There are many approaches to selling larger accounts and in this article you'll get mine.
In addition to the standard Baseline Selling requirements, there are four keys to success in selling to medium and large companies and organizations. The following four tips should all be done between 2nd and 3rd Base:
(1) Identify the Chauffeur - You've probably heard of influencers, those who can influence the decision; and Champions - the inside people who are on your side. But in many cases, the Influencer is not your champion and your champion is not an influencer. I'm not suggesting that you ignore influencers and champions. I am suggesting that you identify and use the Chauffeur. The Chauffeur is the person who can drive you all the way to the decision maker because he (or she) cares about the issue, is connected to the people who will make the decision, and isn't afraid to drive you there. If you are starting at the top, there is no better Chauffer than the CEO, although not all CEO's are strong enough leaders to be Chauffeurs.
(2) Ownership - There will be many times when the product or service you sell has cross-departmental uses. For instance, if you're in the software business, there will be the department who uses your application but Information Services or Technology will want to be involved too. Who will own the process or the responsibility? This is a turf war and everyone wants ownership. The earlier in your process that you get that decision nailed down, the more smoothly your sale will go.
(3) Budget - Everyone wants ownership but nobody wants to pay for it! This is not whether or not the company has the money, this is whose budget the money will come from. Many deals get held up when directors argue about this behind the scenes. Bottom Line - they don't want it coming out of their budget, and they would love it to come from someone else's.
(4) Resources - If your product or service will require any of their employees to put in time on the project, then they will argue just as strongly about who will provide the resources as they will about who will pay for it. Tip - they won't want to provide people from their department!
Summary - It really doesn't matter how good your solution is or how well you sell it. If you don't find a Chauffeur to take you to their Leader and you fail to get ownership, budget and resources resolved early in the process, your sale cycle will take forever and they may just fail to resolve the issue at all. Can you say "wasted time"?
Selling to Larger Accounts - Find the Chauffeur - To learn more about this author, visit Dave Kurlan's Website.
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Dave Kurlan
Dave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development.
Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit.
He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine.
He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball.
He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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George Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance.
Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson.
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The Evan Elite Authors program is currently in beta phase. For details please contact us.
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Dave Kurlan
(Visit Dave's Website)
Dave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of
Objective Management Group, Inc., the
industry leader in sales assessments and
sales force evaluations, and the CEO of
David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a
consulting firm specializing in sales
force development.
Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc.
Magazine's Conference on Growing the
Company, the Sales & Marketing Management
Conference and the Gazelles Sales &
Marketing Summit.
He has been featured on radio and TV,
including World Business Review with
General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc.
Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales &
Marketing Management Magazine and
Incentive Magazine.
He is the author of Mindless Selling and
Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales
Superstar by Using What You Already Know
about the Game of Baseball.
He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary
recruiting process for hiring great
salespeople, and he writes Understanding
the Sales Force, a popular business Blog
and is a contributing author to The Death
of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways
to Improve Your Life, Volume 2.
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Understanding the Sales Force - Objective Management Group, Inc. is the pioneer and industry leader in sales force evaluations and sales candidate screening. Spearheaded by leading sales industry expert, Dave Kurlan, Objective Management Group, Inc. can help you measure sales effectiveness, execution and potential.
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