Why Companies Change: The Two Driving Factors

Companies change for one of two reasons—pain or gain.

• Pain can be either immediate or anticipated, such as losing revenue, customers, or facing fines.

• Gain is about helping companies achieve long-term goals, like market expansion or efficiency improvements. To push a deal forward, you must focus on identifying either the immediate pain or the potential gain. Without this, deals stall.

Hack: Always ask, “What do you stand to lose if you do nothing?” to drive urgency in your conversations.