Why Salespeople Avoid Big Deals

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Why Salespeople Avoid Big Deals

In most sales roles, the bigger the deal = the bigger the commission.

But despite the massive commission check from landing a "whale" deal, salespeople are likely to pass on these massive opportunities.

A 2022 study sheds light on this behavior, revealing a decision-making process that favors mid-sized sales deals over larger, potentially more rewarding ones.

Here's what the research uncovered:

• Inverted Relationship: Sales performance vs the perceived size of the deal shows that salespeople are most comfortable pursuing deals of moderate size. Trying to win those big deals doesn't always make sense because they can be super challenging and take up all your time.

• Conserving Resources: A salesperson’s most prized resource is their time, and they only like to spend it on activities that will reward them. When sales reps think they’re unlikely to win a big deal, they put their time into smaller ones that seem easier to manage. This is especially common in solution selling, where conversion rates are unpredictable.

• Past Experience: A salesperson's past performance and experience plays a major role in their decision-making. New or highly successful salespeople are more likely to go after larger deals, because of their confidence or lack of experience with the challenges that come with big deals.

So in plain English… sales reps don’t avoid big deals because of a lack of ambition. They avoid them because they see them as risky or a waste of time.

Empowering Sales Reps To Go Big

To encourage sales reps to pursue big deals, the study suggests sales managers should do 3 things:

Use CRM and lead data to match sales reps with prospects that align with their past performance and comfort zone. Gradually increasing the size of the opportunities they're exposed to, will help them build confidence and skill needed to go after larger deals.

Share success stories of sales reps at your company that have successfully closed big deals. Make it known that the large deals are preferred by your company, and are more valuable than the smaller deals.

Create incentives that are specifically designed to reward bigger deals. This could include bonuses, recognition programs, or promo opportunities. The incentives should make it clear that the company favors large deals, and is willing to dish out more commission for bringing them in.

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Checking In On The Job Market

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