Take care about asking if they're the decision-maker!

Hello Subscriber,

If you’ve been selling for longer than a week, you’ll have come across the idea that you should always try to sell to “decision-makers”.

How does this fit with the idea of multiple stakeholders?

It depends on the complexity of what you’re selling. If you’re selling something that customers buy repeatedly, it’s likely that buying decisions are made within a well-structured process. Decision-making is probably delegated to relevant people who have clearly defined buying criteria.

However, in a more complex selling situation, or when you’re selling something that’s bought infrequently, more people are likely to be involved. How should you find out the level of influence or decision-making authority of the various stakeholders we’ve been talking about all week?

Take care about asking if they’re the decision-maker!

If you ask people: “Are you the decision maker?”, a lot of people will say “yes”, even if they’re not! For all sorts of reasons, people might be reluctant to admit they will not make the final decision.

You may have had the experience of working with a customer who told you they were the decision-maker. And it was disappointing for you to learn subsequently that they needed to refer the decision to somebody else who you’d never met.

There’s a much better approach than asking people directly about whether they are “the decision maker”.

“Walk me through the process”

You can ask people to:

When they respond to your interest:

• Make lots of notes about the process they describe.

• Pay particular attention to the names they mention.

• When they finish, ask some great questions to clarify the roles these stakeholders will play.

Here’s one area of practice to emphasise today

Coaching Focus

1. In role-play with your sales team leader or sales coach:

   • Select a meeting or call that you will have later today.

   • Prepare for this call with a role-play by asking our practice question: “Walk me through the process that you and your colleagues will use to consider what we’re talking about. How will that work, and who will be involved?”

2. Review your role-play and reflect on what worked well, what was less effective and what you might do differently and better next time.

If you have questions or comments, it would be great to hear from you. Just hit reply and send me an email.

Have a great day!

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