Why multi-threading speeds up your sales cycle, and how to do it

The sales cycle is changing and fast. Budgets are tighter, CRM tech has only become more convoluted, and the average closed deal requires 10.8 decision makers to weigh in. 

All of these snafus mean the average sales cycle is slowing down, which is never a good sign for reps. According to Hubspot’s 2023 Sales Trends Report, more than one in five sales professionals reports that the top reason prospects back out of deals is the length of the sales process. So it makes sense that the top goal of one-third (29%) of sales professionals is to make the process more efficient.

All of this demonstrates that the human element of the sales cycle is becoming even more critical to closing a deal, as trust is more important than ever in the buying process. Relationship-led growth is often the only effective way to establish meaningful connections. 

That’s why leveraging a multithreading sales approach can really transform your prospect into a fully baked opportunity and help you close the deal quicker. 

What is multithreading in the sales cycle?

Multithreading is the process of developing multiple points of contact within a company or account. By developing relationships with varying decision makers representing different areas of the company, you are able to better understand the pain points and potential value adds of your product from multiple angles.

For example, let’s say you sell team directory software and you’re connected to both a marketing and HR executive at the same company. The marketing leader shares that the biggest pain point for her org is people working in silos: meaning teams are often duplicating work because they are unaware of what another team is already doing. The HR exec tells you that his biggest issue is understanding different team structures in order to effectively load balance hiring. Your team directory software solves for both of these problems, and by establishing champions in two separate disciplines within the same company, you’re able to demonstrate the value of your product in several different ways. 

Taking it a step further, the actual buyer at your prospect company shares that she is most concerned about tool consolidation, as the number of procurement licenses she is managing is getting unruly. Since you’ve been multithreading across marketing and HR, you’re able to demonstrate to her how your product solves for pain points in two separate orgs at her company. She is thrilled to sign off on a deal that satisfies the needs of both marketing and HR teams. 

Multithreading helps deals close faster because you are engaging with different stakeholders across different departments at the same time, instead of waiting on a single champion to break through silos and spread your product to other departments.

How does multithreading streamline your sales approach?

Multithreading is a strategy used in the sales cycle to help deals close faster, as well as reduce churn. Multithreading can:

• Reduce risk: Relying on one point of contact is never as secure of a deal. Re-orgs happen, roles change, or the person might leave the company. According to LinkedIn, “In 2021, 86% of reps said they’ve either lost or had a deal delayed because a champion changed roles.” A multithreading approach provides you with insurance against losing a deal just because you lost a contact.

• Build consensus: Multiple people championing your product from inside the org builds consensus from varying areas of the business. This is particularly appealing to procurement teams, because they know that several teams at their company are all keen to use the same product; a win-win.

• Increase deal size: By bringing in several champions, this will increase the likelihood that these contacts are evangelizing your product across different teams in your org. This makes it more likely that the company will increase the number of seats purchased. 

• Reduce churn: The person making the purchasing decision often isn’t the person responsible for adoption of the tool or service. Your expansion and renewal teams will rejoice when they see your product has already been injected across several veins of the org thanks to your multithreaded approach to closing the initial deal. 

How to use Hifive for better multithreading:

When it comes to establishing professional connections, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. From Hubspot’s Sales Trends Report, “Almost three-quarters of sales professionals say that LinkedIn is the most effective platform for researching prospects.”

Hifive is a Chrome extension that you can install on your LinkedIn in order to leverage your connections’ contacts and quickly receive intros. 

Establish an intra-connection to someone from the same prospect company:

After connecting with one person at your prospective company, use Hifive to request an intro to another leader they’re connected to at the same company. 

Establish an inter-connection to someone in your network who is connected to someone at the prospect company:

Don’t start from scratch! If you have existing contacts with LinkedIn connections at your prospect company, use Hifive to quickly ask them for intros.

Hifive provides you with an editable template so you don’t waste time trying to craft carefully worded messaging. Bonus: Use the AI Assist feature to tweak the tone of your correspondence.

It’s time to streamline the deal process: 63% of deals close with multithreaded contacts. So having a tool like Hifive to help foster those critical connections means the deal moves through smoother and faster than ever before.