What is the most common mistake business-to-business (B2B) sales managers, Directors and Vice Presidents make with respect to how they manage their sales teams? Well, while there are many potential pitfalls in sales, one of the biggest mistakes to make is assuming that every customer’s decision maker is the same.
Ultimately, there are several hidden decision makers and or influencers, individuals who continually have a say and ones who play a pivotal role in that critical decision to purchase.
Most sales teams are trained to identify key decision makers within a given account. Sometimes it’s one individual. Sometimes it’s multiple individuals.
For the most part, identifying the main decision maker is fairly straightforward on a given product. Most salespeople are trained well enough to spot these individuals and work with them.
If your sales team is selling a standard product offering, then you’re likely dealing with one or two key decision makers.
Anytime your team is pursuing sales of a "me-too" product offering, then you are up against competitors with similar industrial finished goods. In this case, you are trying to differentiate your offer by focusing on your company’s value assertion.
In a market where sales of finished goods are seen as commodities, your best bet is to focus on one key decision maker and tailor your value proposition around their needs. However, what do you do when there are multiple decision makers? Better yet, what do you do when you approach what you see as a key decision maker only to find out that they don’t have as much final say in purchases as you were lead to believe?
There are Hidden Decision Makers and Influencers Everywhere!
Perhaps the best example of a hidden decision maker was an experience I had as a sales representative earlier in my career. As the new salesperson, I was constantly inundated with suggestions on whom to approach and how. The previous salesperson had managed the territory for years and he was convinced that he alone knew exactly whom to focus on. Suffice it to say, I was not convinced.
One customer in particular was in the Southern United States. For this particular customer, the key decision maker wasn’t the Director of Purchasing. It wasn’t the Director of Engineering or any of the project managers. Instead, it was a lower rung Buyer, one who had years of experience in the industry and one who had just recently come on board with the customer.
The above video outlines strategies to use when selling to multiple individuals within the buying process.
I focused on this individual. I make it a point to bypass the other customer contacts and dial in on this one person. This individual knew exactly what he was talking about and it became abundantly clear that both the Director of Purchasing and the Director of Engineering trusted this individual implicitly.
I ended up getting the order with that hidden decision maker, but not before having to battle a number of internal battles with upper management. All of them were convinced I was working with the wrong individual – when in fact, I had identified the main decision maker – just one that as hidden.
We won their business and at a price that had never been secured. It was a high-profit, high-volume order and it happened because of my intuition. Just by speaking with this individual I was able to ascertain that they had a lot of say in bringing on new vendors.
By all means, focus on those individuals in high-level positions. More often than not, these are the individuals who will have a say in the final purchase. However, trust your instincts. Understand how customers divide up their resources internally. Take the time to identify the main decision makers, the hidden decision makers and the influencers.
For your largest customers, map out who these individuals are. Pay close attention to how they interact with each other and what they say and do when you are around them. If the high-level decision maker tends to refer to the influencer, then double check that with other contacts within the customer’s account to make sure this individual is an important player. You may just find that hidden door to winning new business.