Across organizations, at the end of the month or quarter, heroes are made as unachievable quotas are reached by closing last-minute deals. How can these big, quota-saving wins actually be costing millions? Attend this session to learn how sales operations can help solve this “hockey stick effect” at the end of period and proven strategies for solving this costly problem.

1. #AccelerateQTC
Gabe Larsen
May 3, 2017
Deal Wins in the Final Hour: How End-of-Month Sales
Strategies are Costing Millions

2. Head of InsideSales.com Labs & Host - Sales Acceleration Podcast
Gabe Larsen

3. WHY
WHAT
HOW
The ‘Hockey Stick Effect’ in Sales
Solve the problem in your organization
How much is it costing you

4. WHY The “Hockey Stick Effect” in Sales

5. Jan
Revenue
Feb Mar
The Hockey Stick
Effect

7. Sales Rep Sales Leader
Customer

8. Sales Rep Sales Leader
Customer
“I’ll get you the
best price.”
“Do whatever it
takes to win the
deal.”
“Let’s wait until
11:59pm Sun night.”

9. WHAT How Much is it Costing You

10. 9,800,000
Sales Transactions

11. 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Number of Deals Won & Lost
by Day of Month
Lost
Won

12. 31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
LastDay
3x
11x
Number of Deals Won & Lost
by Day of Month
Lost
Won

15. Weekday Weekend
82.96%
Deal Size By Day of Week

16. Change Your
End-of-Month Strategy
27%Increase in revenue

17. HOW Solve The Problem in Your Organization

18. STEP 1
Determine Your Sweet Spots
LEADERS

19. SWEET SPOT
ANALYSIS

20. STEP 2
Re-Align Compensation
LEADERS

22. STEP 3
Focus on Customers Timelines
Not Yours
REPS

23. Art of Selling Science of Selling
from THIS to THIS

24. Mutual SUCCESS DETAILS for Evaluation
DATE MILESTONE & ASSIGNED TO: Status
12/15/16 1st Discovery Call and High Level Overview HLO with <Name/Role>to determine Goodness of Fit Yes
12/16/16 Internal Technoloy Meeting with Solution Consultant <Pre-Sales SC Name> and Champion Yes
12/19/16 Executive Sponsorship meeting with Champion and <Name/Title> Yes
12/22/16 Stakeholder Discovery Calls & HLO with <Key Stakeholder #1> No
12/24/16 Solution Discussion & Demo with <EBI>and <Key Stakeholders> No
12/25/16 <Name of EBI> - Final Approval No
12/26/16 Proposal & Budget Approved - Assigned to: Exec Team No
12/27/16 Signature on Agreement - Assigned to: TBD No
1/4/17 Kick Off Call with Implementation, and Growth Consultant No
12/1/17 3-60-90 Day Success Calls & Review - Assigned to: Champion & <EBI or ADMIN name here> No

25. STEP 4
Quit Trying to Use Your
CRM to Forecast
LEADERS

26. FORECAST
TOOLS
Purpose-built solution to predict accurate forecasts
CRM
Multi-tool framework for building applications.
47.8% Accuracy80% Accuracy
SOURCE: InsideSales.com Labs SOURCE: CSO Insights

28. STEP 5
Maniacal Focus on
Weekly Forecasting
LEADERS

29. DON’T BE
BLINDSIDED

30. During the final week of the month, the weekly cadence converts to daily.
Weekly*
(Thurs - AM)
Sales Roles
Weekly*
(Thurs - PM)
Sales
Managers
Weekly*
(Fridays - AM)
VP
Weekly*
(Fridays - PM)
CEO
Manage Opportunities
and Apply Forecast
Standards
Upside and Commit
Pipeline
Review Upside and
Commit Pipeline
Update SFDC
Develop Action Plan
Revise Forecast
Conduct Sales
Manager Forecast
Meeting
Conduct CEO
Forecast Meeting
Apply Judgment
Revised Forecast
Apply Judgment
Revised Forecast

31. ACTION
ITEMS
SOLVE THE HOCKEY STICK
EFFECT
Determine Your Sweet Spots
Re-Align Compensation
Focus on Customer Timelines Not Yours
Quit Trying to Use Your CRM to Forecast
Maniacal Focus on Weekly Forecasting

32. Time-Based Closing Strategies
the High Cost of Procrastination
Insidesales.com/resear
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