I’ve spent decades helping sales teams close more business in both good times and bad. one of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned for dealing with phases of economic uncertainty is this one:
Speed kills in sales.
And you know what? It kills more deals, faster in times when buying committees are skittish about economic conditions.
I don’t mean “speed kills” in the way you might think. I don’t mean that to say buyers accelerating the decision process as a result of engaging with you is somehow bad. It’s not.
What I mean is that when we rush the sales process—when we skip past discovery, or force demos, or push proposals too soon—we may feel productive. But that’s an illusion. We look busy. We tell ourselves that we’re “working the pipeline.” We may even tell ourselves that we’re compressing our sales cycle.
We’re not. The average deal takes longer to close when we skip these essential steps. Deals stall needlessly. Clients ghost us. And forecasted revenue vanishes.
So what gives?
Here’s the truth: The fastest way to win in sales, especially during times of economic uncertainty, is to slow down.
Slowing down means:
Asking better questions before pitching
Clarifying problems before offering solutions
Qualifying the opportunity before investing time
Understanding the buying process before sending a quote
The best possible strategy for surviving and thriving during tough economic times sounds like this: Qualify hard … so you can close easy.
This is not about dragging things out—it’s about being deliberate.
When we slow down, we earn trust. We uncover the real pain. We get a better picture of the dynamics of the buying committee. We align with how the buying organization buys.
At Sandler, we call this the difference between being a consultant and being a convincer.
Consultants ask. Convincers talk.
Consultants control the process. Convincers chase.
Consultants win more—because they help buyers make a confident, informed decisions. Convincers win less – and they are far less likely to thrive during hard economic times – because they have less information to work with.
In tough times, the very best way to compress your selling cycle and increase your average deal size is to slow down, making sure you don’t skip or undermine any of the steps in your sales process,especially in the early going. I’ve seen plenty of salespeople who cut their closing time in half by slowing down the first half of their sales cycle.
Counterintuitive? Absolutely.
Effective? Every time.
If your team is stuck in “busy but not closing” mode, maybe it’s time to stop pushing the sale forward—and start pulling the buyer in. Maybe it’s time to slow down. Ask more. Talk less. And win faster.
Curious how this approach could shift your team’s results? Let’s connect. We’re always up for a conversation about transforming how sales gets done.
