What I Didn't Have Time to Say on Challenges...
- Olivier Forlini
- May 11
- 6 min read
Last week, Challenges published an interview where I laid out the GTM NEXUS 360® approach on the show Au cœur de l'éco. Press format being what it is, some ideas were condensed.
There's one I want to develop here, because it sits at the heart of what this newsletter has been defending from day one:
Perception is no longer a topic for communications teams. It has become a strategic pilot metric.
The sentence worth unpacking
In the interview, I said this:
"A large part of the buying journey is already done by the time a customer reaches out to a sales team."
It has become a B2B marketing platitude—to the point where most executives nod when they hear it, then move on to topics they consider "more urgent."
Except that almost no one draws the consequences for how an SME or a mid-market company should actually be run.
Here is what that sentence really means. And why, if you lead a mid-sized business, it should redefine how you arbitrate your investments in 2026.
1. Before the first meeting even happens, your market has already judged you
By the time a buyer opens a conversation with your sales rep, they have already:
visited your website and those of three competitors,
benchmarked your reference prices,
read (or not) what is being said about you on LinkedIn,
asked a conversational AI tool what it thinks of your category,
sometimes consulted a peer in their professional network,
possibly come across your name in a ranking, a media outlet, or an industry event.
In other words: 70 to 80% of the decision is made before you get the chance to say a word.
And what is being decided there is not your offering. They only know your offering very partially. What is being decided is your perception — the aggregated image that, in your prospect's mind, emerges from every signal they have captured about you.
That image decides whether they grant you a meeting. It decides what price they expect. It decides whether they walk in as a buyer or as a price comparator.
By the time your sales rep enters the room, the essentials have already been settled.
2. What perception is NOT
Before going further, let's dispel three common misconceptions I hear in executive committees.
Perception is not your visual identity. A clean brand book, a redesigned logo, a refreshed website: these are entry conditions, not differentiating levers. No buyer has ever signed a deal because the logo looked nice.
Perception is not your communication. Communication is the broadcast. Perception is the reception. A company can communicate a lot and be poorly perceived. Another can communicate little and be perceived with power. What matters is not what you say—it's what lands.
Perception is not a qualitative feeling. And this is where the real methodological revolution of the last ten years lies.
3. Perception has become measurable data
For a long time, brand image was discussed as a "qualitative" asset, difficult to objectify—therefore difficult to steer—therefore pushed to the back of budget arbitrations.
That era is over.
Today, in a rigorous GTM diagnostic, we measure four dimensions of perception, each with its own indicators:
① Perceived clarity of positioning. What do your prospects actually remember, in one sentence, when asked who you are and what you do? If the answer is fuzzy, long, or wildly off-target from your intention, you have a clarity problem. And that issue shows up in the sales cycle: the more a prospect has to “guess” what you are, the longer they take to decide, the harder they negotiate on price.
② Perceived differentiation vs your direct competitors. Are you distinguished, or are you blurred? When a buyer places your three competitors and you on a mental grid, where do they put you? If the answer is "in the same box," you are in the commoditization zone—and there, only price decides.
③ Perceived credibility of your proof points. Do your references tell the story you think they're telling? Three blue-chip logos at the bottom of your homepage is no longer enough. What matters is the alignment between your proof and your promise. If you promise innovation but all your case studies feature mature, conservative enterprises, the mismatch shows—and it creates doubt.
④ Perceived attractiveness to your target decision-makers. Do your prospects want to meet with you, or do they show up out of comparative obligation? The difference is enormous. A prospect who wants to meet you arrives in an open stance. A prospect who slots you in by default arrives in negotiation mode.
Four indicators. Four signals that can be measured. Four levers you can act on with method.
4. The typical case—what I observe in the field
Let me anonymize a recent engagement.
A French mid-market company, in an experience-driven, high-value-add sector, around 280 employees, sustained growth over the past five years. The offering is objectively excellent: on functional attributes, on ESG commitments, on operational ethics, the company scores above both of its direct competitors.
And yet.
On unaided brand awareness among target decision-makers, it tops out at 18/100. Its historical competitor sits at 76/100. Its direct challenger is at 54/100.
The gap is not a quality gap. It's a visibility gap.
Dig deeper, and the four signals tell a coherent story:
Clarity: The promise is strong, but it's drowned in a discourse that tries to say everything to everyone.
Differentiation: The proof points exist, but they are not turned into a narrative.
Credibility: the references are good, but they are not activated in the market.
Attractiveness: The natural prescribers of the sector (the “amplifiers”) are not mobilized.
Diagnosis in one sentence: the virtuous cycle is blocked at the first link.
GTM struggles to convert a credible positioning into a qualified pipeline because prescribers are not activated. Without inbound flow, the brand fails to capitalize on its emerging reputation. And reputation, in turn, is not amplified by massive use cases.
Three pillars that should reinforce each other—blocking each other instead.
5. Why this is a direct economic lever
In the Challenges interview, I mentioned effects observed in the field after repositioning:
+20 to 30% on conversion rates
+10 to 20% on revenue over the medium term
noticeable reduction of the sales cycle
decrease in customer acquisition cost (CAC)
These gains do not come from additional sales effort. They do not come from a tenfold marketing budget either.
They come from the fact that, once perception is aligned — clarity, differentiation, credibility, attractiveness — sales reps no longer have to convince. They only have to confirm.
This is a major economic shift for an SME or mid-market firm: moving from a logic of costly persuasion to a logic of fluid confirmation.
And this shift does not require more resources. It requires resources better orchestrated.
6. The hidden cost of a fuzzy perception
No SME ever posts a loss because its perception is poorly calibrated. The cost doesn't show up in the P&L. It doesn't appear in any reporting.
It shows up elsewhere:
in sales cycles that stretch out for reasons no one can pinpoint,
in deals that close at the low price rather than the fair price,
in decision-makers who "go check the competitor" and end up picking the same price point,
in a CAC that drifts slowly upward, quarter after quarter,
in sales reps who burn out carrying conviction alone,
in prescribers who don't talk about you, while they do talk about your competitors,
in a growing dependency on a handful of historical key accounts that mask the erosion of the pipeline.
These are the invisible debts of a GTM whose perception dimension has not been steered.
And like any invisible debt, it is not repaid through effort. It is repaid through lucidity.
7. What this changes for 2026
If you lead an SME or a mid-market firm and you're arbitrating investments for the coming quarters, here's the question I'd suggest you put to your executive committee at the next leadership meeting:
"If our prospects make 70% of their decision before we even speak — what are we doing to steer what happens during those 70%?"
If the answer is "we do communications" — you're one battle behind. If the answer is "we work on our brand image" — you're half a battle behind. If the answer is "we measure four dimensions of perception, we have a baseline, we have a prioritized action plan on a 90/180/360-day horizon" — you're at the level expected of a mid-market firm aiming to scale in 2026.
Conclusion
If you have the feeling that your market does not see you the way you'd want to be seen — it's not a communication problem. It's a strategy problem.
That is precisely why, in the GTM NEXUS 360® methodology, perception is treated as a strategic pilot metric, not as a creative deliverable.
The virtuous cycle I defend — GTM → Brand → Reputation — only works if each of the three pillars is measured with the same rigor you apply to your P&L. Not because rigor is a virtue. Because without it, you arbitrate blind.
Welcome to new subscribers. And for those who want to listen to the full interview on Challenges :
Video Interview: https://youtu.be/wkEOQJN7h38
Olivier F
P.S. The next publication will tackle a question SME executives often ask me at the close of an engagement: "My product is excellent. My customers are satisfied. Why isn't it scaling?" Answer—with hard numbers—in the next edition.
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