enterprise – Ed Warner-Enterprise Software Sales

Gatekeepers:

Every organization has them, though that is not their primary purpose. They can be the scourge of the planet or your best friend. Which would you prefer? Regardless of what a sales manager says or expects, it isn’t always possible to call the decision maker direct. That doesn’t mean you will never talk to them, just that you are not starting with them.

Gatekeepers or non-decision making entities can actually help you. Learning how to deal with them is paramount in gaining access to the real decision makers. This is the sister article to Reaching the Decision Makers published a few weeks ago. So how do you start when encountering a gatekeeper?

Ask questions having an answer(s) only the decision maker can answer (or a high likelihood). This allows them to direct you to someone who does know the answer. If they pause, or show a hesitation in wanting to let you know, ask if they could suggest someone.

Ask what functional units your product might impact. Now ask for that person’s name.

Use your past experience and suggest that similar past projects always involved the CIO or CFO. By doing this, you can ask, “Are you sure the CIO or CFO (or whomever is applicable) will not need to see this”?

Gatekeepers have the duty to guard the castle thereby protecting the company. Some take this responsibility particularly personal and will do what is necessary to swat everyone that tries to enter. The problem with this is they really do a lot of harm. The jury is still out on if the harm is more than the good. Sales people have two reactions to the gatekeepers; love ’em, hate ’em. Those that hate ’em are the ones that are not successful in winning their support.

When you first encounter a gatekeeper, they usually ask the typical, who you are and what you want. Most will ask you to send some “documentation or some brochures”. To get past this, simply say “I would love to but we do not have the standard type of documentation you typically receive from other companies. If Mr. CxO is interested in saving XYZ% off his bottom line expenses, then I would be happy to discuss this with him and follow up with custom documentation.”

This immediately compels them to pass this on, make the appointment or put you through right then. It also does not pigeon-hole you as a vendor or salesperson; you are bringing value. This is where you start to build yourself as a trusted business partner. If there is any push back, ask if they think the XYZ% is compelling to them. How can they say no? They can, but the logic of doing so escapes me.

In closing, there are basically two types of gatekeepers, the one that is charged with keeping everyone out, and the other has the discretion to pass value-producing propositions through. You can be fairly certain of the type you have run into by asking the above question. One last item you might try if there seems to be an interest on the part of the gatekeeper, just not the willingness to pass you on. Ccntinue the conversation with the gatekeeper. Educate them on the value of your solution. They can actually pre-sell the idea in your stead.

If you find this useful, Contact Me or please leave a comment. If you have a Twitter account and found this article useful, it would be much appreciated if you would retweet this at the beginning of the article!

Happy Selling!

Ed Warner

We all hear it, but for those that don’t really understand the difference, the nuances of strategic selling overshadow the transactional aspect, but not so much that one can’t be strategic in a transactional sales opportunity.

Transactional selling is really about treating the product or service as a commodity rather than a strategic investment. We participate in transactional engagements on almost every trip to the grocery store, and we for the most part, don’t give it a second thought. But what would happen if that item was now a major piece in your way of life that required a substantial cash outlay? Exactly! Now look who has to “kick the tires” and really do some investigating! In addition, for you (the male) that are married, you also have to get the VP of Household Finance to sign-off on the purchase. You have just stepped into the world of strategic selling.

Very little value add is afforded a transactional sale and what exists is mainly in the form of immediate need/price matching. You have a [need] for 100 roles of paper; I have them for 50 cents [price] a roll. The reason for little or no value add is there are no non-standard business inputs (needs) that would require much more than the exchange of goods and cash. A salesperson would only need to uncover the need, establish a quasi-relationship, and fill that need for product or service. The biggest challenge in this short sales cycle window is for the salesperson to uncover theÂ maximum price the buyer would pay, all the while the buyer is determining your lowest sellingÂ price. The main characters in this off-Broadway play are usually the salesperson and theÂ procurement department.

The image below is a chart from Neil Rackham, the author of “Spin Selling”, a course I took and can recommend. Neil does have a newer book, “Rethinking the Salesforce” that teaches the same principles from his previous book. Although aimed at bigger sales organizations, it is highly effective for smaller groups that wish to grow their business in a volatile market as it addresses the technological changes that have occurred.

Click on chart for bigger picture….

Strategic, consultative, solution, complex, relationship, and even enterprise selling are pretty much the same term, and for the sake of this article are going to be treated as such.
Strategic selling is a long-term sell that typically takes 6 months or more. In some extreme cases, I have witnessed a 18 month sales cycle. In today’s environment, these are taking even longer and transactional sales are beginning to mimic the cycle times of typical strategic sales. Strategic selling is a systematic sell in that a formal process is undertaken on both the buying and selling side. A strategic sale is one that demands a ROI because it is usually a capital investment project. The dollar amount will vary according to what you sell and to whom, but my experience in enterprise sales the typical deals are $500k-$1M. With this dollar amount there is a lot at stake on both sides.

The complexity of a strategic sale involves many decision makers from the buying side and many reviewers from the selling side. This is the reason I wrote in a previous article about having a game plan, hence your effectiveness to manage a sale of this nature is compromised unless you have a formal process because of the complexities in this type of sale. The following are additional points that are just as important to remember.

Relationships with the customer is of the utmost importance
Solution sell to a customer’s perceived need
Your skills as a listener and your ability to formulate a workable solution will play a major role
Substantial time will be invested once the deal is qualified
Your skills as it relates to dealing with C-level executives are paramount. Know how to talk their talk

I hope this gives a better feel to what’s involved in either type of sales. Regardless, appropriate selling techniques have to be used in order to maximize your effectiveness for not only what you sell, but to whom you are selling. This short article does not cover the complete scope of strategic selling, which in itself could be many chapters.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and as always, I do appreciate and welcome your comments. Feel free to contact me should you have additional questions.

Happy Selling!

Ed Warner