Most sales organizations believe they lose deals on price or product.
They rarely do. They lose on their position. They’re competing in a race where the customer has already set the rules.
Ford and Toyota faced the exact same crisis in the 1970s.
Same costs. Same competition.
They chose two completely different approaches.
Ford optimized. How do we build cars more efficiently?
Faster lines. Lower cost per unit. They tried to win by doing the old way a little better.
Toyota redefined. What does efficient production actually mean?
They went upstream. They questioned why inventory existed at all.
Why defects were discovered after production, not during.
They didn’t just change the process. They redefined what a process is.
This is exactly what happens in complex B2B sales.
When an RFP arrives, most sales teams act like Ford. They respond. Optimize. Hope to be “best in test.”
But by then, they’ve already accepted the customer’s definition of the problem.
The winners do something different.
They go upstream.
One team answers the question. The other challenges it.
One becomes a vendor. The other becomes an advisor.
Same deal. Completely different margin.
There’s a name for this: Upstream Selling.
An approach where you don’t just participate in the deal, you shape how it’s defined.
Even when you’ve entered late.
It’s not a timing problem. It’s a positioning problem.
The one who shapes the question owns the deal. The one who accepts it, competes for it.
Are you in the position you’re hoping for? Or the one you’re actually landing in?
We built a tool that makes it clear.
12 questions. 5 minutes. No registration.
Click the link to run your analysis.
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