Now what am I supposed to do?

So you played “Sales Likelihood Calculator” – Here's how to interpret your Score & what to do next in the context of a …

Sales Pipeline Review. You are about to learn a lot more about SALES.

Here's a simplified Sales Funnel concept, 4 stages:

Total Addressable Market ⟩ Marketing Qualified Leads ⟩ Opportunities in Pipeline ⟩ Closed Deals

Sales Likelihood Calculator (SLC) is actually a checklist. A checklist for evaluating opportunities in your pipeline ("deals in play") based on conditions that make a deal more likely to close.

SLC is also a way to identify specific actions you can take to close more deals – and that's what this is all about: you closing more deals & increasing your business revenue, product MRR, or personal $$$ income.

Your score on SLC shows you where you need to:

1. Either fill in the gaps to satisfy the missing conditions, or
2. Decide to abandon or de-prioritize the deal and focus on higher probability opportunities.

Your score indicates the likelihood that they're going to buy & you or your company is going to get paid.

▪ Specific tactical actions you can take to increase your score are discussed below.

Total Score: Zero to 800

Likelihood: Really bad.  ✔

For example, if you don't know which metrics they'll be using to gauge how well your product will move-the-needle for them, then you really don't know how to best explain your product impact – in terms of how it will increase their revenue, cut costs, save time, or mitigate risk. You want to fully understand their success metrics, and "Language Match" their metrics so you talk about metrics the same way they do when they're discussing things internally.

They want to know their potential ROI. And you need to explain it the same way they measure it; using the same verbiage / language they do.

Or, another common mistake: If you haven't honestly identified the competitors (alternatives) they might considering, and how they are measuring you against your competitors – their Decision Criteria – then you have some work to do.

Remember that their status quo (them "doing nothing") is also an alternative & something you are always competing against. It's probably your main competitor.

Next Step:Review the "Bad" column in SLC and really think about what you're missing and what you might do to satisfy those conditions. Hint: it's usually asking more and better questions. (see example questions below)

Total Score: 900 to 1600

Likelihood: Much better, but room for improvement.  ✔

If you're scoring in this range, then you've already started IMPROVING the basic conditions you've already satisfied. You've started to de-risk the deal and improve the probability that you get paid on it.

For example, maybe now you're able to define the general steps in their “Procurement Process” – and that's great, but now as a next step you want to work on understanding the people and timelines involved in that process.

Like, if you're going to have to go through a legal or cybersecurity review – who's the person who's going to sign off on that review? … Do you know their name? Do you have their contact info?

🚨 Should you invite them to your next meeting? How long is it going to take them to complete the review? How can you help your Champion influence that person in your favor?

So many deals are LOST in final reviews related to a company's Procurement Process!

It's heart-breaking when your Champion is saying “Yes, we're gonna do it!” – but then the deal gets hung up in legal. Or, "The Economic Buyer" – who has the final say, is saying NO – and you didn't see this coming because you didn't consider or try to influence these factors in advance.

But you've got an SLC score of 900 to 1600 (most of the basic conditions in place) – so you're doing pretty good! The idea now is to start IMPROVING those conditions even more in order to DE-RISK your deal.

Next Step:Review the "Better" column in SLC and really think about those conditions and what you need to do to take them from "Better" to "Best." (read example tactics below)

Get the content from Sales Likelihood Calculator in a Google Sheet!

Get all of the "Sales Green Light Conditions" text from the Game, in a Google sheet – free download.

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Total Score: 1700 to 2400

Likelihood: You are kicking ass.  ✔

If you understand these "Sales Green Light Conditions" and you are working to satisfy them, then you are in the top 10% of most founders, biz owners, or salespeople who are not as thoughtful as you are. But here's a reality check:

Although you can control your own efforts and your inputs, most sales outcomes are out of your control.

🚨 To give yourself the advantage of more control, you need to satisfy 100% ALL of the conditions on the SLC and turn the whole board green in order to increase your probabilities – and/or or for a decent Sales Manager or savvy Business Partner to truly consider a deal likely-to-close.

That's just real talk. Be honest w/ yourself and your deal health. Hope is not a strategy. Objectively satisfy the conditions as best you can, and don't neglect or minimize any of them. You control your own sales behaviors to influence and impact conditions. That's what you CAN control. You want to close the deal, right?

OK, great. You just played a little game. Now what are you supposed to do?

🔥 Let's look at some concrete TACTICS for improving your SALES OUTCOMES (closing) – in the context of MEDDPICC – the Sales Framework you've been learning about here.

Most tactics involve asking more & better questions – see below.

What is MEDDPICC? (spend some time w/ this)

MEDDPICC is a useful Sales Framework or Sales Discovery Methodology commonly used in many industries, including Enterprise Software Sales.

It's an acronym that stands for:

• Metrics
• Economic Buyer
• Decision Criteria
• Decision Process
• Procurement Process
• Identify Pain
• Champion
• Competition

Use MEDDPICC to answer Sales Pipeline Review questions like:

• Do we belong in this deal?
• Where is this deal strong, where is it weak, and why?
• What actions do we need to take to move this deal forward & close?

Before we go into MEDDPICC-specific tactics, remember that ultimately your #1 job is to ASK FOR THE ORDER.

Be bold. Asking is not being pushy. Just ask, and see how they respond. You're the judge of where you're at in the relationship, and what you think their temperature is. If you think you have most conditions in place, ask some variation on the following:

💬  “Mike, I think we've got all the conditions in place. Is today a good day for you to make the purchase?”

Or:

💬  “Alls is takes is money and balls … Which one don't you have?”

Just kidding! 😎 Don't say that. But do THINK that. You are are trying to CLOSE, bro. This is SALES. Get the deal! All of this learning you're doing boils down to you asking for the order, and them agreeing to buy. Then business, onboarding, and customer success begins.

Your company & your bank account is counting on your pivotal ability to set up the right conditions & ask for the order. Don't chicken out. Revenue is what drives business. All that marketing, all those other activities – it all comes down to you asking for the order.

As another example, contrast these:

❌  “When can you make a decision?”

Vs.

✅  “Why can't we close today?”

When you use the latter, you are testing the energy & momentum of the deal. You are data-mining for conditions you need to satisfy. There is absolutely nothing wrong with asking if you feel like you have most conditions in place.

Questions & Tactics to Boost Your Sales, Based on your Sales Pipeline Review.

Metrics Questions to Ask Your Prospect

• 💬  “Mike, what type of reports or reporting do you typically look at when you measure the impact of this type of product?”
• 💬  “Who's impacted the most by Metrics X, Y, and Z? … are these the type of numbers you keep track of? … What else?”
• 💬  “What are the inefficiencies or drawbacks of your current process, and how do you measure that?”

Tactics

• 1. Make a custom slide inside a case study that shows a favorable graph of the positive ROI experienced by one of your existing customers, but only show metrics your prospect cares about.
  2. Write a 1-page Google Doc that lists the top 4 pains they struggle with the most, then correlate those pains with the metrics your product impacts – showing hope & possibilities your product can make those metrics go up or down.
  3. Add up all the soft costs (aka "efficiency gains" like costs-cut, person-hours saved) that your product improves & and include those in your projected ROI total. Careful here.
  4. Generate a worst-case-scenario ROI impact $$$ showing that they can't lose, even if your product underperforms. Again, be careful w/ projected ROI claims. They're going to do their own analysis, but you don't want them to laugh at yours; you could lose credibility.
  5. Your "value messaging" should relate directly to metrics they care about the most, and no others.
  6. Use percentages, fractions, or multiples of revenue, time saved, costs cut, risks mitigated – or whatever key metrics your prospect uses internally to measure business success.

Economic Buyer Questions

• 💬  “Do you have the final purchase authority for this type of investment, or are there others who need to give it their stamp of approval?”
• 💬  “On a scale of 1 to 7, how important is this initiative to them, and how do you know?”

Tactics

• 1. Identify ALL of the people who have buying authority and will be signing off the on the purchase decision, or signing the check. Get their contact info. Say: "As a standard operating procedure here, we invite everyone involved to ALL of our meetings. They usually want to be appraised. Of course if they can't attend, I copy them on our meeting notes." Approach the Big Cheese and rope them in. It's WAY better to do this earlier rather than later.
  2. You ask 1 to 7, because a "4" puts them right in the middle; a "4" means it's only a "medium" priority for the Economic Buyer. You can ask your Champion: "Ok, for them, what would make it a 6 in terms of importance? … What would they need to know?" – This way you can gain tactical info & start to influence hidden or inaccessible decision-makers. Arm your champion to sell it up-the-chain, but absolutely "Multi-Thread" at the same time.
  3. Ask about Buying Committees, Boards, and even VCs. You don't really know who the true Economic Buyers really are until you investigate – and many of them may ignore your emails or never take your call. What is your strategy for influencing them based on your understanding of their role in the purchase decision?

Decision Criteria Questions

• 💬  “Can you describe the non-negotiable requirements for this type of product? … Like, what are your absolute must-haves?”
• 💬  “What type of benchmarks are you using to compare various alternatives, or other solutions that have your attention?”
• 💬  “So together, you and I have a list of considerations, or requirements here. Let's just take half off the table. Which are least important? All of them can't be equally important.”

Tactics

• 1. Make a simple spreadsheet that lists their absolute must-haves, and indicate the relative priority and weightings in a table. Share the spreadsheet with them to ask them to validate your listening. In some cells below, list out your product features that match those priorities.
  2. Notice your are not saying “competitors,” you are saying “alternatives.” Asking about ”benchmarks” in this way gets them to expose their decision criterion without starting an overt competitor comparison conversation.
  3. Each criterion almost always has a relative priority or weighting. Make efforts to have them sort their criterion. Eliminate everything besides the must-haves, then order them in a stacked list, in real-time, and ask “Does that look about right?”

Decision Process Questions

• 💬  “Can you describe any critical milestones for this, like internal reviews? … OK, any documentation or help with presentations you would need for that, like slides? I have my calendar out so I can be on your timeline.”
• 💬  “When you are looking at solutions to your ________ challenges, how do you typically come up with a shortlist of alternatives?”
• 💬  “When it comes to initiatives like this one, whose opinion is usually the most important, and how does that person usually make decisions?”

Tactics

• 1. When you touch on “internal reviews” you are trying to get to the core of their decision process, and the people & timelines surrounding that process. Try to sync up with them. Offering help is a good way to become part of the schedule & understand what they're doing to arrive at a decision.
  2. Ask about "shortlist" and listen for the PROCESS elements of their answer – like how they plan to arrive at a decision. In this case, listen for MORE for process than for criteria like cost, quality, features, etc.
  3. Again, ask about Buying Committees & Purchasing Groups. Even if these are informal. Sounds fancy – and sometimes it is – but sometimes it's just Kevin, Dwight, & Creed from The Office.
  4. Discover who influences the decision process the most. It's been said that people buy with emotion and backfill with logic, but a lot of time people in finance and IT are much more analytical and respond best to data, charts, & graphs. Maybe your Champion will reveal the CEO (or other executive sponsor) relies on Monte Carlo Simulations or her favorite Weighted Decision Matrix. Or maybe, the CEO goes with whatever feels right. Or maybe the CEO does not influence this type of purchase at all. Find out.

Procurement Process Questions

• 💬  “Are there any industry-specific standards or regulations you typically need to comply with? … What's been done before to satisfy these?“
• 💬  “Can you describe any templates or documentation we need to submit to you right now, and if selected, what's the purchase order process like?”
• 💬  “Are there any mandatory legal clauses or terms & conditions we can satisfy for you? … Who's involved with that on your end?”

Tactics

• 1. This sh*t is such a common stumbling block, you want to expose it early. Make a list of all the risks their Procurement Process might pose to your deal success. There are probably more hoops to jump through than you think there are.
  2. Sometimes you have to “get into their system” before you can be considered as a possible vendor, but they don't always remember to tell you this up front. Sniff it out early.
  3. Identify and talk to their attorney or legal person EARLY. These people are often more helpful than you think they would be, and can become a strong ally.

Implicating PAIN Questions

• 💬  “How bad were the specific events or triggers that brought these problems to your attention?”
• 💬  “In terms of your personal day-to-day, what's the serious negative impact of _________?”
• 💬  “Beyond yourself, and your goals, in what severe ways is this hurting your customers, or hurting your team?”

Tactics

• 1.  ❌  DON'T ask top-of-the-funnel questions like “What are the top three challenges your organization is currently facing?” – because you are already at the opportunity stage. You want to get very SPECIFIC with the pain, like who is impacted, how bad it hurts, and what happens if it's not solved.
  2.  ❌  DON'T ask executives to describe all their strategic goals and their obstacles. This is so annoying. Stick to specific, prioritized (by them) pains that you know your product can solve. Find the spots that are most painful.
  3. Remember, MOST OF YOUR FEATURES DON'T MATTER, only a few do. Focus on features & benefits that address specific frustration, upset, disappointment, fear, worry, anger, concern, anxiety.
  4. Make it personal. How bad is PAIN hurting their daily activities, or their important goals for their people?
  5. Emphasize the COST-OF-INACTION. This so important. Be genuinely concerned: “That sounds like a lot more than just an inconvenience. What if it gets worse, Jennifer? … What happens … then?” Be like a therapist. Have them paint the picture in their own mind. Agitate the pain – both emotionally, and analytically, with data. After all, you're right there with a solution to make all that pain go away.
  6. Without pain, there is no urgency, and with no urgency there is no action. No action means NO SALE for you, buddy. Make them painfully aware and show them how you solve.

Questions For Your Champion

• 💬  “Just as of now, what are the potential obstacles you foresee in getting this solution approved?”
• 💬  “For you personally, what specific outcomes are you hoping to achieve with a product & solution like this?”
• 💬  “Great, you totally understand what I'm showing today. What do you personally like about it? … and how would you describe it to another person who wanted to achieve _________?”

Tactics

• 1. You want your Champion sell it up-the-chain, so you need to help them. Be their personal assistant in doing that. Provide a roadmap for this in the form of a “Mutual Action Plan” – A simple collaborative Google Doc – and use THEIR logo on it, not yours. Use their corporate font too. Set timelines and agendas, with your responsibilities & theirs.
  2. Try to discover how far their authority extends. Your Champion can sometimes be completely enthusiastic, but when you get into a meeting together with them and their boss, they go totally silent. You want to gauge if working on buying a product is just something for them to do to stay busy, or if they're actually going to rally for the purchase to be completed – and if they have any influence within their org to get this done.
  3. Look out for FOLD and FOMU: Do everything you can to assuage their “Fear Of Looking Dumb” (FOLD) or “Fear Of Messing Up” (FOMU). Sometimes they're betting their reputation, or even their job. Be sensitive to this. Educate respectfully. Maintain excitement and possibility.
  4. Get them to practice explaining the benefits. Have them talk it out with you. Coach them on key phrases.

Competition Questions

• 💬  “What other alternatives are in your Consideration Set, and what do you like and dislike about those? … Any red flags you're seeing out there? … Anything you are really excited by?”
• 💬  “In your eyes, what differentiates our solution from the alternatives you may be considering?”
• 💬  “If price were not an issue, and money was no object, what would do if you had to make a decision today?”
• 💬  “Why choose us? Why right now? Why not just do nothing?”

Tactics

• 1. If you're going to enter in to a discussion about competitors, you need to be super-prepared. Get out your battlecards. Here's a simple formula: Share 1 compliment to the competitor combined with 3 negatives that position your product as a better fit..
  2. Try NOT to say the word “competitors,” or imply you're in some type of competition. You don't want to put them in that mindset. Position yourself as a peer in the boardroom, not a vendor in the hallway.
  3. If you're going to be outright critical of a competitor, site 3rd-party research and opinions rather than your own – so if your prospect disagrees, they're disagreeing with the 3rd-party rather than disagreeing w/ you.
  4. Your strategy in competitor conversations is not to respond with “Yah, but …” pitch-slapping and feature-dumping: “Yah, but Brawndo has electrolytes! … and we're #1 in the tri-state area!” – The idea is to gather more intel regarding their Decision Criteria and their current relative preferences – not necessarily to dispute them or one-up them. But certainly don't let them leave the meeting with any totally false impressions about competitor strengths, or misunderstandings about your product.
  5. If they're really wrong about something then challenge them. In sales, it's usually better to be memorable than it is to be agreeable.
  6. Remember, you are always competing w/ their status quo (them doing nothing) and you're also competing w/ other unrelated initiatives that may have more priority or attention. Emphasize the cost-of-inaction in relation to their stated pain.

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When to Disqualify, De-Prioritize, or Cut Them Cut Them Off Your Call List.

They don't have the budget or the buying authority. Or they just don't understand the value – and they never will.

It's best to disqualify these types of buyers EARLY – by sniffing them out and cutting them off your call list. If a condition or one of their objections becomes unsolvable, then challenge them!

If they don't like that, then move on to higher probability opportunities – no matter how much work you put in to getting the lead, getting thru to the decision maker, etc. It hurts, but moving on is the smartest thing you can do to save your energies for deals that are more likely to close. Say:

💬  “Mike, after much consideration, we're not the right fit for this engagement, but I'm grateful you made such a committed attempt to work with us.”

Some clients are nightmare clients you never really wanted in the first place. Don't take it personally, even if it was a big fish. Move on. Use Sales Likelihood Calculator as checklist to tell you when to do that. ☙

Here are some general tips for sales.

▪  Download the Full Text of the "Sales Greenlight Conditions" as a Google Sheet for your next deal review.