Bart Kowalczyk, CEO of AutomateNow, sat down with Scottish Business Network (SBN) to unpack why sales pipelines stall even when buyers seem ready to commit. The conversation explores a paradox familiar to anyone in sales: buyers now arrive at meetings nearly 60% decided, yet deals still drag on for months. Bart shares why the real blocker isn't a lack of technology or data, but a lack of human connection, and why consolidating a fragmented tech stack is the first step to fixing it. He closes with a practical one-to-ten validation question that any SBN member can use to test how close a prospect really is to signing.
WATCH FULL INTERVIEW HERE:
Research backs up what you’re seeing on the ground. One recent analysis found that around 60% of B2B buying decisions are made before a prospect ever speaks to a supplier, as buyers self-educate through search, peers, and social content (Blueberry Media). Another 2026 study showed 89% of B2B buyers now use generative AI for vendor research, with median SaaS sales cycles stretching to 134 days (Innovative Group). That’s exactly the pattern Bart described in his conversation.
“Buyer are confused. They have lots of different tools… they can dive deep into their own problems they want to solve, and AI is saying, ‘Yes, this is the truth.’ Then they’re going to their own research, calling friends, families… they need to do some research.”
When that confused buyer finally books time with you, they’re not starting at zero. They’ve already built a mental model of the problem and short‑listed options. If you immediately slip into a hard pitch, you amplify their anxiety. If you focus on clarifying what they’ve already decided and where they’re unsure you become the guide, not another source of noise.
The most dangerous stalls look like enthusiasm on paper. A prospect says “yes” on a call, moves to the next stage in your CRM, and then… silence. Deals sit at “proposal sent” for weeks, and your forecast looks healthy right up until the end of the quarter.
“They are a bit lying because they’re confused about… the offering, about who you are. They are not ready to buy, but they want to test things. And this is because of the technology, but it is also because of the speed that we are living in.”
You can usually spot confusion-driven stalls through behaviour, not just words. Buyers who keep booking “just one more” call, add more stakeholders late in the process, or ask you to re‑explain basics are signalling that the internal story isn’t landing. They may understand the feature set, but not how your solution will actually get them from today’s pain to tomorrow’s outcome.
Practically, you can protect your pipeline by tagging deals where: (1) the buyer cannot restate your value in their own words, (2) the decision process is vague, or (3) there is no clear problem‑owner internally. Those deals need education and clarity, not another discount. Treat them as “not yet decided” rather than “verbal yes”.
Technology has made outreach easier, but differentiation harder. Most prospects are drowning in automated messages, AI‑written sequences, and generic nurture flows. The teams that win are using AI for the heavy lifting while doubling down on genuinely human interactions.
“What is missing is actually human connection, isn’t it? I strongly believe that investing in personal branding is the one way to go… sales needs to build their own personality within LinkedIn, events. They need to be there. They need to act really nearly the same as marketing.”
Data from 2026 sales tech research shows that signal‑based outreach can convert 4–6x better than static list blasts when reps focus on relevant timing and conversations that need human judgment (SyncGTM). That only works if the person behind the message feels real.
In practice, this means fewer, better touchpoints: thoughtful Loom videos walking through a prospect’s actual scenario, short voice notes recapping decisions, or simple “How are you doing?” phone calls instead of another sequence step. When you show up as a consistent human presence across channels, you become the safe option in a noisy market.
If your own data is fragmented, you’ll misread buyer signals and over‑estimate your pipeline. Many mid‑size firms run 10–15 different tools across marketing, sales, service, and finance. The result is partial truth everywhere and real insight nowhere.
“Number one is consolidate tech stack. It’s simply as that… financial data is one place, marketing, sales, service in another. As a general rule, [you need] one place that will reflect where we are.”
From a revenue operations perspective, consolidating into a core platform—HubSpot plus a small number of specialist tools, for example—gives you a single view of the journey. You see which channels actually generate opportunities that close, not just leads that download content. You also see where deals consistently slow down.
Once you’ve consolidated, set up a simple dashboard for stalled‑deal indicators: average days in stage by segment, close rate by source, and the proportion of deals that die after proposal. When you can spot patterns at a glance, you can coach your team on specific failure points instead of relying on gut feel.
Because buyers make so much of their decision before talking to you, your digital presence is now part of the sales process, not a side project. Every post, talk, or interview either builds or erodes trust with future buyers long before they hit your contact form.
Bart shared a powerful example from his own experience.
“Last year we sold a contract based on LLM… Instead of ‘Can you show me how HubSpot works?’ it was more about ‘What are your terms?’ From the inquiry to sales, that AI speed up the process by three months.”
That contract didn’t appear out of nowhere. It was the result of being visible in the places modern buyers now research: LinkedIn, events, and AI‑powered assistants that surface credible, operator‑authored content. When a prospect finally reached out, they already trusted him enough to skip the usual demo dance.
For your team, the playbook is simple: treat every seller as a micro‑media channel. Encourage them to post short, specific stories about deals won and lost, share behind‑the‑scenes views of implementations, and contribute to community discussions. Over time, you’re no longer a logo in a list—you’re the people buyers feel they already know.
Even with better data and stronger personal brands, some deals will stall. Your goal in late‑stage conversations is to surface the real objection early enough to do something useful with it. This is where Bart’s one–ten validation question becomes a simple but powerful tool.
“Ask the question: ‘Hey, Mr. Customer, how this product and service between one and 10 will solve your problem?’ So let’s say they come up with eight. Now you uncover the next step: ‘What would need to happen in order to get that 10 number?’”
If a buyer answers six or below, you don’t have a real opportunity yet you have more education to do, or you’ve misunderstood the problem. That’s a signal to revisit discovery, not to push for signatures. If they answer seven, eight, or higher, the blocker is usually budget, timing, or internal process. You can then help them navigate approval, adjust scope, or agree a realistic start date.
Embedding this question in your late‑stage playbook helps you clean up forecasts, focus energy on deals that can move, and treat lower‑scoring opportunities as nurture, not failure. Over time, you’ll see fewer“mystery losses” and more intentional decisions on both sides of the table.