Who Is The Buyer, Anyway?
Who Is The Buyer, Anyway?
Meet Your Host, Alan Weiss
Alan Weiss is one of those rare people who can say he is a consultant, speaker, and author and mean it.
His consulting firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc., has attracted clients such as Merck, Hewlett-Packard, GE, Mercedes-Benz, State Street Corporation, Times Mirror Group, The Federal Reserve, The New York Times Corporation, Toyota, and over 500 other leading organizations. He has served on several boards of directors in various capacities.
His prolific publishing includes over 500 articles and 60 books, including his best-seller, Million Dollar Consulting (from McGraw-Hill) now in its 30th year and sixth edition. His newest is Your Legacy is Now: Life is not about a search for meaning but the creation of meaning (Routledge, 2021). His books have been on the curricula at Villanova, Temple University, and the Wharton School of Business, and have been translated into 15 languages.
Get to know AlanShow Notes
Let's stop using inaccurate terms, such as VITO (Very Important Top Officer) or “C-suite,” which doesn't actually exist. Let's focus on real buyers. And that also calls for accuracy. A small business owner is a small business owner, not a CEO. That buyer has differing frames of reference and motivation from an executive in a large organization. Trust and credibility are reliant on understanding those distinctions.
Titles are midleading. I've found a lot of vice presidents who can't buy, and a mid-level director who spent $250,000 with me every year for ten years.
Budgets and money are two different things. A true buyer can move money from one budget to another, or create a new budget (especially important since a new client hasn't budgeted for you, someone the buyer didn't know prior, in advance).
You need to convince the true buyer that moving money from an existing budget to you represents a far better ROI. If you can't do that, no one else is going to do it for you.
No one is a buyer who doesn't control money with discretionary purchasing power. “I'm the buyer, but my boss has to approve,” is absurd. Move on.
The first sale is to yourself, the second to your client, the third for referrals, and the fourth to building that collection of income into an evergreen relationship.
Always think of the fourth sale first.
Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® is a weekly broadcast from “The Rock Star of Consulting,” Alan Weiss, who holds forth with his best (and often most contrarian) ideas about society, culture, business, and personal growth. His 60+ books in 12 languages, and his travels to, and work in, 50 countries contribute to a fascinating and often belief-challenging 20 minutes that might just change your next 20 years.
Introduction to the show recorded by Connie Dieken
