Speed up your deal cycle with Second Voice and hitting the phones (Lydia Rahill, Director of Strategic Expansion @ CB Insights)

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1. 1:36

   So don't rely on emails. I never end a call without scheduling a follow-up on that call. The reason being is that it's a lot easier to hold prospects accountable to calls than through email. It also helps qualify the actual real interest and commitment of the prospect in the valuation, “how willing they are to schedule that concrete next step.” Cool. What's number two? Number two is that you should always apply urgency from the very first conversation. And so you should consistently be talking about or be thinking about how you can shorten the sales cycle and essentially get the deal done quicker.

   In Meeting commitment signals

2. 2:42

   Alrighty. So let's start with the applying urgency from the first call. We haven't talked a lot about driving timeline. So other than just scheduling a call at the end of this call, how do you actually go about applying urgency and driving timeline forward? What's your timeline for making a decision? That's usually, you know, in the first half of the sales cycle, what I want to ask them, “not what's your timeline to sign that can be too aggressive, but what's your timeline” for making a decision? And then, you know, if there are deadlines, I always like to let them know, but not in a like skeezy sales way of like, hey, you got to get it in by this date or whatever. I'm more like, let them know, right?

   In Buying process discovery

3. 4:41

   them give you the runaround? Yeah. I mean, in terms of not giving me the runaround, I think that depends on what stage of the cycle it is. You know, at the early stage, I do actually think that like asking for that reconnect call and really pushing for it. “If someone's not willing to commit to that, the likelihood of them being like serious” about things is pretty low. And I think that's always a clear way to be able to just avoid the runaround early on and weed that out. At the later stage. I mean, there's always a balance in terms of like, you never want to come off route.

   In Not now and re-engagement

4. 6:04

   hey, I'm going to keep trying Armani because I feel like there's something here. Yeah, I mean, it's all a lot of it's part of my like process and workflow, you know, like a lot of salespeople, like, the time is obviously very important. And where you spend that time is very important. And so that reconnect call is like the first filter for me, “okay, they're not willing to. And if I was iffy about them, anyway, I'll probably deprioritize” it, send a follow up email, and leave the ball in their court. If I felt like it was a really strong fit, regardless of the fact that they're not committing to a follow up call, I will regretfully keep emailing them. You know, I'll say something like, okay, like when this is, again, a way of

   In Meeting commitment signals

5. 6:37

   keep emailing them. You know, I'll say something like, okay, like when this is, again, a way of holding them accountable, if they say no to the reconnect call, okay, like, when will I get an update from you? When when should we sync again, you know, even if it's via email, and if there's “no response by then, then I will hold them accountable, usually by sending them a calendar” invite for, you know, a week or two weeks out with a suggested time. And that usually gets a response for you know, if it's a good or a bad response, it does get a response, you know, and then if you're like, way further down the sales cycle, and say you've had two or three calls,

   In No-response re-engagement

6. 12:04

   Alright, what can you do that's better than what you what I know I can get already. And so instead of that, it's like, hey, what discounts do you do? Well, we don't do discounts per se. But like, depending on what you need, I can try to think of ways to get you there. Like, what exactly is it that would make you move forward with us? And if they don't know, then you say, like, Okay, so why “don't you figure out what you need to figure out? And we'll touch base on x date. Once you have all” that information, then I'll go do my part and try to get you there. What you're doing is like Nick, to your question earlier, you're doing pre negotiation live with your customer. Because what too many junior reps do is they go and the customer says I want a discount. They go,

   In Needs and requirements discovery

7. 15:42

   I'll send them an invite and say, like, I have an update. Because I just think those things are so much easier done over the phone. I think they also, like I said, like shorten that sales cycle and apply urgency to right, right? Like, if you email, like, hey, here's what we can do, it could be two days before that person writes back, if you call them, that cycle is shortened, “right? You're speaking to them right away, within an hour, you've got next steps planned already.” And then also, those tougher conversations are just a lot easier when you're talking directly to someone. And when you're able to be upfront with them, you're able to ask them the questions you need to ask them. So I like really believe that in most cases where something's important, where it's like a crucial moment in the sales cycle, that call means best.

   In Warm sales handoff

8. 18:16

   recap email coming up soon. Cheers. Your top four takeaways from this episode with Lydia Rahil include number one, if they're not willing to commit to a reconnect call, they're probably not a priority in the first place. Number two, doubling back on that point at the end of every “single call, make sure you have another meeting on the books. Don't ask people to email you once” they're interested again. Number three, leverage the second voice in your negotiations. Have your manager send you an angry email and then forward the angry email over to your prospect. And then lastly, number four, give forget. Before you go and give them a 25% discount or whatever discount

   In Meeting-setting asks

9. 18:16

   recap email coming up soon. Cheers. Your top four takeaways from this episode with Lydia Rahil include number one, if they're not willing to commit to a reconnect call, they're probably not a priority in the first place. Number two, doubling back on that point at the end of every “single call, make sure you have another meeting on the books. Don't ask people to email you once” they're interested again. Number three, leverage the second voice in your negotiations. Have your manager send you an angry email and then forward the angry email over to your prospect. And then lastly, number four, give forget. Before you go and give them a 25% discount or whatever discount

   In Not now and re-engagement