Читать книгу Selling - Nick Constable - Страница 16

It’s one thing to have understood the customer’s organization and identified all their buying roles; it’s another actually to form a business relationship with the decision makers, or the Agents of Change.

Ideally, it should be our goal always to seek access to those with the authority to make buying decisions, even though we will also need to form relationships with people in other buyer roles who will influence them. Here are some things to consider in relation to gaining access to those in authority:

 Aiming high. It’s far better to make initial contacts at the most senior level possible, and be referred down to others, than to try to reach authority later by relying on other less senior people to refer you upwards. This isn’t always possible, of course. But as a rule, always try to call the most senior person available first.

 Delegation. Even if you only get the chance to have a short conversation with the decision maker, and they refer you downwards, they have effectively ‘delegated’ the job of dealing with you, and you have now acquired their authority to move forward!

one minute wonder The next time a prospect asks you to travel a long way to a meeting, make a point of asking for the decision maker to be available when you are there. Explain that you will be gathering information about their business problems, and you want to hear the decision maker’s perspective first-hand.

 Escalation. If you’re only dealing with influencers, they will at some point need to ‘sell’ to their superiors. Suggest how you can help them – by asking their permission to make contact directly with the decision maker.

 Keeping the decision maker informed. Even if you have never met the decision maker, if they ‘own the business problem’, you can, with justification, call or email them to keep them informed of what you are doing and how it will benefit them. Do this as early as possible in the process, and keep doing it at regular intervals.

 Bargaining for access. There will be opportunities during a sales process to negotiate for an introduction to a decision maker. If your buyer asks you to do something for them, can you ask to meet a more senior person in exchange?

 Dealing with blockers. If someone is actively blocking your progress towards authority, try going sideways instead. Build alternative relationships and these may open up new paths to the decision makers. Weigh up the risk of going over their heads to the top: annoying them may be less of a problem than losing the whole selling opportunity.

Make every effort to network your way upwards.