- Have all the decision makers and stakeholders been identified?
- Have all the influencers been identified, including partners and service providers (the answer is always no!)
- For each of these individuals, how strong is the relationship? What direction is the relationship moving -- getting better, staying the same, getting worse?
- Who can say no...and why?
- When was the last time you significantly engaged with each of the important players on your influence map?
- What is your plan for improving relationships where necessary and getting commitments from each of those stakeholders and decision makers?
- If there is an incumbent to be displaced, what does their influence map look like and how much overlap is there with yours?
- What are your coaches telling you now?
The influence map is a key tool to help de-risk opportunities. If you leverage the influence map as part of your engagement and pursuit process, you are winning at a 20 to 40% higher rate and seldom, if ever, need to discount at the eleventh hour to close/win deals.
And if you aren't yet using influence maps, and would like assistance in implementing them, let me know!
While powerful, the influence map is just one part of a professional enterprise selling toolkit. I'll cover additional high value tools in coming days.
Thanks,
Lee
No comments:
Post a Comment