In my experience, the best approach when working with a team involved in making a purchase decision is to assume everyone has a say rather than conclude one or two people will make the final call.
A number of years ago Dave and I went to a car dealership to buy a new vehicle. Dave had done the research and knew what he wanted. Our visit to the dealership was really just to confirm details and to get the vehicle either brought in from another location or ordered. While Dave delved into some of the technical elements, I chimed in with a couple of questions about aesthetics. To each of my questions, the salesperson gave perfunctory and dismissive answers and returned his attention to Dave as quickly as he could. This behavior was not lost on either of us.
Decision maker
When it seemed that all of Dave’s questions had been adequately addressed, the salesperson did what he should and asked if Dave was ready to buy. Dave replied in all seriousness, “I don’t know. Ask my wife, because she is the one making the decision.” We thought that the salesperson was going to faint as he realized that he had now to recover from his quite rude and dismissive behavior – and that was Dave’s point, subtly but effectively delivered.
It used to be that it was easy to tell who the person in the power position was. Clothes, age, a big office and a couple of other telltale signs made it clear. In today’s world, you just don’t know with whom you are interacting. The man or woman in jeans, tattoos and a T-shirt could just as easily be the person in charge as not.
Forming premature conclusions
Buying decisions can be complex today and that means having positive relationships with everyone impacting a purchasing decision. In corporate or institutional purchases, it is unusual to have a single person making the decision – it’s most often a team, with each member bringing a unique perspective to the decision. If you think the young guy in the back seat doesn’t matter when you’re presenting your solution for a district-level purchase, think again. He just may be the person to whom everyone else will defer for technology input.
Purchasing teams are unlikely to help a salesperson by describing each of their roles with specificity or clarity. A group may say that it is a team decision, but the power and interaction within the team can still largely remain unknown with the team not recognizing its own process.
So it’s best to interact with and respond positively to everyone in a sales process (indeed all the time). You just never know who will make the ultimate decision or even how that decision will be made.
