It’s Monday morning and you’re sitting in the office planning your week of sales calls. The phone rings and suddenly you’re in a friendly conversation with a new prospect, Bob. Bob seems like a nice enough guy… knowledgeable about your industry, interested in your products and eager to ask all sorts of questions.
Up to now this is starting to look and feel like a real opportunity for you. But when you ask Bob about his decision criteria you hear those words that all sales people dread…”Oh, I’m just gathering information for someone else in my organization.” The atmosphere of the call has been positive, so you decide to ask Bob who the ultimate decision maker is. The conversation stalls for what seems like an eternity and then Bob says, “Sorry but I can’t do that.”
Sound familiar?
The BIG question is what do you do now? Is this a real sales opportunity or are you just wasting time? Do you attempt to go around Bob and get to the decision maker, or should you play along with the “info gatherer?”
Many sales reps fall into the friendly trap of these info gatherers. They are pleasant to work with (makes it easier for them to get what they want from you), they offer little resistance to your ideas and it’s another deal for you to stuff in your pipeline report.
But what percentage of these opportunities do you win? What are your odds of success when forced to deal only with the info gatherer? If you aren’t tracking this you should be…and the percentage is low.
Now look at the percentage of opportunities you win when you are able to work with the real decision maker. That number is larger...significantly larger! There shouldn’t be any surprise in this conclusion.
You can’t bet your success on the effectiveness of your corporate literature. I know it’s slick, colorful, filled with graphs and pictures of happy people using your products. Hey, wait a minute…that’s what everybody’s literature looks like. Hmm…enough said.
But wait Tim…what about working closely with the info gatherer so that they become your internal advocate? I see sales people every month who struggle to engage, persuade, convince and close with real decision makers. What are the chances that your info gatherer will do a better job than you? Best case scenario is that the decision maker is getting “You Lite” and that’s not a good thing.
I’ll give you two smart strategies you can start using now to maximize your success with the info gatherers you meet. Can’t guarantee that they will work for you, but I can guarantee that they work.
#1. Get in front of the decision maker. (Brilliantly obvious…isn’t it?)
Make a list of compelling reasons why the decision maker should give you 20 minutes. These reasons need to be focused on their benefits in meeting with you—not the reasons why you want the meeting with them. Think about how other decision makers have profited from this conversation. What are some potential mistakes this conversation can help them avoid or possible solution benefits that they haven’t considered?
I know this is hard work, but the good news is that you only need to do it once. Get other members of your team to participate, invite a sales manager, brainstorm ideas and scrub them until they are clear and compelling. If you have trouble coming up with this list of reasons, then chances of getting access to the decision maker are slim to none.
Next, you need to create a professional letter (NOT an email) outlining your compelling reasons for an appointment and let the decision maker know that you will be calling to set up a time. It doesn’t hurt to mention what a great job the info gatherer has done in gathering preliminary data, either. Be sure your letter is crisp, concise, compelling and credible. Address the letter to the decision maker and have it delivered via certified mail. This dramatically improves the chances of your letter being read (who doesn’t read certified mail?) and shows some creativity and initiative on your part.
“But 20 minutes isn’t enough time for this appointment!” you cry. If you plan, engage and persuade properly, then chances are you will get more than 20 minutes or at least get invited back. It’s important to understand that you can’t wing this conversation. If you think you can walk in and “wow” them without any proper preparation, then please just stay in the car.
#2. Walk away!
That’s right…I said walk. There is a very polite way to disengage from info gatherers and I would recommend that you learn it soon. There is more than enough business to go around and you will achieve greater success pursuing 15 opportunities with real decision makers than chasing 30 deals with tire kickers. The freedom and power you will feel when you walk away is incredible (and scary at first!). Eliminate the mental overhead of chasing half-baked deals and focus your energy on where you can add real value. It isn’t about how hard you work—it’s about how smart you work. Always has been, always will be. Make life better for yourself and watch how much energy and focus you free up for creating more success. Trust me, this works.
Speaking of Sales is about finding, winning and keeping customers for life. If that’s part of your job, then you won’t want to miss the next issue.
Until then,
Tim
Tim Wackel
tim@timwackel.com
214.369.7722
Tim Wackel is hired by sales executives who want their teams to
blow the number away. Tim’s “no excuses” programs
are insightful, engaging and focused on providing real world strategies
that salespeople can (and will!) implement right away. Sales teams
from BMC Software, Cisco, Fossil, Hewlett Packard, Allstate, Thomson
Reuters, Raytheon, Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, Catalina Marketing,
Philips Medical Systems, Red Hat and TXU Energy count on Tim to
help them create more success in business and in life.
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