In sales, it’s easy to mislead yourself into thinking a sales deal is on track when it’s not. A simple way to know that it’s not is to ask yourself if there is a clear next step that both parties have agreed to. Without it, you won’t close the deal and if you do, it’s probably a nothing sale.
Agreeing to a next step can be as simple as deciding whether to move forward with your solution by the end of next week. There is a clear action and deadline that makes it easy to agree. It also keeps the door open for the lead to ask for more materials or proactively raise that there is someone else you need to meet with.
(I didn’t come up with this but I can’t find the source of where I found it).
See also:
- Founder-led sales
- Sending follow-up emails is closely related—it’s much easier to get a response when you are merely reminding them of what you already agreed to do