For each sales opportunity, there is usually only a single executive who would be considered as the relevant executive for that opportunity. Identifying the relevant executive may be the best use of your time in your current (or next) sales campaign. How is the relevant executive defined? It’s the executive who stands to gain the most — or lose the most — as a result of the outcome of the project or application associated with your sales opportunity.
The relevant executive may be in a unique position to proactively make a purchase decision or usurp a buying decision that has already been made in the formal decision-making process.
How do you identify this person? First, be constantly aware of what’s happening in the organization. Observe how major buying decisions are made, who wins when reorganizations take place, and which executives receive the special assignments that are meaningful and significant. Additionally, look for who’s connected to other key players within the client organization. Notice which executives are tapped to lead the new projects of high importance. If you can align with the executive you think has the most to gain or lose — the relevant executive for the sales opportunity — spend some quality time with that person.
Your objective is to get that relevant executive selling for you so that you can win the deal.
A word of caution: Because influence is situational, the person you identify as the relevant executive for the current sales opportunity might change for the next opportunity. Some salespeople fall into the trap of mapping the politics and influence in their key accounts for one deal and expect that those variables will remain constant for all subsequent deals. Influence is always in motion and there are so many factors involved in the complex sale that you need to profile influence one sales opportunity at a time.
