HeStoleMyTwix

The hardest thing in sales - moving up the chain?

Cold calling, closing, demo-ing.

All of these regular sales tasks are child's play compared to the hardest task of any salesperson, moving from below to above the power line.

How do you do it? How to deal with the 'don't worry, I've take care of this moving forward', the 'my boss has a million things on his plate right now' and the 'I'll circle back internally with my manager and let you know'?

How do you deliver value to a technical user that will make them want to continue talking, while at the same time talking on strategic terms that makes them want to bring in their boss?

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9 comments

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funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

I don't spend time with people who don't have the ability to sign a cheque. If we're moving past an initial disco call the DM is looped in. Doesn't mean they need to be present on every single follow up call, but we need to have a chance to talk at least once early on in the process and they need to be cc'd on emails etc moving forward. If whoever I'm talking to pushes back on this they get to go kick rocks.

HeStoleMyTwix

Valued Contributor

So let's say you reach out to a DM, and you get pushed down to a lackey. You try and fail to get back up to the DM, so your only option is to take the call with the lackey, or just walk away from the start.

You're saying you would rather walk away than take the chance with the lackey in the hope that you may be able to get traction? 30 mins of my time is always going to be worth taking the call...

I'd rather take the 10% shot than the 0% shot, especially since I have a limited list of named accounts.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I think the point is that you may be wasting 100% of your time on an account if the DM is not engaged, at least at first, to acknowledge that there is interest in your solution. Even if you have engagement at a lower level, without that DM's willingness to sign off, it's not happening.

Diablo

Politicker

Sr. AE

You get fair idea after disco if the prospect is a real prospect or just a window shopper. Everyone takes a shot but in the form that doesn't make you invest you valuable time much which is as good as walking away (passive reach out without expectations)

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

Like I said, an initial disco with a lower level person is fine. If there’s interest in moving forward after that, the DM gets involved. I don’t put in hours of work, pitch and propose to someone with no DM ability.

However, in some situations it is not worth even 30 min of my time for that disco call and it comes down to why that DM is pushing me off. Is it because the other person is more knowledgeable/hands on and will be able to give me better info initially? Is the other person at least management level with a direct connection to the DM? I’ll take those calls no problem. Are they just passing me off to some low level assistant that has zero clout or influence whatsoever to get me to go away? No thanks, I’ll call another prospect.

AverageJoe

Opinionated

Account Executive

If they push back, I normally say something along the lines of “typically when we engage companies for these types of solutions, we have DM X involved to make sure we’re all aligned” if they push back, then you can say it seems like there is some hesitation, prehaps we haven’t shown value? If you do get the DM involved early but they drop off, hopefully you have their email. You can send one off messages praising the person you’re working with and update them with the status of the deal. That way, they know what’s going on and you’re thread and if it gets back to the main contact, you make them look good so no harm done.

DollarBill

Executive

Director of Sales - Financial Services

I bring in my direct boss at times where I can’t get higher myself and offer a meeting with my boss as an executive touchpoint so they feel high and mighty just by talking with a fellow VP.
Sales is just theatrics and knowing what levers are available to pull. Some executive sponsors only want to speak with peers and if that’s the case, so be it. My boss can get them in line so we can get back to brass tax.
Note, I sell to procurement and there are a lot of bizarre personalities in the space. Don’t even get me started on the textbook shenanigans they pull during negotiations.

GingerBarbarian

Opinionated

Lead Sales

I am a big fan of being totally blunt. "You know what my job is. You know I am going to be a pain in your ass until I get what I want. I am going to make calls, send texts, carrier pigeons, and have my face cemented to your window like a suction-cup Garfield. I just need X minutes with your (position). At that point I will either stop bothering you, be his problem, or we have a path to make everyone's jobs easier. It is all win-win-win for you."

PleaseAdvise

Executive

Account Executive

I'll just go ahead and echo what's already been said: DM needs to either be on meetings pretty much from the get-go, or their awareness of eval needs to be confirmed.

Can't spend tons of time with the foot soldiers, get the "yes", and risk waiting around only to hear a no because you weren't in touch with the right person.

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HeStoleMyTwix

The hardest thing in sales - moving up the chain?

9 comments

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