Lower stakes, higher craft. Use these to drill the muscle: how you frame the problem, prove the work, and make the ask without flinching.
Your VP Marketing suspects AI visibility is a vanity metric you're pushing to justify scope.
New stakeholder. Wants 6-month deliverable commitments you can't make.
Your champion got promoted. The renewal is now owned by a junior analyst with no context and no power.
Friendly request. You've said yes too many times. The retainer is bleeding margin.
Usage is dead. Renewal is in 4 months. They don't know they're at risk.
First 60 days were rough. You're still paying for it 9 months later.
Your VP perceives stagnation. Reality is you shipped 14 meaningful improvements they never noticed.
Results genuinely have plateaued. They're not wrong — but the reasons aren't what they think.