You spend a huge amount of time building a strong relationship with key sales contacts in the enterprise sales process. Then when it comes down to crunch time and a buying decision you have to then also start dealing procurement as well.
Over the years, I have been on the end of huge wins and just as big losses. What has always been vital is the strength of the relationship and the trust that you build with procurement. Most people ignore this opportunity and just follow a process. Here are some simple ways to help make procurement your best friend in the sales process.
Understand their main objectives and how they measure success
Remember they have a manager and are part of a team just like you. They have objectives and a targets to achieve as well. You do not need to stop selling just because you are dealing with procurement. Ask them what their main objectives are. You need to very quickly find out what they are most focused on and how they will be measuring their success. Is it finding a vendor with the best service? Lowest price? Biggest return on investment? When you know this you can really work on showing them the value in that area first.
