Solving the Credibility Gap in Health Tech Sales

Five structural gaps that stall decisions and how to close them.

Last weekend I was on a solo hike. Just me, my thoughts, and a few hours of quiet. Dangerous combo.

Somewhere around mile three, I was working through the difference between reputation, positioning, and credibility.

(Author’s Note: I know, what a thing to think about on a hike, but it was a training hike, not a soul-searching one.)

Anyways, I’ve already written about reputation and positioning, but I hadn’t tackled credibility yet…so here we are.

I kept circling the same question as I hiked: not how vendors persuade, but whether buyers believe. And belief starts with credibility.

And I don’t mean visibility or a slick pitch. I mean the cues buyers look for when they’re asking: Is this real? Will this actually work for us? Will I look smart for moving it forward…or stupid if it flops?

That’s what credibility looks like in the sales process: trust without proximity. It’s what gets you a second meeting when no one’s in the room to explain your product. And it’s become the invisible filter buyers apply before they ever reply to your email.

This article breaks down:

• What changed in the market and how buyers filter risk now

• The three factors that actually shape buyer confidence

• A quick credibility checklist I use with vendor teams

• And five moves that strengthen your signal—even if no one’s heard of you yet

Let’s start with why it’s harder to earn credibility now.

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Why It’s Harder to Earn Credibility Now

In 2021 and 2022, more vendors were able to break into health plans, even those with limited proof or maturity. There were reasons for that.

COVID relief dollars created more openness and urgency. Plans had immediate needs to support members through unprecedented times. Stars incentives were relatively stable and easier to model. And many health plans were still in “test and learn” mode with digital engagement, navigation, or SDoH interventions.

At the same time, venture capital was fueling rapid growth. Investor pressure pushed teams to chase enterprise logos and market share early—often before building repeatable sales motions or scalable infrastructure. That wasn’t always reckless. It was a rational response to a capital environment where distribution was valued as much as durability.

But that window has closed.

Over the past 18 months, market dynamics have shifted. CMS’s V28 risk model cut performance for many plans, squeezing revenue and accelerating cost reviews. Stars scores have become harder to forecast due to methodology changes, higher CAHPS weighting, and the impact of Tukey outlier deletion, making outcomes less predictable even for historically strong performers.

RADV audit pressure has also intensified. While the audit framework hasn’t changed significantly, CMS has signaled broader enforcement and more aggressive financial recovery. That’s made CFOs and compliance leads more wary of anything that could introduce documentation risk or draw regulatory scrutiny.

In response, health plans are narrowing focus. They’re consolidating initiatives, pausing early-stage partnerships, and holding vendors to higher bars of operational maturity and performance predictability. The appetite to “test and see” has given way to a need to “justify and prove.”

To understand what actually earns credibility in this environment, it helps to break buyer confidence into three parts. Each can be reinforced even before a deal is on the table.

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Three Things Actually Build Buyer Confidence

Most vendors conflate buyer confidence with reputation or brand awareness. Those help, but they don’t address the fundamental constraint.

Health plan executives need to feel confident in three things before they advance or advocate for a solution:

1. Proof

What it Means
Proof is not just outcomes. It’s outcomes that the buyer can explain and defend internally. That means mapping your impact to the metrics that matter inside their plan.

Why it Matters
Buyers are accountable for audited performance, financial justification, and member-level results. Generic stats (engagement, satisfaction, usage) don’t survive budget meetings. If your results aren’t tied to Stars, retention, grievance reduction, cost avoidance, or similar plan-owned goals, they don’t count.

Where Vendors Get Stuck

• Reporting clinical or product metrics that don’t map to operational or financial levers

• Showcasing anecdotes or pilot success that lacks rigor

• Talking past the buyer’s business case by using vendor-centric language

What to Do Instead
Take one meaningful proof point and reframe it for three functional buyers:

• Clinical: link to Stars, CAHPS, quality bonus dollars

• Operational: link to lift, handoff, routing, or reporting efficiency

• Financial: link to revenue protection, cost avoidance, or member churn impact

Even if it’s the same result, each team needs a version they can defend.

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2. Proximity

What it Means
Proximity is how close you feel to what buyers already trust. Things like where you’re mentioned, who references you, and how often you show up in the industry.

Why it Matters
Even a great solution feels risky if it’s unfamiliar. If you’re not in peer conversations, trusted forums, or cited by health plan voices, the buyer starts from scratch. Quite simply, familiarity shortens due diligence.

Where Vendors Get Stuck

• Producing “thought leadership” that no one inside a plan actually reads

• Relying on paid PR or cold emails instead of trusted channels

• Only showcasing logos or case studies no plan buyer has heard of

What to Do Instead
Pick one ecosystem or trusted voice your buyer listens to, then build credibility there. That could mean:

• Co-authoring a piece with a health plan SME

• Getting cited in a Stars strategy deck

• Participating in a working group, panel, or podcast where health plans trade operational lessons

Your name doesn’t need to be everywhere. It needs to be where buyers are already paying attention.

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3. Predictability

What it Means
Predictability is how clearly a buyer sees the path after saying “Yes.” (Contracting, implementation, reporting, and results).

Why it Matters
Even if your product is great, if your process feels risky, the buyer stalls. No champion wants to hand-hold a team through a confusing implementation or defend an opaque scope.

Where Vendors Get Stuck

• No implementation plan, timeline, or resourcing expectations

• Sales decks that excite, but don’t educate other stakeholders

• Disjointed transitions between pre-sale, contracting, and delivery

What to Do Instead
Treat your sales and onboarding materials as if the CFO is reading them next. Bring:

• A detailed 30-60-90-365-day implementation roadmap

• A defined list of internal resource needs (IT, analytics, clinical)

• A pricing and contracting structure that is clear and easy to understand

The smoother your process feels, the more legitimate your solution looks, especially in risk-averse environments.

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The Credibility Scorecard

Before refining your pitch deck, tweaking pricing, or re-sequencing outbound, it's worth checking whether your materials are even clearing the credibility bar.

Score yourself 0–2 on each line, then step back and ask: Would a real buyer, looking only at your materials, see enough to feel confident moving forward?

Most vendors assume their credibility is obvious. This checklist forces a closer read. It reveals where your message is landing and where you're asking buyers to fill in the blanks. If key signals aren’t visible in five minutes, your materials aren’t doing their job.

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Five Fixes That Strengthen Buyer Confidence

The Credibility Checklist flags common credibility gaps, and the following five moves will help you to close them.

Each fix below targets a blind spot that slows down enterprise deals, whether it's unclear proof, vague claims, or buyer uncertainty about what you actually do. They cover messaging, materials, and delivery, so your proof points show up where buyers actually look, and your pitch lands before they start second-guessing.