There's a group of people who are at the pinnacle of decision making. They can make a snap decision in less that the blink of an eye. And those decisions can make the difference between absolute success and complete failure.
So who are these people?
They are the sportsmen and sportswomen at the top of their game. In any sport, especially those that require quick reflexes such as football, tennis, baseball or cricket the top players must be able to make important decisions quickly.
When a player is in the zone then everything is working in harmony. Their hand to eye coordination and their mind all work together in an instant to make powerful decisions. And once the decision is made and followed through, it projects that power into the game. The perfect return, the powerful shot, the exquisite pass.
And you'll have seen the instances when the player hasn't made a decision. You'll hear the commentator say ?he looked in two minds about that? and in the next second the shot is flunked. You can see it in missed penalties, sliced shots, weak returns and wobbly passes.
How do these people become so good at making their decisions?
They train, they practice and they seek out the best coaching. They keep on making the decisions, under pressure and over and over again. They create their decision making into a habit, even a reflex. They know that their decision making ability will make the difference between winning and losing. They know everyone on their team and everyone who supports them is depending on them to make the right decision. Every time.
How can you do the same?
Like anything in life, the way to emulate someone else's success is to do what they do. If you want to become an excellent tennis player, you look for a role model and do what they do. If you want to become an excellent decision maker then do what these excellent decision makers do and train, practice and seek out the best coaching. Find ways that you can make more Powerful Decisions so that it becomes habit.
It's said that ?repetition is the mother of skill? and that's just as true when it comes to decision making as it is to any other skill in life. The more you do it, the stronger it gets.
What Powerful Decision can you make right now? And then another. And then another.
It is preferable to send mail to all the people who affect a purchase within the customer company, from the top managers to the clerk who uses the product - try to hit every level of influence. Don't forget the money and techie people who will be impacted by the decision to buy as well. People like to get involved in the process or provide input, particularly when it comes to making a purchase.
For success, a B2B marketer needs to include a rich network of influencers in the database of prospects. At times, over fifteen people at a particular company will end up affecting the decision to buy. Most decisions are certainly made by more than one person, so it is preferable to include many people at one company than to contact one person at many companies. That is, it's better to contact ten people at a thousand companies than one person at ten thousand. The point here is quality over quantity, and the goal is to make contact with a series of influencers per target company to get a small group of buyers interested in making the purchase and going though the process together.
At times some third parties can assist with implementing these strategies. Some such parties are business associations, trade analysts, and industry press. Info companies such as Dun & Bradstreet can help determine the titles of business people who have buying power. For a fee, trade publication managers can put forth a list of their subscribers who reported that they influence purchases in the marketer's product or service category. Then the marketer can add these listings to their own database, enhancing and expanding the influencer info there. This can really help improve a marketer's idea of the inner-workings of a company, also fine-tuning the knowledge of who the people are, what their titles are, and how things work at a particular business.
The B2B marketer can also identify influencers by speaking with members of sales departments. A business' salespeople understand how the purchase process functions and who influences the process. This requires a lot of time but has the benefit of increased personal face-to-face interaction. Ask the following questions when speaking with salespeople:
- Do customers buy these goods and services to solve business or technical problems?
- Is it a technical person or a department manager who leads the purchase process? What problems does this person need to solve, and how will the product or service help solve these problems?
- How much budget authority is necessary in order to approve the purchase? Is the cost of the product or service in the authorized spending range?
- Does buying authority ascend to the manager level or the executive level? Ultimately, who will approve the distribution of funds?
- In a particular business, who will be impacted by the decision but won't actually influence the decision? There are many individuals at a company who are important in the buying process and smart markets will develop relationships with all of them.
Strategies like these can greatly improve your direct marketing database and increase B2B sales.
Both Andy Warren & Mac H Mcintosh are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Andy Warren has sinced written about articles on various topics from Family Concerns, Finances and Debts Loans. You can visit and discover how to make a Powerful Decision today.Andy Warren is a qualified chartered accountant, entrepreneur, coa. Andy Warren's top article generates over 18100 views. to your Favourites.