Understanding the hijacker's mind is your first step toward deterrence.
Two earlier articles explained what happened when a senior executive in my company briefly grabbed control of my recent sales opportunity. It appears to have cost us the sale.
Because I’ve seen the same thing happen multiple times in the years I’ve been selling, I’ve given some thought to why it happens. When you understand the likely causes, you’re in much better position to prevent it.
This article provides eleven reasons why it happens.
- Your exec’s intentions are good. Maybe he misses the action of selling, and he’s truly trying to help you.
- Your company culture either actively encourages such behavior or it does nothing to discourage it. It’s more or less expected.
- He has a big ego. He thinks he can sell better than you. Worse, he wants to show you and other people he can do a better job. This kind of manager is likely to be an alpha dog who is trying to expand his own territory by peeing in yours. He does it because that’s what alpha dogs do.
- He has a conflict of interest. He’s a player-coach, and he’ll earn some money on your deal if he can claim to have had a role in bringing it in.
- He’s insensitive. Maybe he’s an oaf. He may not even be aware of doing it. He hasn’t thought about the negative consequences.
- He’s not an dope, but he’s just ignorant of the right way to do things. Maybe he doesn’t have a lot of experience working with sales, and he doesn’t know the ropes. Maybe you haven’t prepared him properly for the role you want him to play.
- He’s modeling his behavior after that of someone else he’s worked with.
- He’s not driven by ego, but he lacks confidence in your ability to close the deal yourself.
- Your prospect has signaled he (the prospect) prefers to work directly with your manager for some reason. This can sometimes happen when the manager has helped your prospect get things (i.e., resources, contractual concessions, commitments, etc.) that you don’t have the authority to authorize.
- He’s insecure about himself. He feels he’s not adding enough value in his own role to justify the big bucks they pay him. He wants to put his fingerprints on your deal so he can claim to have added value to your sale.
- He’s overly eager and needy. He desperately wants the sale for your company, and he’ll do anything to be sure it closes.
What have I left out? Please share your comments.
In future articles we’ll talk about ways to deal with the ones that interest you most.
Stay fresh.
–Scott Silverback
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