Why your deals don't close: it starts with the first meeting
Most closing problems are not closing problems. They start at the very first meeting.
- Most can't-close problems actually start at the first meeting.
- A strong first meeting sets the value anchor and point of view, creating an echo chamber through the whole cycle.
- A weak one looks active later but is vague and impossible to forecast.
Most founders who say they have a closing problem do not. They have a first-meeting problem.
The problem is not the close. It is the first meeting
Douglas Mancini: most startups we work with say they cannot close. Plenty of interest, good conversations, but the deal does not land. When you run the postmortem, the problem is almost never the close itself. It starts very early, often in the very first meeting. A strong first meeting sets the value anchor and a point of view, and that kicks off an echo chamber through the whole sales cycle. A weak one looks active later in the CRM, but it is vague, slow and impossible to forecast.
Revenue misses are created upstream and seen too late. Fix the first meeting and the rest of the cycle gets easier.
More in our guide to first meetings and reducing sales cycle length.
Related: How to Run Discovery Calls in B2B: What First Meetings Actually Need to Achieve, Five ingredients of a first meeting that creates momentum.
