I have been seeing more questions and comments about closing a deal by this date. Why?
The most frustrating thing in my 12 years in sales has been managers that do not understand that sales cycles have their own timeline, and end of the month (hence my name) is not an incentive for a strategic company to make a purchase. In tech sales, the only real tiedown that I have found that makes sense is the buyers go-live date. When do they see themselves first using? What conflicts will you have it you don't get this implemented by x date? How much will it cost you if you wait 3 months to implement, etc.
Far too many times, and companies during my career have managers tried to squeeze the last few steps and try to use a time sensitive discount to get the deal to close. They see that the only step left is to sign, or meet with the CFO, or get legal approval, and right away it is "give them 10% to sign by the end of the month, and they will get it through legal".
Why are we going through a consultative sales process, building value, validating the value, then throwing it out the window, because we want to shave 15-60 days off of the cycle. It's crazy, and doesn't make sense to the bottom-line.
I still do it though ;)
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