In this segment of a six‑part IT sales training series, the presenter explains why a written proposal alone does not close a deal. After the demo and proposal (Step 3), the buyer must still make a decision, which usually involves additional stakeholders such as managers, CIOs, or CEOs. The trainer stresses the need to translate product benefits into concrete financial impact for the organization and to understand who the true decision‑makers are. Because salespeople rarely reach the top‑level executive directly, the method advocated is to educate and empower the “lackey” – the person lower in the hierarchy – so they can champion the solution upward. The speaker also advises salespeople to track where their process stalls, using a 360‑degree, repeatable sales process to pinpoint derailments and improve the program. The segment ends by previewing the next step (Step 5) in the overall sales methodology.
Chapters
You know, it's so important to remember that the proposal is not the deciding factor. The proposal that you present is just not the deciding factor when it comes to IT-based sales. Have you educated the customer correctly? What have you done to totally advance the sales process? If it comes down to the proposal, then quite honestly, you know, you've already lost. Alright, now let's not forget, okay? So as we go through these videos, step 1, is all about gaining access. Step 2 is what are you going to do to make change easier for that customer because we all know that everybody hates change. What we just finished was step 3, presenting proposals. 2 more steps. Now we're on to step number 4, yet another decision. You've gone through the demo of your product. You've educated the customer about what it does and why it's gonna benefit them, and you presented them a really concrete proposal, or perhaps it's a one-sheet or something online. And so now they have to make another decision. Well, here's the crazy part: there's typically always another person in that room, okay? When it comes to making a decision, there's always another person in the mix. It's maybe a boss, maybe it's the IT manager, maybe it's the CIO or whatever. So, you really need to focus in on a couple of things. One, what's in it for them financially? What does this mean to the bottom line of their business? See, a lot of times when I'm talking to folks and selling products, they'll say, well, we have a customer service issue, so your software is going to help us correct that customer service issue. Well, I mean, that's great, but what's the financial impact of that on the company? You got to remember this, guys, it's so important, and that is that even though you might not be solving a financial problem, problem using your software, it is going to benefit the company positively financially. So what does it mean to them financially? So, Mr. Customer, if we can fix your customer service issue, what does that mean to your company overall financially? Really drill down deep into it because who's the third party in the decision process? Say you're talking to the marketing director And then you've got to talk to the owner. Say you're talking to the IT manager, then you've got to talk to the CIO. Say you're talking to the CIO and they've got to go to the CEO. A lot of sales trainers would say, don't ever give a pitch to the person that's not the decision maker. Well, here's the thing, guys. I've been doing this since 1996. Yeah, I'm slightly jaded, and guess what, Mr. Sales Trainer? Here's what I know, 9 times out of 10, you can't get a meeting with the decision maker. Oh, then don't make a pitch. Are you serious? Really? Because I have made millions of dollars not pitching the decision maker. Instead, what I do, because you can't get the decision maker on the phone, you get their lackey. What I have done is I actually teach the lackey or the person underneath the decision maker, I teach them about the product so well That they can go to the decision maker that I can't usually get through to in a lot of cases and they make the pitch for you. You get them excited enough about the product, they will help you. That's the thing to remember. See, a lot of times you're dealing with like a customer service manager. They know they need a new system and so if you can get them excited about the system and really help them understand, then they can go to the CEO or they go to the CIO. Now sure, oh, it would be great if you could always meet with the decision maker. Wouldn't that be awesome? I think we all realize something, guys. We can't, and very often we don't have that. Alright? Now, ask yourself, we've gone through steps 1, 2, 3, and now we're on step 4. If you've gotten to this part in the process and the sale stops, okay, or say you get to the proposal and then you never hear back from them again, say you can't even get to the first meeting. You need to actually write this down and determine where in your process have you gotten derailed. Okay, the most times, where in your process are you getting derailed? Then you meet with somebody like me or you meet with a senior-level account executive at your company and you say, all right, listen, I keep getting stopped right here. And that's why you need a process because when you have a process, you can figure out where it is. That you're getting derailed or where your program needs to be improved. But without a process, without a 360-degree process, quite honestly, you're sunk. All right, let's move on to step number 5.
