How can you negotiate with decision-makers of different authority levels?

When presenting and selling your offering, it’s important to be as strategic as possible. Understanding who the decision makers are is the most important factor. Answering their questions, providing value that excites them, solving their problems, bettering their day to day and operations… those are the most important components of the sale. If you try to answer these for every person you’re presenting to, that just isn’t possible. Knowing who you are selling to is part of the research. Check out their LinkedIn to learn more about their experience or interests. Listen intently and actively when speaking with them. Initiate 1 on 1 conversations. Focus on them. But, it’s up to you to know who to sell to.

The complexity of the buying group is increasing every year. As defined in Matt Dixon’s the Challenger Customer. COVID as a pandemic only accelerated the digital way the buyer groups interacted and for a short period that made them more accessible to sales people. Now in the hybrid world that has become difficult. Using LinkedIn is a valuable tool to identify the buyer group individuals, but be warned, everyone can find them including your competitors. To standout you have to have an excellent personal brand, projected on LinkedIn and communicate insights and credentials. Those credentials should be where you have delivered impact for other customers.

In my experience, key decision makers are not always who they initially appear to be. Thorough discovery is necessary to uncover the actual decision maker, as one person may claim the role due to ego while someone higher holds the true power. Decision making often involves a team effort, so asking the right questions is crucial. Tools like LinkedIn, company websites, and referrals can help research names, titles, and responsibilities. Gathering information on contacts and gatekeepers, and using open-ended questions during conversations, can reveal the decision-making criteria and process. Understanding these dynamics allows for tailored communication strategies and increases the chances of success.

It’s important to project your your understanding that every company is a brand and a factory. Your solutions must enhance and de-risk the prospects brand. Additionally you must make the factory more efficient, and every company is a factory. A bank is a factory that processes and moves money, in a similar way that a paper plant processes and moves paper into tissues, toilet roll etc. If you can articulate how you do that for people and have them confirm that you are going to have the attention of the c-suite. If you show your value as a solution to business issues, you won’t get reallocated to people lower in the decision Organisation.

Because decision-makers will have differing needs, they will also have differing definitions of success. Whilst it can sometimes be desirable (and less time intensive) to "get everyone round the table" in a single meeting, it does limit your ability to truly align your Value Prop to each individual DM. Taking the more time-intensive route of meeting with each DM individually, and ensuring that you fully align your solution to their need, is likely to create a stronger buy-in across the board.

While all of the points made are good ones, negotiating is an often unnecessary byproduct of failing to execute five milestones earlier in the sales process: 1) They failed to uncover reasons to buy that were compelling enough to create urgency. 2) They failed to truly sell the value of their offering by showing cost or cost of ownership in comparison to the cost of their problem 3) They failed to reach the ultimate decision maker 4) They failed to establish that the client would pay more to do business with them. This is the true test of whether value was properly established. 5) They failed to fully qualify the opportunity. When those five milestones are executed properly, negotiating is usually unnecessary.

Qualifying your prospects well will be the best way to avoid future pains that come with negotiating. The objective should be to determine if the prospect is a good fit for the service you provide long before getting into the weeds. Having a well defined value proposition is imperative to this, and will eliminate a lot of uncertainty that comes with gaining new customers. This will entail what your objectives are as a service provider, and what you want in return when those objectives are met. Get those objectives & expectations on the table with key players as soon as you can. Often times, this is when most of the negotiating takes place, and lays a foundation of clear expectations & well defined goals to build on moving forward.

We are always negotiating. Just ask your spouse "Where we going for dinner?"...Boom, you've just entered a negotiation. All kidding aside, My advice, read the book "Never Split the Difference" by Chris Voss...the single most valuable book I've read. Dave Kurlan is spot on with his 5 milestones. I would add, detach from the outcome. Detachment gives you the confidence needed to qualify properly. That includes asking the uncomfortable questions.