How To Discover The Decision Making Process And Decision Making Unit?
Posted on Monday, 8th February 2010 - 1:21 pm by Fay Kelly
Can you share with us how you uncover DMP and
DMU.
Do you have typical questions that help
you?
Typically would be `who else is involved in this?
Who should i talk to about this?
Any other tactics? How to be sure the answers you
get are trustworthy? Eddy Mahieu posted this on Linked in
recently and this was my response.
I teach my students to stay away from words like
"decision maker" and "decision making
process" because in a traditional process this is the point
at which your client turns into a "gatekeeper". He may
grant you access to information and people. He may
not.
This stage in my sales road map is called
"who`s who in the zoo". It`s the point in the sales
conversation when you need to find out who makes what decision,
how and when. The most important information is the
"how", i.e. the criteria. Once you know the criteria
you can demonstrate how you/your solution matches it exactly. The
strategy is based on how people process language.
If you broach the subject with a statement like
"Help me understand what I need to do and what data I need
to provide to help you make a good buying decision." you can
lead your client through a process of discovery. Your questions
will be predicated on your client`s response and language. So, if
your client says "Send us a proposal" you`d say
"sure, I`d be glad to - can you tell me, who gets to read
the proposal?" Your client will tell you - why wouldn`t he?
Your next question HAS to be, "After everyone reads the
proposal, what decision gets made?"
See, if you don`t find out what decision gets
made, you`ll never find out if there is another step in this
decision process or if other people are involved. For example,
the client might require a written document initially. This might
do the rounds - go to legal for clearance, go to I.T. for
clearance, go to a couple of head honchos (CEO CFO) etc. Several
decisions involved here culminating in "does this make the
shortlist presentation?" Then comes the shortlist
presentation where they decide who gets the
contract.
Only when you have found out what is involved in
reaching the FINAL decision do you then ask the client about
criteria and assessment. If other people are involved, you must
find out their criteria and they are the ONLY ones who really
know how they are going to make a decision.
There is no easy way round this. You really need
top communication skills. Language and how your client processes
it are key. If I could teach you this just by writing to you I
would gladly do so. I allocate half a day in my workshop simply
to teach the theory and principles of this strategy and then it`s
a question of practice, practice, practice. Worth it, so my
clients tell me.
Email - Permalink
|
