10 Guidelines for Collaborating With Influencers for B2B Sales Success

All salespeople want to get to and sell to the “decision maker.” Many a sales person has trampled over the influencers to arrive face to face with the boss only to find they lost the sale already.  The influencers told the boss “no.”

Influencers, and their counterpart, the screen, are also decision makers. They may not have the decision power to say ‘yes’ but they do have the decision power to say ‘no.’ They hold the keys to accelerate, delay or kill your sales success.

“No, you cannot have an appointment with the CEO.”

“I cannot let you meet the buying committee.”

“My advice to you (the decision maker) is don’t choose them as our supplier.”

“If you can’t respect me, then I cannot trust you in front of my boss.”

Let’s review some cardinal guidelines when you are communicating and “influencing the influencers” in the sale process to keep them collaborating with you to move forward to the close.

1. Treat the screen and influencer with the same respect you would give the final decision maker. This is crucial to build trust with the network that moves the sale forward and decision makers go to for buying advice.

1. Determine the influencer’s “need behind the need” and meet it. Influencer needs usually are those of getting recognition, safety, order and personal achievement. Sometimes the need for power and control is rooted in fear of you.  Most influencers need you to satisfy at least two needs.

1. Your role is to support the influencer success inside his/her organization. Help the influencer be successful in their job and relationships as it relates to the sale.

1. Understand the organization’s buying process. Don’t accidentally step on or sideline influencers in the journey to meet the decision maker.

1. Influencers have different degrees of influence. Determine the key influencers that have the decision maker’s respect and trust. You then gain their respect and trust.

1. In committee buying presentations, give adequate eye contact and good body language to all committee members. Do not overly focus looking at or facing the boss or CEO and ignore the other committee members.

1. Deliver on your promises. Building trust that you can deliver is crucial for the influencer to open doors. If you tell him/her you will deliver the proposal on Wednesday, do it, or even better, get it there by Tuesday.

1. Determine influencer DISC styles and communicate the way they enjoy listening. “D’ people want to hear the results and vision, ‘I’ people want to see the benefits, ‘S’ influencers want logic, process and security, and ‘C’ people want quality and risk reduction.

1. Learn influencers’ technical expertise. Show them value their expertise and experience then you find they help you in closing gaps in the solution you are proposing.

1. Finally, make sure you are a good listener to influencers. They are important for you to get the sale, so treat them as important as the final decision maker by listening to them, their issues, problems, ideas and to their heart.