Sales, Multiple Stakeholders, and Relevancy
Several years ago I co-presented at a conference with a Vice President at an insurance company. She had been referred to me by her former mentor and boss, a vice president of another insurance company. She and I developed a respect for each others' expertise which led to some consulting work with her company.
The management of this project was delegated to a department manager. In my first phone conversation with this person I was trying to show my excitement and enthusiasm when I said something to the effect of, "You are going to like working with our firm because we are different."
In a very unenthusiastic tone she responded, "Everybody says that."
After getting over feeling like an idiot, I started pondering the issue. I had been hired by her boss who was very confident in my ability to bring some needed expertise which would have a positive impact on the project. I also knew that my staff was better trained and more thorough than our competition. So why did I get such an unenthusiastic, cynical response?
In a word, RELEVANCY.
Although we had already contracted for the business, the lesson was not lost. In many sales situations, there are multiple stakeholders each of whom may have varying perspectives and criteria that need to be addressed by your proposed solutions.
In the example above, the project manager had different concerns than the vice president. She had to answer directly for the cost of the project and the project time line as well as the ultimate results. Had she been part of the decision to hire our firm, we may not have gotten the contract because we had not addressed those concerns. Without our knowledge, she may have torpedoed our chances.
Take away this lesson. Even when you are dealing with the top decision maker, you must not only discuss what impact your product or service will have on the prospect, you must also discuss who will be impacted and how?
You must request to meet with anyone that will influence the buying before you propose a specific product or service.
Doing this will ...
- Help you uncover new and important needs and decision making criteria
- Help you to find ways to demonstrate more benefit and value provided by your product or service
- Help you to more appropriately price your product or service
This can also help prevent spending time putting together proposals that fall flat and sometimes don't even get you a return phone call after you follow up.
Finally, asking the right questions can feel uncomfortable. Build the "other stakeholder" conversation into your sales process and then practice having it before attempting it in a real sales situation. When you have learned how to do it right and have practiced well, it will increase your closing ratio and likely the size of your average sell. Additionally, it will reduce a lot of the anxiety that goes with proposing a solution because you will be more confident that you are hitting the mark.
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