A seller was certain his plant manager contact could sign an $800,000 order, because that contact had signed every deal before it. Here's the question I asked him in the deal review, and why account history can quietly work against you.

Most sellers work a stuck account solo. You have a roster of people inside your own company who can open doors you can't, and here's how to put them to work on the deals that matter most.

Nobody likes reopening a deal they lost. But the post-mortem is one of the fastest ways to lift your conversion rate.

Hope the contact calls back. Hope the deal closes. Hope is not a plan. Here's the habit that lets you pivot instead of scramble when a deal goes sideways.