One question can change your business trajectory: “Why do your customers buy from you?” Out of body experience (OOBE) turns assumptions into insights, hidden value into bigger deals, and overwhelm into excitement.

TL;DR:

• Most founders view their business from their own perspective, missing value that’s obvious to their customers.
• In one two-hour conversation, a conference founder went from overwhelmed to excited by reframing her pitch around solving sponsors’ real problems.
• That shift drove 300%+ YoY sponsorship revenue growth, doubled close ratios, and created a repeatable sales motion in weeks.

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Results at a Glance:

• 300%+ YoY sponsorship revenue growth — first three months hit 85% of annual goal for commitments
• Close ratio more than doubled — from ~25% to 60%+
• ICP-driven sales motion built for repeatability and scalability

The Question She Never Saw Coming

In December 2024, I met with the founder of a bitcoin developer conference series and her assistant for the first time. We’d arranged to meet at her small office, but instead of sitting down there, we walked to a nearby coffee shop.

Once inside, we ordered drinks, both of us choosing matcha lattes, and settled into a quiet spot. At first she was confident, maybe even a little guarded. The conference was her creation and her pride. She had grown it from a single event in 2022 to three in 2024, and now had plans to double that to six in 2025.

As we talked through those plans, the cracks began to show. She had no sponsorship goals, no revenue tracking, and a history of personally covering shortfalls. Ticket sales alone could not make the events sustainable. Her voice shifted from confident to heavy, the weight of doubling the number of conferences without a financial plan settling over the conversation.

We began setting simple, clear revenue targets. Her posture shifted. The overwhelm eased, replaced by a spark of confidence. Then I asked the question she had not expected:

“Why do your sponsors support you?”

Why Founders Miss Hidden Value

Most founders think they know why customers buy from them. The problem is they usually answer from their own perspective, not the buyer’s.

When I asked her why sponsors supported her conference, she hesitated. The question seemed to catch her off guard. After a pause, she admitted she had never really thought about it in depth. At some level, she believed sponsors gave out of goodwill for the bitcoin community.

“Companies that align their offerings to what customers truly value outperform peers by up to 10% in revenue growth.”
(Harvard Business Review – The Elements of Value)

That assumption was costing her. Sponsors are not simply being generous. They have goals, growth plans, and clear reasons for where they invest their marketing dollars. If you do not uncover those reasons, you cannot position your event, product, or service as the obvious choice.

This is where the out-of-body experience begins.

The Out of Body Experience in Action

We started by listing her sponsor types: bitcoin startups, venture capital firms, exchanges, lenders, and foundations. For each group, I asked her to step out of her own perspective and into theirs.

If you are a bitcoin startup, what do you want from sponsoring a conference? She answered with the obvious — brand awareness and credibility in the community. Then I suggested another need she had never considered. Startups building products often need developers to test, contribute, or even join their teams. Her events were already attracting some of the most talented developers in the space. Without realizing it, she was sitting on exactly what these companies needed most.

We worked through each category the same way. VCs wanted deal flow and visibility with promising founders. Exchanges needed users and liquidity. Lenders were looking for credibility and trust in a highly skeptical market. Foundations wanted to fund projects that would have real impact in the ecosystem.

“Customer intimacy is achieved when a company can demonstrate deep understanding of a customer’s business, priorities, and needs, resulting in stronger relationships and loyalty.”
(Wikipedia – Customer Intimacy)

As she mapped these goals, her posture changed again. This was no longer about asking for money. It was about solving problems for specific groups in ways her conference was uniquely positioned to do. The overwhelm was gone. She was leaning forward, energized, and already brainstorming new ways to connect with the right sponsors.

From Insight to Action

With her sponsor categories and their goals clearly mapped, we moved quickly into execution. Over the next three weeks she:

1. Set clear revenue targets for each event. No more “see what happens.” She knew exactly what she needed from sponsorships to make each conference sustainable.
2. Built a targeted sponsor list. Every company on the list fit one of the ideal customer categories we had defined together.
3. Revamped her collateral. She created a sponsor brochure that clearly showed attendee demographics, developer engagement, and the unique opportunities her events provided.

“Value-based selling shortens sales cycles by as much as 20% and increases win rates by focusing on solving high-impact problems.”
(HubSpot – Value-Based Selling)

By the beginning of January, we were working together. In the first 90 days she had already reached 85% of her annual sponsorship goal. By the six-month mark, sponsorship revenue had tripled year over year, and her close ratio had more than doubled. Most importantly, she had a sales process she could repeat for every conference going forward.

Why Every Founder Should Try an Out of Body Experience

You do not need to run a bitcoin conference to use the out-of-body experience. The exercise works for SaaS, professional services, manufacturing, or any business where customer motivations are misunderstood or underused.

The premise is simple. Stop pitching what you think you sell. Start speaking to what your customer actually needs to achieve. That shift changes the way you target, the way you write your messaging, and the way you structure your offers.

When you understand the problems your customers are trying to solve, you stop feeling like you are “selling” and start feeling like you are helping. That shift is noticeable to the buyer. It builds trust faster, shortens sales cycles, and often increases deal size because your offer is clearly tied to outcomes they value.

“The most successful businesses reinvent their models by defining a clear value proposition, aligning resources, and building repeatable processes.”
(Innosight – Reinventing Your Business Model)

If you have been running hard but feel like growth has stalled, an OOBE might be the fastest way to get unstuck.

Closing Thought

That two-hour coffee shop conversation changed the trajectory of her business. She walked in confident but overwhelmed. She walked out with clarity, a plan, and a new way of seeing her sponsors.

The turning point was not a new marketing tactic or a clever pitch. It was stepping outside herself and looking at the world through her customers’ eyes.

If you are feeling stuck, take a step back. Ask yourself the questions your customers wish you would. You might find that the biggest growth opportunity is not adding something new, but finally seeing the value you already have.

Want to apply the Out-of-Body Experience to your sales process?

Let’s talk through how it could uncover hidden growth opportunities in your business.

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