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Once you have a clear idea of how your customer’s organization is structured, you’ll hopefully have the names and job titles of a number of people you want to deal with. The customer may also introduce new contacts to you, as you move through the Selling Cycle. All these people will have a greater or lesser importance to you depending on the role they play.

Let’s look at some of these buying roles.

 User. This describes anyone who is simply the intended user of your product or service. Think of them as the ultimate ‘end customer’ within the organization. Don’t overlook them – they have very valuable information

one minute wonder List all your contacts and allocate one or more buyer roles to each of them. This will help you to assess how you approach them, how useful they will be, and therefore, how much time and effort you expend working with them.

to give you about how your product or service might benefit their organization.

 Influencer. Anyone whose opinion is respected, and who has particular knowledge or interest in your product, can be an influencer of a buying decision. Often, more senior people who make the ultimate decision will rely heavily on people they trust to advise them.

 Coach. The term Coach is used to describe someone who, for whatever reason, wants to help you win the business. They may particularly like your company or product, or dislike the alternatives; perhaps they believe that supporting you is the best way to influence the decision. They are a mine of information if you treat them right!

 Blocker. The opposite of a Coach, these people will either be positively obstructive, or just never do or say anything useful to help you, perhaps because they are afraid of change, or have some other personal reason not to want you to succeed. They will waste your time, so try to spot them early on!

 Technical decision maker. This describes someone with the responsibility of making the product decision first and foremost. Usually, they are middle managers, tasked with evaluating and deciding which technical solution is right for them

 Business decision maker. Usually the owner of the business problem or ‘pain’, this person is likely to be a senior manager responsible for the business function(s) that will benefit from your product or service.

 Financial decision maker. Usually the Finance Director, this person controls the final decision about whether the money can be spent.

Identify the buying roles of people in a target organization.