🎯 how to win Q4

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10 ways to close fast in Q4

Mark Hunter outlines 10 ways to adjust your prospecting strategy in Q4 when time is short and urgency is high.

1.) Focus on the lower third of your funnel

The bottom of your pipeline is where the fastest wins live.
Know exactly what’s there and what’s missing.

➤ Prioritize late-stage deals. They’re the most likely to close
➤ Use this data to spot gaps and redirect your prospecting efforts

2.) Don’t ignore past and lost customers

Just because they didn’t buy before doesn’t mean they won’t now.

✔ Year-end changes priorities. Deals fall through, needs shift
✔ A simple check-in can uncover new urgency
✔ Reach out to customers who bought before or almost did

↳ “All bets are off” in Q4. Things can turn quickly

3.) Use time like it matters because it does

Not every deal is worth the same amount of time.

➤ Spend more hours on buyers early in the funnel
➤ Give yourself enough runway to close before year-end
➤ Guard your time from distractions and low-impact activity

4.) Pick up the phone

Email is slow. Conversations are fast.

✔ A single call can replace weeks of email back and forth
✔ You’ll need to leave voicemails. Maybe 12 to 16 of them
✔ But when you connect, you move fast

5.) Maximize customer-facing time (CFT)

There’s a difference between spending time with customers and time with prospects.

➤ Selling to current clients is easier. But don’t let it crowd out pipeline work
➤ Block time to prospect, not just fulfill
➤ Your Q1 depends on the prospecting you do now

6.) Solve only what they need right now

Don’t pitch a full roadmap if they only need one piece today.

✔ Break the deal into smaller, urgent wins
✔ Selling the “whole thing” might push it to next year
✔ Sell tight, then expand later

7.) Follow up consistently

“Rinse and repeat” works in Q4.

➤ Don’t send a one-and-done email
➤ Follow up with fresh angles, not just reminders
➤ Stay visible and keep the momentum moving

8.) Stay available

Prospects move quickly this time of year. You need to as well.

✔ Don’t go dark. Check email, voicemail, and messages often
✔ Remove out-of-office replies
✔ Deals can flip in hours. Don’t miss them

9.) Skip the distractions

If it’s not urgent or helping you close pipeline, delay it.

✔ No extra webinars
✔ No lengthy admin
✔ No busywork that feels productive but doesn’t move deals forward

10.) Urgency wins in Q4

Every touchpoint matters more. Every conversation has potential.

➤ Work the edges of your funnel
➤ Push on urgency
➤ Be present and proactive until the calendar runs out

Strategies to crush Q4

Tom Alamo breaks down how to reset your sales mindset and strategy to finish Q4 strong.

Clean slate, clear direction

Start Q4 with a reset.

Reflect on your last quarter:

• What worked, what didn’t, and how you actually spent your time

• Check your calendar for where your hours went, not just what felt productive

• If you're missing quota, increase either the volume or quality of your pipeline activities

Block out time now for the work that moves deals:

➤ Prospecting early in the day
➤ Less time in low-impact internal meetings
➤ More time with customers and skill-building

Use Google Calendar color-coding and time audits to see how your time maps to results.

Referrals that convert

✔ First, ask your customer if they'd be open to looking through a list of intros if you do the work
✔ Build a list of 10–12 people from their LinkedIn network who match your ICP
✔ Add a sentence of context on why each is a fit
✔ Offer to ghostwrite the intro email and provide the contact details
✔ Send and track. Tom’s team sees a 50–60% hit rate on warm meetings from this

If they say yes:
⇒ One batch of intros can hit your whole weekly pipeline goal

Rewarm old leads

Timing is your friend in Q4.

Go back to:

• Closed-lost opps from the last 12–18 months

• Prospects who ghosted earlier this year

• Past champions now in new roles

Reach out with something like:

"Not sure if the timing is better now, but I saw your team’s hiring again and we’re working with others in your space on [insert problem]. Open to another quick chat?"

Double down on what’s working

Look at your last 10–20 meetings:

Where did they come from?

➤ Cold calls
➤ Referrals
➤ LinkedIn DMs
➤ Inbound

Find the channel that works; then go harder on it, smarter.

Disqualify early, focus late

Time is limited.

Now more than ever:

• Disqualify fast if there's no timeline, budget, or clear priority.

• Push for clarity: Is this a top 3 initiative for the company?

• Don’t be afraid to walk if it’s not. Q4 is not for maybes.

You’ll close more by focusing on the real buyers.

Energy = your edge

If you're in a slump, fix your calendar and your energy:

➤ Sleep more
➤ Cut distractions
➤ Workout in the morning
➤ Do one thing mid-week that recharges you

Tom watches thousands of calls a year and says you can tell within 3 minutes if a rep has the energy and belief to win the deal.

Low energy = low conversion.

Free resource:

Passive sellers don’t close

Chris Orlob delivers one of the simplest but highest-leverage mindset shifts for closing Q4 pipeline:

Don’t await the verdict. Influence it.

Stop waiting, start shaping

If you’re hearing “We’ll decide Friday,” you’re likely already behind.

Deals where you’re waiting for a final verdict rarely close.

➤ That’s true in sales, fundraising, even hiring
➤ You become the effect, not the cause
➤ Passive = powerless

Instead, shift from passive waiting to active influence.

Ask yourself: How can I insert myself into the decision-making process?

How to take control mid-deal

Instead of waiting for their internal meetings, offer value that helps shape the outcome:

✅ Before a CFO budget meeting:

“Happy to help craft a 1-pager you can use to position this internally. I’ve seen what works.”

✔ Moves you from bystander to strategic partner
✔ You influence what gets discussed in that room

✅ When a buyer says they’re reviewing notes:

“I get that. But curious - if nothing changed between now and Tuesday, what would you decide and why?”

✔ Creates a decision preview
✔ Gives you a chance to challenge assumptions or reinforce value

The mindset shift

Deals stall when sellers fall into “wait and hope” mode.

You can’t win if you’re sitting on your hands.

Influence the outcome by:

➤ Offering frameworks, use cases, or ROI calculators
➤ Helping navigate internal politics
➤ Asking direct but thoughtful questions that reveal how they’re leaning

↳ Anything that makes you part of the decision; not just a recipient of it.

Example:

If a buyer says:

💬 “I’m reviewing all of my notes between vendors and I’ll make my final decision Tuesday.”

You can ask:

💬 “I can understand that, and I have to ask: If you learned nothing new between now and Tuesday, what would you decide and why?”

Final thought

If you’re not actively shaping the decision, you’re not in control of the outcome.

Leave it to chance, and you’re risking the entire quarter.

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