As a sales professional, have you ever had a meeting with a prospect and afterwards realized you were not talking to the right person? Uh-oh, now what? Time to talk to the “right” person. And what happens if we do that? We will have done an “end run”, and turned the first individual we talked to into a non-person. That can kill a sale.
A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to a client who ran in to an “end run” challenge. He met with the person he thought was the key decision maker. As it turned out, he wasn’t. He was sure good at pretending though! Sam committed to getting back to the person with a proposal.
Sam and I discussed his dilemma. Here was the plan: Sam decided to call him to set up a time to review the proposal. In setting up this meeting, he said, “In addition to you, I would also want to include in the meeting all those who would be part of the decision”. The person agreed, sent an email invite to all the top decision-makers, and copied Sam. Now Sam was positioned to get input from everyone involved in the decision. If there are any doubts or hesitation, he can address them right on the spot.
This is good meeting craftsmanship, and we know it can greatly reduce the probability of a sale going down in the 11th hour. Remember, the next time you set up that sales call, ask the question: “Who else should be at this meeting”? You will greatly increase your odds of talking to the right people up front. End runs are no fun!
