I think one of the hardest things to do and perhaps the most exciting thing to do is to make deals. Grant writers have to do this if they’re going to have any work to do. It’s definitely an art form, especially when there are multiple partners to pull together.
Here are five things you simply must do to bring team deals to a successful conclusion:
- Be clear on the reason for the deal – benefits and drawbacks. If you’re pushing the deal, you must have your elevator speech ready and convincing.
- Insist that all necessary partners being involved every discussion, or reschedule the discussion.
- Communicate constantly with everyone about everything. Make sure that emails that should be cc’d are cc’d.
- Set deadlines for steps along the way and hold people to them. If someone says they’re going to submit a budget by Friday, email them on Thursday asking if they need you to review the draft for them.
- Restate, restate, restate agreements and commitments and timelines. Summarize at the end of all meetings and conference calls and then go back and put it all in writing and email it out to everyone inviting feedback.
Bringing the deal to successful conclusion means overcoming objections and resistance. don’t assume your deal is the biggest thing on their plate: your job is to push your deal. Don’t give up if one partner goes silent for a while. If they never come around, you’ll know they’re out, but until you are certain they’re out, keep communicating with them as if they’re still in.
Your goal is to secure a contract, so getting that signature is the payoff. But, remember, that only means the rest of the work begins!