I was at an industry event this week and got talking to the Head of Revenue at one of the hotter AI startups doing the rounds.
I asked him whether they ran proof of concepts.
He scoffed that they didn't. Because in his experience, PoCs attracted tyre-kickers who wanted free consultancy dressed up as an evaluation. And frankly, they didn't have the bandwidth.
Their problem wasn't the pipeline. Their problem was that they had more demand than they could physically service. So instead of letting prospects drag them through a months-long evaluation, they ran a single-day on-site workshop, demonstrated what the platform could do, and drove the prospect into an initial 12-month commitment before anyone left the building.
A pretty ballsy play, but they get away with it.
Why? Because the leverage was real.
When a company genuinely can't serve everyone who wants to buy, the power dynamic shifts.
They're not chasing. In fact, every conversation becomes a qualification exercise, not a selling exercise.
The buyer feels that. They feel the scarcity, the pace, the underlying message that says: we're evaluating whether you're serious enough for us to invest our time in you.
It's incredibly powerful. And it reminded me of something from years back. A deal I ran where I played the exact same card.
Except I was bluffing.
We were mid-cycle on a complex enterprise deal and I told the prospect we wouldn't move forward until we had assessed their organisational readiness for the implementation.
I positioned it as due diligence, framing it as us protecting them from a failed deployment.
Rather than questioning why we'd slowed things down, the prospect started working harder to prove they were ready. The internal champion went away and built a readiness case without us even asking.
The energy of the deal flipped. Suddenly they were chasing us.
Now, the honest truth? We had no leverage at all. I needed that deal. In fact, my whole year was pinned on landing this monster. But they clearly felt they needed the outcome as well.
It was pure positioning. A calculated bet that if we behaved like the company with too much demand, the buyer would respond as if the scarcity were real.
And they did.
Sometimes leverage is nothing more than the willingness to act like you have it.
Very much like a game of poker.
Conversely, when you act desperate and chase the buyer daily for 'updates', you're feeding their power - Being needy is a universally unattractive quality.
The Head of Revenue I spoke to this week doesn't have to think about any of this. His leverage was very real. He can run a one-day workshop and demand a 12-month commitment because the alternative for the buyer is going to the back of a long queue.
Most of us don't have that luxury. But that doesn't mean we can't create the same effect.
It starts with how you position your own time. Are you available on demand, or are you someone whose calendar requires planning around? It shows up in how you qualify. Are you the one being evaluated, or are you running your own assessment of whether this prospect is a fit?
You need to be careful about how and when you play this card, because if you're a genuine low-value commodity, it won't work. But, if you have built and proven value, don't be afraid to get your prospect working for it.
On the issue of who needs who more…
It doesn't have to be true.
It just has to be believed.