Getting the Buyer Off the Other Side of the Table

One of the biggest places I see sales reps struggle is getting to the budget holder.

I think this is because most reps treat discovery as qualification. Figure out if they're a fit, pitch the value, handle objections, and then let the prospect go off and negotiate on their behalf. They're putting their fate in someone else's hands.

But in a complex enterprise deal, that's only half of it. The other half is getting the person across the table onto your side of it.

At Perch, we sold large deals into college athletic programs and professional sports organizations. We often worked with assistant strength coaches. Real budget authority lived with the head coach or the AD. Most deals needed sign-off from people we hadn't yet met, and the person we were talking to couldn't get it done alone.

The fix wasn't a better pitch. It was a different goal for the call.

Once you've built real rapport and shown genuine value, and assuming the product is actually a fit, you can shift the conversation with a few questions:

1. Does this look like something that could help your organization?
2. What would prevent that from happening?
3. How can I help you achieve that?
4. Can we meet with the head coach together to walk through those obstacles?

Question one gets a soft commitment. Not a signature, just a real yes. Question two makes the obstacles a shared problem instead of your objection to handle. Question three positions you as a resource. Question four is the one most reps skip.

Most skip it because it feels like it could insult the person you're talking to. Asking to meet the head coach implies that your contact is not the real decision maker. And if you're still sitting across the table from them, it does come across that way. It signals you're going around them.

But if you've moved them to your side first, it lands completely differently. You're not going around them. You're going with them. They don't feel cut out. They feel supported. You stop being a salesperson trying to extract a deal and become a trusted advisor helping someone solve an internal problem.

When that happens, you usually don't have to fight your way to the budget holder. They'll bring you there themselves.