The Authority trap – Deadly game of enterprise software presales!

Visioning and Selection

Consider the following pitch during the Enterprise Software sales meeting:

We are one of the top Microsoft partners in the world! We have 60 offices across seven continents. In addition, we have a strong team of 500 consultants serving customers like Nike, Bose and HP.

For most of us, sales pitches like this are overwhelming. We honour such pitches with respect and believe that the vendor has authority in their field. Unknowingly, we also start trusting them too. It is our default natural response to authority.

However, the vendor has not proved anything to you. They said they are a big company. It could also mean that your business is too small for them to care?

As a Sponsor, take charge and don’t let authority trap highjack the Sales meeting. Get the vendor to present facts and ask them the right questions. Understand how their authority can help your business and the project. Understand if your business is the right size for them to care. Why are they interested in business with your company?

If you are not careful, the Selection panel can fall into the Authority trap. Don’t let that happen. Instead, proactively drive the conversation to ask the questions that matter. Note that the vendor is as good as the team they are putting forward for your project!