We have less than 10 precious sales days left in this federal buying season before fiscal year-end. For many of our partners, these last days will prove to be the busiest and most profitable of the year. Success imperatives must be defined, sales resources and processes must be disciplined, and deal conversion must be the core focus if we are all going to optimize our results while closing the federal fiscal year out.
Once these last days are over, we do not get a “do over” until next year, so the following are three things I would recommend you focus on to ensure all of your goals and objectives are hit or surpassed.
Daily Meetings to Discuss Top Opportunity Progress
Our best clients and partners have true pipeline discipline at this time of the year. Typically, at the beginning and end of each day, collaborative discussions are held between sales leaders and sales people to ensure that deals are moving to closure. I recommend a quick twice-daily review with each sales person in your organization to review each individual’s Top 10 deals and the progress that was made on each throughout the day. These can be quick one-on-one meetings or huddles, but opportunity progress must be happening daily if you are going to maximize pipeline conversion.
Deal Control Analysis for Top Opportunities Critical
We all know that the 80/20 rule applies often in business and in sales. Applying this to the next few days means that 80 percent of our margin could come from 20 percent or less of our deals. Additionally, in this sector, one or two big “swing” deals could turn a good year into an amazing year, if converted.
Company leaders must constantly assess deal control of these “swing” opportunities over the final days of the federal busy season and need to consider the following:
- How much visibility do we have to the final acquisition nuances/steps at this point?
- Are we at price to win?
- Have we influenced all of the key stakeholders involved in making the award?
- How aware are we of competitive threats?
- How do we know we are going to win?
- Can we walk backward from an award to the steps left at this point in the acquisition phase?
The more we communicate and intensely scrutinize our level of deal control at this point with top opportunities, the more likely we are to win them.
Still Hunt, Plus Communicate, Communicate, and Over Communicate
Still hunt and look for new incremental opportunities over these final days of the federal fiscal year. Never be in the mindset that our customers or end users are too busy to check in with over these last days. Getting their programs awarded and their monies spent are extremely critical to the government at this point.
The last thing that any contracting officer wants over these last few days is to leave 2016 money on the table. Be visible, communicate often, and ask how you can help as the fiscal year comes to an end. The more visible you are, the more likely you are to find new opportunities that surface as year-end spending gets allocated. Set a goal to find new and incremental funding pockets from each of your key customers over the final week to ensure that you are in a position to win as year-end unallocated funding opportunities surface.
Daily top opportunity progress, deal control of your top opportunities, and staying in a hunting mentality to find newly funded deals are our three keys to success over these next days. Do these three things well and we know that you will have a great buying season end!!
We are in this year-end game to WIN IT!!
Happy selling!!
