The Deal Was Decided by Someone I Never Called

I still think about this one.

Years ago I worked for a large consultancy. We were chasing a big project at a European building materials group. Plants in a dozen countries, each running on its own systems, and a board that wanted one version of the truth. They had to bring their data together, and they had to do it fast.

We had the right answer. I'd pulled in some of the best people in Europe for this kind of work. They had done it before, at the biggest names in the industry. On content, we were hard to beat.

We lost anyway. It wasn't price and it wasn't quality. We were selling to the wrong people. Polite, engaged, senior people. Just not the ones who decided.

Where the decision went

Our contacts were the European leadership team. Above them sat the parent company in the US, which had just hired a new Chief Digital Officer. He would own every data and technology decision across the group.

He had his own ideas. He flew over on a listening tour to form his view of the business. And we kept doing what we were doing. We refined the proposal, polished the team and presented to people who liked us. Meanwhile the decision drifted across the Atlantic. By the time we understood what the American side wanted, it was too late.

The part I don't love admitting is this. I never called him. I thought about it more than once. But ringing a senior executive on another continent to say "I think I can help you" felt like overstepping. Like going over my contacts' heads.

Looking back, that call was the deal.

Every buying group answers to someone

Most qualification stops at the people you can see. Budget, timeline, who sits on the evaluation team. All useful. All incomplete.

Every buying group has someone above it. A board, a parent company, a new boss with a mandate. When that person changes direction, your champion's enthusiasm won't carry you. Your champion suddenly has someone new to please.

One question would have saved me: "Who outside this group could change this decision?" It sounds almost too simple. Ask it in the first meeting, when it's still a normal qualifying question. Ask it again whenever something moves at the top, like a new hire, a reorganization or a strategy review.

Then pay attention to how people answer. A relaxed "it's our call" is good news. A pause, a small laugh, or "well, the US will want to look at it" is the real answer. Write that name down.

A new leader is an opening

When a new executive shows up, most of us go quiet. We hope the old relationships hold while the new person settles in. I did exactly that.

But someone on a listening tour wants to be told things. He's building his picture of the business, and that's the moment to be part of it. Six months later his mind is made up, and you're arguing against it.

You don't need a big pitch. You need a reason that's about him. Something like:

For him, that's useful. It isn't pushy.

Still feels too bold? Ask your champion for an introduction. A real champion will make it. If they won't, that tells you something about how strong your position really is.

Distance makes it easy to skip

Six hours of time difference made it very easy to stay in the comfortable conversations. I see the same thing now with European companies selling into the US. They keep working the people they already know and treat the other side of the ocean as someone else's job.

Geography doesn't make decisions. People do.

What's the call you know you should make, and keep putting off?

A note on the details: I take confidentiality seriously, so I've changed the industry and some specifics to avoid any reference to the organizations I worked with. The situation itself was real. I lived through it, and that's why the lesson is worth sharing. Take it from here and make it your own.

If you run sales and suspect a deal is being decided higher up than you can see, book 30 minutes with me. No pitch. We'll map who really decides and what to do next.