Getting to Decision-Makers to Increase Sales Top Secrets of Marketing & Sales

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.









Schedule a Strategy Session





Click Here







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 ab