The Importance of Decision Makers in an Uncertain Economy

341% is the case for the importance of reaching decision-makers. 

According to Objective Management Group’s data from the assessments on more than 2.3 salespeople, sellers who reach actual decision makers, early in the sales process, are 341% more likely to take the opportunity to closing.

But it’s worse than that.

In some companies, where they still believe they must call on procurement and rarely reach decision makers, the few salespeople who try and succeed are 880% more likely to get the business.  Only one in four of the bottom half of all salespeople reach decision makers, and fewer than one in five of the bottom 10% get there.  Only 1% of all new salespeople reach decision makers.

Then we have the case of determining who exactly is a decision maker.

The answer to that question depends upon who you ask. 

Some salespeople wrongly assume they are with the decision maker because they are afraid to ask, while some prospects claim to be decision makers when, in fact, they are not.  Both of those scenarios make the 341% statistic even higher. 

Salespeople who call on large and enterprise sized companies know that there are multiple decision makers, stakeholders, and influencers with whom they must meet and speak, and while influencers aren’t decision makers, some have more influence than others.  What happens when salespeople don’t meet some or all of them?

As we move deeper into 2023 and the recession has hit or is about to hit various industries, salespeople will have significantly more competition compared to a year ago.  Ranked from most difficult to least difficult to overcome, the following is your 2023-2024 competition:

• Self-limiting beliefs – salespeople who think they are defeated before they attempt to sell anything have already lost the business.
• Happy ears – salespeople who ignore the red flags and warnings and don’t take a consultative approach to selling, and thoroughly qualify will be blindsided.
• Spending freezes – It’s difficult to sell anything when money isn’t flowing.
• Need for price reductions – This is all about mindset.  If you think you need the lowest price to land the business, it’s a race to the bottom and you might win the business, but the margins will be so low that you’ll lose the war.
• New competition – When the pie shrinks, companies look to expand their targets, territories, and audiences.
• Traditional competition – The companies you have always competed against will still be there but more of them will be trying to be the company with the best price.

Succeeding against the challenges of today’s changing competitive landscape requires mastery in at least five areas:

1. Reach Decision Makers at the start of the sales process – Reaching Decision Makers requires a combination of advanced selling skills, a belief that the salesperson belongs there, a milestone in the sales process requiring them to be there, and an ability to speak the decision maker’s language, listen, and ask questions that uncover issues that are specific to your audience.  Most salespeople aren’t good at those things and that reinforces their comfort talking with people with less authority.  And when there is a spending freeze, the only person who can make an exception is the very person who put the spending freeze in place.

• Build a Strong Relationship – Rapport and superficial relationships won’t cut it and even strong relationships will only serve to get you back in the door.  But if you don’t have that relationship, you won’t be in the know and may not get the call when a new opportunity arises.  A strong relationship with the decision maker provides you with a much better chance of getting them to make an exception to a spending freeze, or agree to do business with you despite having higher prices.
  
  
• Take a Consultative Approach – This is the listening and questioning part of selling but most salespeople are horrible at this and don’t get their prospects past “Nice to Have” when in fact, it’s crucial for them to get their prospects to “Must Have.”  It’s even better when you get the decision maker to “Must Have.”
  
  
• Sell Value – If you are truly selling value, you won’t be talking about price in the same meeting and if you do find yourself talking about price you certainly aren’t providing and/or having a conversation that brings value.
  
  
• Thoroughly Qualify – Salespeople get uncomfortable over certain aspects of qualification, but you must know their level of commitment, the availability of funds, their willingness to spend it and spend more to do business with you.  As we have discussed, you must be speaking with the decision maker or makers at this point. You must also know how the decision-making process will play out, what their criteria is to choose you, whether this opportunity is a good fit between for all parties, who the competition is and how you compare, the timeline for the decision, what must happen in order for you to get the business, plus any technical requirements that must be met.

Most companies and their salespeople fall far short of these five requirements and while you may have gotten away with laziness, discomfort, and short-cuts up until now, that simply won’t continue to work in an uncertain economy.