“I want to take this idea to my boss…”

You’re on a call with a lead that’s expressed interest. They are in a leadership position. The prospect is well qualified and you’ve pointed out tons of mutual value. You’ve dove your thing. they are impressed. they’d love to buy but suddenly, they reveal that they lack the authority to proceed.

“Hey this sounds awesome, I want us to do this but I need to get approval from my [VP, COO, Boss, etc]. Can you send me over some info I can share with them and I’ll get back to you with next steps?”

Oh shit! You thought this was in the bag. Suddenly you’re losing control of the sale and are being asked to put your fate in the hands of someone that just learned the basics of your product and is now going to try and sell leadership on your behalf.

If you give them the info and follow up, there is a high likelihood that the next level will object, tell your contact to shut the conversation down, & you won’t know why. The process stops right there.

If you refuse to give it to them, they still lack authority. You’re not going anywhere fast that way either.

The way I see it, the goal is to get another meeting to include the decision maker. Sell that person. I get a lot of resistance here though. Contacts that are reluctant to pull leaders into the conversation.

What are some tactics you’ve used to get around this? To sell through it? Or to avoid it all-together?