Have you ever called a company's customer service number to get a situation resolved only to discover that you were speaking with the wrong person? Were you speaking with someone who lacked the authority to provide a reasonable solution? Have you had to speak with a supervisor to get real business done?

I had a lawnmower problem and called the "Help" line several years ago and found out that guy can't help anyone. He just answers the phone... There is actually no one there that can help! That prevents them from receiving complaints. His words, not mine.

I remember a story a friend told me about assisting a sales representative with  a tough client. The rep had been calling on this guy for several months with no success. They would talk and even go out to eat, but no decision was ever reached to close the sale. My friend went with the rep on his next visit to the gentleman’s office. After a few minutes, my friend cut to the chase and asked if he could buy.  The man laughed and said, “That’s not my job. I just chat with sales reps and take them to lunch. My boss down the hall makes all the buying decisions, but no one has ever asked to speak with him." 

So my friend said, “May we speak with him… all three of us?”

“Sure” the gentleman replied.

Down the hall they went and guess what? The boss bought right away!  The question wasn’t “Will you buy?”, but “WHO will buy?”  Who is the "EF Hutton: that everyone listens to in the company?

If you are taking people out to lunch continuously and not making sales, you are eating with the wrong people.

No offense to some networking organizations, but I used to attend local community networking breakfasts and after-hours receptions. Then one day I looked around and realized that almost all (and in most cases ALL) of the people there were low on the corporate totem pole and in no position to buy a speaker’s services. They were there selling individual insurance policies, real estate services, party setups and even a chimney sweeper!

I stopped going to those meetings and found groups where the CEOs with the money and permission givers were in attendance. I began connecting with them and adding value to their lives and businesses.  I didn’t want to waste money and time on people who couldn’t make a decision to buy. I want to always connect with the person everyone else has to go to get permission from.

The first big account I sold, I met the woman in charge of buying. After a 30 minute meeting, she asked me, “How do you want the check cut?” That’s the person I want to speak with always… either the permission-giver to cut the check or the check-cutter themself.

Next time you are attempting to make a sale, ask who will cut the check or who authorizes payments. That is the person you want to get in front of to connect with for successful sales.

If the person you are speaking with has to get permission from “Mommy or Daddy” to make the sale, resolve the issue or cut the check you need to connect with “Mommy or Daddy.” Can it be any simpler than that?

Keep eating all the lunches you want and going to all the meetings you want to attend. But stop using that as an excuse for failure to make sales. Start gathering where the permission-givers congregate. Go to their watering hole, place of business or networking events. Get to the top to get to the bottom line.