I had a similar situation at a financial services firm — the CTO was bought in but the CEO kept stalling. I spent three weeks getting a reference call set up with two existing enterprise customers. The CEO took the call and the deal closed at $2.4 million.
Reasonable tactic, but the reasoning leans on the outcome rather than the diagnosis.
I pulled together a reputational briefing — third-party coverage, customer references, three Fortune 500 logos — and asked the CTO to get us 20 minutes with the CEO directly. We reframed the controversy as mission alignment. The CEO signed off two weeks later.
Competent multi-stakeholder play, but misdiagnoses a values objection as a perception problem.
I'd faced that exact situation at a logistics firm — their CEO had 3 direct concerns about defense contracts. I didn't reframe it as optics. I asked for a meeting, laid out the ethics board structure honestly, and they walked anyway.
Identifies the specific objection, engages it honestly, and doesn't need a win to validate the call.