Mastering the Art of Sales Momentum: Unleashing Strategies to Accelerate Your Deals!

How do we accelerate sales cycle timelines?

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How do you get your sales deal unstuck?

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Sales deals can be a rollercoaster.

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We’ve all been there – dealing with the frustration of ghosting and wondering how to reignite momentum.

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So many sellers come to me asking about how to overcome specific objections, but the reality is the foundation is far more critical and indicative of what types of objections you will face and how debilitating they will ultimately be.

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Consider this: if you have done your homework, built a solid relationship earning trust where the priorities of both sides matter to the other party, truly understand your customer’s milestones, timelines and budget, know all of the key stakeholders and there is a mutual accountability, you’ll get the deal done barring unforeseen circumstances. And, yes, that is intentionally designed to sound like a lot of if’s, because it is.

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Deals aren’t easy. Sometimes it is like the planets aligning. But if you seek the aforementioned over and over everywhere you go, deals will happen. Remember the concepts of the diversified portfolio and the probability game.

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It all starts with recognizing that, in sales, there's only so much we can control. The initial meeting sets the stage, but maintaining momentum is a continuous effort. Losing steam after that enthusiastic first encounter is a real risk, and statistics back this up: a high probability of sellers do not follow up enough and a high probability of prospects say no at some point before saying yes. Every day or week that passes without progress can result in lost opportunities.

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To combat this, I've found that upfront and intentional agreement on key milestones and priorities is crucial. No guesswork – confirming alignment, influence, and priority early on is a game-changer. When following up, it's essential to hark back to those agreed-upon milestones and timelines, outlining the initial commitments made.

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“Mr./Mrs. Customer, I know that when we discussed the importance of this prioritized project, you indicated spring 2025 as the desired launch date. Based on current trajectory, it is imperative that we re-connect to ensure we have done the thorough scoping work. I have resources on standby to make this happen, but will need to reassign them if I don’t hear from you.”

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Just like the daily non-negotiables that we have previously discussed, you can make every deal in flight part of your daily rigor. Discipline is key. There is no such thing as too much time to sell something and often deals will take every bit of whatever month, quarter or sales year you are trying to achieve it during. There is also no time to waste: if a deal matters to you, you should not go a day without at least asking yourself mentally, “Is there anything I could or should do today to keep this moving?”

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That is not to say that you message your prospect every day, but if there is some internal activity or nudge you need to make, a vendor or partner you are working with from whom you are waiting on an update, or perhaps it’s just keeping it top of mind, this daily activity will ensure that nothing slips through the cracks.

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Deals are hard enough to achieve without plenty of potential blind spots, gotcha or “a-ha” moments and unforeseen hiccups as you near the end zone. Nearly every deal has these, no matter what you do.

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Even with meticulous planning, deals can still stall due to various variables. This makes it all the more valuable when you do not rely on just one mid-level leader in an organization as your only contact. Having a lot of key and potential stakeholder and influencer relationships can help you create that groundswell of influence that can be critical in the construction and closing of a deal.

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In all of my most strategic, complex and hard-fought deals, there are common themes – dozens of key executive stakeholder relationships and an understanding of their purview and what matters to them in the deal, at least one “friendly” in the organization (who while they were not the chief decision maker, they armed me with valuable intel of what was happening within the organization that impacted the deal and they gave me guidance on what I should be doing, meaning helping them win too became a priority for me), and strong enough ties that when the inevitable C-level changes or mergers and acquisitions transpired or their strategic initiatives drastically shifted, our relationship was still so strong that I was part of the equation in the aftermath.

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Understanding the psychology of sales is also quite paramount. No book has more influenced my philosophy on sales in recent years than The JOLT Effect by Matt Dixon and Ted McKenna. Customers predominantly do not move forward not because they don’t see you and your solution as a viable product, but because they have fear of messing up. They see risk that we fail to de-risk. Do you know your customers’ perceived risk, and have you quelled or eradicated it? Or are you still reiterating the strengths of your product, using time-bound discounts and making your case solely on ROI?

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We’ve all been there, and many of us have worked in environments where we got various types of sales coaching or management. Most of us have likely led with the “fear of missing out” approach rather than seeking to understand the fear of messing up.

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Remember, it’s easy to get hot and heavy after a great, exciting first conversation or winning demo, but it’s quite another endeavor entirely to get a customer to entirely shift their way of doing things. The change is one thing, and change management is another. It’s up to us to understand all of those variables rather than trying to win on your solution’s strengths.

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It's not just about closing deals but building relationships and trust. Ideally, you will have a relationship where your customer can be honest and candid with you; anything else could mean we are misdirecting our message and we’re all wasting our time. Maintain clarity on the customer's perspective. This approach has proven more effective in the long run.

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In my greatest deals, I’ve worked with my team and customer to construct a shared, living document, where we can flesh out all of the mutual priorities between our organizations, meet on them weekly or biweekly, and go through them together. My team and I take a first crack at putting it together based on what we’ve heard from the customer and what we know, which shows we are paying attention and attuned. We put who we think are stakeholders from both teams who will be engaged on each initiative. Then we share the document in good faith and say, “We’ve constructed this based on what we believe our priorities are together, but please keep us honest. We would like to meet weekly or biweekly, whatever makes sense, to review these and ensure mutual accountability and momentum based on our key dates and timelines.” It also enables you to add new priorities, shift priorities or even de-prioritize as you proceed. Everyone is on the same page. No (or fewer) surprises. That’s how deals get done.

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While sales is fundamentally the same, the ability to research is so much at our fingertips that it is a two-way street – buyers are researching sellers just as much as we research them. In this era, success lies in a customer-centric approach, understanding their priorities, and delivering wins aligned with their needs.

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Success comes down to the words we choose, how we make our customers feel, and our ability to navigate challenges with empathy and strategy. After all, when our customers win, we all win.

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We are always under pressure to shore up sales cycles, but we will move at the speed of customers and our organization. Plan with the outcome in mind - work together to plot out the critical milestones between this moment and that target. Each party must hold each other accountable, in the spirit of partnership, transparency and trust, along the way.

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As a seller, make your process about them: ensure they understand the levers you have at your disposal, the information you will need to leverage your resources and what matters to your organization - timelines and investments they can make that will benefit them most.

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Your role is an evangelist for your customer - an advocate for them amongst all resources in your company. Help them arm you with what you'll need from a priorities perspective.

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Timelines might shift or slip, but if both parties are clear with intention and collaborative in project management, the foundation for partnership can be established effectively and the deal can stay on track.

#SalesSuccess #SalesTips #BusinessStrategy #CustomerCentric #RelationshipBuilding #DealAcceleration #SalesMomentum #SalesPsychology #TrustBuilding

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