World Wide Web

Possessing a visible Internet presence and professional networking skills can be a big help in executing a complex sales process.

Everything that is sold has a greater or lesser impact on a client's business. A client might need paperclips, but they aren't going out of business if they make the wrong decision in buying a couple of hundred cases. The same amount of money spent on a unified messaging system, or a web server, could potentially be devastating if the wrong buying decision is made. Obviously there are huge implications if a company makes the wrong decision associated with a $10 million dollar ERP system, or a mission critical piece of manufacturing capital equipment. This concept has basically been implicitly communicated over the years in the phrase "Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM."

Typically, the more impact your offering potentially has on a client's business - good or bad, the more complex the sales process is going to be. Why? The more potential for impact a purchasing decision has on the client, the more people get involved in the decision process. More people involved in the decision means it takes longer for everyone in the decision process to evaluate the options and reach a decision consensus.

At large (and even in small) companies, the decision process can become quite political during a complex sales process. Though there may even be a "formal" decision process (or procurement process) that needs to be followed, there is -always- an "informal" decision process ultimately driving the outcome. This is where it becomes critical to know "who's who in the zoo." Who are all of the decision makers? Who are the people that have influence over the decision makers? This all becomes a critical picture to map out as you attempt to navigate a complex sales process within your client's organization.

This is where your visible Internet presence and professional networking skills are critical leverage when navigating a complex sales process.

Most people only think about their professional networking skills. This is a mistake. Why? Because an increasing number of executives Google someone prior to consenting to meeting with them. If you can't be found on Google, then this isn't going to help your professionl networking efforts. A strong visible Internet presence can only help your professional networking efforts.

Keep in mind that when I speak about proffessional networking, I'm not just simply talking about networking to build relationships with people that can introduce you to key decision makers and influencers, but networking to also identify who these people are and asses their competitive disposition prior to even attempting contact with them. For example: "Nobody buys anything like that around here without Dave blessing it, the CEO and Dave go all the way back to being schoolmates, and the CEO trusts Dave implicitly."

Through networking you might be able to learn that the key decision influencer is simply trying to learn enough about what you are selling to nuke your attempt at doing so. The ugly truth you might learn through networking is that "Dave" was torched by your company two years ago over a service problem and has sworn to never buy from your company again, or Dave's wife works for the competitor's company, or Dave won't get to build the new building he needs if funds are diverted to invest in your offering, etc. What you learn through your networking efforts might change your mind about how much of your company's resources you want to waste pursuing a deal you just learned you potentially don't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning.

Networking is critical in any complex sales process. The better you are at it, the better you'll be at closing more complex sales. Possessing a visible Internet presence will help others understand who it is that is attempting to network or meet with them.

Ron Bates is an expert in mission critical retained executive search. He is a Managing Principal with the retained executive search firm Executive Advantage Group, Inc. He has delivered personal executive coaching projects to former SAP, E&Y, Oracle, and WorldCom Exec's responsible for multi-billion dollar business units, and co-founded http://www.CV-Advantage.com, a self guided job search oriented executive coaching process.

With +27,000 direct contacts on on-line professional networking platforms, Ron has been referred to as "the most connected man on Earth". View Rons networking profile on Ecademy.

As a recognized expert in building an on-line personal Internet presence, Ron has been an invited speaker at venues such as the Marketing Executive Networking Group, British America Business Council, Expert Connections, and is a regular guest on Netshares Ask the Coach.

Ron's blog: Internet Presence Do you exist? can be found at http://www.search-advantage.com

For more information on Conducting a Job Search Campaign go to http://www.job-search-campaign.com