Show notes
If you've ever had a conversation with someone who had zero power to make a decision, you understand how frustrating it can be. So today we'll talk about how to get to the decision-makers.
David: Hi and welcome to the podcast! Today co-host Chris Templeton and I will be talking about decision makers. Who are they, where are they and how do we get to them? Welcome Chris.
Chris: Hi David. Well, it seems that most sales people understand the importance of getting to a decision maker, but many really haven't ever been trained to, have they?
David: It seems that way. Yeah.
Chris: Where do they start? Because it really is something that I think a lot of people don't get. As obvious as it is, like how do I actually do it? It’s a whole different thing.
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David: Right. Well I think a lot of it starts with identifying who the decision maker is to the best of their ability. A lot of times we think just because someone's agreed to an appointment or just because we've gotten someone on the phone that they are in fact the decision maker and that is not always the case. So we want to start out by doing whatever we can to only make presentations to decision makers, which means we need to find out upfront as well as we can as much as possible whether or not the person that we're talking to has the ability to make the decision.
Chris: Talk a little bit about how you have that conversation, because my sense is that one of the biggest issues a sales person has with getting to a decision maker is their fear of asking. What do you suggest that they say to somebody who they're not sure if they're the decision maker?
David: Okay. Well first thing I would say is never assume that the person that you're talking to is the decision maker. It's really easy to do this but don't! Because we feel like I've got a live wire on the phone or I've got a live wire that I'm talking to and it's sometimes more fun to just sort of plow ahead and see what happens. But you could be shooting yourself in the foot if you do that. So the best way to do it is simply to ask and to get comfortable with the idea, you know, “Will you be making the decision on this or is anyone else involved?” It's really pretty straightforward. Now before you even get to a question like that, you want to determine whether or not they have any sort of interest. You want to get clear on what it is that you do and all that sort of thing. But once they've expressed interest in what you're talking about, it's a good question to get answered upfront.
Chris: And I think that typically you've got to that place where they seem to be expressing interest. And now as a sales guy, I'm really excited to keep this movement.
David: Right!
Chris: And then to kind of throw a wrench in the works and ask if they're, the decision maker is tough, but the payoff is huge, isn't it? In other words, in terms of not having wasted time and also being sure that I'm getting to the right person who can make the decision.
David: Exactly. Because the biggest wrench you can really throw into it, is making a beautiful presentation to someone who has absolutely no ability to buy from you. It's a much bigger wrench than simply asking the person if they are in fact the decision maker or if there are other people involved.
Chris: Let's say that I've gone through the process of having the call, this person's expressed interest, for some reason I haven't got to the question about who the decision maker is and they want me to give a presentation. What do I do to make sure that the decision maker is actually there?
David: Okay, well again, the first thing you want to do is ask, you know, “Are you the decision maker or are there other people involved in that?” and if there are other people involved in that, then you can say, “Hey listen, I don't want you to have to do my job for me. So it would, it makes sense for all of us to get together on the same call or at the same presentation?”. Some will say yes, some will say no. If there are some people who are control freaks, they are just very much into controlling the situation. They'll say, “No, you will make your very best presentation to me and then I will determine how much of that I pass onto the person who will actually be making the buying decision.” and when that happens we get to decide whether or not we want to move forward, right? We can decide, okay, well that doesn't really make sense for me to be able to put this together for someone who has no ability to buy and we may choose to say, “Okay, well you know, I'm sorry, we just don't do business that way.” and you can step away from it. On the other hand, if they have been delegated with this task, they're supposed to be gathering all the information and they're supposed to be bringing it back to the decision maker and they're sort of in the same boat where you are essentially, they're sort of forced to gather this information and present it. Then we want to do everything we can to empower that person to be able to deliver that information in as compelling a manner as possible.
Chris: And I really think that goes back to this whole idea of asking what the process is, who's involved in the process and really getting from this person, assuming that they are tasked with this job of distilling information and getting to somebody of really asking for their standpoint, what's the best way as a salesperson, I can help you to deliver that message.
David: Yeah. You know, another thing that I've noticed is sometimes you'll ask someone if they're the decision maker and they'll indicate that they are or they'll imply that they are, but they won't overtly state it. So one of the things that I've found helpful is repeating back what they've said and trying to get confirmation on it. So if they say, “Oh yes, I'm involved in the decision making.” And you say, “Oh, okay, so you're, you're involved in the decision making. Does that mean that you're actually making the decision or are there other people involved?” And then if they say, “No, it's me, I'm the one who makes a decision.”, then you say, “Oh, okay, just want to confirm. You are in fact the decision maker.” “Yes.” “Okay, good.” And the reason you want to do that is that a week or so later after you've put together all the information, you've delivered it exactly as they wanted and they're stalling; you don't want them to be able to go back to “Well, I have to get permission from my boss.” And if they do, you can at least say, “Oh, well when we spoke, you had indicated that you are the decision maker on this.” And they can say, “Oh yeah, well I was, but then it turns out something else happened and I needed to get confirmation from my boss on anything that's over a certain dollar amount,” or whatever. They'll say whatever it is they're going to say. But at least if you prefaced it with that, you've got a lot better likelihood of being able to be talking to the decision maker.
Chris: And it also shows that you hold people accountable in a nice way. Right? And Oh, I thought you were, is a nice way to say, Hey, what's going on here? Let me make sure I understand it and then honor that. And in so many ways, don't you think it's better to just kind of stick with face value? While we're really asking the tough questions about what's changed.
David: Yeah, absolutely. And sometimes people will imply that they’re the decision maker even when they know they're not, but they don't want to admit it. So sometimes it's an ego thing, so they'll pretend that they're the decision maker until it becomes time to actually pull the trigger on the order. And then they'll let you know that either they can't do it or some people they just won't even tell you. They'll never tell you that they're not the decision maker. They'll just say, “Well, we decided to go in a different direction”, or something like that. You may never even find out
Chris: And some of that is going to happen. But there's so much confusion about who it is, and taking the time to understand that and to have these conversations is really critical, isn't it?
David: Yeah. And I think when someone is deliberately misleading you, that's one thing. But there are other situations where the person you're talking to actually believes that they are the decision maker. They think that they're going to have the ability to pull the trigger on this order. And then they find out later that their boss says something like, well, I think I want to do this or I want to do that. And all of a sudden the decision has been taken from them. So even if they're being completely truthful with you and they think they're the decision maker, in some cases it turns out that they're not. So in a B2B situation, it could be a boss that's asking the subordinate to gather the details without telling them that it's not their decision. In a business to consumer scenario, this often happens with spouses. You know, some spouses have confusion about this. The guy might think he actually has the authority to make the decision.
Chris: Oh, he hasn't been married long enough has he David?
David: Yeah, we could go with that. But you know, sometimes you do think that you're, you've been authorized to make a decision and then you're not, and they get push-back from the other spouse who wants to be involved in the decision. So a lot of times it's about the person themselves getting clarity on whether or not they are in fact the decision maker.