The December Work That Closes Health Plan Deals in January
Health plans can't move faster. But you can clear the obstacles now so January is about execution, not setup.
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It’s December. If you’re a health tech CEO or CRO looking at your pipeline, you already know the reality: most of those Q4 deals aren’t closing before December 31st.
Your buyer’s legal team is backlogged through year-end. Their finance team won’t approve new vendor spend until next year’s operating plan is finalized. Half your contacts will be on PTO between now and January 2nd. The deals you forecasted for Q4 are slipping to Q1.
The deals themselves aren’t broken. The runway just ran out. What matters now is whether those deals close fast in January or drag toward Q2.
But here’s what most vendors miss, and what separates the companies that consistently win in Q1 from the ones that start every year rebuilding momentum: December isn’t a gap between Q4 and Q1. It’s the bridge. And what you do on that bridge determines whether January is about closing or about starting over.
The vendors I’ve watched closely in Q1 don’t treat December as a scramble. They treat it as the final stage of a deal motion they designed months earlier, one that anticipated this timing and planned for it. They’re not reacting to Q4 slippage. They’re executing a playbook they built, knowing December would be prep time, not closing time.
This article is about that playbook.
“December isn’t a gap between Q4 and Q1. It’s the bridge.”
Staying Visible Isn’t the Same as Clearing Obstacles
When deals aren’t closing, the instinct is to stay visible, like sending check-in emails, requesting quick syncs, forwarding articles, and asking if your buyer saw the latest industry news.
In most months, that’s fine. In December, it’s expensive. Every week you spend staying visible without clearing obstacles is a week you don’t have. January arrives, and your deal still has the same blockers it had in November; now you’re competing against vendors who used December to remove them.
A deal that drags in January drags for specific reasons: their legal team hasn’t seen the contract, their finance team hasn’t built the business case, your champion doesn’t have the materials to advocate internally, or no one scheduled the meeting that would move things forward. Those blockers existed in November. If you spend December sending check-in emails instead of addressing them, they’ll still exist in January, plus you’ve lost six weeks.
What your buyer is actually experiencing right now:
Your champion isn’t ignoring you because they lost interest. They’re buried. They’re finalizing their year-end deliverables while their manager requests status updates on next year’s initiatives. They’re in budget meetings defending the priorities they already committed to. They’re trying to close out vendor reviews they started in Q3. They’re being asked to document wins from the current year while simultaneously planning for the next one.
Your deal, which they genuinely want to move forward with, is competing for attention with everything else on their plate. And December is when that competition is fiercest.
Your deal isn’t just competing with other vendors in January. It’s competing with everything the plan committed to in their operating plan, plus everything that carried over from last year, plus every other vendor who’s now trying to restart conversations at the same time you are.
Vendors who treat December as “stay visible” time without clearing obstacles don’t just start January behind. They start in January, competing against vendors who spent December doing the work. By the time they realize they’re in a race, they’ve already lost deals they didn’t know were being decided.
December is about two things: closing the deals that can still close, and clearing the path for the deals that can’t close until January. Before you invest energy into Q1 prep, you need to know which deals fall into which category.
Which Deals to Push, Which Deals to Prep
The biggest December mistake isn’t inaction; it’s misallocated action. Pushing hard on deals that were never going to close in Q4 burns relationships and looks desperate. Giving up on deals that actually had a shot leaves revenue on the table. The difference between a good December and a wasted one often comes down to correctly reading which deals are which and adjusting your approach accordingly.
Push for Q4 close if:
Contract is already in legal review (not “we’re ready to send to legal” but actually in the queue being reviewed)
All stakeholders have approved and you’re waiting only on execution
Your champion is explicitly advocating for Q4 close to their leadership, not just hoping it happens
There’s a specific business reason the buyer needs this signed before December 31st: their budget cycle timing, a board meeting where they need to report progress, or their fiscal year-end requiring committed spend
Pivot to Q1 prep if:
The contract hasn’t been sent to legal yet
Finance hasn’t given budget approval
Your champion is saying “probably Q1” instead of “we’re trying for Q4”
Key stakeholders are on PTO through year-end
There’s no compelling business reason for the buyer to close in Q4
A note on buyer preference: Not every Q1 slip is a failure. Some buyers genuinely prefer January timing. It’s cleaner for their budget cycle. Their team has more bandwidth after the holiday break. They want to start fresh with new-year funding rather than squeeze something in at year-end. If your buyer prefers January, the pivot conversation isn’t about consoling them that Q4 didn’t work out. It’s about aligning with their actual preference and using December to accelerate January.
How to figure out which category you’re in:
Ask your champion directly. The answers will tell you everything you need to know.
“Is there any reason this needs to be signed before December 31st on your end, or is Q1 timing actually better for your budget cycle?”
“If we wanted to close this before year-end, what would need to happen in the next two weeks? Who would need to be involved?”
“Is legal actively reviewing the contract right now, or is it waiting in queue behind other priorities?”
If your champion hesitates, gives vague answers, or starts hedging about timing, you’re in Q1 prep mode. Accept it and pivot. If they provide specific names, dates, and action items, you might still have a Q4 opportunity worth pursuing. If they say, “Let’s just plan for January,” believe them.
When it’s not clear-cut:
Some deals won’t fit cleanly into either category. Your champion says “we’re trying for Q4,” but you can tell they’re not actually pushing internally. Or legal has the contract but hasn’t started reviewing it. Or your buyer is genuinely uncertain about timing.
When you’re in the gray zone, prep for Q1 while staying ready if Q4 materializes. Execute the four moves below (lock January meeting, surface legal concerns, expand relationships, refresh proof) but frame them as “making sure we’re ready to move fast either way.” If Q4 happens, you’re prepared. If it doesn’t, you haven’t wasted December.
How to pivot gracefully:
Don’t go silent when you realize Q4 isn’t happening. Explicitly reframe the conversation so the pivot feels strategic rather than defeated.
“It sounds like finalizing this in Q4 isn’t realistic given where things stand. What if we use December to make sure everything’s ready so we can move fast in January? I’d rather spend this time getting ahead of any legal or finance concerns than rushing in Q1 when everyone’s already backlogged.”
This positions the pivot as a smart use of time, not an admission of failure. Then immediately shift your energy toward the four moves that set up fast Q1 closes.
Four Moves That Set Up Fast January Closes
Here’s what a well-prepped deal looks like entering January: you have a meeting scheduled for the second week of January, your champion has a one-pager they’ve already shared with their CFO, their legal team has reviewed your contract and flagged concerns you’ve already addressed, and you have a reference lined up if the buyer wants to validate with a similar plan. That’s the target state. The four moves below get you there.
1. Lock January Meetings Before Calendars Fill
Don’t wait until late December to request Q1 meetings. Do it now, while your buyer is still responsive and their calendar isn’t packed with new-year commitments.
Most reps wait until early January to request meetings, which means they’re competing for calendar space with every other vendor who’s trying to restart conversations at the same time. By the time you reach out on January 3rd, your buyer’s calendar is already filling with internal kickoffs, planning sessions, and the backlog of meetings that got deferred through the holidays. Mid-January, their calendar is a wall of back-to-backs.
The sweet spot for January meetings is January 6th through the 15th. Too early (January 2nd or 3rd), and buyers are still digging out of their inbox. Too late (January 20th or beyond) and you’ve lost half the month.
Instead of: “Let’s reconnect in the new year when things settle down.”
Try: “I know we’re not finalizing this before year-end, but let’s lock in time for early January so we can hit the ground running when budgets open up. Does January 8th or 10th work better?”
The first version sounds polite but accomplishes nothing. It places the burden on them to remember you in January and to find time on a calendar that’s already filling up. The second version locks a specific date, signals you’re not disappearing, and keeps your deal visible.
Lock the meeting. Send the calendar invite. Make it real.
2. Surface Legal Concerns Before the January Queue
“We can’t finalize the contract until Q1” doesn’t mean you can’t draft it in December.
Most health plan legal teams have standard contract templates and established procurement processes. If you can get a copy of their paper in December, you can redline it before January and surface major concerns early. That turns a six-week Q1 legal review into a two-week review because you’ve already addressed the substantive issues. The January review becomes a formality rather than a negotiation.
Position this with your champion: “Can we work with your legal team to surface any concerns now so we’re not starting from scratch in January? Even if we can’t execute until budgets are finalized, I’d rather address legal questions in December when everyone has bandwidth than rush through them in January when the queue is already backed up.”
If that framing feels too forward, try: “Would it be helpful if we drafted a proposed agreement based on your standard terms so legal can review when they have time? That way we’re not waiting on document prep in January.”
If your champion wants to wait until January, don’t push. Just have your redlines ready so you can move fast when they’re ready.
What you’re trying to surface in December: BAA requirements and any non-standard PHI handling concerns, data security documentation they’ll need (SOC 2, HITRUST, penetration test results), IT security review requirements if your solution touches their infrastructure, and any procurement steps that can run in parallel with legal review. Many plans have separate compliance, security, and procurement tracks that can move simultaneously if you initiate them early. Waiting until January to start any of these processes means waiting until January for all of them to complete.
The deals that close in January are the ones where legal review was a formality, not a discovery process. Use December to make that happen.
3. Expand Your Footprint While the Pressure Is Off
If the deal isn't closing yet, use December to expand your footprint within the account. One champion can’t carry a deal alone, especially at a health plan where decisions require cross-functional alignment across clinical, operations, finance, IT, and compliance.
December is a low-pressure time to build these relationships. The urgency is off. Your champion isn’t being asked by their leadership to push the deal forward right now. That makes it easier to ask for introductions without it feeling like you’re going around them.
Instead of: “Who else is involved in this decision?”
Try: “Who else should I be talking to while we’re waiting for budget to open up? I want to make sure we’ve addressed any concerns before we kick off in January. Would it make sense for me to connect with your finance lead so they’re not seeing this for the first time in January?”
The first version sounds like you’re trying to map their org chart. The second version frames the introduction as something that helps them, not just you.
When your champion pushes back: Some champions will resist. They might say, “I don’t think you need to talk to finance yet,” or “Let’s wait until January to loop in other people.” Usually, this means they’re protective of the relationship or worried you’ll create work for them. Don’t push hard. Instead, offer to make it easy: “Totally understand. Would it help if I drafted something you could share with them when the timing’s right? That way, you control when and how they get involved.”
If your deal requires budget approval, December is also the time to prepare your champion for that conversation. “Would it help if I put together a one-pager for your CFO before year-end? That way, they have time to review it before January, when everyone’s competing for budget attention.” Most champions will say yes because you’re making their job easier.
4. Refresh Your Proof With Year-End Results
The deals you close in Q1 will be won on the strength of Q4 results. Buyers evaluating vendors in January want to see year-end results from the measurement year that just closed, not mid-year data from six months ago.
Yet vendors routinely enter January with the same deck they used in September, the same case studies from 18 months ago, the same ROI projections based on data that’s two measurement years old.
Use December to gather and package fresh proof. Pull together case studies that show full-year outcomes. Update your ROI models with Q4 performance data. Get fresh customer references who can speak to recent results. Document your Q4 wins so you have specific proof points ready for January conversations.
Instead of: “We helped a similar plan improve their Stars performance.”
Try: “We helped a 200,000-member MA plan in the Southeast move from 3.5 to 4.0 Stars in the measurement year that just ended. They protected $4.2M in quality bonus revenue. I can connect you with their VP of Quality if you want to hear it directly.”
The first version is vague and could be three years old. The second version is specific, recent, and verifiable.
For CEOs and CROs: Team, Board, and Forecast
If you’re a CEO or CRO reading this, you may not be personally executing these moves. However, you are coaching your team, setting expectations with your board, and deciding how to allocate December resources. Here’s how this translates to your level.
For your team: The instinct in December is to let reps ease off the gas. Deals aren’t closing, holidays are coming, might as well coast into January. Resist that instinct. December is when your best reps separate from your average reps. The ones who do the prep work will close in the first two weeks of January. The ones who coast will spend January rebuilding momentum while deals age.
Set clear expectations: every deal that slipped from Q4 should have a January meeting scheduled, a one-pager ready for the CFO, and legal concerns surfaced before the holiday break. Make that the standard, not the exception.
For your board: Q4 slippage creates a forecasting problem. You may have committed to numbers you won't hit, and now you need to explain why and what happens next.
Be direct: “X deals slipped from Q4 to Q1. Here’s why, here’s what we’re doing about it, and here’s why we expect them to close in January rather than Q2.” Boards can handle slippage. What they can’t handle is slippage without a plan.
The credibility test is whether you can point to specific evidence that Q1 will be different: meetings already scheduled, contracts pre-staged, champions armed with materials. If you can show that December was prep time rather than lost time, the slippage story becomes a timing story rather than a performance story.
For Q1 forecasting: Be conservative on anything that didn’t get December prep. A deal that went cold in November and didn’t get prepped in December became a January deal. It’s a Q1-maybe, Q2-probably deal. Forecast accordingly.
The deals you can forecast with greater confidence are those where December work actually occurred: meeting scheduled, legal concerns surfaced, champion engaged. Those are January deals, while everything else is pipeline, not forecast.
We covered the triage framework, which identifies which deals to prepare. We walked through the four moves and guided you in clearing the obstacles. What’s left is execution: converting that December work into January closes.
Upgrade to a paid subscription to get the execution playbook below, which details the first two weeks of Q1. You’ll get the sequencing for which deals to prioritize, how to handle bottlenecks when legal or finance stalls, and the conversation structure that builds momentum toward close.