HARDISON’S TIPS – DECEMBER 8, 2020 – How to Beat the Holiday Slump & Close More Deals
- Make your end-of-year close December 10th.
Any concessions (whether pricing or terms) should expire on December 10th instead of December 31st. This forces negotiations to take place before stakeholders in Procurement and Legal are out of the office — something your well-meaning prospect might not have considered.
If you introduce an expiration date for terms or discounts and your prospect says they’ll still need a few weeks to decide, say, “That’s fine, but this current discount will expire on December 10th.”
This distances you from the stress of closing deals during the holidays and shifts the scramble to your prospect.
If they still can’t close by December 10th but are actively interested in locking in a discount or terms, ask your prospect what they can do by the 10th.
If they can give you something as simple as a purchase number, you’ve succeeded in moving the deal forward. But hopefully, the urgency of an expiring discount gives your prospect the push they need to meet your December closing deadline.
- Close for post-sale activity.
Representatives from your prospect’s finance, legal, and procurement teams, and much of the executive staff will likely be busy or on vacation beginning December 15th. While most mid-level prospects are winding down for the year, operations and executive teams are often busy finishing important paperwork, planning for the new year, and balancing budgets.
Without these stakeholders, even your most eager prospects won’t be able to move their deals forward. The solution? Close for post-sale activity.
In mid-November, tell your prospect,
“Nick, I know you want to get this product/service implemented as quickly as possible. You should know our January onboarding schedule is booking up fast. If we don’t get this scheduled in the next week, it might be February or March before we can onboard you.”
If you’ve inspired enough urgency, your prospect should say, “Oh really? Is there anything we can do to secure an earlier onboarding slot?” Reply, “We have a few spots open in December. If we can get the paperwork finalized, I’ll schedule your onboarding for next week.”
When you explain that waiting until January to close will push onboarding and training until February or March, it puts the advantages of closing quickly into perspective. That can be the jolt your prospect needs to attain final approvals as soon as possible.
