Sarah did — you make the status quo feel riskier by highlighting the cost of inaction, but in a specific way. Not just 'you're losing a hundred thousand dollars a year in efficiency,' but 'your plant managers are spending ten hours a week on manual data entry, and that's taking them away from safety training.' Luna: That resonates on a human level. It's not abstract. Lucas: And that's what I love about this framework. It's deeply practical. The Decision Gap forces you to ask better questions in discovery. Instead of just 'what's your budget?' you ask 'what happens if you delay this decision for six months?' And you listen for the operational pain points. Luna: And if they say 'nothing happens,' then maybe it's not a good fit. Lucas: Exactly. Disqualify early. But if they can articulate a real cost, you've found your lever. Luna: So what's the one takeaway you'd give a rep who's listening and dealing with a stalled deal right now? Lucas: I'd say: stop selling the ROI. Start selling the implementation. Ask your champion to help you map out what happens after the signature. If they can't or won't, that's a red flag that the deal isn't as real as you think. Luna: That's a hard truth. But it's the kind of thing that saves you months. Lucas: And it's the kind of insight we try to bring you every week. You know, a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of them. Luna: Yeah, it really does make a difference. It keeps us ad-free and focused on the content. Lucas: Now, back to the Decision Gap. There's one more tool that I think is underused, and that's the 'pre-mortem.' Luna: A pre-mortem? Like, imagining the project failed and working backwards? Lucas: Exactly. You sit down with the prospect and say, 'Let's imagine it's a year from now and this implementation went badly. What would have caused it?' And you list the risks: maybe the data migration was a mess, maybe the training wasn't enough, maybe the champion left. Luna: That's brilliant. It gets the prospect to confront their fears directly, in a safe way. Lucas: And then you create a mitigation plan for each risk. By the end of that conversation, the prospect feels like the implementation is actually lower risk than the status quo. Because you've addressed every objection before it's even raised. Luna: So it's not just about closing the deal — it's about setting up success. Lucas: That's the key. If you can show that you're thinking about their post-sale experience, you're not just a vendor — you're a partner. Luna: So, a quick recap for our listeners: when a deal stalls despite strong ROI, check the Decision Gap. Reframe from ROI to implementation, use a decision timeline, and do a pre-mortem. Lucas: And remember, the goal isn't to pressure — it's to illuminate. The more clarity you bring to the hidden costs of inaction, the easier the decision becomes. Luna: I love that. So, Lucas, what's a common mistake reps make when they try this for the first time? Lucas: They often jump to the pre-mortem too early, before they've earned the trust. You need to build the case first, then introduce the risk conversation. Otherwise it can feel like you're trying to scare them into signing. Luna: That makes sense. It's all about timing and nuance. Lucas: Exactly. And I think that's the takeaway for this milestone episode — in sales, the deal isn't won when the ROI is proven. It's won when the decision maker can see the path to implementation without personal risk. Luna: That's a great place to leave it. Thanks for joining us on episode one fifty, and we'll see you next time.