“Who’s the decision-maker?” He or she doesn’t exist!
Posted by Geoff Alexander on Wed, Sep 24, 2008 @ 03:48 AM
Probably the least valuable and over-used question asked by salespeople is "Who's the decision-maker? The person to whom you're speaking will invariably reply "I am," which, in enterprise decisions, is not true. So the question is essentially worthless. And so is its cousin, "Are you the decision-maker?," in which the prospect will respond "yes," but will really be thinking "no, I just wash the floors here, what's this salesperson thinking?!"
So here's what our inside sales training courses teach reps to do, and how to fix it. Virtually all decisions made for large purchases are made by a group of individuals, so you need to reformat your question to get the right data. Instead, ask "Tell me about the decision process" (OK, it's a statement, not a question), which will prompt your prospect to tell you how the decision is being made. Your prospect may give you names, titles, or roles in the process, and you've got to know all of this, so you'll want to probe further to "fill in the blanks." You'll need to know the names of the individuals, their titles, and the roles they'll occupy in the process of determining a solution. At that point, you should build an org chart with boxes and lines, and ensure that you know where the lines lead, upward to the CEO's office. And yes, especially in high-dollar sales, every CXO will generally have to discuss the transaction with the CEO or CFO, even if just to keep him or her in the loop.
Of course, there's a difference in the decision process and the sign-off process, so you'll also want to ask "How does the sign-off process work once a solution has been determined?" This is especially critical in technical sales, and contacting members of the decision team early in the sales cycle will help you to pre-determine the sales objections you'll be facing. Asking professional decision tree questions will increase sales by getting information to you more efficiently and effectively. All reps that consistently exceed their sales quotas do this. Add them to your Best Practices Playbook.