You want AI deals that renew, at a margin worth the work. Here's what kills them.

Your customer bought the AI. Twelve months later they cancel.

"We tried it. We spent money on it. We're not using it every day. So why should we keep paying for it?"

If you sell software or services to businesses, you have heard a version of that sentence 🐬 Leahanne Hobson hears it more than most. She helps channel partners around the world (managed service providers, cloud providers, distributors, telcos, system integrators) figure out how to sell AI. On The Sales Show she named the pattern in five words: "a year of sales and a year of churn."

The good news: the fix doesn't need a new product. It's a different conversation about the one you already sell. Here's what she's seeing, and what to do instead.

Why AI sold like a license turns into churn

Most of these companies aren't startups. For years they sold licenses. Usually to the IT department. Sometimes into procurement, based on price. Leahanne calls it "the licensing game."

Then, about three years ago, everybody launched new AI tools. And the industry decided: we know how to sell this stuff. We'll keep selling it the way we always have.

So the licenses went out. And the goodwill those partners had built went stale. Suddenly it was questionable. Some customers churned outright. Others got frustrated and said they would just "vibe code it with Claude" themselves.

When Leahanne's team started training real end users with Microsoft (receptionists, product managers, finance managers, event organizers, in small and medium-sized businesses) they found the root of it. People thought AI was something you click on. It shows up in the apps folder and changes your life.

It doesn't. They played with it a bit, never built a daily habit, and stopped. Even when it was free.

The tool wasn't the problem. Nobody sold them the habit 🐯

The Shopify rule that makes teams actually use AI

Simon shared what Shopify's CEO calls his AI strategy, as Simon heard it in an interview: give business unit leaders one-tenth of the people they need, plus unlimited AI tokens of their choice.

What happens? They use it. Not once. Every day, like a team of ten or fifty.

Leahanne's take: that's the stick. Some things get done with the stick. But companies selling AI have a better option.

"Take a step back, take a beat and think: we're not gonna sell AI. We're gonna sell the ability to use it."

Build services around that, and the customer actually gets it, keeps using it, and it spreads through the organization willingly. Not because they're short on people.

Why services beat licenses on margin

Leahanne puts license margins at up to 20% in a good year with incentives. "That isn't gonna last. It goes right back down to seven to 10%."

Services on top of the tool? 35% plus. Chew on that gap for a second. And services make the customer sticky and loyal, because they're happy and they know how to use what they bought.

Simon added the other half: the way we charge is moving from seats and hours to usage, results and outcomes. It's a hard transition. Most founders don't redesign pricing models for a living. But the faster you shift, the higher the chance you stay competitive.

Lead with value, never with price

The partners who do this well have one habit in common. They avoid leading with price.

"Your competitor can say, well, you were two euros cheaper. I'll go three euros cheaper. It's a race to the bottom."

So do the homework. Where is the value in tokens and consumption? When should a customer use Copilot, when an agent, when something they build themselves? What eats the most tokens? Leahanne: "That's valuable information. People will pay for that."

The proof: Mobit in the Nordics repositioned its offer and its sales approach. From going to IT, to going to the CEO with a business outcome conversation about AI ambition, plus a services catalog to match. They added multiple millions in four months. Every one of those wins had a service attached, so every one had a business outcome and an ROI. Not a license conversation 🌴

Sell to the person who owns the outcome

"We've been selling to the wrong audiences for years," Leahanne said. Procurement. Or high-tech IT.

IT isn't wrong. But a strategy and a budget set at the top usually means a bigger project and a bigger share of wallet.

That changes how you prepare. If a salesperson is involved, they do homework before they go in. AI tools make that fast. Before your next call, find out:

• What they talk about in the press and on podcasts
• What they're trying to move the needle on
• Their challenges, and which competitors work for or against them
• Any financial news that tells you whether they have budget

It gives you talking points that trigger the right conversation and get you the information you need on the first call. That's control of the sales conversation. You walk in with something solid in your hands, already knowing what matters to them, so you lead.

Leahanne also told us what happens when you skip it: "I don't like being pitched something on the first approach if you haven't done any research."

If you can sell to a nonprofit, you can sell to anybody

Leahanne's team runs an eight-week fellowship that helps nonprofits build their own AI adoption plan. Simon asked the obvious question: how can they afford it?

Her answer works for every buyer. Nonprofits spend money on what moves their mission. "Our mission is feeding the poor. Is what you're proposing going to help me feed the poor? If the answer is yes, you've got a good chance of getting that approved." Show them "ROI here, here, here" and they're not interested.

Swap "feed the poor" for your buyer's mission and you have the whole method. The sellers who get this sit with the CEO talking outcomes, while everyone else argues over license price with procurement. That's why she wrote: "If you can sell to a nonprofit, you can sell to anybody."

Your one move this week

Run the every-day test on your next deal. Before you name a price, write one sentence: "Ninety days from now, this customer will be able to ___ every day."

That sentence is what you're really selling. It goes in the proposal, ahead of the price. If you can't write it, you're still selling a license.

Picture the renewal call a year from now. Your customer doesn't ask what the license costs. They tell you what their team does every day that it couldn't do before 🐬

Watch the full conversation with Leahanne Hobson on The Sales Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKkM8MWzbAQ

Want to practice leading every sales conversation with other founders? The 8-step process is inside Sprint Club. Try it free for 7 days, no risk: https://www.strategysprints.com

Ready to accelerate now? Book a Discovery Call: https://calendly.com/strategysprint/discovery-call

Happy hunting.

Simon & The Sprinters 🐬⚡️🐆