This article was originally published on LinkedIn
The deal was stuck. The client liked what we offered, and they were unhappy with the vendor they had. But nothing was moving forward. Dead would have sucked, but at least dead lets you move on.
How do you get the client to yes?
The client was a large insurance company that had outsourced its IT and business operations to one of our competitors for years. Their frustration with that arrangement had been growing, which is the main reason we were in the room at all. A “no” would have told us something, and a “yes” would have let us get to work, but this one was sitting somewhere in between and had been there long enough to start feeling like a whiskey mash that was never going to ferment.
Anyone who has made a mash knows the feeling. Fermentation is humming along, then it stalls, and the mash just sits there looking at you. It still has potential, but it needs a little something to get going again, like a yeast starter, some temperature control, and a little love. Convincing would not do it, and neither would all the barbecue Kansas City has to offer, which is where the next meeting would take place.
Our first instinct was to consider what else we could demonstrate. Another presentation, another conversation about capabilities, more proof that we could deliver. But the client already understood what we could do. Insurance companies are risk-averse by nature, and their whole business depends on it. They employ people whose full-time job is imagining what could go wrong, and those people are very good at it. Changing IT and business services providers is an inherently risky move, and a frustrating vendor they already knew could feel safer than a better one they did not.
When the deal is stuck, repeating the pitch isn’t the answer.
My team and I asked ourselves a plain question: what is making it hard for them to say yes, and how do we help them get past it? The answer had little to do with our capabilities. What stood in the way was the risk of making the move. We had spent most of our time showing why we were worth hiring, and we needed to spend more time helping the client get comfortable with change.
The meeting was scheduled in a few weeks, which gave us a deadline and a stage. We came up with a theme that spoke to the worry directly: "It's safe, and it's worth it." It was a little cheeky, but we liked it.
We had the theme printed on buttons, and our yeast starter arrived in a box. When the client team showed up, we wore the buttons and handed them out as the team walked into the conference room. They laughed. I will take a laugh from a client over a polite nod every time, and then the client asked if they could take extras home. Conference room giveaways usually end up in a desk drawer. Ours came with a request for seconds.
A button is a small thing. So is a packet of yeast. Ours named the worry everyone in the room was already carrying and treated it with a little humor, which got the conversation bubbling again.
I would love to claim that a few buttons closed a multi-year deal. That would make a great sales training program. The reality involved a capable team, a strong solution, and a relationship built on trust. The buttons played a part because they illustrated to the prospect, “I understand. I get you.”
Relating to the customer can be huge in a world where they feel like a quota.
We landed the account directly afterward. It was a multi-year deal that added significant revenue to our top line. I am still friends with that client team, even though it has been years and a handful of career changes since we handed out those buttons. I like to think the button printer never found out what they helped close.
A version of this story is in Chapter 5 of Against the Grain.
These days, when someone hesitates, I try to ask what is making yes difficult before I try to explain why they should say it. Most of the time, the hesitation is about something other than the thing I am selling.
What is making it hard for your customer to say yes? Have you asked?
