Why Legal and IT Reviews Keep Killing Your Deals (And How to Fix It)

 The Hidden Deal Killers

Many salespeople blame legal and IT reviews whenever deals fail to hit target close dates. After all, you've been pushing hard on closing, making steady progress, only to run into roadblocks as your stakeholders start sending out security questionnaires, asking you to modify the contract, or bring up any number of issues from the technical side. Naturally, the conclusion that sellers tend to draw is that those departments are the deal killers.

But in most cases, that couldn't be further from the truth. It's not about departments; it's almost always about timing.

Typically, deals fall apart when critical stakeholders are introduced too late. What seems like an urgent problem is often an obvious issue that needs to be addressed long before it actually occurs. And what separates the true Full-Cycle Mavericks from the pack is that they do exactly that.

Learning how to prevent legal and IT issues will help you forecast deals better and close them faster.

Delays Are Often Self-Inflicted

There are reasons why IT and legal reviews are carried out in the first place. Data protection, compliance, and reducing business risks are important functions and processes required by any company.

For some reason, the majority of sales teams do not pay attention to this fact. They put their efforts into securing executives' support and deal closure only at the contract signing stage.

In doing so, they make their business partners face challenges that may take time. It is often the case that the relevant teams were not involved in the process previously, and now they have to examine contracts, check security policies, and integrate solutions.

Full-Cycle Mavericks realize that such delays can be anticipated since proactive planning leads to faster closures, as everything can be done progressively rather than hurriedly.

Why Legal and IT Reviews Matter

In order to make sense of the process, sellers need to start off by identifying the importance of these steps.

Information security is one of the top priorities of any IT department. There are many reasons why organizations need to make sure their vendor will be able to guarantee safety. Failing to perform such an evaluation would only jeopardize their business.

Compliance issues matter just as much to legal teams. Legal experts have the task of making sure that the agreement complies with the regulations of the particular industry. That is why they scrutinize all documents very carefully.

There is one common goal for all those departments: risk management. Neither IT nor legal experts have any intention of derailing the deal. They try to protect their company.

It becomes very clear when considered through this lens.

Full-Cycle Mavericks are well aware of the fact that these reviews are necessary.

Why Deals Stall During Reviews

The most common reason for delays during contract reviews is waiting too long.

Legal and IT departments cannot assess the deal without sufficient context because they come on board after the contract has been issued. At this point, all the pending questions have become important issues to clarify.

The missing documentation will cause further delays since security questions, compliance certificates, and technical details must be provided even though the review process has commenced. This will lead to more delays and frustrations.

In addition to that, there may be no alignment between the stakeholders. According to Gartner, 74% of B2B buyer teams experience unhealthy conflict during purchasing decisions, often because different stakeholders have competing objectives or unresolved concerns. Legal and IT reviews frequently expose those misalignments rather than create them.

While the executives are in favor of the project, the IT department could still have pending concerns. On the other hand, legal departments may ask for alterations that procurement departments had not anticipated.

These kinds of delays are never malicious. They usually occur due to poor planning.

Fixing the Process Before Problems Appear

One of the best solutions to any problems that may arise later on is to make changes at the earliest stages possible.

Full Cycle Mavericks initiate legal and IT checks prior to the contract phase of selling. They know exactly which parties are going to be involved and know their respective approval procedures beforehand. The result is more visibility and less uncertainty.

Another useful practice is providing information. Unlike regular sellers, top performers always prepare documentation ahead of time so that the parties can review all the necessary documents without any rush.

Establishing clear schedules also plays a great role. Buyers know when the approvals need to take place, and they are also aware of their own duties as well as those of other stakeholders.

Thus, preparation ensures smoothness in the process.

Building a Predictable Closing Process

In order to build predictable revenue, companies need to have predictable processes.

The Full-Cycle Mavericks work well with others, treating Legal and IT as collaborators who bring valuable knowledge to successful implementation projects. Buyers should know from the very beginning that the review process is just another step in the sales process.

It is crucial to set expectations at an early stage. In this way, buyers know that reviews are inevitable, and their cooperation requires time and coordination. This will save everyone from unnecessary frustration and misunderstanding.

Keeping the deal momentum also requires constant communication between all parties. Successful sellers communicate consistently and actively during the review period rather than fading away after the contract is signed.

Such an attitude helps create a greater sense of trust. What's even more important is that it leads to better forecast reliability and relationships with customers.

Why Great Sellers Anticipate Complexity

There is always going to be some degree of complexity when making business-to-business sales in today's world. Enterprise sales will involve multiple departments, competing interests, and lengthy review procedures. Avoiding all complexity is not possible.

However, great sellers are able to predict and manage complexity.

Full-Cycle Mavericks know that great closers do not act in response to a crisis. What makes them effective closers is that they prevent those situations from becoming crises.

By anticipating risks and communicating effectively between stakeholders, they make the process of doing business easier. Their customers appreciate this approach because it brings certainty.

In the end, preparedness is perhaps one of the greatest advantages any seller has.

Conclusion: Reviews Are Not the Enemy

Top-performing Full-Cycle Mavericks recognize that the legal team and IT department aren't what prevent deals from closing. The time at which those teams are engaged is.

These departments play crucial roles because their jobs are to minimize risk and help facilitate positive outcomes.

But with early stakeholder engagement, proactive information sharing, and proper communication, exceptional sellers make hurdles an expected part of the deal process.

Sales success does not come from heroic last-minute actions. It comes from preparation and execution.

In today's B2B world, reviews aren't the enemy; the element of surprise is.

That's why the best sellers always remove the element of surprise from the deal.