If you’re tired of calling on people who really want to work with you, but can’t seem to get anything approved, listen up! Spending one more day working with these really nice individuals is a total waste of your time – even though they love you and what you’re selling. You’ll never close deals that way.
If you want to get the business, you need to find those individuals in the company who are making things happen. CEB, a sales research group, calls these people the Mobilizers. They’re the ones who spearhead new projects in their organization. They can see into the future and know that change is imperative for the company – and for them personally.
They jump into action when they see problems that need solving or goals that can’t be achieved unless something is changed. They go online to research what’s out there. They talk to people both internally and externally to learn more. And, they catalyze people into action.
That’s who you’re looking for today. A mobilizer. They feel really different than those nice, but powerless people you’re talking to now. And, they’ll make you feel really uncomfortable too – because they’re asking you things that you don’t know the answer to. Or, they’re challenging what you say. If you’re squirming, it’s a good sign.
So get going – and find those movers-and-shakers who mobilize their organization to take action. You’ll close deals a whole lot faster!
Ahhh! It would be so nice if people wore signs so we could identify them as ‘powerless’ or ‘mobilizer’ – or if their titles contained these words. It would make our jobs so much easier. If only it were that simple. I have worked with more than my share of ‘mobilizers’ who didn’t jump into action when something needed to get done. ‘Fits and starts’ would be a more appropriate description. The point is, following through on your recommendation sounds much easier than it really is. And working from the outside, it’s very easy for salespeople to become confused because things are rarely exactly as they seem.
I have also worked with people who I brusquely wrote off as ‘powerless,’ only to find out that they weren’t as feeble as I had supposed. Sure, it’s important for salespeople to always connect with people in an organization who can get things done, but ‘powerless’ is an absolute term, and not a complimentary one, either. By encouraging salespeople to apply this label to people, they risk opening opportunities for competitors who are mature enough to take a more nuanced view – and have the diplomatic skills to use the situation to their advantage.