I’ve managed a dozen heads of sales closing ~$200M million in deals. It’s controversial, but I stand by it: if you're an aspiring or new VP of Sales, here's the #1 most important skill you need to master (and it’s not closing, hiring, or product knowledge). It's urgency. At every second of the day, the best VPs of Sales know the EXACT deals they have to win to hit their month, quarter, and year. And they are CONSUMED with each next step needed to drive those deals forward. Why? Because they know that a deal that doesn’t close TODAY may never close. They don't let short-term goals override strategic sense. They don't “throw themselves” at a customers or drop price. But they have a relentless focus on closing deals NOW. Here are 3 techniques to drive urgency in your own selling: 1. Know exactly which deals matter this/next quarter Not ALL deals. They aren’t all equal. Just the ones that MUST close to hit your goals, and that have a shot. Put their names on a whiteboard where you see them 20 times a day. Start every sales or pipeline meeting talking about those deals. Obsess over every next step. But make sure you're seeing and thinking about them all day long. 2. Don't accept weak or no next steps Get a next step on each call before you hang up. Try for next-day next steps rather than next week! Work backward from your needed close date to ensure the next steps align with the timing you need for the deal. Follow up daily to stay top of mind…but not with “checking in” emails. Use your creativity to find different reasons to build a relationship. Add value beyond your sales cycle. Mention a conference you're going to or share a relevant social post. Don’t settle for “we’ll talk internally and get back to you.” 3. Learn to transmit your urgency to others You should discuss your must-win deals in every call with everyone inside your company, making sure everyone knows the priority. Use the following language with your team: - “This is a must-win.” - “We’ve GOT to find a way to get this one.” - “This deal is URGENT.” Again, you can’t do this on every deal. See point #1. Then, use the following language with customers: A. “This deal is really important to us, and we think to you. Can we agree it’s a priority to get this done by X date?” B. “We don’t want to waste your time. Let’s agree to try hard to run your buying process together in the next 3 weeks. If we don’t reach the conclusion I’m looking for, no harm, but at least we’ll spend 3 weeks trying vs. 3 months.” C. “This deal is really important to us. Can I come to your office tomorrow to map out next steps?” TAKEAWAY: The best sellers don’t close deals because they are “good at selling”. They know the deals that matter. They keep those deals top of mind at all times. They drive next steps with tremendous urgency. They gain the support of their team AND the customers to share that urgency. They don't want to close deals. They NEED to. Urgency wins.
Jonathan, while I agree urgency is very important in selling, mindset sets the precision for every skill in a seller’s toolkit. Urgency is one expression of mindset. For example, is the buyer buying or am i mistaking interest for intent?
Agreed urgency matters, but a missing piece I’d add is that the top teams also encode urgency into handoffs between roles, marketing to sales to CS, with a shared SLA on next-step timing, so the whole engine behaves with predictable velocity.
urgency matters, but i don’t think it’s the #1 skill for a first-time vp sales. the bigger skill is teaching the company how revenue actually happens, not just pushing urgency down to reps. the real job is managing up and across so the founder, product, finance, cs, marketing, and the board understand why deals are won, why they stall, what support is needed, where the company is creating its own friction, and why acquiring revenue is much harder than it looks from a dashboard. a vp sales who only transmits urgency becomes a pressure manager. a vp sales who teaches the org how revenue is created becomes leverage.