The real reason deals fall apart

In this episode of CX Minutes, we’re joined by Gal Aga, co-founder and CEO of Aligned, and a seasoned revenue leader who’s built four go-to-market organizations from scratch — scaling from $1M to $10M and from $40M to $100M ARR. Gal brings years of experience in sales, CS, and leadership to a simple but often-missed insight: most companies don’t lose deals because their product is hard to sell — they lose them because the buying journey is full of friction and confusion.

That’s why he’s all-in on buyer enablement — the missing piece in most GTM strategies. And in just a few minutes, Gal shares how AI can help (and hurt), what sales leaders are missing, and why ease of buying is becoming the most important competitive edge.

CX Minutes with Gal Aga, Aligned and our host Sabina Persson, Custellence.

What’s covered in this episode

Guest insights

• Why-B2B-deals-fall-apart-and-how-buyer-enablement-fixes-the-real-friction
• The AI paradox in customer experience
• The case for buyer enablement
• Will CX as a function survive?
• One piece of advice for leaders chasing AI scale

Quick links

• Key takeaways
• Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
• Final thoughts
• AI summary
• Read the transcript

Why B2B deals fall apart and how buyer enablement fixes the real friction

According to Gal, this is the root problem behind why many B2B deals fall apart: the buying journey is filled with friction, lack of alignment, and missed opportunities to support champions in the decision-making process. In 2024, only 22% of sales teams hit quota, not because buyers don’t need the product, but because the buying experience is broken.

With more stakeholders, longer cycles, and information scattered across PDFs and email threads, deals die from friction, not objections. In fact, according to Gartner, 75% of B2B buyers today prefer a rep-free experience, not because they dislike salespeople, but because they struggle to get clear, cohesive information when they need it most. That’s the friction Gal is solving with Aligned.

Learn more: Learn how Aligned simplifies B2B buying

Related: Philip Kerr on aligning sales and marketing

The AI paradox in customer experience

Gal calls out a critical misstep: companies are trying to use AI as a shortcut. Automating bad processes at scale just makes them worse — faster. The result? Misuse of AI, damaged brand experiences, and wasted investment.

The better path is using AI to handle transactional work, so teams can focus on high-value moments. This distinction is especially important for teams exploring how AI can reduce friction in the B2B sales process without overwhelming buyers with generic automation..

He predicts:

• Faster, more precise buyer-vendor interactions
• Human teams empowered to do what they’re best at
• Automation that enhances clarity, not confusion

More insights: The AI Paradox: How to Address Concerns and Close the AI Gap (Itel)

The case for buyer enablement

Most companies still treat enablement as an internal function. Sales gets coaching, content, and frameworks — but the buyer is left to navigate a chaotic experience with no real support.

Gal argues that buyer enablement isn’t just a buzzword, it needs real ownership, strategy, and tools to support today’s more complex and self-driven buying journeys.

Especially with Gen Z and Gen Y making up 71% of today’s buying committees, the self-serve, AI-supported, vendor-light experience is not a trend — it’s the new default.

Deep-dive: Traditional B2B Sales and Marketing Are Becoming Obsolete (Harvard Business Review)

Will CX as a function survive?

“Maybe in ten years, customer experience won’t even exist as a role — it’ll just be the product.”

Gal isn’t forecasting extinction — but he’s asking the right questions. In some cases, especially low-touch environments, CX may become invisible. AI-powered avatars will guide users. Buying will feel like interacting with a polished B2C brand.

And the brands that win? They’ll be the ones that are:

• Easier to buy from
• More emotionally engaging
• Clearly differentiated in experience, not just features

Related: See how Sara Ek builds culture-led CX at Adlibris

One piece of advice for leaders chasing AI scale

Gal’s advice is a direct response to the hype cycle. Don’t chase the fantasy of a two-person unicorn startup powered by agents that handle marketing, sales, and support. Focus instead on using AI to increase the quality of output.

That means:

• AI that helps customers communicate clearly, not just interact more often
• Better messaging, not more messaging
• Faster insights, not just faster tasks

More like this: Marketing Leaders Are Chasing GenAI ROI, But Most Are Missing The Mark (Forbes)

Key Takeaways

• Buying friction, not product complexity, kills most deals
• AI should automate what works — not what’s broken
• Buyer enablement needs leadership, tools, and frameworks
• CX in the future may be AI-powered and invisible — but essential
• Don’t use AI to do more. Use it to do better

“The companies that win in the future will be the ones who make it easiest for customers to buy — by reducing decision friction and enabling internal champions.” – Gal Aga

👉 Want to learn more? Watch the full Episode #10 with Gal here.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Final thoughts

Gal Aga delivers a powerful message that cuts through the noise: buyer enablement isn’t optional anymore, it’s the foundation of real CX. Whether you’re in sales, product, or customer success, this is a conversation worth a few minutes of your time.

Want another take on how AI is changing CX? See what Joanna Carr had to say about loyalty, automation, and brand moments that matter.

AI Summary

In this episode, Gal Aga shares a clear-eyed perspective on why deals fall apart and how CX teams can adapt. He makes the case for buyer enablement as a critical strategy, warns against scaling bad processes with AI, and offers a grounded vision for how B2B can evolve. A must-watch for anyone shaping buying experiences in today’s market.

Read the transcript

Note: This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and readability.

Intro

Sabina Persson 0:00
Hi, I’m Sabina Persson from Custellence. Welcome to the videocast CX Minutes! It’s six questions, six minutes — and it’s all about customer experience.
So this is a series of episodes where we bring you actionable insights, practical know-how, and personal stories from top professionals — all in just six minutes.

Welcome

Sabina 0:28
Joining me today is Gal Aga from Aligned! Hi and thanks for being here. How are you, Gal?

Gal Aga 0:38
I’m good! Very excited to see you and be here. And as you can see, I’m very tanned — just came back from vacation, so feeling refreshed.

Sabina 0:49
That’s so nice. So we’re going to talk about the future of customer experience. And actually, my first question is: who are you and what do you do? For those who don’t know.

Who are you and what do you do?

Gal 0:55
I’m a co-founder and CEO of a company called Aligned, which is in the customer experience space. It’s a customer-facing workspace for revenue teams that helps drive a better buying journey — helps close more deals, faster, and retain more customers.
Instead of the email back-and-forth, attachments, links — all the things that usually happen during sales and CS processes.

Gal 1:24
I’ve been a revenue leader for 17 years. I was an AE, enterprise AE, sales director, VP, CRO. I’ve built four go-to-market orgs from scratch, went through the $1 to $10 million ARR journey twice, and then $40 to $100 million ARR.
That experience really led me to building Aligned.

Sabina 1:47
Wow — very cool. We’re so happy to have you here.

What role does CX play in your work?

Sabina 1:52
My next question is maybe an obvious one for you: what role does customer experience play in your work?

Gal 2:00
Yeah, so the product directly solves for that. The biggest thing on everyone’s mind right now is that sales teams didn’t hit quota — only 22% of them did in 2024.
Things are more chaotic than ever: more stakeholders, longer cycles.

Gal 2:18
And the truth is, we don’t lose because products are hard to sell — we lose because we make them hard to buy.
A champion takes our deck into a budget meeting and they’re unprepared. They get hit with scrutiny. Or 11 confused stakeholders can’t reach consensus because of 50 email threads and PDFs.

Gal 2:45
That’s not a great experience. So deals die from indecision, single-threading, or a competitor that gave a better experience.
Gartner even found that 75% of buyers today prefer to avoid a salesperson.
It doesn’t mean sales is dead — but it means we have to do better.

Gal 3:16
That’s what we’re trying to solve: one space that brings all those interactions together. Makes it easier for champions to sell internally. Makes it easier to drive alignment and create an experience that’s easy to buy.

Gal 3:32
And I turned all of that into a personal passion. I research constantly, talk with sales leaders, write about this weekly on LinkedIn, and join podcasts like this.

How is AI shaping customer experience?

Sabina 3:41
Right. Speaking of customer experience — how do you see AI shaping it, either now or in the future?

Gal 3:52
Now is the right emphasis — because it’s both making it worse and making it better.
A lot of companies are looking at AI purely for automation.

Gal 4:14
Like, “let’s replace roles,” or “let’s push a button and remove SDRs.” Especially if they haven’t built outbound before, they just assume AI SDRs will fix it.
But that just scales what doesn’t work.

Gal 4:48
In the long run, though, it’ll make things better — because we won’t have a choice. We’ll need to automate the transactional stuff: support tickets, demo scheduling, and all the vendor-side qualification.
That frees up customer-facing teams to focus on high-value work.

Gal 5:24
They’ll be augmented by AI, not replaced by it. AI becomes the co-pilot. It will also drive faster, more accurate, more effective interactions between vendor and buyer — which impacts brand perception directly.

What CX trend should we pay attention to?

Sabina 6:01
In your opinion, what’s one CX trend people should pay attention to right now?

Gal 6:11
The concept of buyer enablement. Everyone knows sales enablement — we hire for it, we build programs.
But that’s mostly internal. Most of those roles are in learning, development, or product marketing.

Gal 6:30
They solve content issues and make assets accessible. But no one owns the buying journey — the friction, the process, the surveys, the analysis.
There are no clear tools or frameworks for that side of the equation.

Gal 7:02
We got away with it during the zero-interest era. But now we’re in a new environment — Gen Z and Gen Y are 71% of the buying group, and they expect AI.
They expect a self-serve, buyer-first journey.

Gal 7:34
So now there’s competition between avoiding sales and engaging with sales. We need a defined owner of buyer enablement — with programs, content, tools, and even sales skills built around that buying journey.
It’s a trend we’re watching closely — and evangelizing.

What will CX look like in 10 years?

Sabina 8:04
Cool. Now imagine 10 years from now — that’s a long time, I know — but what’s one big change you think we’ll see in CX?

Gal 8:18
That’s the big question. There’s talk of agent-to-agent exchanges with no experience at all — just transactions that move decisions forward.
I’m not sure if we’ll get there in 10 years, or only for certain transactions.

Gal 8:59
But in scenarios where there’s still a buyer — maybe no seller — B2B will mimic B2C.
We’re already seeing it in marketing: influencer strategies, automation.

Gal 9:15
I used to sell to e-commerce companies. CX there is an obsession. It’s about creating the best purchase experience — not always backed by a hard business case.
That’s where B2B is headed.

Gal 9:37
We’ll see AI avatars that feel amazing to interact with. Gimmicks that create emotional connection. Brands will win by being easy to buy from — and unique in the process.

What’s your one piece of advice?

Sabina 10:09
Building on all that — if you had one piece of advice to share, what would it be?

Gal 10:25
Don’t follow the hype of automating everything. Everyone wants to build a two-person unicorn with agents for marketing, sales, and support.
But that requires more than just automation — it needs viral growth, product-market fit, the whole package.

Gal 11:03
A lot of it is hype. And it drives people to automate too much, without thinking.
AI shouldn’t be about doing more — it should be about doing better.

Gal 11:17
Don’t save time just to do more busywork. Use AI to improve output: better emails, better content, better conversations.
That’s the opportunity.

Wrap-up

Sabina 11:46
That’s a great piece of advice — I’ll take that one.
And that was my six questions! Thank you so much, Gal Aga, for sharing all these great insights.

Gal 11:52
My pleasure. Thank you for having me.

Sabina 11:59
And that’s all for this time. Thank you for watching, and I’ll see you next time. Bye!

Check out other episodes of CX Minutes here.

By Tove Lundell