Mission Possible

Honing in on the person who makes the buying decisions at a company and establishing a relationship with them is a crucial part of succeeding with a prospect, not only for making the immediate sale, but also for setting them up to be a repeat customer. It may seem like an obvious point, but that doesn't mean it's an easy one. All too often company decision makers will delegate purchasing decisions to subordinates without handing over control of the company wallet. As a result, you're left in a situation where your point of contact is someone who is constantly saying, "Yes, that sounds great, but I have to check with my boss." It's a difficult situation to be in—especially if you're in for a large order and laying out a huge amount of cash or credit to hold inventory on a "maybe."