Method · 04
Purchase friction patterns that stall “almost yes”
Interest is not a decision. fitsy catalogs the recurring frictions that freeze B2B software choices after demos — especially when QuickBooks sits on the shortlist as default or foil.
From anecdotes to pattern cards
After five to twelve interviews, print quotes that mention delay, fear, or quiet no. Cluster physically. When three unrelated companies describe “waiting until after tax season,” you have a timing-politics pattern, not a coincidence. Label the card with the mechanism, not the product feature.
Migration dread appears whenever books, inventory, or payroll history feel sacred. Prospects may praise QuickBooks interfaces yet stall because import stories from peers sound catastrophic. Your job is not to invent statistics that soothe them; it is to document the narrative so positioning synthesis can answer the dread honestly.
Advisor veto is common in US SMB finance stacks. CPAs and bookkeeping firms shape which tools clients are allowed to touch. Observe those advisors in market observation, then interview them with the same rigor you apply to end buyers via interview methods.
Evidence mismatch
Sales decks promise outcomes. Buyers ask for operational proof: sample chart of accounts, parallel-run checklists, support SLAs during month-end. When evidence offered and evidence demanded diverge, friction spikes. Map that mismatch onto touchpoint maps so content and enablement teams see where the story breaks.
Handoff decay
A champion leaves, a new controller arrives, and the shortlist evaporates. Capture succession risk in decision-maker research. Friction patterns are incomplete if they ignore people changing roles mid-evaluation.
Dark metrics that stay qualitative
Narrative freq.
How often a friction story appears across independent interviews.
Deal stage
Where in the sequence the stall typically begins.
Repairability
Whether product, content, or partner motion can address it.
These are teaching metrics for workshops — not claims of market share or ROI. Continue into qualitative synthesis to keep that discipline.