You play the game perfectly
You play the game perfectly. Nail the demo. Get the champion. Win the technical POC.
The claw grabs the deal.
Then it slips. No economic buyer. No signature authority. No close.
You weren’t selling. You were playing an arcade game rigged to drop the prize.
If you don’t have the person who can sign, you don’t have a deal. You have an expensive hobby.
Gong’s analysis of millions of opportunities confirms it. Deals without a true decision maker are 80% less likely to close. In enterprise sales, the drop-off is over 2x.
Most reps respond by asking for executive access.
Top performers do something different.
They use AI before they ever make the ask.
They feed it earnings calls, 10-Ks, CEO interviews, call transcripts, and objection history. Then they ask one question: “What is the biggest risks this company faces in the next 12–18 months?”
They map their solution to one of those risks and build a one-page hypothesis of value.
So when the champion goes upstairs, they’re not asking for a meeting. They’re carrying leverage.
Stop playing the claw machine. Use AI to get the prize before it slips.
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