What Is Pull as a Buying Test?

Rob Snyder treats pull as the test for whether someone will buy. The project is a job already on the to-do list, such as hiring more employees. Unavoidable means the work has to happen now, for a reason that rules out waiting. The concrete version is a task a boss is already waiting on.

The list of options covers what the buyer already considers: hiring somebody, having the existing team do the work, or using tools already on hand or out on the market. Limitations are the reasons the options are not good enough to finish the project. A product team can have a mandated feature and still plan to build it themselves. A purchase happens only when the options already available, including doing the work alone, using a category leader, or using whatever tool is already out there, leave the buyer stuck and blocked.

A real project with a real deadline still produces no sale when the buyer can finish the work with options already available. Demand appears when the current options fail.