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Thoughts on Selling™

Sales Excellence, Sales Leadershp, Sales Enablement

Thoughts on Selling™

Tag: change management

Your big deal is at risk

Posted on May 10, 2024April 14, 2026 Lee LevittLeave a commentPosted in account planning, buyer behavior, consultative selling, fourth quarter sales strategy

160 selling days left in 2024…and your big deal is at risk.

☹️ Financially engineered deals have been falling flat this year. Closed/No Decision.

☹️ Great business solution deals have been falling flat this year. Closed/No Decision.

What’s going on?

In deal review after deal review, what I’m hearing is that customers are not tempted by the opportunity save money. Just not worth it.

They’re also not tempted to commit to new applications or solutions. They’ve got so much on their plates now…higher business demands, limited headcount, reduced budgets, that BAU is the clear winner.

BAU may stink, but it’s the stink they already know…and teams won’t commit to any additional work/complexity/risk in the short run to gain back time/productivity/stability later. 2024 is just not the year for customers to take a flyer. Too much risk, too little upside. They’re rather stick with BAU and its stink.

The only way to move an opportunity forward is to focus on change management, the trough of despair and the commitment of both the key stakeholders and the affected team(s).

With deep understanding of the short term requirements for change, and the accompanying (slight) reduction in risk perception, the prospect can then make a more informed choice.

Oh, and by the way, they’re still ultimately making the decision based on individual gut feel and emotion…so make sure that you’re not trying to help them *think* their way through the decision.

#valueselling

#changemanagement

#troughofdespair

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