Who is in Charge Here?
Every sales professional I know has a story about a perfectly executed sales meeting that didn’t result in a sale because the wrong people were in the room. Stacking your sales meetings with people who have decision-making authority is essential to your success, but it’s harder and often more time-consuming to identify those people than you think! In this post I will share what I did to set appointments with the correct decision-makers to hear my sales presentations. When I made this practice the first step to my sales process, I shortened my sales cycles and enjoyed higher closing rates.
I struggled with this challenge many times over my sales career, but the most maddening meeting was with the owner of a heating and air company named Joe. At the time, I owned a local magazine and was always looking for new advertisers. Joe and I met during a professional networking event, and we set time to get coffee the following week. The coffee meeting went smoothly, we had an easy conversation about our businesses, and even talked about how advertising in the magazine would help his business reach a new audience. After a two-hour conversation, he finally revealed he would have to run the decision by his father-in-law, the true owner of the company. He warned me that the father-in-law is partially retired, plays golf most days, and doesn’t really believe in print advertising. What?! Why couldn’t he have given this information BEFORE agreeing to meet with me? I was frustrated at the situation, but I was especially frustrated with myself for not doing an adequate job of making sure Joe was the right person to meet with in the first place. I left that meeting vowing to do more research when setting appointments with potential clients.
Why does it Matter Who is in Your Meeting?
Sales professionals are faced with meeting higher sales goals in less time than ever before. Recent data suggests sales professionals are being met with 20-25% sales growth expectations compared to 5-10% pre-pandemic. In many instances, these goals are unattainable and demotivational for the sales force.
With shorter timelines on which to meet their sales goals, sales professionals are tasked with stacking the deck in their favor for presentations before they even get in the room. Gone are the days of presenting to whoever is available. Instead, take the time at the beginning of your sales process to figure out who is the best person to hear your sales presentation. Many organizations give salespeople the “run around,” passing them from department head to department head until they finally get too frustrated to move forward.
Simply put, by the time you give your sales presentation, each attendee should be a stakeholder in your product, they should care about your offering, and they should be qualified to decide about your offering.
In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins discusses the concept of the bus. He argues it is more important to make sure the correct people are on the bus than to strategize about its direction. If the bus is filled with the right people, the direction will take care of itself. This concept holds true in assembling the people to attend your sales meeting. If the right people are there, you are more likely to get the outcome you want.
How to Find a Company's Decision-Maker
- Look at the company’s LinkedIn page and click the “People” tab. This will list people and their titles that are associated with the company and will give you a better idea of who your message pertains to the most.
- Study the company’s website and use the “search” function to enter key words that apply to your product or service. This will direct you to the people within the organization who work closely with your product or service.
- Befriend the person who answers the phone. This person is trained to be a gatekeeper, but they have a wealth of information and can be incredibly helpful. State your business and ask, “Who would you ask to be in this meeting if you were me?” or “Who is the person most likely to make a final decision about something like this?”
- Use shared friends, colleagues, or networking to generate warm referrals. The people you want to meet with are more likely to give you the time of day if they feel like they already know you. Attend regular networking activities in your city, like BNI meetings, to increase your personal brand awareness.
- Don’t be afraid to ask to meet with exactly who you want. I wasted years of my career thinking I had to earn the right to speak to the president of a company. In some cases that may be true, but it never hurts to make the request. You may be surprised by the answer.
Stack Your Bus
Time spent ensuring the right decision-makers are present for your sales presentation equates to time saved during your closing. Setting yourself up for success on the front end helps mitigate any unwanted surprises, pushback, or stalling when you are trying to move your sale forward. It may seem obvious but curating the people hearing your presentation is an often-overlooked step that could make the difference in you hitting your next sales goal!
Let’s Connect
Are you a sales professional looking for support in your quest to reach the next level of your career? Connect with Rebecca Kilday on Linked In or Instagram for information on all things “sales” including practical advice from seasoned professionals, hard lessons learned, and what it truly means to Sell INSPIRED.
