Closing First 6 Figure Deal-Experience?

[KJREDDY247@]

Well, that's Kind of Clickbait.

I just want to hear from some of those big guys experiences

• What age you guys closed your first 6 figure deal?
• What is the biggest pressure went through to close the first 6 figure deal
• How long did you spend in the same field to close the first deal
• How did you handle all those pressures?
• Made any Immediate changes in your lifestyle after that Big deal?
• Were you guys keep up the same level work after that?

Does the closing those deals become just normal after closing your first few 6 figure deals?

I would be glad if anyone can share their experiences on at least any one of those points

Thanks in Advance

KJREDDY

 

[Jyeshtha]

Maybe you should check out @stepdub's journey thread. Hey just closed one recently.

 

[KJREDDY247@]

Maybe you should check out @stepdub's journey thread. Hey just closed one recently.

Thanks for pointing out i will look into it

 

[yherrliche]

• What age you guys closed your first 6 figure deal?
• What is the biggest pressure went through to close the first 6 figure deal
• How long did you spend in the same field to close the first deal
• How did you handle all those pressures?
• Made any Immediate changes in your lifestyle after that Big deal?
• Were you guys keep up the same level work after that?

Does the closing those deals become just normal after closing your first few 6 figure deals?

• I was 20 years old
• Honestly I didn't think it was going to close, I was an arts dealer and I always used to put a couple expensive artworks in the selection to make the rest of my proposal look cheap.
• I was going this for 2 years
• Again there was no real pressure, I wasn't starving and I didn't think it would close. When it happened I celebrated and went to deliver the product.
• No offence but 100k deal means what 50k profit in a healthy margin company. 50k gross shouldn't change your lifestyle or you're doing it wrong. You can't really upgrade your house, buying a car is a waste of money, and you can barely buy a bond. It just sped up my savings but didn't change my lifestyle significantly.
• I had a couple others after that in the arts-dealing field and in the marketing field. getting a big contract doesn't mean all your future contracts should be bigger, it just means you have more risk on a single customer. I prefer many small deals than one big one.
• Yeah it becomes normal afterwards since you already did it once. But like I said, I try to avoid those as much as I can. Usually the client will be on top of you like a rash, and it increases your risk significantly. Better 10x 10k deals than one 100k deal.

If you could explain to me what pressure there is to close a 6 figure deal, because I didn't understand that part. You don't know you are going to do it until it happens, so it shouldn't be stressful. And if it happens, you quoted it, so you already know you can do it.

 

[KJREDDY247@]

If you could explain to me what pressure there is to close a 6 figure deal, because I didn't understand that part. You don't know you are going to do it until it happens, so it shouldn't be stressful. And if it happens, you quoted it, so you already know you can do it.

I am really glad that you took the time to share your experience point by point

For "Pressure" Part.
In My Country 100k Deal is almost a 8 Figure Deal in my Place. Only 5% of People come under this category out of 1300000000 People. So That's a really big deal for anyone.
Your Deal's Kind of Unexpected it seems.
Pressure Builds when you and your team are working on the same project for a long time by expecting something that big and completing it step by step and getting near to that step where the final transaction is gonna completed that really never makes you sleep until it's done.

I did Understand your part it dint Change your Lifestyle Part because you are from a country where euro or USD is your official currency.
It really changes everything in my Place.

 

[MaxGuard]

Only 5% of People come under this category out of 130000000 People.

It's 1,300,000,000 people

 

[yherrliche]

Pressure Builds when you and your team are working on the same project for a long time by expecting something that big and completing it step by step and getting near to that step where the final transaction is gonna completed that really never makes sleep until it's done.

Oh alright I see, it's true that if you're bidding on a tender or competing on a project that takes a while it can be stressful. Thanks for clarifying and sorry for being narrow-minded. It makes sense now.

I did Understand your part it dint Change your Lifestyle Part because you are from a country where euro or USD is your official currency.

Alright indeed you're right, I based it on my own country. When you have your 6 figure deal make sure to put half in savings, don't spend it all and you'll be fine

 

[KJREDDY247@]

It's 1,300,000,000 people

That's a Blunder
I should have mentioned in the text instead

Edit:
Fixed it

 

[t2van]

Not sure what the other poster is on about with stress as normally anything over 50k you are under some kind of time pressure deadline and if your service based delivering a service and someone in your chain breaks down or you have an issue there is normally some kind of clause that comes back to bite you in the ass or you start loosing money per day the project is not delivered so I'm not sure what the other poster is saying doesn't understand stress..

Maybe he/she just been lucky - reading the post sounds like they just sold a bit of art in the room and that was done.

I've sold and delivered 6 figure projects which have had a whole kind of pressure as mentioned above time, deadlines, people to answer to and what's worse layers of management and paper pushers to break through to get answers - there's no pressure for the client if you can't deliver it's on you but trying to get answers to some things are like pulling blood from a stone.

I was 25 for my first service based contract the job lasted just over 9 months, before that Id normally rack up work over the year to make similar kind of money but that was my first "big project" where it took most of my time.

Before that I've delivered products imported and sold the container the before it's even cleared customs for similar money.

Biggest take away is learning to manage the project, time and also money involved and then ensuring you pay everyone on time.

Story related to this:

First ever service based job I quoted for was for a well known high street brand. I got together with two other developers and we worked out we could deliver the project for 38k each with each of us making a decent bit of profit so we where prepared to bid 120k (covered some expenses and buying everyone a new mac!)

Anyway it took us 4 weeks to work towards a presentation and finally got to the pitch, we where all very nervous and arrived early - and by chance one of my friends at the time went to the toilet and overheard a quote for 700k for the same job we all looked at each other in the waiting area and adjusted our powerpoint and added a 100k markup for each us in fear that we would be too cheap.

We pitched the project - client was impressed - we never got it, client didn't think we could deliver the project considering our project quote was so low, they decided to go with a company that quoted 7 figures! Now I know agencies etc have overheads but that was my first real world taste of how much bloat and expense there is in the corporate world!

 

[fasttrak]

I have never closed a 6 figure deal in the SEO field, but I have in general sales. I have actually closed $10m+ deals, and awarded $2b+ deals, obviously these were not my own companies. I can answer your questions for my first six figure deal, for my company.

• What age you guys closed your first 6 figure deal?

20

• What is the biggest pressure went through to close the first 6 figure deal

If I do not close the deal, I have no idea how I am going to pay my employees, or house mortgage.

• How long did you spend in the same field to close the first deal

1 year

• How did you handle all those pressures?

Dealing with pressure has always been my gift, and why I went on to bigger jobs. Basically I am super confident in myself, but not in a smarmy, sales sort of way. Just in my own head. If you are confident and can answer all the big questions easily (you have prepared your arse off!), your perspective clients become confident in you and your business. All they really care about is, can you deliver the service, is the price right, and will I cause them any headaches. Confidently answer those questions in your proposal, lead up meetings and presentation and you have a very good chance of closing the deal.

• Made any Immediate changes in your lifestyle after that Big deal?

Paid my employees, paid the mortgage, put the rest in to expanding the business. Carried on making peanuts so I could expand.

• Were you guys keep up the same level work after that?

Yes, as long as I was involved end to end.

I'll add my own question now

• Was it worth it?

Yes and no.

I was young and still finding my way. In the end I realised that the secret ingredient to the business was me, my ability to build relationships and sell at the highest level.

So after 6 months, I let my staff know that I planned on closing the business when they had found a new job. I waited several months for them to comfortably find decent jobs elsewhere, wound down the business and went to consult for one of the big global clients I had delivered services for.

8 years later they convinced me to become an employee as part of their leadership team. I did this for a few years, but was away from home, all over the world and never saw my wife and kids. So I left and took a job for a big services company that I had previously awarded $b's in contracts to, as they assured me that I could work from home. Made them $100's of millions in new services and clients, but again, it took me away from my family.

So I resigned in 2015 and took a few years off with a golden handshake.

I created a small local business and started to look at SEO again on the side, which was actually a sideline in my first business 25 years ago. I still run my local business, but my wife and I are starting to talk about winding it down and looking at SEO to work only a couple of days a week. We will see how things go over the next 6 months.

The moral of my ramblings and experience over the last 25 years

• Family is way more important than money
• Employees can be a real pain in the arse (at one point I had 30k working for me, across 100+ countries, obviously not direct reports)
• Business politics can be a real pain in the arse
• Customers can be a real pain in the arse

Basically, don't lose sight of what is most important to you. Family and your health, the rest is just gravy.

 

[KJREDDY247@]

I've sold and delivered 6 figure projects which have had a whole kind of pressure as mentioned above time, deadlines, people to answer to and what's worse layers of management and paper pushers to break through to get answers - there's no pressure for the client if you can't deliver it's on you but trying to get answers to some things are like pulling blood from a stone.

I will definitely use this last line somewhere in team conversations in the coming days.
Thanks for sharing your experience.

I have never closed a 6 figure deal in the SEO field, but I have in general sales. I have actually closed $10m+ deals, and awarded $2b+ deals, obviously these were not my own companies. I can answer your questions for my first six figure deal, for my company.

The moral of my ramblings and experience over the last 25 years

• Family is way more important than money
• Employees can be a real pain in the arse (at one point I had 30k working for me, across 100+ countries, obviously not direct reports)
• Business politics can be a real pain in the arse
• Customers can be a real pain in the arse

Basically, don't lose sight of what is most important to you. Family and your health, the rest is just gravy.

Noted those endpoints. Thanks for sharing your valuable experience.

You went far more ahead than what I was expecting. 25 Years of Experience.. there will be definitely a lot of gems from your experiences to pick from.

Haven't you tried to start something similar business ( In the same field ) where you were able to bring those million-dollar contracts consistently so that you can build something on your own?

It's always true Health and family are the first two preferences for everyone.

 

[fasttrak]

Haven't you tried to start something similar business ( In the same field ) where you were able to bring those million-dollar contracts consistently so that you can build something on your own?

It's always true Health and family are the first two preferences for everyone.

I was continuously encouraged to do so, by those that worked for me, and clients, as it was me that built the relationships with global CIO's and CFO's from scratch, using my contacts. However, I know exactly where that leads, and it is not spending time with my family.

If you want to run a business that size, you need to dedicate your life to it. We are talking about building services and projects which are run across 100's of countries, 100,000+ users, and 1000's of resources. Building a business that can support that means dedicating your life to it.

My old boss from my last company had multi multi £m's, a nice castle, with full size indoor pool and gym, McLaren, Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini's coming out of his ears, sponsored F1 teams, had world champions presenting his 40th birthday cake on a yacht in Monaco after the race. He had no reason to work anymore, his kids and grandkids would never have to work in their lives.

However, I saw his wife and family more than him. His kids did not know him, he struggled to relate to them, his relationship with his wife was beyond strained, they had drifted apart years ago, as he was never home. I was meant to be the guy that took over from him, but it was his example that made me walk away from it all.

A lot of people were shocked, I was offered a LOT to stay on. They were prepared to give me anything to carry on and give my life to the company. Don't get me wrong, my commission was excellent, as was my salary and company shares. I lived in 5 star hotels, the Ritz in London was a second home, and my expense account was 7 figures. However a hotel room in any hotel is just a room at the end of the day, flying first class, limo's, Michelin star restaurants etc etc, are just a flight, car journey and a meal. Great experiences at first, but quite sad when you experience them by yourself over and over again.

What do you have when you finish? A HUGE hole in your life and no relationship with your family and friends, who have moved on over the last 30 years. My boss taught me this, and I am a quick learner, well it took 13 years, so not that quick.

The key to life, in my opinion, is to make enough to be comfortable and maximise what is important. The last part is different for different people. For me, its my family.

Closing your first 6 figure deal is exhilarating, satisfying and rewarding. But money is not the be-all and end-all to life.

 

[Crazyfire]

What age you guys closed your first 6 figure deal?
~29.

What is the biggest pressure went through to close the first 6 figure deal
1. Competition. In my field, you have to pull your soul out to convince the client that you are the best fit. And there are more than one competitor that is doing the same thing. Presentations, QA sessions, Proof Of Concept demos. More and more to just satisfy the client. The pressure comes from knowing that you spent 40+ hours on developing a presentation and there is a chance that you will be left in second place in this race. The most shittiest days were after losing those tenders. What could I done better? Did those PowerPoint slides were enough? Did I say something wrong? Should I ask more questions or be more proactive? Did our demo sucked?

2. Birocracy. Its such pain in the ass to get through the processes and sell these kinds of deals.

3. Responsibility & liability. If I won't land the deal, I can't pay employees and my own bills.


How long did you spend in the same field to close the first deal
Any first deal is easy, you can close anything pretty fast. But our first 100k deal took about 3 years in a very competitive niche(web development) in a country where 100k is very large money.


How did you handle all those pressures?
It becomes a daily part of your work and you even do not think about it. By years I have built up such stress resistance that even in very stressful situations I can stay calm and find solutions.

It's stupid, but I like this graph. If you live by this mindset, then there are no pressures you couldn't beat.


Made any Immediate changes in your lifestyle after that Big deal?
None. Dunno about others but running a consultancy business and landing a large deal - does not affect your lifestyle a lot. It helps, but you have so many expenses and costs that you are just happy that there won't be a financial rollercoaster for some time.


Were you guys keep up the same level work after that?
Well. It helps to do better work, yes. But I wouldn't advise that or be very careful with it. It can burn your money pretty fast. 100k projects usually mean there are huge margins for errors.

About takeaways, I actually very relate to @fasttrak. In this kind of business - everything is pain in the arse. And you have to deal with it. Think twice before starting something like this. Im looking for a way out as we speak.

 

[Crazyfire]

We pitched the project - client was impressed - we never got it, client didn't think we could deliver the project considering our project quote was so low, they decided to go with a company that quoted 7 figures! Now I know agencies etc have overheads but that was my first real world taste of how much bloat and expense there is in the corporate world!

Bin there. that's SO annoying. i feel you man