How to win more deals this quarter and accelerate them as quickly as possible

As quarter 4 comes to a close, the pressure is on to close as many deals as possible before the holidays. It can be quite a hectic time in the office. You might be experiencing a little pushback from prospects who want to revisit this in the new year. Well, you can take the pressure off by following these simple steps to take full advantage of these last couple of weeks. 

1. Push Back – the most common excuse you will hear from prospects at this time of the year is to reschedule or revisit the deal in the new year. This is the time to push back on the push back especially if the prospect is showing high intent. Engaging with people when they are ready to buy could be the difference between a closed won opportunity and a closed lost opportunity. 
   
   Prospects might be primed to buy this quarter and waiting till next year could reduce your chances of closing the deal. Utilize lead scoring tools, such as Zoominfo and Madkudo, to help you better understand when leads are primed to buy. Ultimately, you want to spend less time selling ice to Eskimos and more time selling ice to Saharans instead. 

2. Prioritize Engagement Over Activity Metrics – this step is all about quality over quantity. But how do you identify these deals? Deals with high levels of engagement are more likely to close as you have built and nurtured relationships within that account. High engagement is not just building strong relationships but also having them with the right contacts. 
   
   Key activities consider the number of calls, emails and meetings booked. Key activities do not take into account the direction of the activity (inbound/outbound), the duration of the activity, or the recency of the activity. Whereas engagement considers all these factors as well as key activities. Engagement gives you a more holistic snapshot of the quality of the relationship with the account. We analyzed $100 billion of pipeline, uncovering that highly engaged deals closed won 50% of the time. Leads with higher engagement are more likely to close so your efforts would be better focused on these deals.

3. Hyper-personalization – this is what will make you stand out from the crowd. Remember, prospects receive hundreds of generic emails in their inbox on a weekly basis. Personalizing your message to your prospect by showing you know about their product or website can set you apart. Another way to personalize your message is by researching the prospects’ recent accomplishments or their companies. For example, congratulating them for getting a promotion or appreciating a new campaign they have released. 
   
   Arguably, hyper-personalization takes a lot of time. This is where account-based selling strategies come in. This strategy can be used to identify ‘champions’ and key decision makers to target. Rather than shooting in the dark with personalized messages to irrelevant people. 

4. Special Offers – introduce a limited-time offer that the prospect just cannot refuse. This will create some urgency for the prospect to get things moving on their end. Whether that be getting the legal team involved or approaching management to approve the deal. Offers are not only limited to discounts. For example, you could offer them a free trial or extra customer support during onboarding. A special offer creates urgency but only under the nose of the right person. Identifying the key decision-maker and what their blockers are can help you to incentivize them. Instead of a discount, you can present an offer that helps them to overcome these blockers. 
   
   Following these four steps will help you to push deals through your pipeline and accelerate them as quickly as possible. However, for the prospects who just aren’t budging and inevitably will be put on the back burner till next year – here are some longer-term tips to win more deals so you can stay ahead of the curve and plan ahead for the new year.  

5. Prioritize the Right Deals Using Actionable Insights  – as we welcome in the new year, you want to be able to anticipate changes in your pipeline and be prepared to address them as and when they occur. The best way to stay on top of this is by successfully managing your pipeline health. We’ve come up with 7 easy steps to ensure no stone is left unturned. Own your pipeline in 2022 and download our guide today. 

6. Update Lead Status – never assume lead status reflects reality. You want to ensure that lead status has been correctly updated or you might as well be selling blind. For instance, you would not have the same conversation with a cold lead compared to a warm one. Updating lead status allows you to pivot easily and adjust how you communicate with a lead. If you are aware of interactions that have already happened, you can prepare for the next step you are going to take. 

7. Date Stamping – keeping an accurate record of when leads stall or convert gives you a better understanding of the customer journey. Not only do you gain visibility of your success rate but the time it takes to close a lead. This allows you to fine-tune how you approach prospects at different stages in the customer journey. If a prospect goes cold after the second discovery call then you can tweak your approach at this stage. Hence, updating your lead status gives you an accurate picture of what is really happening in your pipeline. 

8. Multi-threading Deals – step two covered how higher engagement with an account increases the likelihood of conversion. A big part of increasing your engagement is multi-threading. Multi-threading is the process of building relationships with several key stakeholders in an account. It works both ways so that your prospect is also in contact with several people in your business. 

“Multi-threading is a key strategy to not only de-risk deals but to advance them faster and more successfully too.” – Alex Freeman, Head of Delivery at Ebsta 

Think about it this way – to get your deal over the finish line, more often than not there are multiple people involved in the final decision. Building relationships with these stakeholders over the course of the entire buyer’s journey can only accelerate your deal to close faster. In fact, according to Brent Adamson, principal executive advisor at CEB and co-author of The Challenger Sale and The Challenger Customer, the average number of stakeholders involved in a purchasing decision is 6.8. 

There are several factors that influence a stakeholder in making that final decision. But by following these 8 steps you can make the most out of your time and energy. These steps help you to prioritize the deals that matter the most and will hopefully help you to win more deals and accelerate deals as quickly as possible.