Yoda needs to follow his own advice!

Skipping the steps can cause you problems..

Finally the president is back in town for a few days. I call Mary, my key contact in the potential clients company to set up a meeting with her, the president and myself.

Mary is excited and really likes the proposal we worked on and wants to see it go through.

I’ve strategized the key motivators of the president whom I’ve worked with before. So I am very confident this has a better than 90% chance of going through.

I grab the phone, call Mary and ……….

“We were just talking about you and the proposed changes.” states Mary. “But, the president does not want to change anything. I guess the current supplier and he are best of friends and under no circumstances will he consider another source, even if it is better!”

My brain immediately states, “How stupid can you be, you skipped the most important step!”

I of course questioned Mary on her thoughts and exactly what the president had said. Yes she was disappointed and whished she had thought about that relationship more, but the choice was made in no uncertain terms.

So how did a very nice piece of business slip though the “teachers” hands?

Very easily because “Yoda” did not follow his own rules.

Knowing several contacts in the company and having worked with them before they knew the service offered would be quality. The president was gone for some time and was very difficult to get in touch with. One of the VP contacts suggested I talk with Mary as she really coordinated this particular area and had all the information I would need.

Being over confident I knew enough about the company and the president, the appointment with Mary was set and the information was gathered.

My supplier did their do diligence and invested the time to make sure the proposal was right and I drafted up the perfect cover letter.

Here is where I missed the mark:

1. I did not contact the president to verify his level of interest in such a change.
2. I did not ask Mary or my VP contact about the current relationship.
3. I made several assumptions about the company, the president and the potential barriers to the proposed change.
4. I violated rule #1, always start at the top!

Yep, I was not the happiest of campers that morning. I had invested a good chunk of time, the supplier had invested time and so had Mary.

If I had followed Rule #1 we all could have been doing something else!

So how often have other salespeople experienced this scenario? Far too often!

The sales manger asks, “How are you doing with the Anderson account?”

“Great, I have a contact that says they can handle it and I don’t have to go any higher in the company! The neat thing is they are so easy to get a hold of and really seem interested.” exclaims the salesperson.

The sales manager tries to control his exasperation and keeps his eyes from rolling back in his head. It’s the time waster, non-decision maker, no authority and information collector for the company.

The sales manager responds, “So who else in the company would make this decision if this person was not there? Shouldn’t we get them involved as well?”

“I guess that wouldn’t hurt, just to be safe.” is the response.

Yes it seems like we are accomplishing something when we talk to people other than the decision makers. Yes we can gather information and insight, but they can not and most likely will not make or push the decision for you.

You need to make the contact with the authority that can and will make the decision, even if it is not what you want to hear!

It will save you time, your team time and get you in front of more decision makers because you are not tied up with the non-decision makers.

Rule #1: Always start at the top!

As Zig Ziglar says, “I’ll see you at the top if you do!”

Till next week, be all you can be!

Harlan Goerger, National Director of Training

© Harlan Goerger, August 2008 

Reprint in its entirety only.