Siftwell Analytics’ Referential Market Playbook: Why Face-to-Face Still Wins in Healthcare AI

 

Siftwell Analytics’ Referential Market Playbook: Why Face-to-Face Still Wins in Healthcare AI

Most SaaS playbooks start the same way: build inbound funnels, optimize conversion rates, scale through digital channels. These strategies work brilliantly for selling project management software or marketing automation tools. They fail spectacularly in healthcare enterprise sales.

In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Trey Sutten, CEO and Co-Founder of Siftwell Analytics, a healthcare technology company that’s raised over 5 million in funding, explained why his GTM strategy looks nothing like typical B2B tech companies—and why that’s exactly right for healthcare AI.

What Makes Healthcare a Referential Market

Healthcare enterprise sales operate on fundamentally different dynamics than most B2B software markets. Buying decisions involve clinical executives, financial leaders, compliance teams, and IT departments. Contracts often reach six or seven figures. Implementation touches sensitive patient data and mission-critical workflows. And perhaps most importantly, reputation matters more than marketing messages.

“For us it’s a highly referential market,” Trey explained simply. “You know, so it’s getting out there, it’s relying on long standing relationships that you had, it’s being face to face.”

This isn’t a market where prospects download whitepapers, watch demo videos, and self-serve through a buying journey. It’s a market where a referral from a trusted peer carries more weight than any amount of advertising. Where buyers want to look the vendor in the eye before committing. Where trust must be earned through direct interaction, not conveyed through marketing copy.

The Road Warrior Approach

For Trey, the referential market reality translates into a specific allocation of time: significant portions spent traveling, meeting face-to-face, and building relationships.

“I spent a lot of my time on the road interacting with our existing customers, making connections with new customers, panels, speaking opportunities, or just, you know, direct meetings with individuals or teams,” he said.

This isn’t occasional conference attendance—it’s a systematic approach to being present where healthcare decision-makers gather. Industry conferences. Client sites. Panel discussions. Regional healthcare association meetings. Anywhere health plan executives congregate becomes an opportunity to build the relationships that drive referential sales.

The economics work because healthcare deals justify the investment. When average contract values reach into six or seven figures and customer lifetime values extend across multiple years, the cost of flights, hotels, and Trey’s time delivering face-to-face meetings generates clear ROI.

Education Over Pitching

But Siftwell’s face-to-face strategy isn’t traditional enterprise sales. Trey isn’t traveling to deliver product demos and close deals. He’s traveling to educate buyers and dismantle misconceptions.

“There’s a lot of misconceptions around some obstacles that people think that they’ve got,” Trey explained. “And so, you know, I’ve used some of my job responsibilities. Getting out there, educating people on this isn’t really big and scary tech, but rather you can get started today and in fact you need to.”

This education-first approach addresses a specific barrier in healthcare AI adoption: fear of complexity. Health plan executives have been burned by technology implementations that overpromised and underdelivered. They’ve heard AI hype from vendors who didn’t understand their operational realities. They assume adopting AI requires massive organizational transformation.

Trey’s face-to-face conversations cut through these misconceptions. He can speak operator-to-operator, sharing how health plans similar to theirs started small, saw results, and scaled from there. He can address specific concerns about data integration, compliance, or workflow disruption based on real implementation experience.

This educational approach works because Trey has credibility. He’s not a career software salesperson—he’s a former health plan CEO who’s sat in the same chair as his prospects. When he says implementation is less scary than they think, buyers believe him.

The Relationship Leverage Model

Siftwell’s referential market strategy leverages relationships at multiple levels. Trey’s previous roles as Medicaid CFO and health plan CEO built an extensive network of healthcare executives. These relationships provide warm introductions, reference calls, and advisory guidance.

“It’s relying on long standing relationships that you had,” Trey noted as a core component of the strategy.

But the relationship leverage extends beyond Trey’s personal network. Existing customers become the most powerful sales force. In referential markets, buyer conversations with current customers carry far more weight than any vendor presentation.

When a health plan considering Siftwell speaks with a similar organization already using the platform, they’re getting unfiltered insights into implementation challenges, actual results, and whether the vendor delivers on promises. These peer conversations often determine whether deals close or stall.

This dynamic makes customer success existentially important in referential markets. Every implementation becomes a future reference account—or a reputation risk. The quality of customer outcomes directly impacts pipeline velocity because satisfied customers drive referrals while disappointed customers block them.

Why Digital Funnels Don’t Work Here

The referential market dynamics explain why typical SaaS GTM strategies fail in healthcare enterprise sales. Digital marketing excels at generating awareness and capturing active buyers. But healthcare AI buying journeys rarely start with Google searches.

They start with conversations. A CMO mentions Siftwell at an industry dinner. A CFO hears about the platform from a peer at a different health plan. A consultant recommends evaluating Siftwell during a strategic planning engagement.

These conversational entry points don’t flow through marketing funnels. They happen in contexts where trust already exists—peer networks, industry associations, consultant relationships. The buyer is getting a filtered recommendation from someone whose judgment they trust, which carries exponentially more weight than inbound marketing.

This doesn’t mean digital marketing is worthless in referential markets—it provides supporting evidence and validation. Prospects who hear about Siftwell through referrals will visit the website, read case studies, and research the company. But digital assets support the relationship-driven sale rather than generating it.

The Panel and Speaking Strategy

One tactical element of Siftwell’s referential approach deserves special attention: panels and speaking opportunities. These aren’t vanity exercises—they’re systematic relationship-building at scale.

When Trey speaks at industry conferences or participates in panels, he’s accomplishing multiple objectives simultaneously. He’s establishing thought leadership, demonstrating domain expertise, building brand awareness, and creating opportunities for follow-up conversations.

Attendees who hear Trey speak now have context when Siftwell comes up in future conversations. They’ve seen his operational expertise firsthand. They know he understands their challenges because he’s lived them. The speaking engagement creates mental availability—when the health plan eventually needs predictive analytics, Siftwell is top of mind.

Speaking opportunities also generate direct leads. After panels, attendees approach with specific questions about their situations. These conversations often lead to formal meetings, evaluations, and eventually deals.

The Existing Customer Leverage

Trey’s time allocation includes significant focus on existing customers—not just new prospects. “Interacting with our existing customers” made his list of core activities alongside “making connections with new customers.”

In referential markets, this isn’t just customer success—it’s growth strategy. Deep engagement with existing customers serves multiple purposes:

It ensures customers achieve results worth referring others to. It surfaces expansion opportunities within existing accounts. It generates detailed case studies and proof points for future sales. It creates advocates who proactively refer Siftwell to peers. It provides ongoing market intelligence about emerging needs.

The time Trey invests with existing customers compounds through referrals and expansions. Each successful implementation creates multiple future pipeline opportunities through that customer’s network.

Operating Costs and Market Dynamics

The referential market strategy has real costs. Trey’s time traveling could theoretically be spent on other activities. The approach doesn’t scale the same way digital funnels do—there are only so many in-person meetings possible per month.

But these costs must be weighed against the market realities. Healthcare enterprise sales cycles are long regardless of approach. Decision committees are large and consensus-driven. Trust requirements are high given the sensitive nature of healthcare data and operations.

Attempting to force digital funnel economics onto healthcare enterprise sales would likely generate lower win rates, longer cycles, and weaker customer relationships. The referential approach acknowledges market dynamics rather than fighting them.

Lessons for Founders in Referential Markets

Siftwell’s approach offers a framework for any B2B founder selling in referential markets—whether healthcare, financial services, government, or other trust-intensive industries:

Accept that your GTM will look different. Don’t force SaaS playbooks onto markets where they don’t apply.

Allocate founder time to relationships. In referential markets, founder presence matters disproportionately.

Focus on education over pitching. Dismantle misconceptions and build trust before asking for commitments.

Leverage existing relationships. Your network and customer base are your most powerful GTM assets.

Make every customer a reference account. In referential markets, customer outcomes directly impact pipeline.

Use speaking and panels strategically. These create relationship-building opportunities at scale.

The hardest part of this strategy is patience. Referential market approaches generate slower initial traction than viral growth or digital funnels. But they build defensible competitive positions. Once you’re embedded in the referral networks that drive healthcare buying decisions, competitors struggle to displace you.

For Siftwell, the referential playbook isn’t just a GTM strategy—it’s a recognition that in healthcare, trust drives transactions. And trust is still built the old-fashioned way: face-to-face, relationship by relationship, conversation by conversation.