I’ve already posted this on LinkedIn, but 99% of you haven’t seen it because I didn’t use an AI “hook” or attach a photo of me with somebody else's Lamborghini. It mustn’t have made your feed, so you didn’t miss another ‘day in the life of [insert job role’ post.
Bringing it to the Zenith Letter, for those who might find it relevant:
I faced the “build vs buy” challenge as an AE, and it seems to be making a comeback. Customer buyers are challenging the SaaS providers…
The debate: Whether to buy an (AI-powered) pre-built, slightly generic yet customizable SaaS tool, or to use Claude/Gemini/GPT and a lean engineering team to rapidly create something unique, now that LLMs enable rapid software development.
These calls are being made right at the top of the customer’s hierarchy, by both business and tech executives (with help from their advisors), driven primarily by economic interests.
If leadership has committed to building with the super LLMs they already use across the business, and they want to use them for your use case, then the seller “challenging” that choice will likely be futile. The direction has been set before you even showed up. Trying to change their minds will likely make them more resistant.
If you want a chance of securing a seat at the table and getting into the conversation, first you’ve got to really empathise with their thinking, then inject your value based on augmenting that understanding (1+1 = 5). Align with their direction, but highlight the risk(s) of an 'one-size-fits-all' mindset and do it with expert authority.
Demonstrate how your SaaS solution specifically compliments their LLM-based strategy by improving accuracy, reducing exposure, eliminating hallucinations… whatever the benefits are (you understand your SaaS I don’t and most buyers don’t either, so articulate them!)
Executives are always concerned about risk. Rather than opposing the big AI players they’re so enthusiastic about (and using themselves every day - inside and outside of work remember!), emphasise how your offering strengthens their existing plans by mitigating risk and increasing the probability of delivering the desired outcomes. Land and focus there, and you’ll gain credibility and earn trust early in the discussion. You’ll become relevant to their approach and demonstrate how you enhance their already chosen direction (it's still their idea).
If you’re not up for this inevitably tough conversation, or you genuinely feel that “AI building” is the better approach, go look for prospective accounts who are further behind the innovation curve. You know them: Those customers who are slower to adopt new technologies and engineering methods and prefer traditional approaches. You may still have a few good years left before you run into this debate.
Or maybe it's a bigger question for you, and it’s time to reassess what you’re selling. Imagine you were that executive, that company, that team. Would you buy what you’re selling, or do you know deep down that the alternative option(s) are better/more exciting?
I don’t know who said it (and I’ve probably butchered the quote), but I’ll never forget this advice and its relevant more than ever in this tech world that's changing at an exponential rate:
“Always learn and adapt quicker than the world is changing around you”.
I thought the post was worth sharing again. Make of it what you will.
-Aaron
zenithconsulting.io
P.S. For a modern approach to architecting your sales career, check out Sales Life.