In the UK, the spec sheet does a lot of the selling. Score highest against the requirements matrix, come in compliant on price, and you're usually in the conversation.
I assumed that travelled. It doesn't.
Here, the spec sheet gets you in the door. It doesn't get you the deal. What does: can they trust you, and can you show them the thing actually working. Proof over promise. The relationship isn't the soft layer on top of the commercial case. Quite often it is the commercial case.
The cycle is longer for it, and early meetings can feel like they're going nowhere if you're measuring them against a Western pipeline stage. They're not. They're doing the work the procurement matrix does elsewhere: in the room, in person, over more time than a quarterly forecast wants to allow.
The mistake I see people make, and made myself early on, is bringing the UK playbook and wondering why the spec sheet isn't closing. It was never going to.