Thoughts from the other side

I had an ex CEO from a large mining company drop in yesterday. Whilst semi retired he has some positions on boards for some supply companies (they wanted him for his contacts).

'I is so hard to find the decision maker, they all think they are but they turn out to be just part of the decision chain. I now understand what it was like from a suppliers perspective when I was CEO of a mining company. I probably would have changed how I treated people if I had experienced this before".

Hindsight, a wonderful thing. But lets take this on board and examine the statement.

Do you ask the question:- Are you the decision maker on this project, what is your spend authority?

I know a Global Procurement manager for a large Engineering Construction company who cannot spend anything over $5000 himself for internal use, but externally on behalf of business, $1M.

Next question:- What is the process to make this happen, who needs to sign off on the purchase order, are there any recommendations that need to be made and by whom?

So next time you are out there closing the deal, who are you closing it with. Do not waste your valueable time (and hopes) on someone who does not have the authority to make and sign off on the decision to purchase. Find the decision maker or get out of the selling loop.

Let me know how it goes?