Incumbents still win when they shouldn’t
What’s easier than making a decision? Doing nothing. That often means that a current vendor retains the business.
One of the greatest challenges facing the modern sales rep is the buying committee.
It seems like today’s companies can’t buy anything without several people involved. You’ve probably noticed that you’re not selling to a single decision-maker anymore. Less noticeable has been the growth of that committee for some time now. And as the size of the committee grows, the likelihood of a decision declines.
Every sale is made up of three fundamental components that must all be true at the same time before the prospect will buy. These are beliefs that the prospect must form before they’ll move on. Specifically, the prospect must believe that:
- Their problem is worth solving, more than others they may have at the moment
- The seller’s solution will solve their problem
- The seller’s solution is better than the alternatives, including the seller’s competitors
Bigger buying committees slow everything down and completely cripple the chance of a sale. It’s hard enough to get one person to believe all three of these. To get ten people to believe and to agree with each other about all three is practically impossible.
This has been happening for some time, but the first time many of us noticed this was after the recession in 2008 and 2009. As money tightened, purchases received more and more scrutiny. If today’s committee is somewhere between seven and ten members, imagine what it will look like once we return to the recession.
Why it matters:
It only takes one person to kill a deal
If you’re talking to a team of seven people, the wrong person’s priorities can derail the whole project.
It’s always your can that gets kicked
When buying teams are larger, everyone has their own priorities. Your deal starts too small or gets delayed.
Use These Decision-Making Teams To Your Advantage
In today’s business universe, decisions are no longer made by a small group of core powerful executives and influencers, much less a single business owner. These buying teams now consist of upwards of seven individuals, each with a different role and responsibility. So how are you going to make all of these people move in the same direction?
It’s not about addressing each individual. It’s about aligning your impact with the organization’s top priorities. Land the project and drive revenue by unifying all parties involved.
Why it matters:
I Get This, But This Doesn’t Sound Like What I Need
Consensus Decision Making is only ONE of the things that are really impacting your business growth and your future. There is no one size fits all solution to this problem, and one of the other Deadly C’s may more accurately describe the problems you are facing. Check out the other two C’s to see if these match what you’re feeling!
Are you struggling with larger buying committees?
WE SHOULD TALK.
