The New Power Base Selling: Master The Politics, Create Unexpected Value and Higher Margins, and Outsmart the Competition

Getting the Timing Right

If you have the product, company, or installed base superiority to go Direct, with both the tangible and intangible sources of relative superiority, it is important to carefully manage the timing of the close as much as you can. You must avoid peaking too early or too late. The sales situation peaks when the customer buyers are:

• Ready: They’ve assessed all competitive alternatives and need to make a decision due to business, financial, political, or supplier incentive reasons. We refer to this need as a driving mechanism.
• Willing: They’ve communicated with the customer’s Situational Power Base and the necessary level of executive/management, who will support a particular decision.
• Able: They’ve secured the necessary funding.

As a supplier, you can influence all these customer states in the following manner:

• Ready: Be responsive to the customer while aligning the decision-making criteria around your strengths, as in the Attack box of the Competitive Differentiation Analysis. In addition, advance the Situational Fox’s Personal Motivator and provide appropriate incentives to the customer, such as enhanced service support if a decision is made within a certain period.
• Willing: Align with the Situational Fox and other Power Base members.
• Able: Provide Unexpected Value to overjustify an acquisition.

This influence is what can potentially allow you to have impact when a sales situation peaks. You can often discern the probable close date of a sales opportunity, ...