We prepared for a Win-announcement, but we didn’t get it. Our competitor did. Months of effort invested into a must-win, multi-million-dollar bid. We believed our offering was superior, we’ve done everything by the book, so what happened?
The loss was painful, unexpected, and we wanted to learn from it.
A Loss Not Wasted
An external consultant with a fresh perspective helped us analyze what happened and shed light into our blind-spots. Not being skewed by internal priorities was refreshing. Even more compelling, was to learn about what the competition had done differently.
It was interesting to see, how much the competition had invested in relationships at all levels, owned not only by the sales team.
We found we had misread the key decision-makers’ personal motivation and emotional drivers.
The external view and recommendations drove us to do things differently in the large and strategic opportunities that followed thereafter. One of the crucial things we changed was the involvement of our company’s senior level executives, on top of what the sales team has done. Another change we implemented was a weekly review of such opportunities in a wide forum. This made a big change on our results moving forward.
When a strategic deal is on the line, second place is not an option. Yet, too many sales teams rely on brute force: more calls, more decks, and pitching harder. More importantly – they tend to work alone. This is a common mistake that can cost you the deal. One of the things we learned from the loss analysis was that it is wiser to work in large teams, where top executives participate in the strategy as well as own some relationships.
In some industries it is common, that a C-level executive is open to meet a C-level peer. In such cases they will be less accessible to meet with lower ranks. The salesperson who works with the entire executive team in their company, each participating according to their function and all understand and agree on the strategic importance – will find the whole organization works in synchronization, and customers of a certain scale appreciate it.
New Plan, New Wins
My experience, having closed over $500M in revenue across 50+ countries, shows that success is found in tedious preparation and planning, as well as working in large transparent teams.
The understanding led me to develop a companionship service called Strategic Deal Advisory.
I offer the external perspective of senior sales expertise through the advisory lens. Through a weekly review with the team, adapting the strategy to the changing deal dynamics, until winning.
This provides much more than just coaching; it’s embedding a 30-year sales experience and strategies, from someone who has navigated complex, long-cycle B2B sales, into your critical deal team.
This advisory service focuses on transforming your approach from reactive selling to proactive, deeply insightful strategic planning and a strong focus on relationships. I apply the core principles of the Emological Method, combining emotional intelligence with strategic logic, to approach every stakeholder and anticipate strategic moves.
Complex Deal Navigation: The Power of Strategic Planning
Complex deals are a minefield of shifting priorities, multiple stakeholders, competition maneuvers, and hidden objections. Effective navigation in such cases requires more than a standard sales process. It demands a strategic roadmap, creativity and a live and dynamic review to make it as winnable as possible. My advisory service calls for a disciplined planning activity and weekly reviews to ensure you stay ahead of the curve:
- Stakeholder Mapping and Progress Monitoring: Constant mapping of the personal psychological landscape of every stakeholder. Are they motivated by risk aversion or the ambition to be a hero in their organization? With The Emological Method we investigate the buyers’ emotional landscape, to understand the motivations and create meaningful relationships with them.
- Competitive Differentiator: We outsmart the competition by leveraging your unique strengths and ensuring they become the buyer’s high priority criteria when selecting the best solution.
- Motivation creation: Strategic deals require a high motivation on the buyer’s side to move forward. We use the Emological Method to uncover each persona’s agenda in the decision circle, and plan how to create motivation for each one.
- Initiate Relationship-Building Activities: A seller has to follow the buyer’s defined process, but is not limited to those actions alone. The Seller can initiate other activities that would provide advantage to the seller’s relationship with the buyer. With this service we provide suggestions that have worked in the past which can create a big positive impact.
This rigorous, weekly companionship ensures that you are constantly refining your strategy, leveraging the human intelligence in sales that automation cannot replicate.
Must-Win Deal Strategy: The Deal Companion Advantage
The Deal Companion Service is your secret weapon in strategic must-win deals. We provide real-time strategic guidance throughout the entire sales process.
This is not a theoretical consultancy. This is the application of battle-tested methodology, the same strategies that helped me secure some iconic wins:
- A $12M New Logo project in Europe.
- A Cloud-migration project for 3 branches of a Latin-American company.
- A group-wide new product adoption for a multi-national company in Asia.
By understanding the buyer motivation and constructing a strategy that compels them to act, we transform the trajectory of your must-win opportunities.
Your Next Move: Strategic Deal Advisory
If you have a must-win deal, don’t work alone. Get external strategic support and embed proven expertise into your most critical opportunities.
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