It's always important to be concerned with how to reach the decision
maker in large corporations and, along the way, he does quote often from Jill
and a number of others. Now this is an important topic but two things caught my
attention. For starters, the tone of the article suggests that Becker has found
some new insight in how to talk to the customer. He seems to have had his
revelation from Konrath: “Konrath mentions a client who’s had success selling
an IT solution to investment banks… The secret is he hardly mentioned his
product or his company” Excuse me, but for just how many people is this
approach a secret? Can this really be classed as a new insight for those
selling solutions?
These questions are linked to the second point that brought
me up short. Here’s Becker again: “First, you need a broad understanding of the
way things have changed within corporate America - and that some of the sales
wisdom of the old days doesn't hold up.” Does this mean that doing business in
corporate America is radically different to doing business in corporate
Britain? As if in answer, Becker has this to say: “Committee-based decisions
are much more common now. This makes sales easier in some ways, and harder in
others. It’s harder to figure out who to talk to because there’s usually not
one person with all the power. On the other hand, it can be easier to instigate
a productive conversation, because there might be a dozen people who can
influence your sale. That also means sales are more complicated. You can’t just
convince one person. Suddenly, selling requires matching your client’s buying
process.”
Now, I’m not sure if I’ve missed the point, but in my
experience of selling solutions I don’t think I’ve come across a situation
where the decision has been made just by one person. So how new is this concept
of “committee-based decision” making? Is this different to what we see in
Britain? Hardly.
When it comes down to helping sales people to become more
effective I don’t think there is anything to be gained by trying to distinguish
between selling in corporate America from selling in corporate Britain, or
corporate France, or corporate Europe, or indeed corporate anywhere else.
