By Huthwaite (Creator of Spin Selling)
Most salespeople have a silent fear of purchasing committees. Indeed, it may not be too much to say that they dislike such committees on a visceral level. They fear getting bogged down in red tape and languishing in bureaucratic purgatory; they can’t help feeling that the decision process will be protracted, and a decision may never be made.
Objective evidence, however, suggests that the opposite is true. When an account sets up a purchasing committee or evaluation committee, or delegates purchasing decisions or recommendations to a named group of individuals, it’s a sign that the Evaluation of Options phase of the purchasing decision is under way. It means they are serious about buying. What’s more, it may speed up the process because it spreads out the risk of making a bad decision. People are more willing to move forward with the backing of a group than an individual may be willing to do by himself.
Committees have a bad reputation because they are often set up to make decisions in areas that a company may have little experience with—they have never before made such a purchase. Consequently, committees do move slowly. They want to do exhaustive research to mitigate for their lack of experience. But think how much slower the decision would be without the committee. An individual trying to make a decision on a large purchase with large consequences, who has no experience with that particular type of purchase, might take twice as long as a committee would take to make a choice.
That’s why very experienced salespeople—if they see that an unsophisticated account is entering the Evaluation of Options phase—will actually suggest to an account that it should set up a purchasing committee. Don’t feel discouraged or negative about committee mechanisms. Just take them as sign that an account has firmly entered the Evaluation of Options phase of the sale. And plan accordingly.
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