Expanding Access, Without Risk

Expansion is powerful, but careless access can backfire. This video explains how to broaden relationships without jeopardizing trust.

For more strategies like this, check out my sales tip video library on YouTube...

If you prefer to read - here is the transcript:

So if you've been watching my videos for more than five minutes, you know that I have a bee in my bonnet around getting to more people and getting past the primary person you're talking to and engaging more stakeholders. And the biggest pushback that I get on this from selling salespeople in workshops or one on one, when they put up their hand, they say, I don't want to go around or above or behind my back of my buyer. There's a fear that if we go to somebody else, we'll get cut out.

And I'm here to tell you, I don't want you to go around their back either. I don't want this to be a sneaky, covert operation. I'd like you to engage them and show them that there is value in bringing others involved.

This is not about threatening their authority. It's never about asking if they are the decision maker, because that is threatening. It's always about showing them how other people can help them make the right decision.

So I have a couple of ways that I like to do this language wise. If I know who I want to be introduced with, then I use their name. I'd like to bring Chris, your CFO, into this conversation so he can give us access to the data that we need. Or I might say, you know, I'm guessing your CFO is going to need to have a say in this. Why don't we get Chris involved right now?

The more you can use your expertise and talk about this in the frame of other customers, then the better and more likely you will get access to those people. If you're able to say, you know, all of our successful customers who've moved forward have brought their Chief Marketing Officers in because they have a strong opinion on what this should look like... How should we do that?

Or if it's a boss, maybe you know that your person isn't the decision maker. You might just simply ask, you know, do you think Colleen is going to want to have a say in how we're putting this together?

If you don't know who it is inside the organization, then ask some broader questions like, who else will see value in this? Who else will have a say in this? I'm curious what other departments will likely have an opinion on the way we go forward. Or is there anyone else with a vested interest that you think we could talk to? Just try to avoid the word decision maker.

I hate the question how or who or who else needs to be involved in the decision, or who besides you is the decision maker. Those questions are always threatening. So just eliminate that word and talk about who else wants to have eyeballs in it, or have a say or who else will have an opinion. And it will almost always get you that broader stakeholder engagement that we need in order to sell more, in less time.