Fuentes Fridays #0028

Here is your end-of-the-week insight into what I see going on in the business world, what I’m thinking about, and what I’m learning about.

What I’m Hearing From Sales Leaders/Professionals

This week, I was asked a very interesting question by the CEO of a B2B Enterprise SaaS company trying to win deals away from an incumbent: “If you could only ask one question of a buyer, what would you ask?”

Without hesitation, I said, “When does your contract with COMPETITOR expire?”

In an environment where you are trying to take out the incumbent, this is by far the most critical piece of information. Without this information, you cannot accurately forecast or strategize.

When you couple this question with strong competitive intelligence, you can begin to fill out many of the DRIVE (Decision, Impact, Resources, Velocity, Expectations) criteria. Most importantly, you can get a better understanding of Velocity and Expectations.

Velocity – By knowing when the contract is set to expire, you can get a very good idea of the pace at which the deal will move.

One HUGE caveat. In enterprise (as is the case for the CEO who asked the question), if the contract is set to expire in 60 days or less, it likely means that the deal will move SLOWLY unless there is an incredibly compelling reason why the prospect needs to move. You need to understand very quickly whether there is or there isn’t.

And if there is, who in the organization believes that there is, and what power do they have in the decision-making process.

If you get the sense that the reason is discomfort and not actual pain or that only your champion feels it, then you need to work toward ensuring that the renewal with the competitor is either month-to-month or only for a year. Otherwise, you may end up doing a lot of work only to be told that your prospect has renewed for multi-year terms and that you should check back at a MUCH later date.

If the expiration date is three-plus months out, then it is absolutely mandatory that you find out when the notice period is for non-renewal. I have written many contracts for our clients where the notice date is 90 days plus (some are even a year). Once you know when they must give notice, that becomes your drop-day date for a decision.

You can then work backward from that date to create your mutual action plan/closing schedule.

[Note: In mid-market and SMBs, an expiration date of 60 days or fewer can move quickly depending on the notice period.]

Expectations – The second level of expectations is roadblocks. In situations like the one I have described, most people default to “a big roadblock will be that people don’t like to change.” This is true, and it is one you should be aware of.

There is another thing, however, that most people forget about—the incumbent’s strategy for renewal. If you are making waves in the industry, you can rest assured that the incumbent is thinking about how to lock their customers in and get them to renew earlier. Once you know when the contract expires (and you know when the notice period is), you need to start understanding the incumbent’s renewal strategy.

You have to find out when they are meeting with your prospect, how often, what incentives they are offering, etc. This will also influence the pace at which your deal moves. It should also influence your strategy.

If you find yourself in deals like the one I described above and want a second set of eyes on it or want to learn the DRIVE framework, please DM or email. I am always happy to chat!

What Made Me Laugh

I think about death a lot. Mostly because my father talks about it a lot. He has a very different perspective on it than I do. This video sums up how I feel people should behave upon my death.

This Week’s 40/20

For every 40 hours of work, I believe you should spend 20 (additional) hours mastering your craft. This is how I spent some of my 20 hours this week.

There is a lot of “monkey talk” in my life. My brother-in-law, Elio, has a few favorite phrases that I hear often: “Not my monkey, not my circus.” “One monkey don’t stop the show.” Elio was never in the circus or, from what I have gathered, really ever around monkeys. Anyway, this week, I found this monkey clip that became a major reflection point for me—am I dropping three bananas to pick up two? To be honest, I am not sure. That is why Maestro is holding an internal strategy summit in a few weeks.

Potpourri for 800

Potpourri (shoutout to Jeopardy!) is a category that covers a variety of topics.

It’s almost travel season! Here are some folding hacks ! It beats just throwing all your clothes in a garbage bag with duct tape (this is a true story from my network).

Quote for My Son

Every day, I leave my son a note with a quote. This was my favorite from this past week:

I believe one of the big keys to happiness is not to concern yourself with what others have or have not achieved. It is a tough lesson to impart to a 13-year-old boy. This week, I shared this incredible quote with my son: “A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms.” — Sensei Ogui