why big calls keep stalling

Brought to you by The Art Of Positioning Podcast

When there's nothing in the room (that's consistent) to measure the decision against, every option stays permanently defensible.

More information doesn't fix it.

More meetings definitely don't.

Why does this happen more at this stage than earlier?

Because earlier, the decisions were clearer by default.

Do we take on this client? Yes, we need the revenue.

Do we hire? Yes, we're drowning.

Constraints made answers into "like, duh." moments.

But, right now, there's real money on the table, real options, and enough breathing room that "we could go either way" is true.

A new vertical that looks promising.

A senior hire the team keeps circling back to.

An acquisition that makes sense on paper, but nobody can fully commit to.

And somehow, a call that should take 1 conversation takes 4.

A financial services firm around the $4M mark I spoke with kept fielding strong inbound from a single client profile outside their core.

It has a good margin, is manageable operationally, and came up twice in a quarter.

The conversation kept reopening to shift the focus to this fresh profile.

Everyone in the room had a defensible position. The meeting ended with "let's revisit."

And that's what happens when there's no clear filter for everyone to work from, so every opportunity sits in a permanently grey area.

So the key here is to have a clear position to go from 👇

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Most companies treat repositioning like a marketing project. New logo, new tagline, done. But your marketing team can't fix what's broken in operations. Your sales team can't sell a story your product team hasn't bought into. Listen to the full The Art of Positioning Podcast episode here.

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Hang on, isn't positioning part of strategy anyway?

Yes, and they do different things.

Strategy points to where the firm is going.

Positioning is what's currently specifically true about how the firm works, who it's actually built for, and what makes it the obvious choice for that person over everyone else. That's what gives strategic decisions their answer.

Without it, every new opportunity is evaluated as if it were the firm's first decision. Same conversation, different day, same lack of resolution.

Okay, but what about hiring? Why does that stall the same way?

Because that "senior hire" without a clear brief is just a job description with a salary attached.

When the position is clear, the brief practically writes itself.

You know who this person will be working with, what the work looks like at this firm specifically, what they're walking into, and most importantly - why.

When it isn't, the conversation defaults to competence and culture fit. Both obviously matter. But someone good, hired without a clear brief on what the firm is building, will fill the gap with what they know from their last role.

That shows up about six months in, when nothing's changed.

So, how to make business decisions easier?

It's 3 questions.

Same 3, regardless of the decision: new service line, senior hire, new market, acquisition, partnership, brand ambassador, collaboration.

1. Does this align with why we started this?

Not the 'clean/modern' version on the website. It's your honest version. What does this firm do better than anything it operates alongside? (I promise you, if you say 'better service' or 'caring', most others are saying it too.) Does this decision make more of that possible, or does it pull somewhere else?

2. Does it stand true to how we want to be seen?

Picture the right client describing the firm to someone they're referring in. Does this decision fit cleanly into that description, or does it complicate it?

3. Does this make our position harder to hold, or easier?

Not "is this needed," because honestly, almost anything can be framed as needed. The real question is whether saying yes makes it clearer what the firm stands for, or muddier. If it's muddier, no revenue case changes that.

What does the conversation look like when the filter actually exists?

Same financial services firm, same opportunity.

Position is clear. They specifically serve established owner-led businesses navigating a particular financial complexity, one that needs more than transactional support.

New client profile surfaces. Three questions, four minutes, one answer.

Another opportunity comes back around. Same four minutes. Different answer.

Neither goes to a second meeting.

Neither gets reopened three weeks later.

Not because the partners suddenly got more decisive. Because there was something specific in the room to measure against.

What this looks like in play👇

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🏏 Badass Tip: Run it on the one that keeps coming back

There's likely one decision sitting on the table right now that's had more than 2 conversations without going anywhere.

Step 1 (10 mins): Write one sentence: what is this firm specifically the best choice for, right now. Not aspirationally. Currently. If this takes longer than 10 minutes, that's the real issue we're seeing - clarify your positioning first.

Step 2 (10 mins): Run the 3 questions against the decision. Write the answers down, it's different from just thinking through them, trust me here.

Step 3 (5 mins): Passes all 3? The next conversation is execution. Fails 1? Redesign until it passes or cut it. Fails 2 or more? The revenue case doesn't save it.

If Step 1 surfaces that the position isn't clear enough to write that sentence yet, that's where you need to start instead.

The part nobody tracks

Every decision stuck in a third meeting has already cost something.

Time, yes. But more than that, the decisions that didn't get made while this one kept going in circles. The quiet loss of momentum. The slow erosion of confidence in the room when the same conversation keeps reopening.

The firms that move fast on big calls aren't wired differently.

They just have something to measure against when they walk in.

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