A sales coach shares how asking a prospect about Thanksgiving plans led to closing a $100K+ deal two weeks early. By treating holiday time-off as a critical event and framing the deal around the prospect's desire to be with family before they leave, you can avoid chasing signatures during PTO and close on your timeline instead.
Chapters
This past year, I was able to pull in a $100K+ deal 2 weeks early in Q4, all because I asked what they were doing for Thanksgiving. And it didn't have to do with their favorite dish. So here's what I said. I love this time of year. Do you have any fun holiday plans coming up? They shared, yes, I love this time too. Yeah, I'm taking some time off before Thanksgiving. I'm actually visiting family up in New York. So I shared, that's great. Do you do that every year? They said, yep. It's an annual tradition to go visit our moms. I answered, so fun. Well, I know we're targeting November together. I can imagine you'll want to be fully present with family up there. Would it be possible to target before you actually leave so you don't have to worry about chasing down a contract signature up there? So step 1, especially during the holidays in November, December, January, always ask about what their holiday plans is. At a minimum, it's really good rapport. Step 2, frame it for them. Your POC doesn't want talks about red lines while they're with family for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, Christmas, or whatever holiday they celebrate. Holiday dates, they make great critical events. Everyone will be taking PTO these next few months. Do not let that blindside you. Be human, be genuine, and latch on to one of those to work together to get the deal done so you don't have to text them over a holiday dinner.
