One of the greatest challenges we have observed for enterprise sales professionals is – How to win 7 or 8-figure ($10M+) deals. A lot of salespeople talk about closing mega deals, but the reality is that most don’t achieve it or at best had a deal driven by their management. We’ve found that its usually a small percentage of sellers who’ve cracked the code and have done it multiple times. We’d like to unlock the mystery of closing these deals.One of the most accomplished people I have seen, first-hand, is Paul Evans.Paul an over-achieving enterprise sales director, with 20 years plus software industry experience. He is typically brought into an organisation to accelerate revenue growth - this is always achieved by creating high performance and a positive people culture.He has a rare ability to create compelling narratives that connect solutions to decision makers - enabling them to align with key business objectives. He is a stellar relationship builder and thoroughly decent human being.A declaration - Paul is a client and we have worked together multiple times.Thank you, Paul, for taking time out:1. How do you achieve such big deals?· Three possible routes:· RFP, by that point written by someone else and have another in mind.· Defined project, or · Consultative approach - you proactively discover what the customer really needs.· Third option whilst harder enables you to help the customer more than they know themselves. It is the most uncertain.· Reading the annual report will give you the investment intentions of the company. Discovery work, contacts in the company to build up a picture of what the need is. Joining dots and aligning your solution to these is the optimal route to larger deals.· Early executive engagement - win the psychological and social contract before commercial contract.· It feels authentic to Paul to know the executives at the beginning of the process and have relationships in place rather than last few days before deal sign off.· A $27 million deal started out in the account executive mind as a $50-100,000 opportunity, it would have stayed there if they had not thought differently and asked: o “What could this deal mean at its largest?” o Burning platform, a high level of pain allows larger deals. 2. One of my observations is how you connect with senior level executives and create a compelling narrative; can you tell us more about that? · Paul paints the pictures of where the customer is now, a vision of an outcome and how the technology will close that gap.· At a human level we are ready for story. For business, a compelling narrative arc. So, tell that story well.· Rob recalls the time when working with Paul at an offsite sales conference at Juniper Networks Rob and Paul in the same team to create a pitch for client business. Paul created a compelling narrative which became the winning pitch.· A 2-year active customer engagement process led to the eventual signing of a 26million deal.· Consultative selling builds trust and enables bigger wins.3. What do you wish you knew early on in your career, that you know today?· Take more risks, not unmeasured, yet explore possibilities. Be braver.· Paul like a Catherine wheel, gaining speed and energy. Would have challenged himself to step into the unknown more.If you have found this podcast valuable, please like, re-share and pass onto a work colleague or someone within your network whom it could help at this stage of their career. To discover exclusive content for our community, go to https://www.enterprisesalesclub.com.