Identifying the purchase decision maker

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Identifying the decision makers is not always easy. After all, B2B sales are considered complex precisely because they involve several interest groups, from buyers to directors, sometimes including committees and even shareholders.

You've probably felt like you had a great meeting with a potential client, but at the end, you weren't sure if the sale would actually happen. There are several factors that lead to this feeling of uncertainty, one of the main ones being the lack of mapping of the decision makers, those who actually sign the contract.

Want to understand more about how to identify decision makers? Keep reading!!

Identifying the purchase decision maker

Purchase decision process


Companies are moving away from hierarchical models Italy telegram data top-down decisions made by the boss alone. Instead, they are adopting more dynamic selection processes that take into account the opinions of a group of people and can involve up to four departments of the company.

To better visualize this transformation, let's look at the roles played during a B2B purchasing process:



Initiator
This is someone who notices a problem in some company process, understands the users' needs and requests a solution.



User
The person who will use the product/service on a daily basis. They are the ones who face the problem directly, and therefore know which features best meet the need.



Specifier
A person who analyzes technical specifications, benefits and feasibility of implementing the product/service. This could be an IT or logistics professional, for example.



Influencer
Someone considered an expert, with knowledge and experience in the subject, whose opinion is trustworthy. Directors are generally the ones who take on this role.



Decision maker
Who has the final say. Usually it's the CEOs and directors.



In traditional sales, each of these agents is considered a stakeholder, that is, an interest group, and they are seen as a step that the salesperson needs to climb until they gain access to the final decision maker.

In collaborative processes, which are quite common in technology companies, for example, these agents work together and at the same time. Therefore, they must be equally considered throughout the commercial approach.

In this new scenario, someone on the IT team has as much power to block the purchase of a product/service as the decision maker. That is why your mission as a salesperson is not just to identify who the purchase decision maker is, but to investigate the decision-making process of the company as a whole.



Step by step guide to a B2B sale


1- Customer profile
What is your ideal customer profile? During a B2B sales process, it is essential to identify the role that the company's representative plays in the decision-making process. In addition, try to find out information about the company, such as its size, niche, and time in the market. The focus should be on reaching the purchase decision maker to make the sale; but for this to happen, you need to know how to deal with each agent in the process.