Founders and any B2B software company have felt the pain of a slipped deal.
There can of course be scenarios where it's out of your control, but teams should only make that excuse after they've pulled out all the stops on a deal. Here are some resources to dig into based on given scenarios to make sure you have done the things in your control first:
- Ensure you have the technical win (and confirmed it).
- Build a mutual action plan without being awkward to clearly define the key stakeholders and steps to reduce risk in your deals (it should never feel like homework for either side).
- Know the difference between the signer, budget owner, and buyer and make sure you have access to the right person (are you sure you know the difference?).
- Align with the end user and an executive sponsor.
- Devise a thorough internal security process to avoid failing security reviews (SOC 2 Type 2 is just a starting point).
- Build a close plan (handling internal sales is as important as handling external sales).
- Define a business case that will work when it lands on the CFO's desk (I also love this post on the topic and highly recommend it).
- Accurately forecast based on the deal size and the stakeholders involved to ensure you know how long the deal will take to close.
- Build a Partnership Onboarding Plan to avoid presenting pricing only to learn the prospect needed to spend a lot less to get started.
- Sell a roadmap but do not underdeliver – the best teams know how to position "what can we sell now, what can we prove, and what about our vision can we get the customer excited about post-purchase?"
- Align the pricing proposal with expectations vs. pushing for the big-ticket deal upfront.
Founders with sales teams should do the following:
- Make sure you hire(d) the right Account Executive.
- Create a safe space for the team to share learnings and blockers to avoid getting caught by surprise on issues you should have known about sooner.
- Make sales a team sport in your company.
Questions? Feedback? Let us know.