Closing a $850K Deal After a Competitor Failed Their POC

The Challenge

A 20-hospital healthcare network had selected a competitor after a lengthy evaluation. We had finished second. The competitor began their POC and failed — their solution could not integrate with the health system's Epic EHR environment, causing widespread authentication failures during a two-week pilot. The healthcare network pulled the plug on the competitor and contacted us.

The Approach

I had maintained a warm relationship with the CISO even after losing the initial evaluation, sending quarterly updates on our product improvements and industry news. When the call came, I was ready. Within 24 hours I had a revised proposal on the CISO's desk and our SE team available for an accelerated POC.

Knowing that the prospect was now twice-burned on vendor selection, I proposed a risk-free approach: a 30-day POC at our expense with no commitment, full integration testing with their Epic environment before any deployment, and a dedicated customer success manager assigned from day one. I also offered to fly the CISO to visit one of our existing healthcare customers running the same Epic integration.

The Result

The POC was flawless — our Epic integration worked perfectly. The deal closed at $850K within 45 days of the competitor's failure. The CISO told me, "You were gracious in losing the first evaluation and prepared when we needed you. That tells me everything I need to know about how you will support us as a customer."

Key Takeaway

Always be the gracious runner-up. Maintaining warm relationships with prospects who chose a competitor is not just good sportsmanship — it is pipeline insurance. Competitor POC failures happen more often than you think, and the vendor who stayed professional and stayed close gets the call.