Doogie1111 profile picture
Doogie1111 profile picture

Doogie1111

Director of Business Development

Fire Starter
Contributor

How long does it take to get through to a KDM or Influencer then CLOSE?

Can you put a timeline on building up a significant pipeline? The average small and innovative company is trying to double net new revenues. We are all using LeadIQ and Groove and Sales Navigator and Zoominfo... but despite all our activity and including our creativity in developing great messaging we still end up in the KDMs trash. Even if you do manage to get the meeting, you still have to deal with a longer close cycle as companies become more risk-adverse.

What can we do to help streamline the first email/outreach/call to close timelines for large enterprise deals that span multiple years and are in excess of $2MM/year for software and services?

๐Ÿ“ˆ Closing
โ˜๏ธ Software Tech
๐Ÿค“ Sales Tech
12

16 comments

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Pachacuti
Politicker
5
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
The only way I have ever seen timelines more faster is when your target customer feels an urgency to move faster. So you need to create that urgency. It helps if you're aligned with the right people in the prospect, etc. Lots of Sales 101 stuff.
Doogie1111
Fire Starter
1
Director of Business Development
I hear ya. All of which can be qualified in a discovery call. But there does need to be alignment within the target account - and I expect that with the economic slow-down, we will have an even harder time getting the prospect to change vendors/service providers without going thru a formal RFP. Which I will turn down if there is no influenncer/kdm relationship to leverage.
Pachacuti
Politicker
1
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
What if there is no KDM? What if its Decision by Committee or something similar?

I agree that unless you have a champion or have positively influenced the RFP, it often not worth the effort to go after it.
Doogie1111
Fire Starter
0
Director of Business Development
Exactly! So I usually close large deals by taking them out to lunch and listening. That has worked for me for over 20 years.
punishedlad
Tycoon
3
Business Development Team Lead
Based on your last question there, it sounds like you already have a timeline for how long these deals usually take. Correct me if I'm wrong, but what you're really asking for is advice on how to shorten that timeline. Yes?
Doogie1111
Fire Starter
0
Director of Business Development
Correct - how do we shorten the timeline for large enterprise deals. It ain't using some Challenger Sales training or a 30 page presentation.
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
2
Sales Rep
Would you say you are looking for tool recommendations or process ideas?

Here is an old post for tools

https://bravado.co/war-room/posts/megathread-tech-stack-sales-tools-recommendations
Doogie1111
Fire Starter
1
Director of Business Development
Thank you very much Kosta!
Doogie1111
Fire Starter
0
Director of Business Development
How do we shorten the timeline for large enterprise deals. I know we are smarter than to "try a sales technique" using some Challenger Sales training or a 30-page presentation. How does your cold call or email sound and how do you get the KDM's attention for more than 5 minutes? Sales Process is key to getting multiple stakeholders' buy-in to move forward and approve an evergreen PO.
Maximas
Tycoon
0
Senior Sales Executive
Useful link,thanks.
saaskicker
Celebrated Contributor
2
Enterprise AE
In a true enterprise sale, if you're going in with no relationship it's going to be hard to manufacture a compelling event to speed up the time line.

What I've been able to do in the past is find a warm introduction in via a customer reference/referral or through a consultant/partner/agency - these people are either their peers or a trusted advisor and can get you up the chain faster and with a bit of clout behind you to pitch your product.
Doogie1111
Fire Starter
0
Director of Business Development
Thank you sasskicker! I love this!
saaskicker
Celebrated Contributor
1
Enterprise AE
best of luck!
Diablo
Politicker
1
Sr. AE
How much are you looking to shorten the deal by? I mean you already have a timeline but in order to get the deal to the finish line faster the only thing I have been doing in creating urgency. Did you ask your prospect that what you can do to help this close by your timeline ?
Doogie1111
Fire Starter
0
Director of Business Development
That is a great question and it is straightforward andSuccinct. Thank you.
Diablo
Politicker
0
Sr. AE
Yep and it works great for me. All the best !

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