When CIOs and CISOs Don’t See the Value in Your Solution

If the people using your solution aren’t the ones controlling the budget—and they aren’t communicating value up the chain—you’ve got a serious problem.

When I stepped into a VP of Sales role, I made it a priority to meet with senior leaders across our customer base.

What I heard was alarming:

• “We’re not getting value from your solution.”

• “We’re not seeing enough ROI to justify the spend.”

After digging in, I discovered the issue wasn’t lack of value—we were delivering real results. The problem was that those results never made it to senior management. And since they owned the budget, the outcome was predictable: no new orders.

We immediately launched an initiative to ensure customer successes were consistently communicated to executives. The impact was dramatic—accounts that had gone cold re-engaged, and expansion deals started to flow.

Key takeaways for sales teams:

• If your “champion” won’t connect you to senior leadership, they may not be a true champion.

• Regularly take the temperature of executives. Confirm they see the ROI, and align with their evolving priorities.

• Value uncommunicated is value unrealized—especially at the budget level.