In sales, myths are created when concepts and models are used out of the context they were originally designed for. The concept of the Ultimate Decider is an example of this.
Selling to the small and medium enterprise
In small and medium sized enterprises, the Ultimate Decider is usually the owner or the CEO of the company. They are the one who decides what is to be bought from whom. This person also has the power to push the enterprise to spend the necessary funds needed to acquire goods and services.
Selling to the large enterprise
Sellers dealing with large enterprises often find what Andy Paul in his book “Zero-Time Selling” calls the Actual Decision Maker. This person has the authority to decide what is bought from whom. However, the authority to engage the enterprise to spend the necessary funds for the purchase lies with another person.
Sellers entering into the buying journey late are faced with a dilemma. Should they trust that the Actual Decision Maker is capable of getting the signature for the purchasing contract of their chosen supplier? Or should the seller follow the common wisdom of calling around and trying to reach the person who has the power to engage the enterprise?
Especially for purchases with lower strategic value, the person with the signing authority is usually simply approving the decision made by the Actual Decision Maker. The term Ultimate Decider is thus a misnomer in such a situation. Trying to call on this person just slows down the sales cycle. The chances to revert the decision of the Actual Decision Maker are very slim.
When to go high
The person with the signing authority is usually of higher rank than the Actual Decision Maker. The question however arises when to call this person in strategic deals .
In the book “Selling to the C-Suite” by Stephen J. Bistritz and Nicolas A. Read the notion of the Relevant Executive has been introduced. The Relevant Executive is the person most affected by the problem for which you offer a solution and/or can profit the most from the offered solution.
Based on their research, they recommend that the Relevant Executive is either called after a successful implementation of a project or very early in the buying cycle. For the former, this is the right moment to establish the relationship that might be beneficial for future deals. For the latter, the aim is to initiate a buying journey, which, at this point in time, is too premature to solicit a purchasing decision.
The first decision you can expect from a Relevant Executive is to acknowledge a problem or an opportunity that merits further investigation. The next decision in the buying journey is about how to collect information on possible solutions. Depending on how much the Relevant Executive is a “hands on or off” person, the management of the buying journey can be passed to the person who later becomes the Actual Decision Maker. The handover to the Actual Decision Maker may also come later, at the screening and selection of possible suppliers. The Relevant Executive keeps the right to engage the company in the actual purchase through their signature. If one can assume that the buying journey is delegated to a person who has the trust of the Relevant Executive, the act of signing becomes more of an approval than a decision.
The impact of corporate culture
As we have discussed in a previous post, the way decisions are made is also strongly influenced by the corporate culture prevailing at the purchasing enterprise. So the Relevant Executive role can be limited to initiating the decision making process about whether the problem merits attention and whether a solution is to be purchased.
Conclusion
It seems that when selling to large enterprises, the Ultimate Decider is a myth. Chasing after this phantom will only delay or even derail your sales campaign.
What is your experience with the concept of the Ultimate Decider?
Christian Maurer