Bigger deals (e.g. big contracts, big investments, M&As, etc.) take way longer to close than anyone imagines. Big organizations are bureaucratic. Individuals get scared. Emotions run high. No amount of due diligence seems to be enough. Lawyers most justify their existence. Contracts get long and messy.
We must be patient. Perhaps we can even find ways to use the delays to our advantage. For example, people have an aversion to walking away from something they’ve worked on for a long time. Knowing (or suspecting) this, we can use it to our advantage in negotiations.