Should You Go Around Your Main Contact?

In the latest episode of the High Tech Freedom Sales Podcast, we discussed the topic of going around or going above your lead contact in a deal.

Have you ever had your manager say, “You need to call his boss!”? This usually happens at the end of the quarter when your deal is late.

At that point, it’s probably too late!

This is exactly why you need to go around or above your lead contact or champion.

Check out Episode 105 for the full podcast.

Let’s first look at why you should do it and then some tips on how to do it.

Why Do It?

It’s important that we level set what this really means. Let’s assume that you are working with a front-line champion. They may not have any people reporting to them, but they have identified a pain, tasked with working on the pain, they like you, your offering, and generally support you in the account.

Another scenario is your contact is a first line manager. They are more operational with the day to day business vs. working on the strategic needs of the business.

So why go around or above them?

1. A Gartner 2020 study stated that an average of 10+ people have influence over your deal. If not you, who is influencing those 10 people? ?These could include:

• Business leader or executives responsible for the overall strategy and budget allocation
• IT leaders who oversee the technical requirements, implementation, and ongoing maintenance of the IT solution. The person influencing the technical requirements will most likely be different than the person supporting or operating it.
• Procurement professionals who are responsible for negotiating contracts and managing vendor relationships.
• End-users or stakeholders who will be using the solution on a regular basis and providing feedback on its effectiveness.

2. There are other groups or stakeholders that could be impacted by your offering. If you want to get the entire picture of how your solution will tie back into the business and impact multiple stakeholders, you need to meet with other stakeholders. It is not realistic that your main contact and champion has a deep understanding of each operating business unit or stakeholder.

3. They will not represent your solution with the same depth and justification. Your main contact probably has good intentions, but they can get stuck in the details of the products, technology, or their own personal needs (Which are important!).

4. Competing priorities – Your main contact may have your solution as his top priority, but someone above them will have different priorities.?

How to do it?

1. Make your champion the hero. What you don’t want to do is go around your main contact and make them look incompetent. Ideally, include your main contact in the process and have them sponsor the meeting.
2. Communicate with your main contact on why you need to expand your contacts.?When done effectively, they will feed you the contacts. ?If they don’t want to help or don’t want you talking to other people, your deal is probably at risk or not qualified.
3. Report back to your main contact on your expanded discussions. They should be kept up to date on all communications. This will build trust and help your champion excel in their role.

Summary

There is no perfect recipe for exactly how to do this. This is a human-to-human business, and you have to make judgments along the way. Our job as sales professional s it to read people and understand their business and personal needs. When you can serve those needs, you access to contacts will increase.

What experience have you had going around or above your main contact?

Have you made some mistakes? Did you do something that worked well for you?

Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Please check out the full podcast episode on Apple, Spotify, Google or YouTube, or any of your favorite podcast apps!