Growth Insights for CEOs
Advice for CEOs on Growth and Scaling

Vistage Chairs: The Most Dangerous Sales Answer a CEO Can Accept: “We Lost on Price”
Tue, Oct 13, 2026 | Posted by Karen Hayward
Executive Takeaways
- When a buyer says “too expensive,” research shows price is rarely the real reason, especially as deal size grows.
- Your CRM loss-reason field reflects your sales team’s view of the decision, not the buyer’s.
- “Price” is often a stand-in for unclear value, implementation risk, or low confidence in the outcome.
- A few points of win-rate improvement can unlock real revenue from the pipeline you already have.
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Sun, Aug 12, 2012 — Have You Heard of Wally Pipp? Pipp was the first baseman for the New York Yankees in 1925. Folklore has it that on June 2 he asked to sit out the game because of a headache. The coach substituted Lou Gehrig, and that was the beginning of Gehrig’s streak of 2,130 consecutive games. What would happen to your product if it was replaced by a competitor, or worse, from another industry altogether?
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