There are times you might need to break the chain of command to get to the person who can make a major purchase of your products. Your successful sale may make your first contact resentful.
It still behooves you to befriend that first person, because he or she could still play an important role in your relationship with that company. Letting a person save face after you’ve gone over their head—and won—can play a major role in how smoothly your relationship with this new client or customer will proceed. The next time you see or talk to her, thank her for her help or contribution in your obtaining the sale.
“Frank, I really appreciate your help,” or, “Mary, thank you for your support. I look forward to working with you over the next few months.” That’s all you need to say.
I know, she had absolutely nothing to do with it. You’re right. She knows that. You know that. And she knows that you know that. By letting her save face, however, you are showing your class, protecting her ego, and giving her good reason to work harder to help you from that point on.
In my experience, that person will be on your side with loyalty that’s truly an asset.
The only instance in which this will not work is if the person is so ego-based and angry that they are looking to be and stay mad at you. If he is irrational and totally offended by your actions, he probably won’t come over to your side—at least not right away. You’ll just have to make sure your other relationships within that organization are even stronger so there’s no way sabotage can come into play.
Usually, however, that will not be a challenge. Letting that person save face after you’ve gone over their head will generally bring them over to your side.
Have you ever experienced something similar? What was the result?
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Great stuff Bob! I have often heard that in sales you must do your homework and find the decision maker. Asking questions like “Does anyone else get involved in making decisions about buying X” are theoretically going to lead to avoiding the situation you are describing.
However, in the real world, it doesn’t usually work this way. Selling B2B is full of surprises! This is why I love reading this blog so much. It gives you real, practical advice about dealing with the situations we encounter every day.
Thanks for writing this!
Hi Russ. Yes, if this situation can possibly be avoided, that is the best case scenario. And, the question, “along with you, who else would be involved in the decision-making process?” (that will protect his/her ego from beginning if they are not involved) can hopefully help. However, as you mentioned, sometimes that’s a different situation/scenario so this article is more intended to be “remedial” rather than “proactive” (and proactive is generally best) :-). Thank you, my great friend!
Such an important message, Bob!
During my sales career, I sold services like on-line software used to run a business, and major company-wide management and sales training initiatives — my success depended on the successful implementation of what I sold, so I had to learn early on how to make that happen.
Some of the most important people to me were the Gatekeepers — I needed to involve them in the vision of what we could do together to help their boss and their company. Most of the time this was successful, but when it wasn’t I would have to go around them. But — I knew I could not be successful, even if I made the sale, if they were not on board.
So I did exactly what you describe. I thanked them after the fact, letting them know that I understood their concerns and would be looking to them for guidance in how to successfully implement our solution, because I knew they had the best interest of their boss at heart.
I was so fortunate to sell services that had to be implemented successfully — it taught me everything I needed to know about being a change agent:)
Still miss those B2B selling days — some of the best years of my life…
Thanks for reminding me of how stimulating that work was, Bob.
That’s powerful, Kat. Thank you so much for sharing!