Conrey is for Closers

Anyone with a marginal amount of sales training has heard that you have to speak with the decision maker whenever you are trying to make a sale.  Identifying the decision makers though is the hard part.  Its not always the man at the top of the company or the division you’re working for.  Often its not the person you talk directly with.  Never assume that you’re dealing right away with the decision maker, but you can assume a few things:

• There is ultimately one decision maker – not two, not a committee, not anything else.   Anything with more than one head is a monster and that is ultimately true in sales as well.  No matter what, ultimately there is only one person you have to convince who makes the ultimate decision.
• The decision maker will ultimately be the one who asks the most questions – about you, your company, your process, their proejct, the weather, anything.   If they are asking questions they have something at stake with this project.
• The decision maker, once identified, is going to have to be your biggest ally – so treat him like your life depends on it.  Make sure that he’s got every answer to any question he will be asked in those committee rooms, that he’s comfortable with every step of the process
• The decision maker can change – you may think it is one person and at the end of the day they don’t have the power they told you they do to make a decision.  Be ready and able to start from scratch at any time.