7 Steps to Advance the Deal in Every Conversation

Whether you’re choosing a restaurant or a new CRM, group dynamics make getting to a collective “yes” a challenge.

But to close more customers, you first need to get the buying committee to agree that they have a problem worth solving.

Research shows that purchase likelihood drops drastically once a buying team has two or more people. 

Keep reading to uncover Jen Allen-Knuth’s, Founder of DemandJen, 7 steps to move key deals forward.

Or — watch her keynote speech at Apollo's Olympus event below.

How to move every prospect deal forward 

1. Help your champion calculate the cost of inaction 

You’ve probably been taught to sell the value adds of your solution – more leads, more pipeline, more revenue! 

While ROI (return on investment) is important, it’s usually not enough to drive a purchase decision. Sometimes, it can be far more beneficial to discuss COI (cost of inaction). 

When you’ve identified a champion at your target company, work with them to write a statement quantifying the cost of maintaining the status quo. This statement should identify the business problem, the impact of the problem, and the pain the problem is causing in terms of time, money, and resources.

Remember, this statement is not about your product features or functionality. 

You are only focused on helping them identify if a painful problem exists today.

2. Enable your champion to set up a group meeting

With your beautifully crafted summary statement in hand, it’s time to enable your champion to set up a meeting with all the relevant stakeholders. 

Share a pre-written email template with your champion, so they can quickly kick off the meeting scheduling process. 

This not only takes one less thing off their to-do list, but it also allows you to control the message. 

Here’s an example of the email template Jen usually sends her champion. 

“Team:

As we consider {{problem}}, I’ve asked Sally Smith at ACME to spend 30 mins with our team.

I met with Sally this week to provide context on our plans for {{objective}}, as well as the roadblocks we’ve encountered.

She had some unique perspective on {{problem}}, based on XYZ.

Any concerns spending 30 mins on this together?”

This message works for a few reasons:

• It’s coming from the champion. Key decision makers trust that their internal colleague’s interests align with theirs and it’s likely worth their time.
• It shows they’ve already had a meaningful conversation with you.
• It ends with a strong question. One that makes it easier to agree than to disagree.

3. Ask your champions the right questions before a larger meeting

Productive conversations start with an understanding of each member of the buying committee. 

Jen suggests asking your champion these four questions so you can avoid any surprises during the meeting:

• Who is most likely to be pro-status quo and why? Uncover who in the group is fine keeping things as is. For example, the Director of Training and Enablement who just implemented a homegrown solution likely isn’t going to want to buy and implement a new tool.
  
  
• Who is the “Mr. Rogers” of the group? Learn who will nod along and smile during the meeting, but may express disinterest behind the scenes.
  
  
• Who is most likely to be skeptical of prioritizing this business problem and why? Identify who will have pushback and how you can better be prepared to address their concerns.
  
  
• What was the most recent disagreement between this group? There may be tension from past conversations or simply interpersonal relationships at play. Understanding these dynamics helps you separate previous disagreements from current disinterest.  

4. Co-draft a group meeting plan

The next step in the process is to draft a well-oiled presentation so the meeting goes off without a hitch. 

Don’t bombard your buying committee with thousands of slides. Instead, come prepared with a few anchor slides so people have something to respond to. And, make sure to share your slides with your champion ahead of time, so they can provide feedback. 

“We want the champion to feel like they’re on the same side as we are,” says Jen.

Another way to make the meeting run smoothly and avoid the awkward crickets when no one speaks up? Ask your champion if they’re comfortable prompting the group with a few questions during the session.

Here’s the template Jen uses to prep her champion ahead of the meeting.

“Jane,

Here is my availability for the meeting {{insert meeting link}}.

We won’t march through slides. But, I attached a plan for the meeting so you can react and share your ideas.

Are you comfortable asking the Qs in speaker notes on pages 3 and 5?

Jen.”

Pro tip: By syncing your calendar to Apollo, you can automate the meeting scheduling process across the buying committee, eliminate back-and-forths, and consolidate third-party tools like Calendly and Chili Piper to reduce the risk of no-shows.

Learn about Apollo Meetings here.

5. Lay the groundwork for a productive meeting

It’s meeting time! The first few minutes of the meeting set the tone for the entire conversation.

“How you open the meeting matters more than anything else you’ll do on this call,” shares Jen.

Here are three ways to kick off a productive meeting:

1. Clearly communicate the group’s objective. Agree on a business problem.
   
   
2. Lower the buying committee’s defenses by acting more like a consultant than a vendor. Make it clear that this conversation is not about your solution, but about agreeing on if this is the right problem to solve.
   
   
3. Clarify your position as a facilitator, not a keynote speaker. You are there to provide an external perspective. 

Once you’ve laid the groundwork, it’s time to get to the meat of the conversation.

6. Encourage disagreement and open thought

Open with the summary statement you prepared in step one. 

As the discussion starts flowing, encourage disagreement by asking questions. 

Who here has a different opinion on this?

How should the group weigh these two problems?

What are your reservations about moving forward?

Make sure to ask questions to better understand each committee member’s priorities, beliefs, and assumptions.

Different opinions help you gather more insights. Head nodding and silence are sure signs of an unsuccessful meeting. 

And, as much as you may be itching to flex your objection-handling muscles during the discussion, maintain your stance as a neutral party. By doing this, you build a massive amount of trust between you and your potential buyers. 

7. Set clear next steps

End the meeting by asking two direct questions.

• Is this a problem worth solving?

• Is this a problem worth solving, now?

By asking these questions, you’ll have insights into how urgent the problem is, how to best proceed, and be equipped to forecast your deals more accurately. 

At the end of the call, you’ll be left with two possible outcomes – consensus or no consensus.

If you’ve reached a group consensus, that’s great, but you’re not done yet. Update the summary statement and ask if there’s anyone else at the company who should weigh in.

If you don't reach a consensus, don’t stress. This is very common in the first meeting. Suggest clear next steps like a follow-up meeting, case studies or data to review, or an introduction to other key decision-makers within the organization.

Focus on the problem, not the pitch 

In any and every sales conversation, the real secret is this — always get your buyers to agree on the problem before discussing the specifics of your solution.

Changing your approach to gaining stakeholder buy-in gives you more information and helps you close more deals. 

Watch the full session with Jen on the Apollo Academy!