Sales Effectiveness Lesson 4:
Who makes the decision?
August 2010

Sales Effectiveness: Lesson 4

Who Makes the Decision?

In our April 2010 newsletter we challenged you with a sales effectiveness quiz to support your success in our recovering economy.  Subsequently, we are looking at one question in depth every month. Question four: "Do you have a systematic way of capturing what makes your different decision makers tick - results and personal concerns - for each sales objective?"

You've been in many selling situations where you felt confident you were about to make a deal, when you suddenly realized you were not talking with the right person.  If you have ever had that thought, you were doing yourself a disservice by discounting the person who was supportive of your offer.  The truth is he or she was one of a number of the right people.

In a complex selling environment - almost all business to business environments - there will be multiple people involved in "getting to yes."  You need to know who all of them are - and that is just the beginning.

Many years ago we did a one hour talk on the subject of strategic selling, giving full credit to the Miller-Heimann group who had published their book on the topic.  There were about fifty people in the room, but one fellow really got it that day.  He was an air pollution control engineer with a small firm of 30 people.  He was a problem solver who just wanted to solve more problems for more clients.  During our talk he saw that there was a systematic approach that could enhance the predictability of turning a greater percentage of business opportunities into actual projects.

After scribbling notes furiously during our talk, he went out and bought 10 copies of Strategic Selling for all of his people involved with customers.  He then scheduled a retreat where they created a system for capturing the relevant information and then filled in as much as they knew for the prospects and customers they were making sales offers to.  A year later they reported an increase in sales results of hundreds of thousands of dollars and they attributed it to the spark that went off during our talk.

So, what is the information you need to improve your selling effectiveness?

1.      Everyone involved in the decision - there is a financial person, a technical expert who can assess your competency, users who will benefit from your solution and be involved in implementation, and a coach who will guide you behind the scenes with the intention of helping you close the deal.   You need to know who all of the players are.

2.      Each decision maker's level of influence - sometimes the quietest person carries the most weight.  It's subtle and you'll need to assess as you go, unless you have a coach who knows how it works on your type of offer.

3.      The mindset each decision maker is in - people buy when they perceive themselves to be in trouble or committed to some form of business growth or improvement.  You need to discern if any key decision makers have the mindset, "if it's not broken don't fix it," or "we've got the world right where we want it."  People with either of those attitudes will be much less likely to want to purchase your solution.

4.      The business results each decision maker cares about - they will all be looking at the elephant from their own perspective and some will be very interested in the trunk, while others will be focusing on the tail.  You'll need to help them see your offer as the sum of their individual perspectives regarding the results they want from your solution.

5.      The personal intangibles each decision maker cares about - people make decisions based on business results and, often even more so for emotional reasons.  Who is looking for stress relief, who wants to be recognized for an innovative operational enhancement, who just wants to move on to other priorities?  Your speaking needs to be considerate of what your prospects care about and are listening for.

6.      The level of advocacy each decision maker has for your offer - some people will be raving fans while others may want to stop this deal from happening.  Politics will play a role and again, you need to know who you are talking to and how to bring them to a collaborative conclusion.

So, you can see that complex selling is complex!  If, however, you are a great listener and are willing to take notes and piece the puzzle together over time, you will be more successful at growing your business.  It's worth the effort if you are a problem solver who wants more problems to solve. 

If you know someone who wants to improve their sales effectiveness, pass this article along to them!