I remember the first time I got a phone call from a salesperson asking to speak with “the lady of the house.” (Remember those days? When your telephone hung on the wall and rang?)
Though I married the “lady of the house” 31 years ago, this was already an outdated opening line. It echoed of black-and-white TV shows from the 1950s where a vacuum cleaner salesman in a suit and fedora was standing on someone’s front porch selling door-to-door. Today, asking for “the lady of the house” would be properly derided as sexist, perpetuating negative stereotypes of women.
From a sales perspective, though, the question had logic: I want to speak to the buyer, the person with the problem that my product can solve. The vacuum salesman wanted to sell to the key decision-maker on buying household appliances.
It’s a fundamental principle of sales that I find many salespeople today don’t appreciate, namely, that having a conversation with a client employee is not “selling” unless that employee has the authority to make a decision and buy. If you’re pitching your product or services to anyone other than the person who can and will make a purchase decision, it’s a waste of time.
“Can” and “will.” And you need both criteria.
“Can” means the individual is empowered to commit the organization to enter into a deal. That individual controls the P&L, has a budget and/or manages the “buying process,” such as a procurement professional.
“Will” means that, given the appropriate criteria, that individual will make a decision to do a deal. They are ready to buy. The criteria may be meeting specific requirements or determining that your value proposition (better/faster/cheaper) has merit.
More simply put, you can’t close a deal with someone who can’t and won’t make a buying decision!
So when putting together your power map of the client organization, be sure you’ve identified who the “buyer” is. Validate why that person is the “buyer.” Maybe it’s been made clear in an RFP. Maybe you’ve tried to sell to this company before. If you’re not sure, ask. “Can you tell me what the process is for us to get this to signature?” (Read “The Five Hows of Sales” for other questions to ask yourself. http://dealwhisperers.blogspot.com/2012/02/five-hows-of-sales.html) Knowing you are selling to the right person will save a lot of wasted time and allow you to focus on understanding the client’s goals and building your relationship so you can collaborate on how to make the client successful.
And, for the record, “the lady” of our house did not buy our most recent vacuum cleaner. I did.
