When “Do Nothing” is Precisely What We Do
WMMM #044 - This week, I share a tip to help close year-end deals.
Jeff Keplar Newsletter December 2, 2023 4 min read
As we enter the year's final month, many of us are chasing deals targeted for year-end closes.
There are deals that we've been working on for some time now that will predictably and naturally be completed this month.
We also have a few surprises.
Some gained momentum as year-end approached.
We have a couple of situations where management asked us to try to pull from next year into this month.
This week's edition of Win More, Make More focuses on those deals that are surprises.
Salespeople Need to be Agents of Change
We introduce a new way of doing something in an enterprise.
We influence the stakeholders to see the value that is possible.
We help them through the investment process.
If left alone, "X' is invested. Our employers and its investors expect us to get "2X" from the transaction.
If left alone, the process would take 15 months. Our employers expect us to make it happen in seven.
Get more, faster.
Do whatever it takes. Break glass.
Make it happen.
"Do" involves:
Making the calls
Chasing the individuals
Working the calendars
Connecting the stakeholders yourself, because you know their org as well as they do
Knowing the customer, their people, its processes
Knowing our employer, our people, our processes, our differentiators
Documenting the business value
Executing a Close Plan
Representing our employer with the best version of itself
Every day
Not putting off to tomorrow what can be done today
Saving hours, minutes
Initiate
Urgency
Decisive
Confidence
Accountable - What's the next step? With Who? When?
Action and Activity.
In this tornado called the "Year-end Push," if it feels like we (and our management) are the only ones with urgency, the only people who care about closing this transaction in December, we may be right.
Ever Go Fishin'?
Simple fishing.
In a Jon boat or sitting on the bank at the pond's edge.
We place a worm on a hook and cast our line into the water.
Then we wait.
We do nothing until we feel the slightest bit of tension on our fishing line.
Based on our prior experience, we have a fish nibbling at our bait, causing the tension we feel now.
We decide to give our fishing pole a yank, hoping to set the hook in the mouth of the fish.
What is the key to this sequence of events?
Do Nothing
We do nothing until we have tension on our line.
The tension comes in the form of a pull by the fish as it is about to bite our bait.
Do Nothing, Tension, and Pull
As we enter the final four weeks of 2023, we will feel pressure to close all of the business we can.
That's natural.
It's desirable.
It provides the adrenalin rush that salespeople live for.
There will be more eyes on every sales cycle and daily requests to provide the "next step."
Action and activity are expected.
"Do Nothing" isn't.
Yet there is a moment in every sales cycle where "Do Nothing" is the only thing we should do.
Experienced sales leaders understand this well.
They will know when to execute "Do Nothing."
But if we don't have that experience level, we should use our instincts and choose a time.
When that moment occurs and we "Do Nothing," expect to feel "Tension" from the customer.
They may panic, concerned that any delay may jeopardize the transaction from being completed on time before year-end.
They may "Pull" us back in line with the sequence of events we mutually agreed to follow.
They may escalate to our management, hoping to force a renewal of our responsiveness.
Don't fret.
This is good news.
This is a sign that they care about getting the deal done as much as we do.
But if nothing happens after we "Do Nothing," we are the only ones with the urgency.
The only party that cared about completing the transaction by year-end was us.
December 31st was our timing, not theirs.
Our customer may have been executing a rope-a-dope strategy to see what concessions they could obtain from us in our year-end desperation.
They will use those terms as a starting point when they resume their negotiations on their timetable after the holidays.
They may have targeted next year for a reason, like using their 2024 budget for this project.
Does that sound harsh?
Contrived?
Maybe.
But it's happened many times when dealing with shrewd enterprise buyers.
It's happened to me.
It has happened to many of my colleagues.
It happens once.
We will never forget.
If we allow it to happen again, we did not learn from our mistakes.
I hope this "Do Nothing" tip prevents a single sales team from experiencing it for the first time.
Summary & Lessons Learned
1) It takes courage to execute “Do Nothing,” but it has to be done.
2) Every transaction has tension.
3) It’s okay to push, but we’re in trouble if the other party isn’t pulling.
Thank you for reading,
Jeff
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