Creating Customized Solutions for Enterprises

"We've been working this deal for 8 months and it just went dark." (Ouch!) Last week, I had three different sales leaders tell me versions of this same story. Big enterprise deals that seemed "sure things" suddenly stalling or disappearing completely. Here's what's really happening: You're selling like it's 2015, but buyers have fundamentally changed how they make decisions. Seriously, the old playbook is dead: → Build relationship with one champion → Demo your product extensively → Negotiate on price to close → Wait for their "decision timeline" Why this fails in modern enterprise selling? #1 Committee-based buying Average enterprise deal now involves 6-8 decision makers. Your single champion can't drive consensus alone, no matter how much they love your solution. #2 Risk-averse buyers Post-2008, post-COVID, buyers are terrified of making bad decisions. They'd rather stick with status quo than risk their careers on your "game-changing" solution. #3 Budget complexity Money exists, but it's trapped across departments. Your champion in IT loves you, but the budget owner in Finance has different priorities. Here’s how elite enterprise sellers win these days: A. Multi-thread from Day One Map the entire buying committee before you pitch anything. Identify the economic buyer, technical evaluator, user champions, and potential blockers. Build relationships with each. B. Sell business outcomes, not features Stop talking about what your product does. Start quantifying the business impact of not solving their problem. Make the cost of inaction higher than the risk of action. C. De-risk the decision Provide case studies from similar companies. Offer pilot programs. Create implementation roadmaps. Give them ammunition to defend the decision internally. D. Control the process Don't ask "What's your timeline?" Tell them "Based on your goals, here's the optimal implementation schedule." You drive urgency, they don't. Here’s a real life example: One client was stuck on a $400K deal for 6 months. We mapped 8 stakeholders they'd never engaged. Built business cases for each department. Deal closed in 45 days at $650K. The difference? They stopped selling a product and started orchestrating a business transformation. Enterprise deals aren't won in demo rooms. They're won in boardrooms, budget meetings, and implementation planning sessions. Sales leaders, how are you implementing this across ALL your reps? Want to talk about how we could help? Go here: https://lnkd.in/ghh8VCaf

The best sales handoff... is no sales handoff. Enterprise SaaS customers spend a great deal of time in the "pre sales" process with account executives. They don't expect to have to start from scratch with a services team after they sign an agreement. No matter how many - AI call summaries you share - notes you log in the CRM, or - transition intake forms AEs and SEs fill out you will never be able to fully "transition" a customer from the sales process to implementation. Not without some level of high-touch engagement that spans the pre- and post-initial sale legs of the customer journey. Why? Because it's not just information that's transitioning. It's a relationship with the client and their needs. So what's the solution? Pulling service delivery forward into the sales process. Utilize a senior solution consultant or engagement manager to: 1/ help gather requirements Someone responsible for delivery asks different questions than those who aren't. Keep in mind, this scares sales reps. So WHO you assign to pre-sales consulting is critical. They must align with getting to yes and closing business. 2/ develop prototypes and mockups Sure, the prospect likes your product and the stories you've told about how other customers use it. But the problem they need to solve is how your product will work in their world. Careers are made and broken on strategic software implementations. It's personal. Want a champion? You need more than a product, you need a credible SOLUTION for each prospect. 3/ map out the plan Closely aligned with number 2, but what are the steps you will use to bring the solution online for the customer. If they can see it, they can champion it. But if they can't, you don't have a champion. And without a champion you don't have a deal. If you invite a prospect to co-create a plan with you, you have as good a chance as there is to close the deal. And... Deals close faster. Time to launch is shorter. You lay the foundation for references. It's also a helpful forecasting tool. If the customer is willing to spend time on these activities with your team, then they are probably way more serious than if not. In the era of profitable efficient growth it might seem impossible to staff this. But there aren't many SaaS companies selling into Enterprise that can afford NOT to do business this way. Whether with their in-house Services teams or with channel service partners. Make the sales handoff a thing of the past. Turn it into a natural transition. - Are you pulling services forward? If so, what's working / not working? If not, what's stopping you? 🤘 Jay

The Best Sales Handoff Is No Handoff 🤝 We've all seen it happen: Your enterprise customer spends months with your AEs and SEs. They build trust. They create a shared vision. Then they sign...and suddenly meet an entirely new team. They explain their needs all over again while wondering why the company they just paid has organizational amnesia. You've tried everything: ‣ Detailed CRM notes ‣ AI call summaries ‣ Customer transition meetings ‣ Knowledge transfer sessions ‣ Formal handoff checklists Yet the pattern continues. Why? Because you can't "hand off" a relationship. No matter how much information you transfer, something fundamental is lost when you abruptly swap out the team a customer has spent months getting to know. The most successful B2B SaaS companies aren't perfecting handoffs—they're eliminating them. Here's how: 1️⃣ Bring implementation experts into sales conversations early The right services expert asks different questions than those who aren't responsible for delivery. An enterprise SaaS leader I spoke with said, "Every time we exclude services from a critical pre-sale conversation, we pay for it tenfold after the deal closes." 2️⃣ Co-create solutions, not just demonstrations. Your slick demo may show what your product can do in general, but prospects really care about what your solution will do for them specifically. Create lightweight prototypes using the customer's data during the sales process. Enterprise implementations can make or break careers—it's deeply personal for your buyer. The product is just a tool—the solution is what matters. 3️⃣ Build the implementation plan before the contract is signed Don't just sell the destination; sell the journey. Work with your prospect to map out the implementation plan before they sign. This approach: ‣ Surfaces potential roadblocks before they become contract disputes ‣ Gives the prospect tangible material to socialize internally ‣ Transforms vague promises into concrete deliverables This approach doesn't just improve customer experience—it delivers: • Faster sales cycles — Deal momentum increases when practical objections are addressed • Higher ASPs — Services scope aligns better with actual needs, reducing the tendency to underprice • Improved forecasting accuracy — Implementation planning demonstrates real buying intent • More reference customers — Smoother journeys create advocates for your solution "But we don't have the resources for this!" Start by: ‣ Segmenting strategically — Apply this to high-value prospects only ‣ Creating specialized pre-sales services roles — professionals who understand both sales and implementation ‣ Leveraging channel partners — Bring implementation partners into the sales process In today's world of massive buying committees and intense ROI scrutiny, the winners aren't just selling features. They're selling confidence in outcomes.

I witnessed a masterclass in enterprise SaaS selling. At a recent SKO for a major cybersecurity company, I watched a top salesperson unpack the anatomy of a $5M deal with such surgical precision that it rewired my understanding of what’s possible in enterprise sales. This wasn’t just a “win” – it was a masterclass in blending strategy, storytelling, and execution. Here’s what set this deal apart: 1/ Project Management Mastery: He treated the sales cycle like a high-stakes mission. Every detail—from a make-or-break proof-of-concept to rallying internal SMEs—was mapped, tracked, and optimized. No winging it. No loose ends. 2/ Data-Driven Narrative a Superpower: His business case wove the customer’s current state gaps and risks into a vision of transformation. He sold ROI, risk mitigation, and a future-state aligned to a very strategic initiative. 3/ Financial Rigor Meets Impact: He quantified the cost-of-inaction with a comprehensive, rigorous cost-benefit analysis that showed exactly how their software and services would impact the customer’s bottom line—down to operational efficiencies and revenue upside. 4/ The Quarterback Mindset: He multi-threaded relentlessly, aligning stakeholders from the C-suite to technical teams. When roadblocks emerged, he pivoted without losing momentum, orchestrating cross-functional teams like a conductor. This experience crystallized something for me: Elite enterprise selling is equal parts art and science. It’s about discipline, deep financial acumen, and the ability to turn complexity into clarity. P.S. If you’ve ever quarterbacked a multi-million-dollar deal, you know the adrenaline—and the grind. Respect.

Here’s the proposal template that helped me close over $100 million in enterprise sales: It’s also helped my clients close more than 50% of their deals when they use it. And until now, I’ve never shared it publicly. Most sellers are great at pitching features. But the ones who consistently win big deals? They know how to tell a great story. The truth is, executives don’t buy products - they buy confidence. They buy vision. They buy a story they want to be part of. If you want to sell like a top 1% seller, you need a proposal that doesn’t just inform… it moves people. Here’s how I do it 👇 The Story Mountain Framework for Sales Proposals: 1. Exposition – Introduce the characters and setting. Start with them: → “You’re trying to expand into new markets… to grow revenue… to unify your tech stack…” Set the vision. Make them the hero. 2. Rising Action – Lay out the challenges and obstacles. → “But growth stalled. Competitors moved faster. Customer churn increased.” Quote discovery calls. Surface real pain. Build emotional tension. 3. Climax – Introduce your solution. → “Then you found a better way…” Now show how your solution helps them overcome the exact obstacles you outlined. 4. Falling Action – Ease the tension. → “Here’s our implementation plan. Here’s the ROI. Here’s how others in your industry succeeded.” Give them confidence that this won’t just work—it will work for them. 5. Resolution – End with clarity. → “Here’s our mutual action plan. Let’s get started.” Lock in buy-in, next steps, and forward momentum. This structure has helped me close some of the biggest deals of my career—including an $8-figure enterprise deal at Salesforce where I used this exact approach. I broke it all down in this week’s training—and for the first time ever, I show you the actual proposal I used AND tell you how to access my Killer Proposal Template for free. 👀 Watch the full training here: https://lnkd.in/gPY_cvv5 No more boring product pitches. No more ghosting after the readout. Just proposals that close.