Weak Pipelines Lead to Discounting

I am sure we all know that feeling when you are working on an opportunity that will make or break achieving your revenue target of the month. The pressure is high, and you want to close. How you approach this last stage of your pipeline depends on how well your pipeline is filled with quality opportunities: a weak pipeline leads to discounting.

Stress hijacks emotions

Our brains are funny things. Powerful computers as they are, they are weak decision-makers when under pressure. And there is a price to pay for that. Similarly, when you forgot to buy your kids that gift they were hoping for on your way to the airport, nearly missing the boarding time, but still at the last minute, your eye catches the desired item. As fast as you can, you run to the cashier with your credit card already in your hand. Happy you made it on time onto your flight, you look at the prize tag. Oops…

It works the same way with that opportunity you need to close. Under pressure, the emotional part of our brain (the Amygdala) takes over, disrupts the logical part (the frontal lobe), and sends the message: close this deal by giving a discount.

Control the pressure

Obviously, when under pressure, you cannot think clearly. This is also the case when negotiating. As Jeb Blount states in his book “Inked” :

If you fail to control your emotions, you’ll respond with insecurity or defensiveness.

Jeb Blount

While there are ways of controlling your emotions (I recommend you to read “Inked” !), when it comes to closing and winning that opportunity that pulls you over your monthly target, there is also an element of preventing getting yourself into that situation: Don’t let your pipeline go dry and make sure you have it filled with quality opportunities.

It is easier to say no to discounts when your life does not depend on that particular sale. Your pipeline has plenty of other opportunities to get you over the line. In the case of a weak pipeline, you feel you have no choice, and this is the only opportunity to win.

Five Pipeline Filling Tips

So, how do you fill your pipeline with quality opportunities? Here are my five tips:

1. Pop the pipeline dreams: Step one is to create a place for higher-quality opportunities, meaning, eliminate those that fall into the pipeline dreams category.
2. Selling is Helping: At every call or meeting, focus on how you can help your customer grow their business. Put on your business acumen hat and leave your sales acumen gear in your backpack.
3. Size matters: Instead of focusing on top competitor customers, take it a few notches down and start helping SMEs. They are hungry for your insights on how market risks and opportunities impact their business. The bigger the customer organization, the bigger their marketing teams. SMEs often don’t have these and welcome your ideas and expertise on how you have helped other similar customers.
4. Identify Hidden Competitors: Revisit ‘not won’ opportunities and rethink why they were not won. Why did these opportunities stall? Often, someone in the customer’s organisation was stuck in Why Change? and you did not address this.
5. Tell Stories. Insights (why to change) come to life when packaged around a story. They push the customer’s emotional buttons, and if you enable your change champion well, they will share these with other stakeholders. Stories sell.

What is the risk of not following these tips? Weak pipelines lead to discounting.