I’m in a prospect call with a colleague, talking to a prospect we haven’t spoken to in about 2 years.

Last time, this person chose our competitor’s software but graciously gave us feedback on our software and sales process, explaining why they chose the competitor.

Fast-forward to today: they’re talking to us again.

During the call, they mentioned they weren’t happy with their decision to go with our competitor’s software, citing a lack of innovation and no improvements since they started using it. Specifically, they noted the competitor wasn’t integrating AI, which could have alleviated some painful tasks. However, after seeing our latest product for data collection and analysis, which uses AI to reduce manual work, they were impressed and interested in a demo.

Just before we could start the demo, my colleague said, “I told you so,” about their decision to go with the competitor’s product. I was baffled. This guy had come back after 2 years, was impressed with our software, and wanted to know more, showing all the signs of potentially buying and using our product.

And yet, we chose to “stick it to him.”

I was like, why? Really, why? What do we accomplish with this? What is the gain here? Momentary boost to your ego? or maybe a momentary high that you felt by bringing someone else down? Just do not understand the psychology here.

Understandably, the conversation became awkward, with him feeling forced to justify his 2-year-old decision. I quickly moved past that and showed him a complete demo. I’m unsure if he’ll decide to buy and use our product, and I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t.

What I am trying to understand is this strange urge some of us have to “stick it to people.” I wish I could convince my colleague that his approach wasn’t right, but it seems ingrained in his nature and some of us just struggle to see our own shortcomings even when pointed out.

God help us!