It's the million-dollar question: how do you close more deals while keeping everything in your pipeline steadily progressing? Jen Allen-Knuth teaches secrets to multi-threading and how to create genuine urgency in a tough buying climate.
by
Jess Cody
PUBLISHED Jan 19, 2024
5Min Read
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.
Let's get one thing straight: a B2B sales strategy isn't just a dusty playbook you glance at once a quarter. It's your repeatable framework for navigating the messy, unpredictable world of complex deals. Think of it as the GPS that guides you from initial contact to a closed-won deal, especially when the buying committee has more opinions than a focus group.
A real strategy goes beyond simple tactics. It's about deeply understanding your ideal customer's problems, aligning your entire sales motion to solve those problems, and empowering your champion to build consensus internally. It's the difference between hoping a deal closes and knowing exactly which steps will get it across the finish line.
So, why obsess over a deal advancement strategy? Because without one, you're just reacting. You're waiting for the prospect to dictate the next steps, letting deals stall in the pipeline for weeks, or worse, losing to "no decision." A clear strategy puts you back in the driver's seat.
When you have a plan for every conversation, you build momentum. You transform from a vendor pitching a product into a strategic partner guiding a solution. This approach not only shortens sales cycles but also builds the kind of trust that turns skeptical stakeholders into your biggest advocates. It's how you create predictable revenue, not just a pipeline of maybes.
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).
- Jen Allen-Knuth, Head of DemandJen
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.
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:
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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:
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.
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"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.
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:
Once you ' ve laid the groundwork, it ' s time to get to the meat of the conversation.
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.
End the meeting by asking two direct questions.
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.
In every sales conversation, the real secret is this — always get your buyers to agree on the problem before you ever discuss your solution. By shifting your focus from pitching to problem-solving, you build the trust and consensus needed to get deals done.
But a great strategy needs a great platform to bring it to life. Apollo gives you the tools to identify key stakeholders, manage complex deal stages, and automate the outreach that keeps conversations moving forward. Ready to turn your strategy into revenue? Get Started with Apollo and see how our all-in-one platform helps you close more deals, faster.
While every company's process varies, a typical B2B sales process includes: 1. Prospecting and lead generation, 2. Qualifying leads, 3. Research and preparation, 4. Presenting your solution, 5. Handling objections, 6. Closing the deal, and 7. Nurturing and retention. This article focuses on mastering the critical steps in the middle of that process.
The "rule of 7" is a classic marketing principle suggesting a prospect needs to have about seven interactions or "touches" with your brand before they're ready to buy. In today's complex B2B world, it's often more, but the principle remains: consistent, valuable engagement is key to building trust and staying top-of-mind.
There's no single answer, as it depends heavily on deal size, industry, and complexity. It can range from a few weeks for simple transactional sales to over a year for large enterprise deals. A strong deal advancement strategy is your best tool for shortening that timeline by creating urgency and clearing roadblocks.
A champion is your internal advocate—the person who is personally invested in solving the problem and will sell on your behalf when you're not in the room. A decision maker is the person with the authority and budget to give the final "yes." Your champion is your key to influencing the decision maker and the rest of the buying committee.
Instead of "handling" them, learn to "encourage" them. As outlined in step 6, creating a space for disagreement helps you uncover the real concerns and priorities of the buying committee. By understanding their reservations early, you can address them directly and build a stronger business case, rather than being surprised by them at the final stage.
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