When it comes down to it, no matter what line of work you’re in, I can probably guess that making money is a goal. I know, I know; you don’t exactly need to be a psychic to assume something like that. But making money – having positive cash flow, solid revenue and the ability to pay your bills in good time – is the core of any business. So when it feels like something’s getting in the way of that, it’s a big deal.
When your sales team is consistently having potential deals rejected by finance teams, who’s to blame? After all, if your goal is to make money, pushing deals through should be a priority, right?
Not so fast. Sales deals are often rejected by finance teams because they represent a particular risk to your business. When finance teams have deep, enriched data to work with, they might see things that the sales team doesn’t. But the big problem isn’t that the finance team is rejecting deals: it’s that sales doesn’t have access to the data that could have prevented the rejection in the first place. So if you’re hoping to up your deal approval rates, I have a few suggestions.
1. Have account and credit risk data in the same place
One of the biggest barriers to fast, confident deal approvals is fragmented information. Think about how difficult it is to make choices as simple as where to go out for dinner when you’re with a big group: you have to cater to a million different experiences, tastes and preferences to land on something everyone’s happy with. Something similar happens here: when sales teams rely on their CRM account data, while finance teams have in-depth business credit reports and automated decisioning tools, how could the two not end up misaligned?
Integrating finance and credit risk data into your CRM bridges the gap. Instantly, your sales team has visibility into their prospects’ financial health, payment history and credit risk profile. When that’s available right alongside company information, recent interactions and account notes, it’s a powerful combination. Your sales team can qualify deals based on cold, hard data: not previous conversations, relationships or reputations, all of which can be deceiving.
And it’s not just about giving your sales team a boost: the finance team will benefit too. Instead of having to manually review unfamiliar accounts or requesting extra context from sales, they can validate their assumptions and make informed decisions faster without needing to add extra steps or platforms into their existing workflows. When both teams are working from a single source of truth, the conversation becomes less about arguing a side and more about collaborating.
2. Increase credit controls on the sales side
If your sales team has a deal that they think is perfect, it’s no wonder they’d be surprised when it isn’t approved. But if the potential customer doesn’t align with your business’ credit policy, finance isn’t left with much choice. So, instead of dealing with that back-and-forth all the time, can we suggest something different? While finance is responsible for evaluating risk, sales teams control the front end of your funnel. And when they don’t have enough visibility into credit factors, high-risk deals inevitably slip through. Strengthening sales controls creates a healthier, more predictable pipeline that finance can approve more quickly.
The best way to do this is to is to integrate credit-risk data directly into your lead scoring and qualification criteria. That way, you aren’t only looking at sales factors like need and intent – plenty of companies may need your business, but not be a good fit for your company’s credit policy. Instead, your sales team is measuring things like financial stability, industry-specific risk and payment behavior like Days Beyond Terms (DBT) from the beginning. Then, your sales team spends more time on deals that are more likely to close and be approved, rather than chasing prospects destined for rejection.
3. Keep sales and finance teams on the same page
When sales deals are getting rejected, think about what’s really going on. Here’s a hint: it’s not about sales teams determined to make life difficult for finance, or vice-versa. Instead, the issue is about misunderstanding. Your sales and finance teams are just that: different teams. They have different objectives, KPIs and pressures: while sales is trying to hit targets, finance is focused on protecting the company’s cash flow and overall stability. When the two teams don’t understand the differences – and similarities – between their roles, it’s easy for them to start viewing each other as an obstacle.
In a nutshell, your sales and finance teams need to understand each other. Sales teams benefit from knowing how credit risk is assessed and what red flags to look out for. Meanwhile, when finance teams understand the sales cycle, they get more real-world context to the deals that come across their desk.
A mutual understanding leads to better, more productive conversations between your sales and finance teams. It becomes easier to collaborate and spot problems before they become an issue that threatens workflows and cash flow. You could include:
- Informal lunch-and-learns between teams
- Quarterly training sessions to educate sales and finance on each other's roles and objectives
- Brief shadowing programs for teams to gain an in-depth, real-world knowledge
4. Improve communication and collaboration between sales and finance
One sure-fire way to guarantee slowdowns and rejections in your deals? Waiting until the approval state to involve finance in the process. Your sales team might think a deal is as good as done, but then finance finds:
- Risky payment behavior
- Insufficient trade lines
- Discrepancies in customer financials
- Derogatory legal filings against the customer
And they have no choice but to raise red flags. The process stalls out or even falls apart altogether – and all the time sales spent working on that deal goes down the drain.
Early communication is the key to preventing that kind of disappointment. When sales involves finance early on in the conversation -- even with an informal chat or quick message -- potential issues can be discovered much earlier in the process. Finance can recommend credit limits, payment terms, or alternative deal structures that make a risky opportunity better aligned with finance. And your sales team can set more accurate expectations with the prospect, avoiding last-minute renegotiations that slow things down.
5. Have finance teams weigh in on lead scoring criteria
Lead scoring is pretty firmly a sales consideration, right? They’re the ones who need to know who to speak to, so they’re the ones who, traditionally, have been responsible for deciding what sets one lead apart from another.
But the best insights for lead scoring can come from your finance team: they’re the ones who have the data, background knowledge and experience to accurately project how a lead could perform. Incorporating risk factors like payment data into lead scoring helps your sales team target the right customers from the start.
Involving finance early also helps your credit policy evolve as your business and the market changes. No one will have better insights about the overall health of your business than the finance team: as goals change, they can keep your sales team aligned with them from the start. Let’s say your business is in a period of intense growth: it might be possible that some customers you previously may have found to be too risky are now okay. And, on the flip side, if your business is weathering a storm and trying to keep a tight grip on cash flow, your credit policy may have tightened up as well – meaning some potential deals that would have been fine before are now a no-go. Either way, including business credit data in your lead scoring process keeps everyone on the same page and the right path.
Still trying to cross the sales and finance border?
Let's talk about how you can integrate Creditsafe data.
About the Author
Bill James, Director, Customer Strategy, Creditsafe
With over 15 years of experience in finance, risk management and data analytics, Bill James brings a high level of expertise and industry trust to his role. Before joining Creditsafe in 2021, he served as Area Vice President at Dun & Bradstreet. Bill is widely recognized for his authoritative insights into enterprise risk strategies and is a frequent, trusted speaker at major industry events. His development of tools like the DSO calculator further demonstrates his applied experience and leadership in driving financial performance improvements.
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