It’s often the most frustrating part of the sales process: Waiting for the prospect to sign on the dotted line. You may wait days or even weeks for the prospect to respond. Sometimes, the prospect is rethinking the deal or they may be delaying because the process is too complex. Other times, the prospect may be comparing prices with a competitor or they simply may not have time to review your sales contract.
Eric Rosenthal, founder of BlueSky Revenue Group, says that sales professionals don’t have to pace back and forth, waiting for contracts to come back. Instead, they can take back control of the process and get their sales contracts signed faster. We share his tips in this issue of Promotional Consultant Today.
Meet all the right stakeholders. From finance heads to in-house counsel, more than one person typically signs off on sales contracts. Rosenthal recommends asking to be introduced to the people handling contract changes so you can work with them directly in the interest of time. This allows you to speed up the process by eliminating middlemen. Also, by including more stakeholders in your communication, you are more likely to get a response sooner since you’ll have more eyes on your deal.
Define expectations and a firm deadline. If you don’t set clear expectations from the start, your prospects may think they have time to deliberate and take their time to sign. This is a deal-killer, notes Rosenthal. You can get your sales contracts signed faster by providing a clear timeline and a sense of urgency around the contract. Just be sure to frame the deadline in a customer-centric way so you don’t come across as overly aggressive, reminds Rosenthal. You could say something like, “As discussed, once we agree to terms the week of November 20, I’ll make the introduction to our onboarding team, and we can get you up and running by December 1.”
Provide a contract overview. To avoid overwhelm, help make the process as easy as possible for prospects. Considering highlighting the terms in the contract that matter most to your prospects and indicating any clauses they should understand. Rosenthal says this can be done in a relatively short email with summary bullets.
Maximize technology. All the back and forth between negotiating and editing can stall your deal. That’s why it’s important to create a seamless experience. Rosenthal suggests looking into tools that can automate the tedious back-and-forth communication. Many contract lifecycle management tools centralize activities in a single, digital platform, allowing you to quickly track progress, make changes and address issues.
Getting a “yes” is an important first step to closing a sale, but it doesn’t stop there. You need a signature in addition to a verbal commitment. You can help influence the contract process and get your contracts signed faster by meeting with the right people, indicating a clear deadline, detailing the contract, and making use of helpful technology. By implementing the ideas above, you can reduce delays and finish more sales sooner.
Compiled by Audrey Sellers
Source: Eric Rosenthal is the founder of BlueSky Revenue Group. He helps services-based companies build, manage, and scale global revenue.
