A complex sale is one that includes more than one decision-maker. To close a complex sale, a salesperson must convince at least a majority of the decision-makers, rather than needing to influence just one person.
In a complex sale, the buyers may perceive the purchase to be a high-risk one, whether due to price or the stakes of making the wrong decision and may require a lengthy process of deliberation.
How Complex Sales Work
Complex sales are especially common in large B2B sales environments. In B2B sales, the chief decision-maker is usually either the executive who controls the relevant sphere of authority (for example, the chief technology officer for technology sales) or the person in charge of all purchasing operations.
Other interested parties might include the chief decision-makers assistant and gatekeeper. Or you might need to convince the product/solutions intended users, the person or people who will be responsible for setting up and maintaining the product/solution, members of the company’s legal team, or others.
Usually, there will be one decision-maker who is responsible for making the final decision, while the other decision-makers, who have a stake in the purchase for one reason or another, will try to influence the chief decision-maker.
Complex sales of any type are further complicated by existing politics and power struggles within the decision-making team. For example, a company vice president engaged in a power struggle with the head of another department might either support or oppose the sale based on political factors that have nothing to do with you.
What value does a sales methodology add?
With a multitude of sales methodologies available today, with each one promising unprecedented growth and revenue. Any sales methodology that focuses only on uncovering and solving needs without providing additional insight is not going to add significant value. So gaining a deep understanding of today’s informed and mature buyer is vital.
Having strong qualifiers that create a detailed closing plan and incorporate both messaging and a sales process that enables the sales team to speak a common language and have common messaging.
A clear understanding of the health of your deals and how to create a detailed closing plan
The concept of training the first-line managers in advance of the sales teams help companies to adopt a methodology more consistently and trains team members to look for “Key Factors” that indicate where a deal might be vulnerable.
Key Takeaways
Complex sales are sales that involve more than one decision-maker.
Complex sales usually involve a sales cycle of several months longer.
Complex sales also usually involve steep purchase prices.
Because of the high stakes of the sale and the perceived risk to the buyer, complex sales usually require more involved techniques to close the sale.
