Wednesday, September 30, 2026
You just gave someone a raise to keep them, and they left anyway. A new US survey shows a 21-point gap between what owners think keeps their team and what actually does.
Every SME salesperson has felt it — the meeting that goes brilliantly, the contact who says "this is exactly what we need," the deal that then goes quiet for six weeks and dies. Search "how to close more sales" and you'll find scripts for the pitch. Almost nothing addresses the real reason B2B deals stall: your champion isn't the one signing the cheque, and they were never going to be enough on their own.
Most SME sales training still centres on a single relationship — build rapport, understand pain, present the solution, close. That model works for consumer sales and small-ticket transactions. It breaks down the moment your deal size grows enough to involve a buying committee, which research on B2B purchasing consistently shows now averages six to ten stakeholders even in mid-sized companies. Your champion can carry your case internally, but they can't win an argument they weren't in the room for.
1. Map the Room — Before you invest more time, ask your champion directly who else needs to say yes, and what each of them cares about.
2. Arm, Don't Just Ask — Give your champion a one-page internal case they can forward, written in the language of the person who'll actually read it, not a sales deck.
3. Get Your Own Seat — Ask for a short call with the economic buyer or final approver directly, even fifteen minutes. A champion who can't get you that meeting is telling you something about how strong the deal really is.
"Kevin is an absolute powerhouse! He doubled our business's profits in the first month alone with lots more of his recommendations still to be rolled out."
— Curtis Hacon, Give A Sh!t
Most SME sales teams know the deal has stalled. What they don't do is go back into the account and multi-thread it, because it feels like admitting the relationship they built isn't enough. It isn't a personal failure — it's a structural one, and it's exactly the kind of pattern a sales process review with a coach catches before it costs you the quarter.
If your pipeline is full of deals that went quiet after a great first meeting, that's the pattern Kevin fixes first with you.
...and you become the owner whose good first meetings turn into signed deals.