Making a sale might look easy for some, but ask any sales man/woman and they will tell you it is a tricky mix of science and art that takes patience, strategy and creativity. According to Clinton Obura, Director of Business Development and Growth at Elephant Healthcare, when coming up with your sales strategy for a business to business type of venture, the first critical step is to understand the players in the Sales funnel. Mapping these players in the sales process will help you work your way to the ultimate decision maker, and consequently close that sale.

These seven players include:

Initiators

These are the people who begin the buying process. They trigger the buying process. In a company people like these would be the ones in the IT department, the developers or people in the infrastructure department. Capturing their interest gets you through the door.

Users

These are the people who use the product on a daily basis. They could also be the ones dependent on the product. It is important that they get to see the utility of your product, maybe even test it out.

Influencer

This is the person that convinces other people to use the product. This person convinces other people that the product is needed. Identifying this person is a critical step. Getting them to believe in what you are offering is a major milestone in your sales process as they become your internal champion.

Decision maker

This is the person that gives the final approval for the purchase. This would typically be heads of business units or senior managers who oversee the users of the product you are selling.

Buyer

This is the one who owns the budget for the purchase of the product or service. This is the person without whose approval you cannot be able to proceed up the sales funnel. The good news is that with the Influencer and Decision maker in your corner, this stage becomes relatively easy.

Approver

He/she has the final say in a product purchase. He or she is the final approver for the product to be integrated in a business. It could be a procurement officer or a commercial officer but it varies from one company to the next depending on the structure. Depending on size of the Organization or size of project, this could also be the CEO.

Gate Keeper

This often ignored player is the person that might block you from meeting the final approver. It could be someone who is trying to maintain status quo or someone who is simply trying to protect their job. This could be anyone from Head of Information technology to a secretary to even a chief of staff.

Clinton Obura was a facilitator at Un.thinkable masterclass (our quarterly 10X Growth Leaders Workshop) in July 2020. Click here to apply for membership in Un.thinkable.