Alan Weiss
A recent posting on one of my discussion web sites, Alan’s Forums, provided this information:
“The CEO of a non-profit, with whom I had a good relationship, told me that she was going to use my services. She implied that the board had final say, but that it would simply accept her decision. When she asked me to attend a social event with the board I told her it was a conflict with some personal plans, and she told me not to worry about it. Later, of course, I found out that my competition did attend and I did not get the contract.”
I’m appreciative of people having the confidence and courage to share these situations, so that we can all learn.
So, Who Needs THEM?
In this case, which isn’t at all unusual, my colleague allowed herself to ignore the obvious: The CEO was not the buyer. (I’m referring to what I call the “economic buyer,” who can authorize the purchase of professional services.) She heard the muffled warning, but ignored it because she didn’t want to do more work, had personal plans, and trusted her relationship with a recommender.
If you consider the situation objectively, however, what you find are two inescapable facts:
1. The CEO was not the final decision maker, and said so.
2. If the board merely “rubber stamps” the decisions of the CEO, then why do we need them?Aren’t they merely redundant?
We tend to become so scared of the “sales” process that we jump at easy answers, race down paths of least resistance, and deny our own observations. In this case, the consultant should have insisted on meeting the board, or the key board decision maker (no need to sacrifice personal plans if that could have been done ahead of time).
We tend to fear moving on to more buying levels or more buyers because we fear rejection. But we’re far better off with an honest rejection than dishonest acceptance!
Just Give Me the Truth
We are all better off with honest resistance rather than dishonest embrace. Resistance and objection are signs of interest. But false acceptance and dissembling are signs of lack of respect and an attempt to move us along and out without having sufficient regard for us to deal with unpleasant candor.
In another instance, a gatekeeper told a consultant that “My boss has changed priorities and had to cancel the phone call, and I was consumed with work and forgot to tell you,” wasting the consultant’s morning, I suggested this response: “Unfortunately my morning was planned around that call, but let’s make it up this way—please set up a meeting with your boss so that we can both determine whether the new priorities favor us working together or not. I can sacrifice a morning, but not future months of discussion if this is not to be.”
Fortunately, it’s usually the lower level people who aren’t honest; they don’t have the power or the skills to deal with issues directly (which is exactly why they are lower level people). But we also have to be careful about presumed buyers at higher level who aren’t the economic buyer.
You Can Make More Money, but Not More Time
Wasting your time is a grave offense. You can always make more money, but you can never make new time. Some people lie deliberately (I just want to get him out of my office), some lie to protect their ego (“Of course I can conclude this deal”), and some lie out of ignorance (“I believe that she’ll agree, though we haven’t spoken…”).
It’s our job to find the real buyer and to move toward a business decision. This isn’t unique to solo practitioners. I’ve worked with many boutique and large consulting firms whose offerings are sold strictly to the HR department where, inevitably, the “buyer” with whom they are dealing must go elsewhere for approval, usually to the real line buyer. What internal person can market your services as effectively as you can, with your knowledge and your passion?
The answer is “none.” So why enable them to do so? There is no humiliation in being rejected by a true buyer. That comes with the turf, just as an eagle goes on to hunt new prey when it misses the snake it had in its sights the first time. If the eagle doesn’t get over the miss and get on with its hunting, the bird and its family will starve.
So will you.
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