Is there anything more frustrating than moving through a 6 month solution sales-cycle only to discover your contact isn’t the one who signs the contract? Especially when they told you they were the decision maker? And then you either lose the deal or it falls into limbo?
I hate to say it but it’s your own fault. You need to sell higher. I know, everybody tells you that you need to “sell high” but nobody will give you the secrets on how to do it. All that changes today. Below are the top secrets that will help you successfully secure real decision maker meetings, and more importantly, convert them into sales.
The decision maker may not be the signing authority: “I make the decision on this project.” Accepting that answer as meaning they are the decision maker is your first mistake. Ask this: “Do you sign the final agreement?” Silence? If so, they are a champion and ally but not the decision maker. The person with the pen is the decision maker. You need to move up the chain. You are going to do great things to improve their workflow and bottom line, so be proud of that! You are only asking for something you deserve to have, nothing more.
Flatter but hold fast: Here are some tips to get up the ladder without offending the project lead/champion:
“You are exactly the person I need to be working with on this. I understand this is your project and I look forward to proving we’re a good fit as a solution provider. But before we begin I need to have a quick 15 minute meeting with the person who would sign any final agreement to make sure they understand the work we’ll be doing and to ensure our goals are in line. We, like you, have to invest in this process and don’t want to waste your time, or ours. We just need to figure out if this project will be a top priority with the signing authority.”
You’re investing in them, don’t be afraid to tell them how much: What you are doing for your customer is extremely valuable! You are going to save them a ton of money and improve how they work — giving them more time for mission critical efforts. Here are some good talking points to make your case and help you to move up the chain:
“Even though we don’t charge you for this, a typical assessment and solution build of this nature usually costs our organization around $50/widget. As well, we’ll be assessing and making solution recommendations on the 500 widgets in scope. Based on your environment that will be a sunk cost of around $25,000.”
“It’s an investment we’re willing to make, we just want to make sure our objectives are crystal clear with the signing authority. We don’t need much time with the them, just a quick 15 minute meeting to see that our priorities are in line.”
If all has gone well you have secured a real decision maker meeting! Now what? You need to ensure the time you spend with them is on point and valuable. You need to think like they do and ensure you are speaking their language. What matters to the C-suite? What are their priorities? This is what you need to uncover in your 1st meeting with the big dogs.
Maybe your solution won’t matter: Once you get the meeting with the signing authority you need to be clear about what would qualify as the bottom threshold for their top 10 savings initiatives. Have your napkin math ready and ask them if it meets their minimum standard for initiatives this year. You may think you can save them a bunch of money or that your solution will solve a host of problems, but if you don’t make their list it’s all for nothing.
When talking savings with the C-Suite, talk “hard dollars” here, because if it improves their bottom line on the books you’ll get their attention. Soft costs should always be tabled separately to make it easy for them to understand both buckets. Never combine them. At a C-level meeting clarity is king. It is not the place to test “where there’s mystery there’s margin.”
Here are some talking points to discover if your potential solution is enough to matter:
“To get started, let me tell you a rough estimate of the potential savings our solution could generate and see if that makes your list of priorities for the year. We’ve made some assumptions on existing costs but they are only to eyeball potential savings. The final solution will be built on true numbers from the assessment process.”
“We can usually save organizations like yours 30% or more of your existing spend in this area of your business. Those savings are net, not gross, and would include our solution costs. That translates to potentially $ (insert # here) in net savings based on your spend in this area right now. Is that enough to meet the minimum standard of your top 10 savings initiatives for the year?”
Hopefully you get a yes! But you may not. It could very well be that no matter how awesome your solution savings seem to you it still doesn’t slot into their top 10 priorities. Better to find out now than after 6 months of assessment and solution building because you lost the deal before you even got started. Good solution-sales professionals know that front-end opportunity filtering is just as important as closing. Your most valuable asset is time, so make sure it is well spent.
Of course, often you will get their attention and commitment to proceed. What if you do make their top 10 savings priority list? What then?
Ask the signing authority to commit to 2 short meetings: Once you’ve built your solution you don’t want all your hard work to be lost in translation. I’ve seen it far too many times: You give your solution recommendations to the project lead which they turn into a foreign language when they present to the signing authority. YOU need to present your recommendations first hand! Here is some language you can use to make your case:
“To move forward we would like your commitment to attend 2 short 15 minute meetings. The first will be to ensure we agree on current-state findings. We want to ensure the data we gather from the assessment, including current costs, is agreed on. The next 15 minute meeting will be to show you a summary of our solution recommendations.”
Signing authorities time is precious so keep it short. You can go into more detail with your champion and project lead after the signing authority has said they like what you’ve put in front of them.
If you follow these tips you’ll secure more C-level meetings than ever before, and more importantly, dramatically improve the odds of turning them into new business.
Now it’s your turn! What are some of the things you find help when trying to get up the decision making chain? What tips do you have to help people to improve their win rates in solution selling? Leave your comments and likes!
____________________________________________________
About the author: West McDonald is the VP of Business Development for Print Audit (www.printaudit.com) and the owner of FocusMPS (www.focusmps.com).