If your sales process still revolves around endless email threads and scattered PDFs, you’re probably wasting time and losing deals. Interactive deal rooms promise a smoother, more buyer-friendly way to close business. But setting them up—especially in a tool like Dealhub—can be more fiddly than the sales decks let on.
This guide is for sales and revenue folks who want to actually use Dealhub’s deal rooms, not just talk about them in meetings. I’ll walk you through creating a deal room, making it actually useful (not just a glorified document dump), and getting it in front of buyers without annoying them.
Step 1: Understand What a Deal Room Actually Is (and Isn’t)
Before you click anything, know what you’re building:
- A deal room is: A secure, web-based hub where you and your buyer can access the proposal, pricing, contracts, timelines, and other key info in one place. Interactive means you can add things like chat, comment threads, e-signature, and revision tracking.
- A deal room is not: Magic pixie dust that closes deals for you. If your process is slow or your offer is confusing, no tool fixes that.
Why bother?
Done right, deal rooms cut down on version control headaches, make it easier for buyers to bring in decision-makers, and give you better visibility into what’s happening. Done wrong, it’s just another login your buyer ignores.
Step 2: Prep the Content You’ll Need
Dealhub lets you pull in all sorts of content, but don’t overthink it. Start with the basics:
- Up-to-date proposal or quote (ideally auto-generated from your CRM)
- Pricing breakdowns (with options, if you offer them)
- Key documents: contracts, SOWs, security docs, etc.
- Timeline or project plan (if relevant)
- Contact info for both sides
Pro Tip:
Resist the urge to upload every asset you’ve ever made. Overloading the deal room with fluff makes it harder for buyers to find what matters.
Step 3: Create a New Deal Room in Dealhub
Here’s how you actually spin one up:
- Log in to Dealhub. (Obvious, but hey, we’re being thorough.)
- Navigate to the Deals or Proposals section.
This is where your open deals live. You should see an option like “Create Deal Room” or “Generate Deal Room”—the exact language might vary based on your configuration. - Select the deal or proposal you want to build the room around.
Dealhub usually lets you create a room directly from an opportunity or quote you’ve already made. - Click to create the deal room.
- You’ll get a setup wizard or a set of tabs to configure what goes in.
- Add the documents and content you prepped.
- Personalize with the buyer’s company logo or name. (Keep it subtle, no need for a parade.)
Things that actually matter here: - Naming: Use something clear (e.g., “Acme Corp Q2 Renewal – June 2024”). - Permissions: Make sure only the right people can access sensitive docs. Double-check who gets to view, download, or comment. - Expiry: Set an expiration date if you want the room to close after a set time—useful for limited-time offers.
Step 4: Make It Interactive (But Not Annoying)
Dealhub’s “interactive” features sound great in a demo, but don’t just turn them all on.
Features to consider:
- Comments/Discussion:
Enable this if you want to handle questions inside the deal room. It’s handy for tracking back-and-forth, but only if your buyers will actually use it. - Chat:
Real-time chat can be useful, but it’s easy to ignore. If your buyers live in Slack, they may never touch this. - E-signature:
Definitely enable this if you want to close deals without ping-ponging PDFs. - Analytics:
Turn on tracking so you can see who’s viewed what, how often, and for how long. This helps spot who’s actually engaged.
What to ignore:
Gamification widgets, confetti, or anything that makes your deal room look like a kid’s birthday party. Buyers want clarity, not theatrics.
Step 5: Preview and Test Your Deal Room
Before you send a live link to a customer, see what they’ll see. In Dealhub, there’s usually a “Preview as Buyer” option.
Check for:
- Broken links or missing files
- Weird formatting on mobile or tablet (buyers open stuff on their phones)
- Permissions: Can you access what you’re supposed to? Can you not see sensitive content if you’re not supposed to?
- Branding: Is it professional, or does it look like a template someone forgot to finish?
Pro Tip:
Send the preview link to a teammate and ask them to poke around. Fresh eyes catch stuff you miss.
Step 6: Distribute the Deal Room to Your Buyer
Here’s where most folks overcomplicate things. You’ve got two main options:
- Email the unique deal room link directly from Dealhub.
The platform can usually send a branded email with the access link. This is straightforward, but be wary of spam filters—sometimes these emails get lost. - Copy the link and send it yourself.
If you already have a thread going with your buyer, drop the link there. Add a short note like, “Here’s a secure link to our proposal and other docs. Let me know if you have trouble accessing.”
Don’t:
- Blast the link to everyone at the buyer’s company. Keep it to your main contacts and let them forward as needed.
- Hide the link in a 10-paragraph email. Make it obvious what it’s for.
Access tips: - If the buyer needs to create a password, warn them up front so they’re not caught off guard. - If you enable SSO or email verification, explain it in plain English.
Step 7: Track Engagement (Without Being Creepy)
Dealhub’s analytics can show you who opened the room, which docs they looked at, and for how long. This is gold for understanding buyer intent—but don’t get carried away.
What’s useful:
- Viewed/not viewed: If no one opens the deal room, you probably have a bottleneck.
- Time spent: If they spend two seconds on your pricing page, something’s off.
- Forwarded links: Some rooms show when new people access the room. If someone new pops up, that’s your cue there are more stakeholders.
What’s not:
- Obsessing over every click. Use the data to guide follow-ups (e.g., “I saw you had a chance to review the proposal—any questions?”), but don’t turn into a digital stalker. If you wouldn’t say it on a call, don’t say it in an email.
Step 8: Iterate and Improve
No tool is perfect out of the box. After you’ve run a few deals through Dealhub, take stock:
- Which features do buyers actually use? (Ask them!)
- Are there docs or sections nobody cares about? Cut them.
- Are buyers getting stuck on permissions or access? Simplify it.
- What’s slowing you down as a rep? Fix that first.
Skip:
- Fancy customizations that only impress your own team.
- Endless “deal room” training. Most buyers just want a simple place to view and sign docs.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple
Deal rooms, when used right, make selling and buying less painful. But don’t expect Dealhub (or any platform) to fix a broken process or a messy proposal. Start with the basics, keep your deal rooms clear and lightweight, and pay attention to what real buyers do—not what the sales tech hype promises.
The best deal rooms are the ones that buyers actually use. So build, test, send, and tweak. If something’s getting in the way, strip it out and move on. Simple wins.