Missed Part 1? Get up to speed here. Not required reading, but helpful.

“They are big-time Unicorn Riders. Good luck selling them.”

Problem: Everyone Wants the Same Thing

Another meeting. Additional stakeholders. Timeline outline.

Every salesperson is coached to identify & establish the ideal next step.

But since sales are all about the buyer, you gotta understand the fork you just put in their road.

Here’s what the buyer is probably thinking at this point:

“Do I really want to involve other stakeholders before we have a frontrunner?“

“Should I put my team through 2-3 full evaluations?”

All valid questions that put you as the seller in a tough spot.

Relying on standard industry CTAs is typically where that road comes to a dead end.

Storytime

We’ve all had prospects, just based on the account, that prefer to purchase the Unicorns.

In the Underdog Selling world, we call these accounts Unicorn Riders.

You read that right. Need it used in a sentence?

“Oh yeah, they are big-time Unicorn Riders. Good luck selling them.”

A recent VP prospect I was working with gave off market-leader bias suspicions.

• Had connections at 🦄

• Previously purchased 🦄

• (Later learned) had been used as a reference for 🦄

Later confirmed — Big-time Unicorn Rider.

In my case, this was the buyer/signer. So if I wanted any chance of winning, the buck stopped with him.

We don’t use enough bowling references, so here's one:

These types of deals are a Greek Church shot. The toughest spare to pick up in the game.

So I had to go full bowling legend, Pete Weber…insert The Closer.

Solution: The Closer Play

You can’t set the tone of an amazing deal experience without the Closer.

It’s the initial conversation sunsetter that signals to the buyer that you’re serious about winning their business.

Closers

You just ran an A+ discovery & demo; don’t kill the deal from the jump by fumbling the closer.

Some examples used in the wild:

The Closer needs to be flexible. You’ll need to feel the conversation out.

If it went really well, maybe you don’t need the Unicorn Rider Reference & it’s better to just get an Intro.

Maybe it was a rough meeting & you need to lean on Multi-threading below the line.

Feel it out during the meeting.

Insights & Additional Thoughts

Thought #1 - Unicorn Rider Reference

Make sure your reference is on a texting level with you, they’ve opted in for references & you Amazon gift card them every time after the fact. Book this EARLY in the convo, not later, or you’ll be cooked.

Thought #2 - Ask for an Intro

Previous work experience & location-based references are good places to look, they often know people in their bubble. Bring 2-3 names with you. This will keep them more engaged w/ you throughout the deal.

Thought #3 - Multi-thread BTL

It’s a much softer ask & the easiest one to frame. Typically use that after the 1st demo. I usually get 1 of 3 responses. 1- No, let’s not do that. 2- Yes, talk to. 3- No, but talk to {ATL person}