We spend a lot of time in business working out how to be better than the competition, and then trying to turn those differences into a convincing proposition.
But customers aren't necessarily comparing you with the competition. They may be comparing you with what they already have.
And what they already have might be perfectly adequate. It may not be the best solution, but people know how it works and the organisation is set up for it. Keeping it doesn't require a decision.
Changing it does.
That is something businesses can underestimate. A new solution might be demonstrably better, but adopting it can mean changing the way people work or getting others in the organisation on board. Somebody has to decide that the improvement is worth the effort and take responsibility for making the change.
Seen from that side of the table, being faster or technically more sophisticated may not be quite as compelling as it looked in the presentation.
When looking for growth, it is very easy to start with what the company does well and then look for more customers who could use it.
But being a good fit for the product doesn't necessarily make someone the right customer. They need to be able to put it to work and get the benefit from it. What matters isn't what the product can do, but what it enables the customer to do differently or better.
A proposition needs to explain more than why you are different. It needs to make clear what will be better for the customer, and why that is worth changing for.