Why is AI such a “Hard Sell?”

There are many layers to an onion, and the more you peel back the layers, the more complex or intricate they become.

That said, complexity is sometimes self-inflicted – especially regarding AI (or anything involving technology).

Here are two posts that caught my attention today:

Choosing The Right Clients (Practitioners)

Shaun Syvertsen – CEO at ConvergentIS – Building the #1 add-on for SAP intake to pay

Post Link: https://bit.ly/46GDz9Z (Watch the 55-second video)

Are you choosing the right clients for your business?

So many salespeople wrongly focus more on closing deals than ensuring a good fit between client and provider.

On a recent episode of the Never-Ending Climb, our guest Jon Hansen highlights the importance of finding the right client-provider match, stressing that successful partnerships require mutual compatibility and shared goals.

You don’t want to be the provider “selling rainbows”. 🌈

Evaluating potential clients thoroughly can lead to more successful and truly sustainable business relationships.

Choosing The Right Solution Providers

Post Link: https://bit.ly/46DMoBx

Michael Lamoureux – 1stFractional Chief Research Officer, Procurement/Supply Chain Expert, Optimization Guru, Solution Engineer, Technology Management, Due Diligence, Writer, Leader, Board Member, Scholar, Futurist, & “the doctor” (IEEESM,HKN)

PaymentWorks: 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐫 𝐎𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞!

Founded in 2013, PaymentWorks is still a relatively unknown player in the Source-to-Pay, and Supplier Management & Assurance in particular.

Initially founded to to solve a particular problem in the financial services industry (namely, ensuring the supplier is who they say they are; is not sanctioned, debarred, uninsured, or non-compliant; and the accounts they give you do belong to them), they have found their niche in the mid-market in any services or indirect industry where supplier assurance is key to supplier selection, onboarding, award, and payment.

PaymentWorks was built to be the digital supplier platform for organizational vendor master data management in a manner that ensured that supplier data was always complete, accurate, and verified before any supplier selection, award, order, or payment was made.

What’s Your Takeaway – Here’s Mine

Regarding the first post/video:

• Providers are selling to hit numbers versus engaging prospective clients to solve “real” problems
• Providers waste a good deal of money to get on Quadrants, push out infomercial content, and try to get on maps
• After 40-plus years, I say this with the deepest sincerity – 90% of salespeople aren’t worth the gum stuck on the bottom of a shoe
• There are more points, but let’s start the discussion with these three

Regarding the second post

• Practitioners are generally blinded by the shiny papers that are Quadrants, informational content, and solution maps—a hangover from the old days when everyone believed “no one ever got fired for buying IBM”
• As a result, practitioners often overlook the hidden gems of experienced and expert solution providers who actually have real case studies versus pie-in-the-sky creative writing promises funded by carpetbagger VCs and investors.
• Practitioners who don’t follow up properly with client references, case studies, and progress reports—I will have to tell you one day about the Multnomah County story from 2005 and how their vigilance in following up on a big player’s client reference likely saved them millions of dollars.
• Practitioners who continually fall for the FUD approach about being “left behind by the competition.” Wake-up: 83% of all AI initiatives fail (as did ERP, SaaS, and digital transformation initiatives over the past few decades). Who exactly are you falling behind?

My final question is, why are Providers and Practitioners still dealing with complex onions versus grabbing low-hanging grapes?

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