Most successful sales people have learned the value of starting high when prospecting a new account. They understand the importance of “moving up the food chain” and work hard at not only making contact but using that contact to get in to see top level decision makers.
I’ve been amazed, however, at how often they make the effort to reach top level people and then easily allow themselves to be passed down, back into the quagmire of low level contacts that they have worked so hard to avoid! It takes more than just calling high to be a top performer… it requires both determination and skill to stay high and maintain those important contacts.
First, I’ll make the assumption (and will provide answers and suggestions in upcoming posts) that you’re doing a good job of getting in to see those high level contacts. You’ve learned that most of the time, your contacts in purchasing are not really “decision makers”, but often are merely “decision implementors”, implementing decisions that have been made by someone else. They get told what to buy and then go out and buy it. This does not mean that you stop...