@Asavele Mbhele You're discovering something that many people don't learn until they've spent years in sales. Understanding a market and convincing that market to engage with you are two very different challenges. But something you said caught my attention. You interviewed someone who challenged your hypothesis and suggested that what you identified as the problem might actually be a symptom. That's potentially the most valuable part of your entire experience. One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is falling in love with the problem they think exists, then looking for people who will confirm it. You're doing something much more valuable. You're allowing the market to challenge your assumptions. Here's one suggestion. In your next interviews, spend less time validating your hypothesis and more time understanding how people experience the problem, what they've already tried, what it costs them, and why they haven't solved it. And don't confuse getting someone to agree to an interview with acquiring a customer. Right now, you're learning how to earn attention, build trust, and create enough curiosity for someone to give you their time. Those are important foundations, but customer acquisition introduces another challenge: getting someone to commit money and accept the risk of a decision. One more thought. Three to five interviews are a good start, but don't treat that number as proof. Look for patterns, contradictions, and surprises. The market doesn't owe us confirmation of our ideas. It owes us nothing. Our job is to understand it well enough to create something people will pay for. People and organizations have problems; try to understand them, solve them for a good price, and do a great job so the customer buys more from you going forward. You're getting a taste of what real selling involves. And the fact that your first conversation challenged your thinking is a good reason to keep going. Here's my question: What did that first expert say was the root problem, and how did it differ from your original hypothesis? That's where I think the most interesting learning begins.

@Asavele Mbhele now we're getting somewhere. And I think your first interview may have revealed something more valuable than you originally expected. Let me challenge your thinking a little. You started with the assumption that fragmented information causes poorly prepared payment claims. But what your expert described suggests something deeper. The information isn't necessarily fragmented because the systems are inadequate. It may be fragmented because the work itself isn't being documented, authorized, or communicated properly. That's an important distinction. Here's where I would be careful. Don't jump from believing you have an information problem to believing you have a people problem. That's simply replacing one unproven hypothesis with another. People forget things. Verbal instructions happen. Documents go unsigned. But WHY does that happen? Is it poor accountability, time pressure, unclear responsibilities, inadequate systems, or simply the way the industry operates? And here's another question I would encourage you to investigate: Who actually suffers financially when these failures occur, and who has the authority and motivation to fix them? Because the person experiencing the frustration isn't always the person willing to pay for the solution. For your next interviews, I would stop asking people what they think causes payment delays. Instead, ask them to walk you through a recent payment claim that was delayed. What happened? Where did things break down? Who was responsible? How much time or money was lost? What did they do to resolve it? Real examples will tell you far more than general opinions. One final thought. You mentioned wanting to know whether this is true across the entire construction industry. I wouldn't try to validate the entire industry yet. That's too broad. Find a specific type of contractor, project, or payment workflow where this problem repeatedly occurs. You don't need to solve the construction industry's problems. You need to identify one expensive, recurring problem that someone is willing to pay you to solve.

I will review and fix over the weekend. Im traveling for business in New York Now. Thanks Bro!

@Asavele Mbhele Great question. And I would start by changing one assumption: you don't need to maintain constant eye contact to appear confident. Too much eye contact can actually feel unnatural. What you're describing often happens because the moment someone gives us feedback, our brain shifts from “I'm having a conversation” to “I'm being judged.” That's when your eyes move, your body tightens, and you start thinking about how you're coming across instead of listening. Try something simple. When they give you feedback, don't immediately prepare your defense or response. Look at them naturally, listen, and give yourself permission to pause for two or three seconds before answering. You can even say, “That's interesting. Let me think about that for a second.” That isn't weakness. It often communicates more confidence than answering immediately. Also remember: you're not there to perform for the decision maker. You're there to understand whether your idea can solve a problem for them. The more curious you become, the less self-conscious you become. So instead of thinking: “Do I look confident?” Train yourself to think: “What is this person really telling me?” Confidence doesn't mean eliminating nervousness. It means staying present even when you're nervous. And like most sales skills, that gets stronger through repetition, not through trying to appear fearless. Hope this helps, my friend 😀

@Asavele Mbhele Great question, because this is one of the uncomfortable realities of multi-stakeholder environments. My view is that you rarely protect an idea by keeping it secret. You protect it by creating a clear trail of ownership while making other stakeholders part of its success. Before presenting it broadly, document the idea, the problem it solves, your proposed approach, and the expected outcome. Then present it as a process rather than simply handing over the solution. For example: “Here is the problem I identified, here is the concept I developed, and here is how I believe we can validate and implement it together.” That last word matters: together. The goal is not to make the IT team, or any other stakeholder, feel like a potential thief. In fact, that can create resistance. You want them to become contributors without allowing the origin of the idea to disappear. And here is the bigger lesson for multi-stakeholder selling: The person who creates the idea is not always the person who gets credit for it. Politics, influence, authority, and internal relationships all enter the picture. So don't just ask, “How do I protect my idea?” Ask: Who needs to support it? Who could block it? Who could take ownership of it? And how do I make each of them successful while remaining visibly connected to the idea? That is stakeholder management. Sometimes the best way to protect an idea isn't to build a wall around it. It's to build a coalition around it. Best of Luck! 😀

@Asavele Mbhele great question. The human part of sales was never really the talking. It was the trust, timing, and reading what isn’t being said. AI can absolutely handle the pitch, the follow-up, the data, even the persuasion tactics. But the moment a sale depends on risk, ego, doubt, or relationship, the buyer isn’t really buying the product, oftentimes they’re buying you. So AI won’t replace salespeople. It will replace the parts of sales that were never human to begin with and force the rest to become more human. The real question isn’t “Can AI handle sales?” It’s “How much of what we call sales was just process wearing a human face?” The more complex the sale, where it involves multiple decision makers with different needs and wants, the less effective is AI and the more human touch in necessary to overcome obstacles, in complex sales AI can be a great copilot but not the main driver. In small transactional sales AI in the future can be efficient in handling the whole cycle. Outstanding input. 😊