This deal took 6 weeks, which is a pretty quick turnaround in my space. It was supposed to come in on Dec 17th before I took time off for the holidays. But, of course, it would be too easy if it actually came in when the champion/end user says it would...
I didn't get access to the DM until this date of the 17th when my champion said the DM would sign. He called me with the DM on the phone with him, and he explained to me that they aren't ready to make a decision. I reassured him and let him know that I'm a resource for him to make the best decision for his company, so we set up a presentation & demo for the DM! Now the deal cycle really started.
Fast forward to this last week of the year, and my DM said he'd shoot for end of year but told me their decision making process could push into January. I wasn't able to build any urgency with a price increase in the new year - he told me that making the right decision is much more important than how much they pay. Luckily (I guess not luck because I ran the call) we started redlining at the end of the call, and I uncovered some objections he had in order to move forward.
Normally, I would negotiate a lot harder. But I told him I'd see what I can do. I got off the line and sprinted for approvals I normally would never even try to go for to build urgency for a 2021 offer that would benefit them if they were able to take advantage of it. I was actually planning on pulling these approvals in January, and going up to actually negotiate them for more appealing contract terms on my end.
It worked! A signed contract was scanned and emailed over to me in time before our original deadline.
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