Closing Sales Deals

The best negotiator I know is completely silent 70% of the time. Last year she closed $400M in deals saying almost nothing. In high-stakes negotiations, the person who truly understands human psychology wins. Not the loudest voice. Not the biggest title. The one who reads the room. FBI negotiator Chris Voss spent decades getting terrorists to release hostages. Now he teaches business leaders the same principles. And here's what surprised me most: These aren't secret tactics. They're learnable skills. Anyone can become a skilled negotiator. You just need to understand how humans actually make decisions. These 7 techniques are a great starting point. They've worked in life-or-death situations and multi-billion-dollar deals. 1. Strategic Silence teaches patience. Most of us rush to fill quiet moments. But silence creates space for better offers. Practice counting to 10 before responding. It feels eternal. It works. 2. "How" over "Why" shifts dynamics. One word change. Completely different conversation. Try it in your next meeting. Watch defensiveness disappear. 3. Addressing Fears builds trust fast. Name what they're worried about before they do. It shows you understand their position, not just your own. 4. Mirroring is almost unconscious. Repeat their words. They elaborate without realizing it. Simple technique. Profound results. 5. Getting to "No" seems counterintuitive. But "no" creates boundaries. Boundaries create honest dialogue. Real deals happen after "no," not before. 6. Confirming Concerns creates momentum. Summarize their position accurately. They feel heard. Feeling heard leads to flexibility. 7. Listing Objections removes their power. Say their doubts out loud first. They can't weaponize what you've already acknowledged. Every CEO needs this skill. Every leader benefits from understanding it. Every professional can learn it. The question isn't whether you need these skills. It's when you'll start developing them. P.S. Want a PDF of my Negotiation Skills Cheat Sheet? Get it free: https://lnkd.in/dDxE5v3B ♻️ Repost to help a leader in your network. Follow Eric Partaker for more negotiation insights.

Enterprise Sales is a different beast. You’re thinking about it all wrong. The difference between a $50K and a $500K deal is NOT fancy Negotiation skills or Disco tactics. You need to learn BUSINESS ACUMEN like a VP. I’ve worked 100s of $6-7 fig deals. Here are the 5 hardest lessons I wish I knew before going upmarket: 1. AEs Don’t Close Deals—They Rally The Troops Lone wolves don't close 7-fig deals. Enterprise AEs are like film directors—connecting champions, execs, and influencers across both companies, so the deal feels inevitable. It’s never about one hero; it's about orchestrating every player: CEO who shares the vision, VP Product who tackles tough questions, Exec Sponsor who secures buy-in. High-stakes deals demand the best your company can offer. Great AEs know how to get it. 2. Complex Sales = World Class Project Management In enterprise deals, you’re more PM than a seller. Big deals die in the details: missed tasks, unaligned stakeholders, and endless email threads. New people jump in mid-cycle, each needing context. Your job: bring order to chaos. Protect momentum, keep everyone aligned, and ensure nothing slips. Top AEs co-create timelines, organize materials in Deal Rooms and tailor every detail. 3. AEs Master Buying (not Selling) My biggest breakthroughs came not from sales training but from buying software and interviewing CXOs. That’s when I realized: If you understand how budgets, approvals, and internal priorities work, you don't need sales tactics. Empathy becomes your superpower because you know what each stakeholder needs (financially and politically) to say YES. Want to excel at enterprise? Study how companies justify ROI, CFOs think, and champions navigate approvals. 4. There’s No Sales Process—Only a Buying Process Your buyer doesn’t care if you’ve hit Stage 3 in your CRM. They care about their own maze of priorities, budgets, and internal politics. Top AEs ‘dance’ around the sales stages. They choreograph moves based on what the deal needs next—like looping in a board member to champion them behind the scenes or going after end-users to outshine a competitor who started at the top. 5. AEs Think Transformation, Not Pain Points Execs won’t write $1M checks to fix a clunky spreadsheet workflow. They need to see a solution driving company-wide impact—like a strategic pivot or entering a new market. If you’re only uncovering small headaches, expect a small deal. But connect those symptoms to a transformation—and the CFO listens. —— Enterprise sellers think and act like business leaders. Not salespeople who want to close deals. Yes, they know the fancy sales tactics. But that's not the point… When buyers see you think like them. When you work a deal like it’s their internal project. You unlock trust that deserves 6-7fig budgets. P.S. We built Aligned to help manage the complexity of Enterprise Sales. A 100% FREE Deal Room used by 40K sellers. Try it https://lnkd.in/dwX_Zizk

90% of sales teams set themselves up for slipped deals. Because they've built their entire sales process (and therefore, forecast) around their seller's activities — not internal buying activities. (Example: it really doesn't matter if a rep "sent a proposal," what matters is evidence of the buying team reading it / editing it / sharing it.) So, what's the fix? Mapping each stage to buying behavior. With exit criteria tied to specific pieces of "evidence." Here are 7 specific steps + exit criteria: → Stage 1: Frame a high-cost, high-priority problem in writing. - Exit Criteria: Your buyer shares a written problem statement with their team, framed in a way that aligns with your solution. - Target Skill: discovery. → Stage 2: Multithreaded validation, from different points of view. - Exit Criteria: No less than 3 buyers read your problem statement, agree, confirm it aligns with an exec-level metric. - Target Skill: multithreading. → Stage 3: A relevant executive sponsors a project. - Exit Criteria: The executive tasks their team with evaluating & recommending a new course of action. - Note: this can also happen earlier, in 1 / 2 above, but the deal can't progress to a later stage without this. - Target Skill: executive access. → Stage 4: The entire buying committee agrees on an approach. - Exit Criteria: The committee decides on an external solution, with a specific set of requirements that align with yours. → Stage 5: You’re confirmed the "provider of choice." - Exit Criteria: The committee stops other discussions and everyone’s input is locked into the scope. - Target Skill: differentiation. → Stage 6: A compelling event continues to drive the close date. - Exit Criteria: The committee sticks to a target kickoff date based on a desired outcome, and agrees to a backdated set of tasks to get them there. - Note: this will be started earlier; are dates actually running on schedule? - Target Skill: mutual action planning. → Stage 7: Pricing, procurement and commercial terms finalized. - Exit Criteria: Dried ink accepting all terms of your deal. - Target Skill: negotiation. I built this into an editable "1-sheet sales process" you can take too: 25+ frameworks + resources to enable each stage. Just comment "process" on this post... just kidding. You can get it asap without having to wait, here: https://lnkd.in/gvXs8YZh

A VP of Sales emailed me: "Can you send over the contract?" $40,000 deal. The dopamine hit instantly. I was halfway to pinging my team to add it to the month's forecast. Then I stopped, because I've been burned by this exact moment before. I picked up the phone and called her instead. After a few minutes of small talk: "Sounds like you want a contract. Can you help me understand the series of next steps that happen after I send it?" "Well, it needs to get through our legal process. And we're big enough now that we have a real procurement process too." "That makes sense. Anything else?" "No, the references all checked out. Once it clears legal and procurement, I'm good to sign." Then I asked the question most reps are afraid of: "Can you help me understand the possibility of executing this within the month, based on how these things have gone before?" Her answer: "I wouldn't get your hopes up. Procurement alone takes three or four weeks." We had three weeks left in the quarter. That stung. It also saved me. Without that call, the deal goes in my forecast, my team plans around it, and I spend three weeks pestering a buyer who was never able to sign in time. The deal sours, and the forecast blows up anyway. Instead I knew exactly where it stood and worked it accordingly. The lesson: there is life after the verbal. "Send the contract" is not "closed." Between yes and signature live legal, procurement, security, and a dozen other steps your buyer forgot to mention because they've bought software twice and you've sold it two hundred times. So build this reflex. The moment you get a strong buying signal, say: "I'm excited to send that over. I have to ask though, once we get through it, what's the series of steps that still need to happen before we're live?" Asking the hard question doesn't kill deals. It kills surprises. What's your go-to question when a buyer says they're ready to buy? P.S. A slippery closing motion is one of the 11 gaps our research found capping deal size. See the full report → https://lnkd.in/g63fcp2D

Walk into any Foot Locker. The conversation is predictable: "Hey, anything I can help you with?" "No, I'm good." "Cool, holler if you need anything." Dead air. Zero connection. Transaction pending. Now watch what happens with actual discovery: "Dude, those are dope ASICS. You run outside or inside?" "Outside." "Those are pretty beat up - you put serious miles on them. Short distances or long?" "Long distance." "What's long for you?" "10-12 miles." "Respect. You pronate at all?" "No." "Interesting - those shoes are actually built for pronation. See how they're worn on the outside? You're fighting the shoe's design. What if I showed you something that matches your stride better?" Boom. Permission to sell granted. The difference? Observation before prescription. Love this example that Andrew Hahn brought to Sales Assembly’s session on Discovery That Leads To Quantifiable Outcomes this week. That rep noticed: - Current solution (beat-up ASICS). - Usage patterns (wear on the outside). - Mismatch between need and solution. - Opportunity to add genuine value. Most sales reps are so eager to pitch they miss what's right in front of them. Your prospect is using Salesforce but half their team logs into HubSpot. They have Gong but mention recording storage issues. They love their current vendor but keep rescheduling implementation calls. These aren't just random facts, folks. They're buying signals. The ASICS were working fine. But "fine" isn't optimal. And once someone shows you the gap between fine and optimal, you can't unsee it. Every prospect is wearing beat-up ASICS. They're making it work. They're putting in miles. But they're fighting their tools instead of flowing with them. Your job isn't to sell them new shoes. Your job is to notice their stride.

I watched a company lose a $1.2M deal last quarter because they were still running MEDDPICC like it's 1996. They identified a Champion and an Economic Buyer. They documented Pain points. They were textbook perfect. The problem in 2025 is that no single Champion can get a deal done. Sales methodologies from the 90s weren't built for today's buying committees, consensus-driven decisions, and distributed authority. The modern sale requires a complete methodology upgrade. No more obsessing over a Champion. You need relationships with the entire team. No more chasing generic Pain points. You need Numerical Priorities linked to business outcomes. No more vague "Compelling Event". You need documented, financially-validated trigger points. No more hoping for Decision Criteria. You need to shape it with objective benchmarks. The best sellers still run a methodology, but it's evolved. They're identifying group priorities, mapping out competing initiatives, and anchoring everything in provable ROI. Try this on your next deal…instead of asking "What's keeping you up at night?" ask "What are the top 3 numerical priorities for your department this quarter?" Watch how quickly you can separate real deals from wishful thinking.

"I can get you 20% if you sign by Friday." This is the most expensive sentence in EMEA enterprise sales. US sales runs on quarter-end discount cycles. Buyers expect it, sellers deliver it, the dance is mutual. Everyone knows the list price is fiction and the real price arrives in the last week of March, June, September, and December. Now run that play in front of a German enterprise buyer. What they hear is not "good deal." What they hear is: your list price was inflated, your value claim is negotiable, your urgency is your problem, not mine, and if I wait two more weeks, you'll come back with 25%. The discount didn't accelerate the deal. It devalued the product and trained the buyer to wait you out. European enterprise buyers respond to clear pricing, clear value, and a contract they can defend internally. They do not respond to manufactured urgency. The Friday deadline that closes deals in San Francisco extends them in Frankfurt. If your DACH deals keep slipping a quarter after you offered the discount, the discount isn't the cure. It's the cause.

I do dozens of interviews with top CMOs every year. I always ask what the best performing marketing channel is. And right now everyone is saying events. Post COVID events are back, but also now in an AI world, I think there's a stronger appetite to get out and connect with real people vs. just getting answers from ChatGPT. But: like anything in marketing, running events just because everyone else is doing them is a great way to set money on fire (and still not drive any incremental business). Whether it's a booth at a trade show. A VIP dinner. A 500-person conference. They can all work. They can all flop. The difference: having a real plan and strategy for that event going in. Why do it in the first place? (which continues to be the most important lesson in marketing - what's in it for me? what's the hook? why should people come to our thing?) We talked to two event experts on the Exit Five pod recently Stephanie Christensen and Kristina DeBrito — and here are 5 keys they shared for B2B event success: 1. Pick the right format. Not all events do the same job. Big splash? Go flagship. Want pipeline? Try VIP roundtables. Tiny budget? Host micro-events around existing conferences. Set real goals. 2. “Leads” are not enough anymore. Are you driving awareness? Accelerating deals? Generating pipeline? Define this upfront—or you’ll waste time measuring the wrong stuff. There are more metrics than just "did we get leads from this event" and in today's world leads are tablestalkes. 3. Align your team, bro. Sales and marketing must move in lockstep. Slack alerts for registrations. Sales meeting updates. Leaderboards. It all matters. This is a team effort. 4. Make it memorable. People forget panels. They remember custom pancakes and great venues. Was the food good? Did the WiFi work? Did Oprah show up? Just kidding. Making sure you'r reading. But think surprise and delight, not branded frisbees. 5. Put the work in on the follow up. Events don't close deals - follow-up does. Segment attendees. Create custom offers. Babysit the handoff to sales like your job depends on it. Because it does. You just went shopping and got all these fresh groceries - dont let them spoil. B2B buyers want real connection again. Events can create that. Are you feeling this desire for events? Are you doing events in your business right now? Let me know...

For my first 16 years in tech sales, I averaged 240K/year. In my last 4 years, I averaged 720K/year. I did this by using an approach I call Yo-yo selling: 🪀 It’s how you win large, complex enterprise deals by building credibility with senior executives at the beginning of a sales cycle. This will save you months of spending time with mid or lower level Directors on a deal cycle, only to have your deal stall because it's not a priority for Executives. Here’s the concept: You start at the top, get senior level sponsorship for a deep discovery, drop down into the business, then bounce back up with a report of findings. This is the process I've used for nearly every 7-figure deal I've ever closed. Step 0: Research before outreach Before asking for time, I do deep strategic research. Earnings calls. Investor decks. Press releases. Executive interviews. I also spend time talking to their team to see if the problem that I solve exists in their company. Using that research, I build a Point of View that connects their top business goals to real execution gaps. This earns executive time. Today, AI tools like ChatGPT make this easier than ever. What used to take hours now takes minutes. If you skip this step, you lose your edge. Step 1: Prospect to the top and gain their sponsorship to engage Lead with your POV. The key is to teach them something new about their business which they aren't already aware of, and show them how it's putting their highest level goals at risk. If they lean in, offer up a deep discovery with your team and their team. Lock in a date to come back for a readout. Have them assign a project manager to help you coordinate Step 2: Drop down Once you have executive sponsorship, meet with their team. The key is to have the Exec sponsor send out a note to their team explaining what it's for. This will keep the assessment moving forward. Study workflows. Capture friction. Collect quotes. Do not pitch. Just listen. Step 3: Bounce back up Bring it all together in an executive summary. Show how their vision connects directly to what’s broken below. Present a focused business case. Build a custom demo. Create a roadmap and implementation plan. That’s where deals close. Real example from my career At Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, we were told “no” on a point solution. Instead of walking away, I stepped back and asked what the company really needed. After deep research, I re-engaged the COO with a transformation POV centered on the experience of 50,000+ agents. The result was one of the largest new logo deals in Salesforce history. But Yo-yo selling alone isn’t enough. Because it's hard to execute and takes patience. Top performers also master their mindset, habits, and discipline. That’s why I put together a free masterclass for sellers who want to break into the top 1 percent. 👉 Watch the free training here: https://lnkd.in/eWD8mTqH If you’re serious about enterprise sales, this will change how you sell.

Selling to leadership is tough. Learn to speak finance, and everything changes. (This works for both B2B sales and internal pitches.) Speak the language of financial metrics and business impact, and you’ll earn buy-in. Whether you’re pitching a product, service, or internal idea, this skill makes you a trusted partner to decision-makers. Want to dive deeper? Download my free guide “10 Levels of Profitability” here: https://bit.ly/40pY3CQ Here’s why: Executives don’t want fluff. They need to know *how* your solution or proposal will impact their business financially. Here’s how to make your pitch resonate: 1️⃣ Talk Margins, Not Just Savings ↳ Show how your solution improves gross, operating, or net profit margins. Make it clear how it improves topline or streamlines processes to ultimately add value to the bottom line. 2️⃣ Connect to Cash Flow ↳ Highlight how your solution will boost cash flow, not just the bottom-line. Smart executives prioritize cash flow over simple revenue increases or cost savings because it keeps the business stable and flexible. 3️⃣ Show ROI and Payback Period ↳ Present clear numbers on return on investment (ROI) and how quickly they’ll see a payback. Executives need to know when their investment will yield results. 4️⃣ Impact Key Financial Ratios ↳ Explain how your proposal enhances key metrics like ROE (Return on Equity), ROA (Return on Assets), or EBITDA. This demonstrates that you understand their financial framework and how your solution strengthens it. 5️⃣ Talk Risk Management ↳ Show that you’ve considered potential downsides. Demonstrate how your proposal mitigates financial risk and supports long-term stability—not just quick gains. Why this matters: 1️⃣ You Stand Out ↳ Most sales pitches and internal proposals focus on benefits. When you speak in terms of financial strategy and impact, you differentiate yourself. 2️⃣ You Build Trust ↳ Speaking their language shows you understand their challenges, priorities, and goals. 3️⃣ You Become Indispensable ↳ When you can prove your solution impacts key business metrics, you shift from being just another vendor or team member to a trusted advisor. If you want to learn finance strategy to elevate your pitch and proposals, join 3,000 learning with me here: https://bit.ly/famcol Remember: Learn to speak finance, and you’ll open doors that most can’t. ♻️ 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 to help someone else. And follow Oana Labes, MBA, CPA for more