Time Kills Deals, Momentum Makes Them

The longer a deal takes, the less likely it is to happen.

As time expands, any number of things can happen and can kill the deal. A new CEO arrives. The buyer's strategy changes. Things happen elsewhere in the world which have an impact. The economic outlook changes. Competitors see the delay and come back with a better bid.

On the other hand, momentum is what makes deals happen.

Where do you get momentum from?

• Thinking about sales-contracting as a process and designing it to be fast and smooth.

• Building your contracts so they are reasonable, easy to understand and not populated with legalese.

• Having worked through a set of deal terms internally, so that you are clear about the choices available and fallback positions.

• Being clear about which issues are key to the deal, and which ones are ancillary.

• Most importantly, particularly if it's an M&A deal, by having a plan agreed with the other side which sets out the date for completion and, working back from that, sets out dates for meetings and dates by which the key issues need to be agreed.

19th May 2026