Latest / Closing the Deal with Fexingo: Sales, Negotiation, and Revenue Conversations for Operators / How One Rep Won a Deal by Slowing Down the Closing
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this deal I heard about — mid-market software company, $250,000 annual contract, six-month sales cycle. The rep has done everything right. Discovery, demos, security review, legal. They're at the finish line. Luna: Sounds like a slam dunk. Lucas: It really did. The prospect's procurement team sends over the signed contract. All that's left is the digital signature. And the rep — he doesn't sign. He slows down. Luna: Wait — he paused a deal that was signed? Why? Lucas: Because he had a gut feeling. The whole process had been smooth, but he noticed something. The CFO had never been on any of the calls. Not one. The budget had been approved, but the person holding the purse strings had never asked a single question. Luna: Oof. That's a red flag I think a lot of reps would miss. Especially when the contract is already signed. Lucas: Exactly. Most salespeople would have popped champagne. But this rep had been burned before by a deal that looked closed and then got reversed at invoice time. So he asked for a 15-minute call with the CFO before the contract went live. Just to 'ensure alignment on implementation.' Luna: And the CFO agreed? Lucas: She did. And on that call, the CFO says, 'We're excited, but I have one concern. Our team is already stretched thin. This implementation is going to require three of my people for two months. I'm not sure we have the bandwidth.' Luna: So the deal that was signed wasn't actually going to work. Lucas: It was going to fail. The CFO was going to approve the purchase order, but then the implementation would have stalled, the team would have blamed the software, and they'd have been in a cancellation conversation by month three. Luna: What did the rep do? Lucas: He asked for a two-week delay on the start date. In that time, he brought in his own implementation consultant at no cost to the client, and together they built a phased rollout that required only one internal person for two weeks. The CFO said yes. The contract never got cancelled. Luna: So by slowing down, he actually saved the deal and probably deepened the relationship. Lucas: That's exactly it. And I think this is a powerful lesson for anyone who negotiates or sells. The rush to close is a trap. It feels like progress, but sometimes the fastest path to a closed deal is to decelerate at the very end. Luna: I've definitely felt that pressure. The prospect says yes, and your brain goes, 'Get the signature before they change their mind.' Lucas: Right. There's this concept called 'implied commitment.' When someone says yes, we assume they're fully committed. But a verbal yes or even a signed contract doesn't mean all the internal stakeholders are aligned. It just means the person you've been talking to is convinced. Luna: And that person might not be the decision-maker on implementation or day-two usage. Lucas: Exactly. So the question becomes: how do you know when to push and when to pause? I think there are three signals that a deal actually needs deceleration, not acceleration. Luna: I'm listening. Lucas: First: the economic buyer has been absent from the entire process. If the CFO or VP of Finance never showed up, that's a yellow flag. Even if they've signed off on budget, they may have reservations that nobody has surfaced. Luna: That makes sense. Our rep's story is a perfect example. Lucas: Second: the implementation plan has never been discussed in detail. A lot of sales teams sell the dream — the outcome, the ROI. They skip over the gritty 'How does this get installed? Who needs to do what?' If that conversation didn't happen, decelerate. Luna: It's almost like the closer you get to the finish line, the more operational questions you should be asking. Lucas: Yes. And third: the champion seems overly eager to get the contract signed fast. That sounds counterintuitive, but if your internal champion is pushing you to close before end of quarter, sometimes it's because they want to 'lock it in' before someone above them questions it. Luna: So they're trying to sneak it through. Lucas: Exactly. That's fragile. The moment a new stakeholder finds out, the deal can unravel. Better to surface those concerns before ink dries. Luna: It reminds me of something I read about in procurement research. A study found that deals where the CFO was involved in at least one meeting before contract signing had a 40 percent lower churn rate in the first year. Lucas: That's a striking number. And it makes sense. When the CFO understands the implementation plan and the ROI timeline, they're not surprised when the invoice arrives or when the team asks for more resources. Luna: So how do you actually slow down without sounding like you're backing out or losing confidence? Lucas: Great question. The rep in our story did it well. He framed it as 'I want to make sure we set you up for success from day one.' That's a positive frame. You're not saying 'I'm hesitant.' You're saying 'I care about your outcome.' Luna: And he made a specific ask: a 15-minute call with the CFO. Lucas: Right. A small, low-friction request that signals thoroughness. You can even say, 'Before we press go, I'd love to spend 10 minutes with your finance team to walk through the implementation timeline. It helps us avoid surprises.' Almost no one says no to that. Luna: And if they do say no — that's also useful information, right? Lucas: Huge red flag. If the prospect won't let you talk to anyone else, it usually means there's something they don't want you to hear. That's when you really need to slow down. Luna: I want to talk about the psychology on the rep's side for a second. The rush to close is partly driven by quota pressure, partly by excitement. But also — and this is something I've definitely felt — by fear. Fear that if you don't get the signature now, you'll lose it. Lucas: That fear is real. And it's amplified in a tough macro environment. But the data suggests that rushing actually increases the risk of losing the deal later. A study by Gong found that deals closed within the last week of the quarter had a 20 percent higher cancellation rate in the following quarter. Luna: Because those were the deals that were pushed through without proper alignment. Lucas: Exactly. So slowing down isn't just a nice to have. It's a risk mitigation strategy. Luna: Let's talk about a specific technique. Say you're a rep, and you're at the contract stage. You've noticed that the CFO has been absent. What's the exact language you use to request that meeting? Lucas: I like something like: 'To make sure we're both set up for a smooth implementation, I'd like to schedule a brief check-in with your finance team. We'll review the timeline and confirm there are no bandwidth constraints. It should take no more than 15 minutes.' Luna: Simple, specific, and it implies that you're doing this for their benefit. Lucas: Exactly. And then once you're in the meeting, you ask questions like: 'What does a successful rollout look like from your perspective?' and 'Are there any internal initiatives that might conflict with this timeline?' Luna: Those questions surface the hidden objections that the champion might not have shared. Lucas: Right. And sometimes you'll discover that the CFO actually loves the deal but wants a different payment schedule, or wants to push the start date by a month. That's fine — you can accommodate that. The key is to find out before you've started the implementation. Luna: I want to ask about a related scenario. What if the deal is already past the signature stage? The contract is signed, but you haven't invoiced yet. Is it too late to slow down? Lucas: It's never too late. You can still call the champion and say, 'Before we kick off, I'd like to do a quick alignment call with your team.' Even after signing, you can pause. The cost of a one-week delay is much lower than the cost of a failed implementation. Luna: And if the prospect pushes back — 'Why are you slowing this down?' — what do you say? Lucas: You say, 'I just want to make sure we nail the setup. I've seen too many deals go sideways because we rushed the kickoff. A few minutes now saves us months of headache.' It's honest. And it positions you as a partner, not just a vendor. Luna: I think that's a good note to wrap on. Before we go, I just want to say — if you're listening and these kinds of conversations have helped you in your work, even in a small way, you should know that there's a simple way to support the show. A couple of dollars a month makes a real difference in keeping these episodes ad-free and focused on the tactics that actually work. You can find that at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: Absolutely. It's listeners like you who keep us going. And on that note — here's a final thought. Next time you feel that urge to rush a deal to close, ask yourself: is this really the finish line, or just a milestone? Sometimes the fastest way to close is to take your foot off the gas. Luna: Well said. See you next time.