How to keep a deal moving after the demo

In our third Deal Clinic, Charles Boutens sat down with Bruno Desmet, managing partner at House of Sales, who has spent more than 25 years in complex B2B sales. Charles brought the situations that sales teams keep running into late in a deal:

• The champion is fully on board, but the CFO keeps blocking the budget.
• The buyer wants a free three-month pilot before signing anything.
• Legal refuses the standard three-year term and wants a way out after one year.
• Six people love the demo, and two weeks later nobody has taken the next step.

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Rewatch here:

▶️ - https://watch.getcontrast.io/register/uman-deal-clinic-manage-tough-sales-processes

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1. Every person in the room is a decision maker

When Bruno started selling in 1990, people talked about decision makers and influencers. He says that split doesn't hold anymore, because today everyone involved in a purchase has a say. That includes the people who will use the product every day.

He shared a story from a customer he had visited the day before. One person at the operational level didn't want the product because it looked too technical to integrate, and that was enough for upper management to say no.

"Be careful of the people who are silent."

After a demo, he goes around the table and asks each person directly whether they feel fully comfortable. Then he watches their body language while they answer.

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2. A pilot request tells you someone isn't convinced

Buyers often ask for a free pilot of a few months before they commit. Bruno sees that request as a sign that the buying group isn't aligned. Usually a few of them are convinced and a couple aren't, and the pilot is how the group postpones a decision it can't agree on.

"The fact that there is a request for a pilot means that apparently some of the stakeholders are not 100% convinced." — Bruno Desmet

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The better move is to find out what each of those people needs in order to trust you, and then give them that in a lighter way. Bruno's example is a reference visit. You take the people who still have doubts to a customer who already works with you. That costs an afternoon instead of three months.

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If a pilot still has to happen, Bruno has two rules. First, ask the buyer to name the three things they need to see confirmed before they'd feel comfortable signing for three years. That gives the pilot a clear finish line. Second, always charge for it. A proof of concept is built specifically for that customer, and when it ends you either roll it out or throw it away.

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3. Build the business case with your champion, then let the CFO check it

Charles asked what to do when the champion is fully on board but the CFO keeps pushing back on ROI and timing. Bruno thinks the seller should meet the CFO in person, and should agree on that with the champion early. At the start of a deal, he tells the champion which people he needs to see to do a good job. He then offers to either visit them together or report back after each conversation. That way the champion never finds out later that you went around them.

For the CFO meeting itself, he suggests building the business case with the champion first. Then you ask the CFO to validate it against their own business and expectations. The CFO gets to shape the numbers instead of only approving or rejecting them.

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Building the case together also changes what goes into it. Charles made the point that a case built only on time saved is weak when the work is done in Excel by people who don't cost much. It's stronger to argue from risk. When decisions rest on several versions of the same spreadsheet, one mistake in the consolidation can be very expensive. Bruno added that both sides should bring numbers to the case, because each of you has data the other one doesn't.

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4. Ask "when" instead of "why"

Late in the deal, legal pushes back on your standard three-year term and wants the option to leave after one year. Bruno advises against asking why they want that, because the question makes the buyer defend their position. He would rather ask what it would take for them to feel comfortable signing for three years.

"When would you feel comfortable to work together with us for three years?"

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If it's still a deal breaker, treat it as a trade. Decide how big the favor is that they're asking for, and ask for something of equal value in return. Charles added that it helps to have those asks ready before the negotiation starts. A case study or shorter payment terms are good examples of smaller ones.

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5. Don't leave the room without a next step

Six people see the demo, they all say they love it, and two weeks later nobody has moved. Bruno's answer is to agree on the next step before the meeting ends. If you walk out and have to chase them afterwards, there's a real risk you get ghosted.

"The five percent sales professionals out there, they lead each of the individual stakeholders through their buying process into a consensus in your favor."

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That only works if you already know what the next step should be. Bruno finds out in the very first meeting, by asking how the customer makes decisions and what process they go through before choosing a supplier. With that answer, you can propose the next step yourself.

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6. Be willing to walk away

The last idea is the hardest one to practice. If the people on the buying side aren't fully convinced, Bruno thinks you should say so, and tell them you might not be the right fit yet. He's clear that you should do this in a friendly way, even though he put it bluntly on the call to make the point.

"If you guys are not 100% convinced to work with us, we don't deserve your order."

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What connects all six

Almost every situation Charles raised came back to someone in the buying group who wasn't convinced, and a seller who learned about it too late to do anything. Bruno's advice is to talk to each person individually, find out what they need, and do it early. That way the objections come up while there's still time to deal with them.

In the sales teams we work with at uman, this kind of preparation is what varies most from one seller to the next. Getting a whole team to prepare every deal the same way is a big part of what we help them do.

Talk with us: https://www.uman.ai/book-a-demo