#3 "It Turns Out That..."
These are the worst four words a sales rep can hear…
It is eerily similar to hearing “it’s not you, it’s me,” and perhaps cuts even deeper, depending on the time, effort and commitment you put into the deal.
You gave it your all, and for whatever reason it just didn’t work out.
It goes like this: You have an initial discovery call at the Director or VP level. They have a challenge you are well-positioned to solve.
Next thing you know, you’re going on-site, taking them out to dinner, and maybe even doing a fun activity with each other (like golf!). After a certain period of getting comfortable, they’ll start introducing you to other folks at their company.
Usually it begins with a group of adjacent champions at the Director/VP – level (friends) before the business case is made that will get you a meeting with their executives (parents?).
At this point it’s getting pretty serious – they’ve spelled out the entire decision-making process, introduced you to all the people that need to be in your corner, and have helped you build a business case that will ensure ROI and client success.
Out of nowhere, they get cold feet. And they utter the 4-word phrase every sales person dreads: “It turns out that…” A phrase 100x worse than a rejection much earlier in the process.
What could have prevented this?
Common practice is for sales people to ask “what is the decision-making process?” If your champion wants you to win they will spell it out in detail.
But buying processes change frequently and especially during a downturn. You should take it as a given that procurement teams will implement new hurdles (unbeknownst to the rest of the organization) to placate the CFO’s need to reign in costs.
In 2023 you need to remind them of this. Basically tell the champion “I’m sure this is how you bought software in 2022, but in this market, is there anything else we need to worry about?”
If they really need you solution, this question will get them to take action. They’ll call up procurement and get fully updated on all the steps necessary to get a deal done. If they aren’t willing to do this then they aren’t a champion. It’s that simple.
For advanced-level, give them a few examples of what you’ve seen at other organizations to get them thinking about how to have an effective discussion with procurement.
Better yet, ask if you can speak to procurement yourself!
The earlier in the process the better. This will prevent a lot of time wasted if a break-up is inevitable.