The_Sales_Badger

Account Executive

Customer gets cold feet at the last minute: what do you do?

It's 4th down, on the goal-line, and you're down by two with 1 second. The kicker who hasn't missed a kick all season runs out on the field.

I think we see where this analogy is going. Everyone has lost a deal in the final moments of the sale because the customer gets cold feet, or something happened overnight that is causing this deal to push.

What did you do to either save or attempt to save the deal?

(Not every story has to have a happy ending - maybe we can get creative with your situation)

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27 comments

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CoorsKing

WR Officer

Retired King of the Coors Knights

Shit happens. Honestly we can always say “well if you build a strong enough business case and did enough discovery…” but sometimes stuff outside our/their control happens. I had a customer miss revenue by 15% which led to massive furloughs and all projects on hold.

Honestly the best thing you can do is have enough pipeline where if one pushes you still can hit. Don’t have all your eggs in one basket.

I would rather revisit the deal later at my original price point than just dump a bunch of discounts out of desperation.

Thats my opinion anyway.

sahil

Notable Contributor

Deepak Chopra of Sales

When poker pro Annie Duke did her Masterclass on Sales for the WR, we talked extensively about how sales (like poker) is a game of odds. If you are playing heads up and you have pocket Aces, you will win 75%+ of the time. Which means that 1 in 4 times, you will LOSE with the best possible starting hand in poker. 🤷🏾‍♂️

So how do you deal with that variability? The same way you do in poker: play more hands. The whole point of an odds-based game is that if you consistently get your money in the middle with the best hand, you will consistently win more than you will lose. That's how odds work.

The same is true for sales. If you consistently prospect well, run solid needs analyses, demo thoughtfully, objection handle like a boss, and get decisions from customers on tight timelines... you will win more deals than your peers. You will be a top performer on your team. Thems the odds.

But you will also lose deals at the last second that you have 0 control over. If that costs you quota for the quarter... you deserved to miss quota. You should never be reliant on just one deal to hit quota. Build in a buffer. Have enough pipeline that you can survive a case of the bad-lucks and still exceed your goal.

Oh, and keep a bottle of mezcal and the Pax nearby. In my experience, helps soothe the pain away. 💨🥃

goose

Politicker

Sales Executive

Experience will tell you when to ante up to see the flop but it depends on the competition at the table and your position. I like this Sahil.

The_Sales_Badger

Notorious Answer

Account Executive

I appreciate the response, but building pipeline constantly is expected. The point is that you forecasted this - and boom, last minute they cancel. I personally believe “on to the next one” is the wrong mentality. If the deal is supposed to close, and they get cold feet, what happened in that 24 hours to make that happen. There is always a reason. Having pipeline means nothing if its not closing.

InQ5WeTrust

Arsonist

No marketing, mayo isn't an MQL

I've said it once and i'll say it again, this is why you take their family hostage. How's that for some 'value' Mr. Champion?

@paddy does a hostage/video combo package.

paddy

WR Officer

Director of Business Development

They work half the time. Beheading videos have better odds.

InQ5WeTrust

Arsonist

No marketing, mayo isn't an MQL

God is great.

The_Sales_Badger

Notorious Answer

Account Executive

#streetsales

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

Send them a pair of fuzzy socks and a pen. Figure out the rest later.

saaskicker

Celebrated Contributor

Enterprise AE

Came here to say this.

SaaSguy

Tycoon

Account Executive

Get back to the pain they are experiencing and where your product can take them. Too many people towards the end of the deal get caught up in procurement and negotiating and forget the whole reason the conversation is happening in the first place.

mitts2

Politicker

Account Executive

Basically a no win situation but I would try and uplevel to someone higher in the org through one of my directors or VPs to try and bring the pain / value to the top level. Def a hail mary.

goose

Politicker

Sales Executive

Say goodbye to any trust you’ve built if you do this without your contact’s involvement.

UrAssIsSaaS

Arsonist

SaaS Eater

I mean hes clearly stating its a hail mary, not a typical tactic but I can work from time to time.

mitts2

Politicker

Account Executive

First of all trust was lost when they bail on the 1 yard line. If my champion was that solid, this situation doesn't happen and I don't have to make this move.

Remember when I said I would have my director or VP send the note? Helps reduce the adverse effect on me as the main contact.

In my deals its common to loop in execs early in the cycle so assuming I have checked that box, then we already have a line of comms to the exec and my next hail mary to them is not "out of the blue".

Fuck I'll even tell my main contact I'm doing it in an effort to get a reasonable response out of that person.

The ask on this thread was for creative solutions to try and win a lost deal, not some silver bullet.

You got any ideas to share?

goose

Politicker

Sales Executive

If you truly have the client’s best interest in mind then you could probably tell them when to sign and when to delay or rethink their position. If it makes business sense then you do nothing but find more for the pipeline. If anyone says “discount” or escalate or pressure the client then they are simply playing checkers.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

I refuse to throw in discounts at the end. They do not own me, and they will never own me.

goose

Politicker

Sales Executive

🦊

1nbatopshotfan

Politicker

Sales

Sometimes budget disappears at signing day. It’s frustrating it happens to all of us. No matter how much discovery or info you have, things are out of our control a big.

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

Rolling 20's all day

This gets into how well did you do discovery. For the sale did you define how this will address their pain points and what is important to them?
You should have notes that you can call back to and remind them of why they even got this far with your product -> to solve what they were looking to solve.
It's not a race to the bottom with discounts, but it's building the value of your solution and reminding them of what it will do for them.

goose

Politicker

Sales Executive

Of course. But there are scenarios where their future pain is trumped by current pain. Budgets vanish all the time if revenue targets are missed. As a buyer, it may be more important to “patch the hole in the roof” instead of buying a whole new roof.

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

Rolling 20's all day

Good point. There are definitely things that will remain outside of our control like you mentioned. I think I was mainly coming from the angle of correctly doing discovery.

UrAssIsSaaS

Arsonist

SaaS Eater

This can happen for so many reasons, poor discovery, poor positioning based on discovery, recommending a price point that doesnt fit and breaks trust. Each one takes a different course of action but deals when they get to this point are tough to save.

avocadobegood

Valued Contributor

MM Account Executive

this is super broad context just like "do better discovery" will be too general of an answer for this because every deal is different.

the answer, as always, is to have more pipeline. have more pipeline. have more pipeline.

RedLightning

Politicker

Mid-Market AE

Depends on the concern, but sometimes you're just going to lose even when you do everything perfectly in sales. It's the nature of the beast.

Having said that, the reasoning behind the cold feet is going to be the biggest factor in how you react.

desperado

Politicker

-1

Head of Sales

Give the ball to Marshawn Lynch

AnchorPoint

Politicker

-1

Business Coach

Add more value.

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The_Sales_Badger

Customer gets cold feet at the last minute: what do you do?

27 comments

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