Salespeople: When a Butterfly Flaps Its Wings, Do You Feel the Air?

Okay, butterflies don’t “flap” their wings, but you know the saying. And it’s one of those cause and effect things that also happen in organizations as you are in pursuit of the sale.

I like to think of it as the “corporate ecosystem” that influences every decision made inside a company.

As a sales professional, you probably pursue business from companies and are flummoxed (an old-fashioned word, but one I still like to use) about the decision making process inside a company.

It usually shows up for you in “the momentum gets lost on deals” and “nobody wants to make a decision.” In fact, a lot of our sales training is built around “how to keep momentum going.”

But many times it’s you, yes, you that have errored by not understanding the corporate ecosystem. And as you look to build and convert your sales pipeline, it will serve you well to understand the “ecosystem.”

A Suggestion

I suggest after your first meeting with a company you come back and “ecomap” the company as best you know. You can create an organizational chart–you can create charts that help you understand what market the company is competing in and what kinds of issues are going to inform (have an impact on) the decision to buy from you or not.

Selling to companies–especially large companies or when the solution is complex–requires a fair amount of knowledge and scoping. And until you understand how the company behaves, you’ll be hard pressed to find ways to communicate your value so that action gets taken.