[Key Learnings] from the BEST CLOSURE and the WORST LOSS so far:

BEST CLOSURE:

𝑩𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍:

One of the leads I had worked on. Back then (2021 end), they weren't ready to pull the trigger because of some leadership change and the project got put on hold. I would send some whitepaper / research material throughout, just to keep it engaged. Eventually, in June'22, they responded saying they would want to take the discussion forth with regards to implementation. ACV: $25,000.

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕:

• The consistent engagement: Needn't really be about a call / next steps or even the status of project. Just articles, updates about my company and news on theirs; too kept me in their radar.
• No rush: Even when it was quarter end in 2021, I showed no desperation in bringing them home. I had multiple calls just understanding what their key pain points were, what was their incumbent like and what we needed to crack to implement smooth. The CXO also appreciated the patience in understanding their complex use case.
• On call deck creation: To understand and be on the same page regarding their company use case, I used to create diagrams / presentations on the call. I'd then give them access to the same and have them change whatever they think is incorrect.
• Less about features and my product, more about implications of their pain points: One of the key learnings was to really highlight the implications of their pain points { Oh, so you mentioned you have XXX problem, how do you foresee it to have an impact on YYY }.
• Asking early on about their champions, influencers and decision makers. Mapping these primary folks up, so towards the end of the cycle it was only pricing negotiations, and nothing else.

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈:

• Our pricing: We were definitely overpriced. It was almost 2.5x jump from what they were paying their current setup. So the rebuttal: I had to show the value, the loopholes in their current system and why this is worth it.
• New CTO who joined from a company that was using our competitor: This was a major issue and because of which the project also got stalled for a while. Had to send G2 reviews, research material against competitor loopholes. I also arranged a reference call with a customer. This is technically going over and above the basics (considering I am in SMB). It's mostly take it or leave it in this side of the ocean.

WORST LOSS:

𝑩𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍:

An inbound lead, with immediate need as well. If I were to qualify BANT : Authority, Budget were skewed. Need and timeline was in place. It came in February - March'22. The timeline was less than 3 months, which is ideal for us. A junior title (Let's say a manager level) was in touch with us. We could precisely solve what they were facing as issues.

ACV: $32,000

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈:

• Poor discovery: The discovery was not the best I could do. I did not understand the key pain areas, or even what their current workflow was. Some very important questions around process, pain and even next steps were missing. This led to even skewed demo and the presales team did not really give their best (based on the discovery answers, it was something we anticipated).
• Followups: I normally followup in a rhythmic way, but because their timeline was really early; I messed up with the followups. Initially, it was too slow. I followed up once every 2 weeks (again, this is SMB). And eventually when I saw this deal is slipping through, I fast tracked the followups and I was following up every 3-4 days. This definitely gave a commission driven breath.
• No discovery / demo concerning different personas involved in decision making. Our product affects a lot of departments once onboarded. So there were efforts missing to give value to other stakeholders from different departments. It was one department centric. The influence dropped.
• Discussing discounts very early on: I offered discounts, after I saw that the deal is going away. It was too soon in the cycle, and too much. They saw it through. There was no negotiations, there was just discounting here. A chicken move, and it might have pushed away the customer.
• Missing hook for the next conversation: The next steps weren't set on call / calendar. They had reasons to go away again and again, because I didn't give strong reasons to turn up on the next call.

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 (barely):

• Sending research papers towards the end that would help them in evaluation.
• Build rapport and relation with the junior title I was talking to, and then their senior. There was still good rapport that we had, and maybe because of that we had honesty of why they are not signing up with us.

Hoping this helps anyone out here in what can / cannot work. I wanted to share the best and worst so far with the savages here! :) Happy to have any more insights, feedback and thoughts on this!