Land the Big One
All salespeople want bigger contracts. That’s just a fact. Bigger contracts equal big commission dollars and no stress for making your sales targets. Big contracts are the rising tide that floats all boats. Although big deals are complex, messy and sometimes involve moving backwards to go forwards, there are three practices that always work.
Relationships Developed
Did you know that the average enterprise deal has six to 10 decision makers on the buying team?
This group includes decision makers, decision validators, decision influencers, stakeholders, subject matter experts (e.g., technical experts, security, legal, procurement) and end users.
Account teams, the people with a vested interest in the deal, should start by assessing the relationships they have, as well as the relationships they will need.
Relationship development goes well beyond an initial meeting. Relationships are developed over time and built on mutual trust and in-depth rapport. For large opportunities, relationships should be mapped by the internal account team. For example, who best aligns with your prospect from your company? The account team can analyze each relationship to best understand the appropriate engagement plan. The account team must think strategically about those relationships and take note of the ones they have and ones they will need.
Account Strategy Meetings (War Room Sessions)
Did you know that 79% of prospects prefer interacting with salespeople who are trusted advisors who can add value to their business?
Account strategy meetings (or war rooms) are an opportunity to discuss how to be a trusted advisor for your prospect. They also allow the team to do the work necessary for future success. A sampling of topics covered over a series of war room sessions include:
- Mapping relationships
- Executive engagement planning
- Designing the Win Themes
- Developing competitive blocking and analysis
- Pre-call planning (for every single prospect meeting)
This work can't be accomplished in just one or two war room sessions. It must be done over time. A normal schedule would include monthly or bi-monthly war room sessions for each big opportunity from beginning to end.
Each session builds on the prior one as new information is learned. To truly put the account team in a position for success, all the above components must be completed prior to the issue of an RFP or proposal for a large opportunity.
Months of Solid Sales Engagement
Did you know that many companies report a successful sales runway to be about nine months or more for 5X opportunities?
It takes time to develop relationships and work through all the war room elements. Big deals include progressing through your normal sales process along with the extra work required during each stage for large opportunities. If early sales stages, such as qualify or develop are missed or rushed, results will suffer.
The other critical part of the time equation is understanding the buyer’s journey for big contracts. What is your prospect doing, thinking and feeling at each stage of their journey? Can the account team put themselves in their prospect’s shoes?
According to Gartner Research, three-quarters of buyers involved in a complex purchase described their purchasing journey as "very complex" or "difficult."
The prospect’s journey takes time, too. It is the job of the account team to add the right value at the right time.
Now more than ever, salespeople must approach the sales process with the following three things in mind:
- Make it simple for your prospect.
- Show immediate impact for your prospect.
- Eliminate risk for your prospect.
Summary
Salespeople trying to identify, develop and close big deals can increase their success ratios by:
- Solidifying key relationships
- Engaging in on-going account strategy development sessions
- Giving yourself a sales runway of months to learn, qualify, develop and close the opportunity
