M
M

mrman313

AE (Account Executive)

Contributor
Fire Starter

Stonewall the prospect if they won’t involve a DM?


at a startup, it seems the most common way for a deal to die is on qualification.

no budget
no authority 
no need

We aren't losing to competitors, because there are none.

So what do you do if you have a prospect interested in discos and demos but isn't involving someone who would sign for it? tell them no next meeting until they bring in the boss?

just hate putting my all my eggs in one basket while someone "evaluates" it before bringing it to leadership. how we can evaluate without considering budget and roadmap ?
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15 comments

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tonysoprano
Big Shot
6
Sr. AE
I try to emphasize that i've been through this processes before and the CXO usually wants to have more input than they think. the sooner they are brought into the conversation the smoother the process will be, especially if they "are ready to implement ASAP"

I use evaluation plans like they are the bible and hold them to it and explain why bringing in the DM early is important to them more than it is to me

If that doesn't work, i'll give them a demo but not much more without their leadership. something like once you are ready to involve your leaders we can dive deeper
Sunbunny31
Politicker
3
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
This is great advice.
Diablo
Politicker
0
Sr. AE
This is crazy good - laying a path for them.
SADNESSLieutenant
Politicker
0
Officer of ♥️
Textbook
jefe
Arsonist
0
🍁
Really, really solid approach
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
2
Sales Rep
Why are they saying they wont involve the DM? What are they saying when you ask for CXO to join the next call to discuss budget?

I usually say:

"Typically with this product, we involve the CXO at this point to discuss the full scope and discuss budget. Does it make sense for us to loop them allowing us to meet your goal to implementation by (Random Date)?"
mrman313
Contributor
3
AE (Account Executive)
Myself and the other AE typically just hear back that they are wrapping their hands around looking at our tool and will green light it to superiors if they like it. I feel like it keeps the conversation just about if the “champion” likes using it every day, but whether you like a tool or not doesn’t constitute a business case.
SoccerandSales
Big Shot
2
Account Executive
I don’t think it hurts to fully develop and champion before pushing for more involvement from others
CuriousFox
WR Officer
0
🦊
Same here
km22
Opinionated
2
Account Executive
Sometimes you won’t have direct access to the DM. There are going to be folks in here who insist that they always have access to the decision maker, their deals close on time, and a rainbow shoots out of their DocuSign after signature. Let’s be real.

You need a playbook for your champion to present your solution internally.

This should include: proposal with a page/letter addressed to the decision-maker/organization’s priorities, no more than 4 slides showing the value your product/service provides to the org, the champion, and the decision maker, and a bullet pointed list of what value your product/service brings to the table.

Set aside time to review all of this with your champion. You need to position this as a way to position this for the DM so that they’re ready for any and all questions that will come up.

All of this may eventually earn you access to the decision maker. Your champion doesn’t want to give you access because they’re concerned you won’t make them look good. Prove them wrong.
tightlines
Politicker
1
Account Executive
Hell yeah.
Pachacuti
Politicker
1
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
Set up a peer-to-peer meeting with your VP and their equivalent. Tell them your boss insists on it. Seriously. Its worked for me countless times in the past.
nomdeguerre
Executive
1
Account executive
If you’re at a startup with limited competitors you’re probably having an educational sale. Meaning they don’t even know about your Prog type. If that is the case BANT qualification won’t work - why would they have a budget or a timeline or even be aware of the need if they didn’t know the solution exists?

You have to build your champion and ask them if they think they can get the budget if you build the business case together and then present it jointly to the DM.
ThatNewAE
Big Shot
0
Account Executive - Mid enterprise
Naaaah. Keep nurturing, irrespective of what the BANT looks like. BANT is to drive the deal to closure or to nurturing bucket. Treat them with respect, they will do the needful when the time is right.
eyris
Fire Starter
0
Business Development Intern
Some people have mindsets and roads they think are best whether it is ideal or not for the meeting

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