Decision Process – internal inspection questions
Status Red – No visibility of how a decision will be made.
Guiding Light Principle: Visibility – You may have some idea about next steps or budget, but until you are able to list out, in detail, the approval process and validation steps, you are still are at red.
- Tell me how you positioned yourself as the process expert and “buyer assistant?”
- Explain to me how you set expectations that your next meeting agenda will include time for you to understand their buying process?
- Describe to me how you are prepared to answer the question: “what’s the best way to evaluate and validate your solution?”
Status Yellow – Visibility of the decision process but not in our control/ influence.
Guiding Light Principal – Influence- Both elements of the decision process, approval & validation need to be documented & mutually agreed upon with your prospect. Evidence exists that the customer is also committing time & resources to this process. Ex: Are they willing to begin the review of the License Agreement / Legally binding documents or set you up as an approved vendor with procurement?
There should also be a timeline showing the dates for key activities. You must negotiate this timeline so that the approval process does not follow validation but rather these 2 processes should be intertwined.
- Tell me how they arrived at this Dp?
- Explain to me how the Dp can be changed or modified?
- Describe to me who is involved in the Dp?
- Tell what you would change if you could influence the Dp?
- Explain to me who would have to be involved to get that done?
- Describe to what that would do to the outcome of the Buying Process?
- Tell me how they buy?
- Explain to me how you know this is a budgeted project?
- Describe to me if it’s not budgeted, how funds will be made available?
- Tell me who approves the release of funds?
- Explain to me who signs the contract?
- Describe to me when & who issues the PO?
Status Green – Dominance
Visibility and control/ influence of the process .
Guiding Light Principle: Dominance – You’ve applied all the sales rigor associated with Dp = Yellow & you’ve influenced the validation process to Highlight our differentiators, Minimize our weaknesses, Expose our competitor’s weaknesses & Minimize their strengths
- Tell me how our competitive positioning is working?
- Explain to me how you have validated our position relative to the competition, the customer doing it on their own, or doing nothing?
- Describe to me how we can:
- Win?
- Lose?
- Tell me how customer’s validation process highlights our differentiators, exposes the competitions weaknesses, and / or minimize their strengths?
- Explain to me how the EB views the Dp?
- Describe to me how you know you are winning or losing?