What a Deal Desk Analyst Does & Why You Should Hire One

When a high-value deal comes to your doorstep, how can you give it the best chance of closing smoothly? 

Closing a deal involves lots of stakeholders across different teams. A high-value deal can slow down or face a roadblock at any stage. 

These deals require careful evaluation, risk assessment, and collaboration. 

It becomes challenging for the sales team to manage this on their own, once deal velocity and ACV’s (average contract value) start to increase.

This is where a Deal Desk Analyst comes into play and turns sales operations into Closed/Won revenue. 

This article will explore the functions, impact, and significance of a Deal Desk Analyst within an organization and the challenges and opportunities associated with this role.

What is a Deal Desk Analyst?

A Deal Desk Analyst analyzes and structures complex deals within a sales organization. They bridge different departments, including sales, finance, legal, and marketing, to ensure that deals are executed compliantly, on-time and favorably for their company.

What does a Deal Desk Analyst do?

Deal desk analysts are typically part of the sales team, but collaborate with anyone involved in getting deals done. They look for areas they can speed up with automation and workflows, but also add guardrails to areas that can leave their company unprofitable, or too exposed contractually.  

• Pricing and discounting: Deal desk analysts determine appropriate pricing and discounting strategies to remain competitive while maintaining profitability. They can help the sales team identify and standardize discount rates, discount duration, and negotiation policies.
• Guiding deals: Provide expertise and support to sales teams during the deal-making process. An up-to-date pricing book and product catalog helps them facilitate quoting at high-volumes.
• Deal structuring: They design and structure deals to meet the needs of both the organization and the customer, considering financial implications and long-term objectives. This way, they can guide the sales team for deals worth pursuing.
• Deal approval: A deal approval can be prolonged due to needing multiple sign-offs. To resolve this, a Deal Desk Analyst uses an integrated RevOps stack, leads deal review meetings, and obtains necessary approvals from stakeholders to move forward without slowing their company down.
• Collaborating with teams: Acting as a liaison, they collaborate with cross-functional teams to prevent deals from stalling and collecting requirements. 
• Evaluating risk: Closing a deal is a two-way street. Identifying risk factors, such as customer fit, competitive landscape, timely payments, legal compliance, and implementation complexity, is crucial. Deal-scoring models allow Deal Desk Analysts to evaluate risk and prioritize deals effectively.
• Ensuring compliance: With amended or untracked changes in the contract, there can be gaps or lack of visibility from the legal team. Deal desk analysts fill that gap by reviewing, analyzing, and ensuring deals comply with company policies, legal requirements, and industry standards.

Why Do Organizations Need a Deal Desk Analyst?

Overall, companies hire Deal Desk Analysts to improve sales rep efficiency, pipeline visibility, and uniformity.

If you would like to improve in these areas, a Deal Desk Analyst should be on your hiring roadmap:

• Reviewing Metrics: Deal desk analysts facilitate measuring and reviewing vital metrics like profitability, win rates and average deal size.
• Streamlined deal process: Losing a deal due to delays when it is an inch away from closing can crush a teams spirit, and ability to hit their quarter. To avoid this, Deal Desk Analysts anticipate where delays could occur, and prepare the people or remove the blockers before the deal reaches them. 
• Enhanced deal quality: Through rigorous evaluation and risk assessment, they improve the quality and profitability of deals.
• Consistency and compliance: They ensure deals adhere to company policies,legal standards, and negotiation guidelines.
• Optimized pricing: Their expertise in pricing strategies helps to strike a balance between attracting customers and maintaining healthy profit margins.

An experienced Deal Desk Analyst can optimize deal structures and pricing strategies, leading to more successful outcomes. They bring a strategic mindset to the table. They can identify risks and opportunities, align deals with the company's long-term objectives, and provide data-driven insights for better decision-making.

Who Should Become a Deal Desk Analyst?

Challenges and Future Opportunities for Deal Desk Analysts

Becoming a Deal Desk Analyst can be a rewarding career choice with numerous future opportunities, but it comes with its fair share of challenges.

#1. Complex deal evaluation

Deal desk analysts face intricate and high-stakes deals that require in-depth analysis and evaluation. Understanding the nuances of various industries, products, and services can be demanding and time-consuming.

#2. Fast-paced environment

Deal desk analysts must operate in a fast-paced business environment where quick decision-making is essential. Handling multiple deals simultaneously and meeting tight deadlines can lead to high-pressure situations.

#3. Balancing stakeholder interests

Dealing with different teams and stakeholders with varying priorities and interests can be challenging. Sales will always be incentivized by commissions, but it’s up to the deal desk to make sure it’s a profitable deal, which isn’t easy to see from the surface.

#4. Managing ambiguity

Complex deals can involve ambiguity and uncertainty. Deal desk analysts must be comfortable making decisions with imperfect information and adapt to rapidly changing circumstances.

#5. Continuous learning

Deal Desk Analysts need to stay updated with market trends, industry regulations, and new technologies. Continuous learning is crucial to maintain effectiveness in the role.

When it comes to future opportunities, there is an increasing demand in the global market for skilled professionals who can navigate intricate deals and provide data-driven insights.

As organizations focus on enhancing operational efficiency and profitability, the need for strategic decision-making and streamlined deal processes becomes even more pronounced. 

Deal desk analysts with expertise in analytics, financial acumen, and collaboration skills will be highly sought after to optimize pricing strategies, evaluate risks, and ensure compliance. 

Additionally, advancements in technology and the rise of automation will likely reshape the role, offering tools for Deal Desk Analysts to automate parts of their responsibilities and work faster.

As quota’s increase, relying on Deal Desk Analysts can help guide sales teams, create standardized processes, and facilitate cross-functional collaboration.

Pros and Cons of Being a Deal Desk Analyst

Being a Deal Desk Analyst has its perks. From getting to work on complex deals, bringing teams together, and contributing to the company's success. However, it can be challenging at times, juggling different departments' needs and managing deal intricacies. Let’s take a quick overview of the pros and cons of being a Deal Desk Analyst.

Using SaaS for Deal Desk Analyst Outcomes

A Deal Desk Analyst is pivotal in driving successful and profitable deals within an organization. They act as a guiding force, collaborating with teams, evaluating risks, and ensuring compliance.

Cacheflow is a deal-closing tool that empowers SaaS companies to close faster and more accurately, similar to a Deal Desk Analyst. 

Remove admin work to make your reps more efficient and automate the billing, renewal and finance work after your first close  - all made possible with Cacheflow. 

Book a demo today to see how Cacheflow can improve your deal desk operations.