Clean Deals Require a MOP

There are many reasons as sales teams we lose deals. In my professional opinion they boil down to two:

1. We were working an unqualified opportunity ( a lead that should not have converted)

2. We were outsold by a more skilled competitor

   
   

Let's focus on #1 as it is very common. If you study "decision science", as it involves the brain, you will learn that our brain is actually quite lazy. In other words, when it comes to making decisions, our brains tend to lean into the path of least resistance. Frankly, they don't like to work too hard. Extrapolating that to sales and the selling process the tendency for reps is to take the "easy way". I heard a sales rep recently say "if the customer is willing to talk to me about our solutions, that, to me, is a qualified opportunity." Yes, if you are selling tires to someone who just pulled into your shop with a flat but no if you are a B2B SaaS provider who needs to sell "change" in order to drive demand for your valuable services. My clients fall into the latter camp.

Once a lead has been created with a potential buyer, qualifying that lead is the most important factor in determining your success against your target quota. As such, lead qualification skills are critical. You might have next level skills when it comes to "presenting" or "negotiating" but those won't help you if you are chasing "ghost" deals that result in nothing but wasted time and effort. In addition, the opportunity costs (deals you cannot invest in b/c you don't have the time) can be very significant for your organization. Did you know just a 5% increase in close rate (as a result of working on qualified deals), can grow your top line by 7+%. That's free money!

There are many ways to qualify leads properly to decide "in" or "out" and I spend a lot of time training sales people on a process and skill development to do so efficiently and effectively. For today's post I am going to focus on on aspect commonly referred to as a Mutual Outcome Plan (MOP). First, let's define what it is and its purpose. A Mutual Outcome plan, quite simply, is an agreed upon set of steps between a seller and a buyer that allows both parties to work together as efficiently as possible to determine the outcome (yes or no) of a potential sale/purchase. A standard plan will include "activities", "ownership" and "due dates". It's mutual in the sense that both parties co-build the plan and are committed to following through. Additionally, once the plan has been drafted, it is ratified in writing (typically an email) which makes the commitment stronger and can help you down the line should the deal get "stuck". MOP's are most effective when created early in the sales cycle. However, if you have deals in your active pipeline and do not know how to bring them to an outcome (yes or no by a mutually agreed upon time frame), working with your buyer on putting a MOP in place can be very helpful. In fact, if they push back and are unwilling to co-build a MOP that is a serious red flag typically leading to the "closed - no decision" status.

As mom use to say, "actions speak louder than words" and buyers that demonstrate their engagement by their willingness to co-build a MOP "qualify in". Those that do not "qualify out." Clean your deals - get a MOP in place for every one and watch your close rates and sales sky rocket.