Lately, executives are coming to me and asking, “Hey, Venkat, are you seeing a slowdown in the market?”

In fact, I’m actually seeing multiple types of slowdowns.

Here is what I’m observing and most likely, you may also be experiencing one or more of them.

Let’s dive in.

Ghosting

This is when your customer completely goes dark. We’ve all experienced it – the sudden radio silence that leaves you wondering what went wrong.

The Swirl

There’s a flurry of activity – meetings, proposals, engagements – but no real progress. It’s like running on a hamster wheel – lots of motion, but no forward movement.

Restructuring Delays

Your customer is undergoing internal changes, leading to delayed decision-making. It’s frustrating, but it’s also an opportunity.

Lack of Definition

The customer has not brought any definition to the engagement. The need is clear but the way forward is not defined yet.

They are still wallowing at 30,000 feet. Nobody is going ahead and putting a structure, a boundary, to the project, and moving it forward.

Regardless of which type of slowdown you’re seeing, here is a 4 step checklist to accelerate the deal and take it to close.

1. Conduct a Joint Risk Assessment with your Customers.

When you do a joint risk assessment, you’re looking at risk from different lenses. Don’t just focus on the financial risk, the operational risk, people risk, or technology risk but also include the personal lens – is any fear holding an individual back?

Doing this joint assessment will actually help you to identify what truly is stopping the deal so you can take action.

Remember, the customer’s risk is your opportunity in disguise.

2. Address the Lack of Consensus.

Think about the decision makers who have not said yes – who in the committee is not aligned?

If there is a lack of alignment between the individuals and the collective, that will result in a stall. The key is to identify these stakeholders and work on building consensus among them.

3. Elevate the Altitude of your Engagement.

Can you get some of your leaders to directly go upstairs? Meet with CXOs, the CEOs, the boards, so that you could have a conversation at that layer, to ensure that your project becomes an organizational priority.

This higher-level engagement can often break through roadblocks that exist at lower levels of the organization.

4. Conduct scenario planning exercises at your office.

You can’t control everything. If the industry is slowing down, the market is slowing down, or if there is a cyclical downturn – you have to find other avenues.

What’s your plan B? What’s your Plan C?

These scenario planning exercises will help you foresee potential slowdowns and prepare contingency plans. This ensures no rude surprises, you’re always ready to adapt to changing circumstances.

These four areas will give you the direction and momentum to swing deals back in your favor.

Good luck as you start thinking about beating a slowdown and acting proactively to get ahead of it.

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