wesley801•1mo agoOG Member

The 'funnel' obsession is killing real B2B relationships

I had a call with a prospect last week (a small SaaS founder in Austin) and he literally interrupted me mid-sentence to ask where he fit in my 'lead scoring model'. Dude, I just wanted to know if your product actually works. Why does every B2B convo have to be a pipeline stage now? It's like we forgot people buy stuff from people they trust, not from a spreadsheet. Has anyone else had a prospect treat a casual chat like a CRM entry?

2 comments

2 Comments

mason_jackson1mo ago

Oh yeah, that sounds annoying, but honestly I'm on the OTHER side here. When a prospect treats a chat like a "CRM entry", that just means they're doing their JOB. B2B buyers are drowning in vendors, and if they don't qualify you fast it's a waste of TIME for everyone. You said "people buy from people they trust" but trust takes meetings and calls that small founders literally don't have. If I'm talking to a SaaS founder and he doesn't ask about my sales cycle or lead scoring, I just assume he's going to waste my time with a generic pitch. That "casual chat" energy is what got us into this mess of endless discovery calls that lead nowhere.

the_rose1mo ago

There's some real truth in what you're saying, but I think it misses the middle ground. A buyer asking pointed questions about my sales cycle or lead scoring isn't inherently bad, it shows they know what they need. The problem starts when every single interaction feels like a questionnaire with no room for actual conversation. I've been on both sides, and the best deals always happen when both people show up ready to talk about real problems, not just check boxes. That "casual chat" energy you mentioned is exactly what people complain about, but the opposite extreme of treating every chat like a data entry form is just as bad. Somewhere in the middle is where real buying and selling happens, where you ask the hard questions but also let the other person talk without feeling interrogated.