Your deal did not slip at the end
Your deal did not slip at the end. You picked up a prize you were never going to keep.
Demo done. Champion sold. POC passed.
Then the claw opens.
That is what happens when you run a deal without the economic buyer.
You can move it forward. You can make it look real. You can get everyone excited.
You still do not have a deal.
No economic buyer means no authority. No authority means no signature. No signature means no revenue.
That is why the claw machine visual works.
It lets you lift the prize. It lets you think you have won. Then it drops, because control was never yours.
Enterprise deals work the same way.
Gong’s analysis of millions of opportunities backs it up. Deals without a true decision maker are 80% less likely to close. In enterprise sales, the drop-off is over 2x.
Most reps try to fix this after the drop.
They ask for executive access after the demo. After the POC. After weeks of work.
That is too late.
Top performers build the case before they reach for the prize.
They study earnings calls, 10-Ks, CEO interviews, call transcripts, and objection history.
Then they ask one question:
“What is the biggest risk this company needs to solve in the next 12 to 18 months?”
They tie their solution to that risk. Then they build a one-page hypothesis of value.
So when the champion goes upstairs, they are not asking for a meeting. They are carrying a business case.
The prize does not slip because the claw failed. It slips because the person who controls the machine was never in the game.
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