Most deals do not die because a rival wins. They die because the buyer decides the pain is easier to live with than the change. That is the hard truth behind the last conversation with Steve Shorey, author of “The Pillars of Sales Excellence”.
Steve’s point is simple. Sales is not something you do TO someone.
It is what you do WITH someone.
When sellers miss that distinction, they tend to chase signatures instead of building the conditions for a decision.
The first question that matters: why change now? Steve mentions that if the buyer does not feel real discomfort, the process drifts. The deal may still look active, but it is usually sitting atop the status quo.
He frames urgency around three familiar pressure points
In practice, that means the seller has to help the buyer name the cost of doing nothing. Without that, the internal case for change stays vague.
A lot of deals stall because sellers mistake a friendly contact for broad support. Clearly, if one person may like the idea, that does not mean the organization is ready to change.
The better question is who else is affected, who else cares, and who else can block the deal. That is where the guiding coalition comes in. If sales only work one level deep, the first surprise stakeholder can stop everything. Procurement, IT, finance, legal, and operations all have a way of showing up late and changing the temperature of the deal.
Quite honestly, Steve is blunt about discovery. As stated during the conversation, it is not a checklist. It is the place where the seller learns the buyer’s real process, the real friction, and the real risks. It also tells you whether the buyer is serious or simply gathering options.
The strongest discovery questions are about the buyer’s world.
What are they trying to achieve?
What happens if nothing changes?
Who else is involved?
What does success look like inside the business, not just on the pilot?
Those questions expose whether the opportunity has momentum or just activity.
Quick wins need to be used effectively. Sometimes the win is knowing the project name. Sometimes it is aligning with the project manager. Sometimes it can be as simple as helping the buyer see the next step before that next step becomes a delay. That may sound small, but in a bigger, complex deal it creates order.
Steve mentions a more disciplined approach: do not force a close when the buyer is not ready to make it. High-integrity selling means being willing to say, “We may not be the best fit right now.” That kind of honesty builds trust. It also saves time on deals that were never going to clear the internal bar anyway.
If your deals keep stalling with no clear loss to competition, this episode will feel familiar. Ray Makela and Steve Shorey unpack how urgency, coalition-building, discovery, and seller integrity shape whether a buyer moves or stays parked.