The Art of the Deal Review: Best Practices for Closing the Pursuit

In the fast-paced, highly competitive world of B2B sales, conducting effective deal reviews is crucial for ensuring that opportunities are maximised and sales targets are met. Structured deal reviews provide an important framework to not only evaluating potential deals, identifying risks and strategising for higher close rates, but also elevating both your sales talent and revenue process. 

Here’s some pointers to what good deal review practices look like.

Timing of the Deal Review

Deal reviews are NOT just qualifying tender processes.  Yes, the review of deals for the quarter is a must for the C-Suite and Sales Leaders to ensure quality of pipeline to support the forecast through increased understanding and pre-emptive management of pursuit risks, but more importantly deal reviews present an opportunity for seller and broader support team coaching.  Don’t waste it!

The more mature revenue processes we see in market are not just focused on reviewing crucial in quarter deals but are purposely timed within the quarter as a tool to develop stronger future pipeline creation.  Consider how to leverage for the greatest return on investment within your sales team.

Preparation is Key

A successful deal review starts long before the meeting itself. Preparation is essential for both the sales team and the reviewers. Ensure that all relevant information about the deal is gathered and organised beforehand. It will take a few iterations, and likely some pushback on the detail from sellers.  Important to persevere through this cadence of change.  At a minimum, pursuit summaries must include the following – but consider your unique value proposition and what these uniques’ should look like to be a great fit for your solution. 

• Customer Background: Understanding the client’s needs, pain points, and business objectives.

• Deal Status: Current stage of the deal, recent interactions, and next steps.

• Competitive Landscape: Insights into competitors involved and their positioning.

• Financials: Pricing, discounting, and potential revenue impact.

Structured Agenda

Having a consistent, structured agenda ensures that the review is focused and productive. A typical agenda might include:

• Deal Overview: Summary of the deal, including key details and value proposition.

• Customer Insights: Discussion on customer needs, challenges, and decision-making process.

• Competitive Analysis: Review of competitors and how to differentiate from them.

• Risk Assessment: Identification of potential risks and mitigation strategies.

• Asks and Actions: The pursuit lead should come to the meeting prepared with their asks of the business.  The session must result in clear next steps and responsibilities for moving the deal forward.

  
  

Key tip: Don’t cut the session short and rush through the Asks and Actions!  This undermines the purpose of the whole meeting.  With time the agenda will tighten as the team get used to it.  Recommend allowing 30 minutes for first iteration overruns whilst the team get a handle on the agenda.   

Involve the Right Stakeholders

For a well-rounded review, involve stakeholders from different departments such as executive, sales, marketing, product management, delivery and finance. This cross-functional approach ensures that all aspects of the deal are considered, and valuable insights are gathered from various perspectives.  Most importantly, your key stakeholders in meeting the outcome being sold to your prospect are agreeing to the deal detail.    

Focus on Customer Value

Good deal reviews emphasize the value being delivered to the customer, both in the outcome but also the journey to get there – including the presales motion. This means understanding how the product or service solves the customer’s problems and helps them achieve their goals. Discuss how to articulate this value effectively to the customer, highlighting the unique selling points and benefits.  Always question how you are influencing the buying process with your unique selling points and ensure you are getting the opportunity to deliver this influence. 

Data-Driven Insights

Leverage data and analytics to inform the review process. This can include historical sales data, win/loss analysis, and key performance indicators (KPIs). Data-driven insights provide a factual basis for decision-making and help identify trends and patterns that can inform future strategies.

Identify and Mitigate Risks

Every deal comes with its own set of risks, whether they be competitive threats, pricing challenges, or implementation concerns. A good deal review process involves identifying these risks early and developing strategies to mitigate them. This proactive approach can prevent potential roadblocks and increase the chances of closing the deal.

There are some great sales frameworks in market, MEDDPICC, SPIN, CHAMP – they each hold value pending your offer to market.  Ensure you are leveraging your chosen framework as part of the deal review process, particularly for qualifying risks to a successful close.  

Clear Action Plan

At the end of the review, it’s essential to have a clear action plan with specific next steps, assigned responsibilities and agreed timelines.  This ensures that everyone knows what they need to do to move the deal forward and that there is accountability in place.  

Continuous Improvement

Deal reviews should not be a one-time event but part of an ongoing process of continuous improvement. Regularly schedule deal reviews and use them as an opportunity to learn and refine your approach. Gather feedback from the team and make adjustments as needed to enhance the effectiveness of future reviews.

By implementing these practices, you can ensure that your deal review process is thorough, insightful, and ultimately successful in driving sales. Remember, the goal is to provide a structured approach to evaluating deals, identifying opportunities, and mitigating risks, all while keeping the customer at the heart of your strategy.