Latest / Sales Leadership with Fexingo: Quota Carriers, Sales Managers, and Revenue Teams / How Top Reps Turn a Stalled Pilot into a Renewal
Transcript
- Lucas: So, Luna, you know that feeling when a pilot that was supposed to close at the end of the quarter just... goes quiet? No emails returned, the champion goes dark, and you're left wondering if they're still evaluating or if they've already decided no. Luna: Oh, that's the worst. I call that the 'pilot graveyard' — where deals go to die silently. Lucas: Exactly. And it's one of the most common reasons quota carriers miss their number. So today I want to dig into what top reps do when a pilot stalls — and how they turn a quiet pilot into a renewal. I've got a real example from a SaaS deal I worked on a few years back that I think illustrates the playbook perfectly. Luna: I'm all ears. What happened? Lucas: So we had a mid-market company — let's call them Acme Logistics — they signed a six-month pilot for our analytics platform. The first two months were great. We had champions in the ops team, they were using the tool daily, weekly dashboard reviews. Then, month three, everything went dark. Luna: Dark how? Did they stop logging in, or did the champion just stop responding? Lucas: Both, actually. The usage dropped off a cliff, and the champion — a senior ops manager — stopped replying to my emails. I had a renewal meeting scheduled for the end of month six, but I knew if I waited until then, it was dead. Luna: So what did you do? Did you go straight to the economic buyer? Lucas: Not right away. First, I did what I call a 'pilot audit'. I went back to the original business case we'd written together — what metrics were they supposed to hit, and which ones were we actually moving? Luna: Right, so you need to know if the pilot is actually working before you can sell the renewal. Lucas: Exactly. And when I pulled the usage data, I saw that the ops team had actually been using the tool heavily for the first six weeks. Then they hit a data integration issue — a bug that took us three weeks to fix. That killed their momentum. By the time we fixed it, they'd moved on to other priorities. Luna: So the stall wasn't because they hated the product — it was because you broke their flow. Lucas: Precisely. And that's the first lesson: before you assume they've gone cold, find out if there's a technical or operational hiccup that stopped adoption. I dug into the support tickets, talked to our customer success manager, and pieced together the story. Luna: But even if you know why they stalled, how do you restart the conversation without looking desperate? Lucas: That's where the next move comes in. I reached out to my champion — but not with a 'hey, just checking in' email. I sent a short note with a specific insight: 'I noticed your team used the dashboard heavily in the first month, and I suspect the integration issue killed momentum. Can we schedule thirty minutes to walk through the data since the fix?' Luna: That's smart. You're giving them a reason to respond and showing you've done your homework. Lucas: And it worked. He replied within the hour. We had a call where I focused on re-engaging the team and setting up a new adoption plan with a clear owner on their side. But here's the thing — even with renewed enthusiasm, the renewal wasn't a slam dunk. The economic buyer, the VP of Operations, was skeptical because the pilot had gone quiet. He saw it as a failure. Luna: So you had to win back the economic buyer, not just the champion. What did you do? Lucas: I asked for a meeting with the VP directly, and I brought a revised business case. Not the one from the original pitch — a new one built on the actual usage data from the pilot. I showed him the days the team had active sessions, the specific reports they'd run, and the time saved on a manual reporting process. I framed the stall as a learning moment: 'We hit a technical issue, we fixed it, and here's the plan to ensure sustained adoption.' Luna: So you turned a negative into a positive by quantifying what the tool did do. Lucas: Exactly. And it worked. He agreed to a three-month extension instead of a full renewal, with specific adoption milestones. We hit those milestones, and we closed the annual deal at the end of the extension. But the key wasn't just that I saved the deal — it's the framework I used that any rep can apply. Luna: Okay, let's break that down. What's the framework? Lucas: Step one: diagnose the stall. Don't assume it's a lost deal. Talk to your customer success manager, look at usage data, and check support tickets. Step two: re-engage with a specific insight, not a generic check-in. Step three: re-onboard the champion and the end users. Step four: build a new business case for the economic buyer based on real usage, not promises. And step five: set clear adoption milestones for the renewal period. Luna: That's a solid playbook. But I've seen reps go through all that and still lose because procurement drags their feet. How do you handle the timeline? Lucas: Great point. In the Acme deal, I actually started the procurement conversation early — even before I had the extension signed. I asked the champion who in procurement would handle the renewal, and I set up a quick intro call to understand their process. That way, when the extension was signed, the paperwork was already in motion. Luna: So you're not waiting for the deal to be 'won' before you engage procurement. That's a huge mistake I see reps make. Lucas: Exactly. Top reps treat procurement as a stakeholder from day one, not as an obstacle at the end. And they ask questions like: 'What's the typical renewal timeline for a vendor like us?' 'Are there any compliance hoops we need to jump through?' and 'Who else needs to sign off?' Luna: That's a great point. I also think there's a moment where you have to decide if a pilot is worth saving at all. Not every stall is a blip — some are a slow death. Lucas: Absolutely. And knowing when to walk away is just as important. If you've done the audit, re-engaged, and the champion still won't give you a clear path to renewal, it's probably time to cut your losses. I'd rather spend my energy on a deal that has a real chance. Luna: Yeah, and I think that's a really valuable skill for sales managers to coach — knowing when to disqualify a pilot. But let's talk about the champion audit. How do you make sure your champion is actually still a champion after a stall? Lucas: Good question. After a stall, I always check three things. One: is the champion still in the same role, or have they been promoted or moved? Two: do they still have influence with the economic buyer, or has the budget moved to someone else? And three: are they still personally invested in the project, or have they lost interest? Luna: And what if the champion is gone? I've had that happen where the person who championed the pilot left the company. Lucas: Then you need to find a new champion fast. And the best way is to go back to the end users who were actually using the tool. If you can find someone who was a power user and who sees the value, they can become your new internal champion. I've done that — I once turned a junior analyst into the champion because they were the one running the reports every week. Luna: That's a great reminder that champions don't always sit at the top. Sometimes the person on the ground has more credibility with the economic buyer than the person who signed the pilot. Lucas: Exactly. And that's a key insight for any rep: don't just rely on the initial champion. Map the entire account and identify the power users, the influencers, and the people who will be impacted by the renewal decision. When a stall happens, you need to pivot quickly to the person who can reignite the fire. Luna: That makes a lot of sense. And speaking of reigniting fires — I want to come back to something you said earlier about the economic buyer. You built a new business case based on actual usage. Can you give us a concrete example of what that looked like? Lucas: Sure. In the Acme deal, I pulled a report showing that the ops team had run 47 automated reports in the first six weeks, saving roughly 15 hours per week compared to their old manual process. I translated that into a dollar figure — about 30 thousand dollars in labor savings over the pilot period. That was a much stronger case than the original pitch, which had projected those savings but couldn't prove them. Luna: So you went from 'trust us' to 'here's what we actually did for you.' That's powerful. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the kind of data-driven story that resonates with a CFO or VP who's skeptical about a stalled pilot. They don't want to hear excuses — they want to see results. And if you can show them tangible, quantified outcomes, you're no longer selling a promise; you're selling a proven asset. Luna: Before we move on, I want to touch on something that's been on my mind. We talk a lot on this show about practical strategies for sales leaders, and I think that's exactly why listeners stick with us. If this kind of conversation has helped you in your own work, whether it's a framework you've used in a deal review or a phrase you've adapted in a discovery call, there's a small way you can support what we do. Lucas: She's right. This show is ad-free, and it stays that way because of our listeners. If you've gotten value from these episodes, you can buy us a coffee at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a simple, no-strings way to keep the insights coming. We're grateful for any support. Luna: And now back to the tactical side. Lucas, you mentioned walking away clean. What does that look like in practice? How do you exit a stalled pilot without burning bridges? Lucas: It's a professional conversation where you say something like: 'We've invested X amount of time and you've seen the results. It seems like this isn't a priority for your team right now. Is that accurate?' If they say yes, then you ask, 'What would need to change for this to become a priority in the next quarter or two?' That keeps the door open without you chasing a dead deal. Luna: So you're giving them a chance to tell you the truth, and you're preserving the relationship for the future. Lucas: Exactly. And sometimes that honesty pays off in a different way — they might refer you to a colleague at another company who's a better fit. I've had that happen more than once. Luna: That's a good reminder that every stalled pilot is an opportunity to learn, even if you don't win the renewal. You can ask for feedback, you can refine your approach, and you can take those lessons to the next deal. Lucas: Absolutely. And I think that's the core takeaway for our listeners: a stalled pilot isn't automatically a dead deal. It's a diagnostic moment. If you stay curious, dig into the data, and re-engage with a specific plan, you can often turn it around. But you also have to know when to walk away and use your time where it counts. Luna: Well said. So next time you're staring at a quiet pilot, don't panic. Run the audit, re-engage with insight, and if it still doesn't move, have the honest conversation and move on. Lucas: And if you want to dig deeper into how to run a champion audit or build that data-driven business case, we'll link some resources in the show notes. Until next time, keep your pipeline full and your pilots alive.