Shorter Sales Cycles for Consultants

*Free tip here, just trying to help, not clickbait to sell you any program

Consultants! Does it take you 3-6 months, or maybe even a year+ to close a project?

Here’s a way to drastically shorten your sales cycle:

If you aren’t already doing this – STOP trying to sell the whole cow, sell a cut of steak instead.

Big comprehensive projects typically take a long time to negotiate. You need to:

• Iron out the scope
• Define the deliverables
• Assign roles
• Milestones
• Outcomes, etc.

The more variables, the more risk, the more the other party needs to deliberate.

Instead, consider what I call the “Decision Threshold”

People take action to make a change when the “Cost of staying the same” exceeds the “Cost of changing”.

In traditional sales training, we are thought to assess needs, focus on the pain, sell on values. This speaks to the “Cost of staying the same”.

Sometimes, we need to get a little creative. You can reduce the “Cost of changing”, not only by lowing price (in fact, I don’t recommend undervaluing your services), but by reducing risk/scope or by reducing stakeholders that need to be involved in the decision.

Here are some ideas:

• Run a pilot project, with a small department/location/segment of data. This reduces risk, allows for quick a demonstration of value, and requires a less comprehensive approval process.
• Define a smaller deliverable/offering – e.g. an audit+report, create a roadmap that they can implement on their own, prototype/design instead of jumping straight to a complete build. The lower cost and smaller scope will allow you to reduce pricing, better define/quantify your offering, and more quickly close a sale without negatively impacting perceived value.

Give people a taste of that delicious wagyu steak before getting them to commit to buying the whole cow.

As a consultant, you know that business is all about relationships. Reducing the size of your offering helps you quickly get your foot in the door and establish that initial connection. From there, focus on delivering on a good experience, then “upsell” into future projects to increase the Lifetime Value (LTV) of your accounts.