At a recent CxO Sales Roundtable in Singapore, a sales executive pose a thought-provoking question At a recent CxO Sales Roundtable in Singapore, a sales executive pose a thought-provoking question that silenced the room:

“In our rush to close deals faster, are we sacrificing the customer’s trust?”

It sums up a dilemma we face in high-pressure sales organisations, where the demand to “sell more” is exploding.

The mantra is “close, close, close”.

While you can’t control these rising expectations, you can control how you approach and prioritise them.

The perspective shift here is what I call your – Circle of Control.

Here are its 5 keys.

1. Work Smarter, not Harder

This phrase reminds me of a powerful concept from the book, Who Not How.

If you have to operate at speed and scale, see who are all the other people in your team who can collaborate with you.

• What is the internal team’s composition?
• What are untapped synergies?
• How can that be used to serve your customers?

2. Qualify Better to Sell Faster

I always say:

“A person who defends everything, defends nothing.”

If you have to sell faster and be more successful, you have to qualify better and focus on the right deals.

Prioritise transformational multi-year engagements over small transactions.

3. Leverage AI

AI is upon us and It’s going to transform the speed at which we can execute.

On a daily basis, how much of AI can you leverage in your customer engagements? If done right – this is a game changer.

Start thinking:

• What AI insights can I leverage to better articulate customer needs?
• How can I exponentially increase productivity?
• What can be automated?

4. Prioritising Value to Gain Speed

Delivering substantial value to your customers is the most dependable lever to accelerate pipeline into deals.

Creating high value includes:

• Building a business case.
• Providing financial justification.
• Outlining the roadmap for change.
• Making stakeholders into allies.
• Aligning with CEOs KPIs.

These are the underlying elements that all come together and encourage customers to take a swift decision of working with you.

5. Closing Larger Deals

Activity is not a proxy for progress.

Just because you’re busy with smaller deals doesn’t mean you’re making meaningful progress.

Start thinking about how to create larger deals.

• How do you map multiple stakeholders?
• How do you make it effortless for your customers to understand your value?
• How do you join the dots between your solution and measurable, monetizable results for customers?

To conclude, these 5 levers can be used to build speed and scale in your customer engagements without sacrificing trust.

Let’s close out the year on a high note.

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