When reputation isn’t enough to change specification behaviour

A major glass manufacturer was broadly recognised and already associated with quality. But growth wasn't an awareness problem. It was the friction of switching in a risk-managed category, where "good enough" incumbents, habit and project pressure make change feel unnecessary.

We studied architects and façade specialists across the US and Canada, with a deliberate focus on non-users to understand what keeps them anchored and what would actually prompt trial. People knew the name, but many had little idea the digital tools existed, and once shown, reactions shifted sharply, often to outright surprise at their usefulness versus what was assumed to be available.

The insight wasn't "build better tools." It was that digital excellence doesn't translate into supplier choice on its own when specification decisions are hybrid: self-serve for exploration, but human support for reassurance, speed and project-specific validation.

The work reframed where movement really comes from: reducing the felt risk of switching by making advantage provable at the point of spec, and integrating tools into the rep relationship so they feel like confidence, not another platform to adopt.