Recover a Stalled Meta Ads Deal

Project Context

You are an Account Executive at Meta managing a strategic retail advertiser that is considering a $4.5M annual expansion across Facebook, Instagram, Reels, and Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns. The deal is in late-stage negotiation, but the sales process has hit adversity: the client paused legal review, their CMO is questioning incremental ROI, and a competing platform has offered aggressive pricing. You have 8 weeks left in the quarter, a lean cross-functional pod of 6 people, and executive pressure to close at least a pilot this quarter.

Key Stakeholders

Internally, your partners include a Client Partner, Measurement Lead, Solutions Engineer, Legal, and Finance. Externally, the client stakeholders are the CMO, Head of Performance Marketing, Procurement Lead, and Legal Counsel. Their priorities conflict: the CMO wants proof of business impact, Procurement wants lower spend and more flexibility, and Meta Finance will not approve non-standard commercial terms without VP review.

Constraints

• Target: close a minimum $1.5M pilot by quarter end, with path to full $4.5M annual agreement next quarter
• Timeline: 8 weeks, with the client board meeting in Week 6
• Budget flexibility: maximum 10% discount equivalent in value, including credits or added support
• Team capacity: 1 AE, 1 Client Partner, 1 Measurement Lead, 1 Solutions Engineer, shared Legal and Finance support
• Dependency: client requires a Meta Conversion Lift or MMM readout before approving expansion

Complications

1. The client reports that their last Reels campaign underperformed forecast by 18%, reducing confidence in Meta's recommendation.
2. Meta Legal estimates a 3-week turnaround on the client's requested data-use addendum, which could push signature past quarter end.
3. The Head of Performance Marketing supports the deal, but Procurement is pushing to split budget across two platforms instead of consolidating with Meta.

Your Task

1. Build an 8-week execution plan to recover the deal and reach a quarter-end close.
2. Define the trade-offs between closing a smaller pilot now versus holding for the full annual agreement.
3. Identify the top risks, owners, and mitigation steps.
4. Propose stakeholder-specific actions to handle internal and client-side adversity.
5. Define success metrics and a contingency plan if legal approval slips.