There have been countless times I’ve heard “I am the Decision Maker” in my sales career and I’ve fallen for the line more times than I can count. While we’re ultimately looking to get to the Decision Maker, it’s one of the worst things a sales rep can hear. If you do hear this, seller beware, this is a prospect you should be VERY skeptical of.
There’s an expression, “if someone tells you how rich they are, it’s because they’re not really that rich”. I’m sure you’ve heard or seen these people talk about how much money they make or how important they are. As many of us know, they are making up for something they lack. The same is true in sales. If you hear this in a sales process the person can be hazardous to your sale.
Here’s what to look for:
1) The Self-Proclaimed DM – the prospect who unsolicited told you they were the DM. If they offer up the information without you asking, they are toxic. They are being deceptive and gating you from the rest of their internal purchasing process. The prospect is not bought-in and you need to discover their objections and handle them or move on to the next. Do your best to gain trust, otherwise do not waste time with prospects that won’t be authentic.
2) The Misunderstood DM/The Recommender – the prospect has a different definition. Many times in sales we have our own definition of the DM but it doesn’t necessarily match that of the prospect. I find this many times when a sales person is proactively discovering a purchasing process. The prospect actually thinks they are the DM. Yes, they actually think they are. Their definition is they will be evaluating all vendors and bringing their decision to the committee, board, etc. By the prospect’s definition they are the DM because they are deciding what to recommend. This person is actually, what I call, the recommender. In this scenario, the prospect is not being deceptive. However the sales rep is looking for the person who signs the contract and checks. Don’t dismiss the recommender as they are extremely valuable in a sale. Spend time with this prospect, ask more questions and determine if it’s just a difference in meaning.
3) The Decision Maker – the big kahuna, the person in charge, the person who signs the check. You get the picture. This is the person who can say yes without having to check with someone, they can re-allocate budget on their own, they can (but don't always) work alone. I find it most common this person needs at least a C-level job title if not the President or Owner. A rep should be asking questions in order to determine if they have the ultimate DM. For example, “If you decide you want to go with this solution, who else do you confer with?”
Working with the Decision Maker is the fastest and easiest way to get a sale closed. It would not be true if we said we work exclusively with DMs, the reality is many times we find ourselves working with non-decision makers as well. A sales rep can still be very success when using a non-DM to get to the real DM. Be smart with which ones you spend your time with and know the signs of ones who are a toxic waste of time. Don’t take things at face value, dig deeper and seller beware!
