How to know what to do next on a deal

Why the next step is usually a guess

Most deals do not stall because the seller did nothing. They stall because the next move was chosen from a feeling: the contact was friendly, the call went well, a proposal seemed due. None of that says what the deal needs.

A useful shift is to look at the deal from the buyer's side. A deal that has stalled is a decision that has changed for the customer: a priority moved, a person joined, a budget step appeared. The question is not how to push harder. It is what changed on their side, and what you still do not know about it.

Step 1: separate what is established from what you assume

Write down what you believe about the deal, then mark each point by the proof behind it. The strongest proof is something the buyer did: they introduced you to someone, shared a document, booked a date. Next comes something they confirmed in writing, then something they said on a call, then your own notes. A feeling is the weakest of all.

A simple test cuts through optimism. Ask the buyer: what is the next thing we need to do to keep this moving? If they know the answer, you are on solid ground. If they do not, question your enthusiasm before you question theirs.

• Shown by their action: an introduction made, a document shared, a date booked.
• Confirmed in writing: an email that states it.
• Said by the customer: a quote from a call, with its date.
• Noted by you: your own record, to be confirmed.

Step 2: compare the deal with what it needs at this stage

Each stage of a sale needs different things to be true. Early on, you need a pain that matters enough to act on. Later, you need to know who decides, how a decision above a certain amount gets approved, and which date the customer is working towards.

Your qualification framework lists the points to check. MEDDPICC, BANT and SPICED each do it in their own words, and the point is not which one you choose. It is that the team uses the same words for the same things. When two people mean different things by champion or by economic buyer, the status of the deal becomes impossible to compare.

Place each point as met, not met or still to confirm, and keep the proof next to it. What remains to confirm is the list of things to learn next.

Step 3: name the gap and choose one move

The next best action is the move that closes the most important gap, in the order the deal needs. Order matters: asking for a signature before you know who signs does not move the deal, it exposes the gap.

1. If the person you rely on cannot reach the decision maker, test that first. Ask for a meeting with the decision maker and watch what they do.
2. If the buyer cannot say what happens next, build a shared plan with them: milestones, owners and dates, written together.
3. If urgency is missing, tie it to the customer's own outcome and the cost of waiting, not to your quarter.
4. If the customer is comparing you with doing nothing, go back to the problem and its cost before you talk about the offer.

An example on Halden Freight

Halden Freight is at the proposal stage, with a quote of 86,000 USD. The CRM names a contact, Maya Lindqvist. On the call of 19 September, she says that anything above 50k goes to Tom, the CFO. Jonas Berg, the head of dispatch, offers to set up a meeting with Tom.

• Established: the pain and the figures, said by the customer.
• Still to confirm: whether Jonas can carry the deal, who decides above 50k, and the date the customer is working towards.
• Not met: the decision maker. No one on your side has met Tom.
• The move: take up Jonas's offer before sending the proposal. Use the meeting to learn how Tom decides and what matters to him, and agree on the date of the next step.

Four moves that feel useful and are not

• Offering a discount to speed things up, when the real delay is the buyer's approval process.
• Sending the proposal before you have met the person who approves it.
• Leaving the next step to the last 30 seconds of the call, instead of agreeing it in the first half.
• Starting a pilot without a measure of success or a commitment to buy if it succeeds.