Gary Kurtis – How to Make Direct Communication with Those Making the Decisions

Introduction

Gary Kurtis is the principal of a successful sales training company Salestips101. In this blog post, he talks about how you can make direct communication with those making the decisions.

Understand the Landscape

I often see salespeople selling to the wrong individuals because they didn’t do their homework and understand all of the key players and their roles. One of the basic ways to qualify a prospect is to confirm that the person you engage has full decision making authority or you can easily find yourself wasting time and not getting results. 

Know your Players

We often find ourselves meeting with many throughout an organization so it is important to understand their roles and goals. Everyone wants to look good so if they view your solution as helping them achieve their objectives they will gladly promote you and your company to the senior leadership.  

The Inhouse Demonstration

Sometimes you can reach top decision makers by just demonstrating your product. A friend of mine sold to lawyers and found that once we went out on the floor to demonstrate his solution he gained immediate exposure to senior partners as they leave their offices and become curious about who is visiting the firm.  

Get Invited to Join the Party 

Your main contact must meet with senior management to present your proposal. Why not offer to join them as they will appreciate that you are there to address any concerns or questions.

Teach Them How to Sell

Early in my career I realized that my success was at the mercy of many who by choice are not in sales and therefore unprepared to present to the decision makers. I had huge success by role playing with their  anticipated objections and also providing a simple summary of how the solution addresses their key needs with an ROI. My contact felt relieved and so much better prepared and it significantly increased my closing rates. 

We Have Lots in Common

It always amazed me how leveraging a personal connection gets you directly to the decision maker. This could be through college, sports, entertainment, being from the same area etc. I grew up a Red Sox fan so if someone trying to reach me identifies as such they always get my attention (unless I discover they are a Yankees fan).

Conclusion

In the end, reaching decision-makers is not easy but these are real examples I’ve used in my career with great success. 

---