Every experienced Sales Professional has that horrible story of winning a big deal, “ringing the bell,” starting implementation while the contract was still being signed, and feeling great about life…
Until the bottom fell out when a different vendor “stole the deal.”
I was working with a client in the specialty chemical industry to design a new strategic selling program. During a subject-matter-expert interview, I heard a story about a salesperson who won a brand-new logo from an incumbent vendor. The incumbent, who had been living in the account for more than a decade, apparently became complacent, got expensive, and saw quality decline. So, the customer decided to shake things up and issue an RFP.
My client’s organization responded quickly, demonstrated credibility, and offered a higher-quality product at a lower price, winning the business.
But something nefarious happened on the way to happiness. The former vendor, who had built up numerous high-level relationships within the account, went crazy and started pulling in executive-level contacts to save themselves and override the decision.
And painfully, they were successful.
Think about that. The challenger had a better product, a better price, and the customer's decision. Yet somehow, the incumbent walked away with the business.
That story got me thinking about the strategic selling skills and tools that could have prevented this disaster. Based on experience and some painful lessons from the real world of selling, I'd like to share five insights.
1. The Decision-Maker May Not Be the Real Decision-Maker
One of the biggest mistakes in strategic selling is assuming that the person managing the buying process actually controls the buying decision.
In this case, the salesperson worked with the customer's procurement, technical, and operational teams, who evaluated the products, compared pricing, and selected the new supplier. Everything looked legitimate. The process was followed, the numbers worked, and the recommendation was approved.
But apparently, nobody asked a critical question: "Who else inside this organization could influence, challenge, or reverse this decision?"
That's a pretty important question when you're taking business away from a supplier embedded in an organization for more than a decade.
One of the foundational skills we emphasize in strategic selling is stakeholder mapping. This means identifying not only the obvious decision-makers but also economic buyers, technical influencers, executive sponsors, potential blockers, and people with political capital.
It's not enough to know who's involved in the RFP. You need to understand who influences those people and who might intervene when the decision doesn't go their way.
Remember, the organizational chart and the real power structure aren't necessarily the same thing.
2. Never Underestimate the Power of the Incumbent
Here's something I've learned from years of working with sales organizations: incumbents have enormous advantages that don't necessarily show up in a spreadsheet.
They have relationships, institutional knowledge, shared experiences, and sometimes friendships that go back years. They've attended the golf outings, solved emergencies, and developed relationships with people who have since been promoted into executive positions.
Some of those relationships may be worth more than a 10% price reduction.
In our specialty chemical example, the incumbent hadn't been performing particularly well. Quality was slipping, prices were increasing, and the customer was frustrated. But the incumbent still had something extremely valuable: access to senior executives who could influence the outcome.
I suspect the incumbent's sales leadership understood the financial consequences of losing the account. A major customer doesn't just represent revenue. It contributes to production volume, plant utilization, fixed-cost absorption, cash flow, and potentially the profitability of an entire business unit.
So when the incumbent learned it was losing the business, the organization likely went into full defensive mode. Executives who hadn't been involved in the day-to-day relationship suddenly made phone calls, scheduled meetings, and reminded the customer why their relationship mattered.
The lesson? Never confuse a dissatisfied customer with an unprotected opportunity.
3. Sell the Business Case, Not Just the Product
Let's talk about business acumen for a moment.
The challenger apparently offered better quality at a lower price. That sounds like a winning combination, and in many cases, it should be.
But what was the broader business case?
Did the sales team quantify how the new product would improve manufacturing efficiency, reduce defects, lower total cost of ownership, or improve profitability? Did they translate the value proposition into financial outcomes that a CFO, COO, or business unit president would care about?
More importantly, did they communicate that business case to those executives before the incumbent got to them?
A lower price is nice, but it's easily challenged. An incumbent can suddenly offer a discount, additional services, or promises of improved quality. A compelling business case is harder to dislodge because it connects the decision to the customer's strategic and financial objectives.
Imagine if the challenger demonstrated that switching suppliers would reduce manufacturing waste, improve production yields, and increase operating profit by several million dollars over three years.
Instead of an executive asking, "Why are we abandoning a supplier we've worked with for 12 years?" the question becomes, "Why would we give up several million dollars of potential operating profit to protect an underperforming relationship?"
That's the difference between selling a product and selling business value.
4. Anticipate the Competitive Response Before Celebrating
Here's where the story becomes especially valuable.
The salesperson apparently believed that winning the RFP meant the competition was over. Unfortunately, the most aggressive competitive activity was just beginning.
In strategic selling, we spend considerable time helping sales professionals anticipate competitor behavior. What are their strengths and vulnerabilities? How important is the account to their business? What are they likely to do when threatened? And what resources can they mobilize that we haven't considered?
Think about the incumbent's options. They could lower prices, offer rebates, guarantee quality improvements, commit technical resources, or bring executives into the discussion. They could also argue that switching suppliers introduces operational risks the customer hasn't fully considered.
Some arguments might be legitimate. Others might be desperate attempts to protect the business. Either way, a strategic sales professional should anticipate them.
One technique I particularly like is conducting a competitive pre-mortem before finalizing a major deal.
Bring the account team together and imagine it's 60 days later and the deal has fallen apart. Then ask, "What happened?"
Did the incumbent make a last-minute price concession? Did an executive intervene? Did someone raise concerns about implementation? Did the customer decide switching wasn't worth the disruption?
It's amazing what sales teams identify when encouraged to think about how a deal might fail rather than why they're certain it will succeed.
5. The Sale Isn't Complete Until the Organization Is Committed
One fascinating aspect of this story is that the challenger had already begun implementation activities while the contract was being finalized.
I understand the excitement. The sales team worked hard, won the competitive evaluation, and wanted to demonstrate responsiveness. But beginning implementation before securing contractual and organizational commitments introduces significant risk.
A purchase recommendation isn't a signed agreement. A signed agreement doesn't guarantee smooth implementation. And successful implementation doesn't guarantee long-term customer loyalty.
Strategic selling requires understanding the entire customer decision and adoption process, not just the moment someone says, "Congratulations, you've won."
For major accounts, sales teams need a process for validating organizational commitment before declaring victory. That includes confirming executive alignment, anticipating objections, securing contractual commitments, and ensuring the people responsible for implementation genuinely support the decision.
It also means staying engaged after the apparent win rather than immediately moving to the next opportunity.
After all, the incumbent certainly hasn't stopped selling.
What Would You Have Done Differently?
As I reflect on this story, I'm struck by how much money, time, and effort may have been wasted because the challenger didn't fully understand the customer's internal decision-making dynamics.
Think about the economics. The salesperson invested months developing the opportunity. Technical experts evaluated specifications. Pricing teams built proposals. Operations prepared for implementation. Management probably included the expected revenue in forecasts.
And then the entire opportunity disappeared.
That's not just a lost sale. It's a potentially significant financial setback, particularly if resources were already committed.
The bigger lesson is that strategic selling isn't simply about convincing someone to buy your product. It's about understanding how organizations make decisions, how those decisions are influenced, and how competitors respond when threatened.
And here's what I find particularly fascinating: The incumbent probably should have lost the business. If the complaints about quality, pricing, and performance were legitimate, the challenger may have represented the better business decision.
But the better business decision doesn't always win.
That's why I believe strategic selling skills must be developed through realistic practice, not just PowerPoint presentations on sales processes.
Put sales professionals into a simulation where they believe they've won a major account. Let them celebrate. Then introduce an unexpected competitive response, an executive questioning the decision, and a procurement leader suddenly reopening negotiations.
Watch what happens. Do they panic and lower their price? Defend their product specifications? Complain that the customer isn't being fair? Or do they analyze stakeholders, understand the business implications, and develop a strategy to protect the opportunity?
Those are the skills separating transactional salespeople from strategic sales professionals.
The time to figure out how to protect a major deal is before you win it, not after you discover you've lost it.
So, by all means, ring the bell when you win a big deal. Celebrate with your team. Enjoy the moment.
Just make sure the person who can unring the bell isn't sitting in an executive office somewhere, taking a phone call from your competitor.