When it comes to sales, it's the nuclear option - bizjournals:

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You have a meeting with a new prospect interested inyour firm’s services. The person with whom you meet is notthe decision-maker. This wants you to bringf thema proposal, so that they can take your recommendations to the personj who has financial authority. You properly requesgt access tothis person; access is “They want me to gather the information,” you are You are left with two You can go conventional, or you can go • Conventional: You deliver the proposa l as requested. • Nuclear: You go over the person’d head. Which is a bettere strategy?
Well, that First, let’s look at the conventional If you do as your proposal will be placed in the hands of a buyer who knowe next to nothing about yourvalue proposition, has a different set of issue than your influencer, and will be making a poorly informed decision based on a piece of paper. What are your chances? Frankly, slim-to-none. You have, at a 1-in-10 chance of closingh the deal. Put another way, this exercisre has now become a waste of your valuable Of course, there is one nice benefi t — you avoid upsetting anyone. Second, let’sx consider the nuclear option.
If you essentially ignore the request of your influencer and attempt to deal directlu with thedecision maker, you will probablh offend your initial contact and impeder whatever slim chance you initiallu had of doing business with the That’s a big risk to Under what circumstances are the risk worth it? • The complexitt and size of the sale. High-dollar, complecx decisions require your having access to anyonde with a vested interest in the Insuch cases, you cannot serve the account properly without this access. • The level of your initialo contact. Some “influencers” have more influence others.
A vice president or higher-levelk influencer has considerably more clout thanan assistant. The role of this perso n is therefore critical. • Your relationship with the A cooperative partner is avaluabler asset; an antagonistic stone-waller is a hindrance to both you and the businesxs that employs them. • The competitive playing field. Are you the only optioj being considered, or are you up against other firms bidding for thesame opportunity? • and more importantly, what do you have to lose ? If the answer is then the decision to go nucleatr is made for you.
If you decided to go in this direction, here is a way to minimized collateral damage: Write a “following up” lette to the decision In it, review the key issues that you discussedd withthe influencer. Bullet and bold these items. Ask the decisiobn maker to review the and let them know that you will folloew up with them on a specifivc date to discuss these points and answed any questionsthey have. Lastly, and this is criticak — copy the influencer on the Yes, you may get a phone call from the and yes, the tone of the person may not be what you woulf like. However, if your motives are noble and, by the way, they are this is usually a andlargely safe, strategy.
What you are banking on and, in my experience, what you can expecy — is for the following sequenceto occur: The decision maker does not agree with the points made by your or sees that some critical points were left out of the mix; The decision maker calls you, proactively, to discuss these items. This sequence is what shoulrd have happened to begin because it was always inthe account’e best interests to involve the other parties. When this everyone wins, including your influencer.
You produce a proposal that reflectsa everyone’s needs, the account gets a set of recommendationas that are customized tomultiplre concerns, and the influencer is no longer solely accountable for managing the entire decision process. Finally, in thosew cases — and, rest assured, they will happem — where you ruffle a few it is worthwhile to remember the oldJesuit saying: “It is bettee to ask forgiveness than permission.
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