Impact Players

I was lucky enough to just take on a team of Italians in a football friendly that I’ve played against twice before over in Rome.  This time the match was at Leyton Orient’s training facilities in North London.

With a large squad, banter was flowing before the game with us all excited.  Me and my fellow veterans got to joking with the youngsters about the make-up of the Bench.  A couple of years earlier, we played a game and in our changing room, the previous occupants (a rugby XV) had left their game plan papers plastered on the wall.  One of them bore the big-lettered title ‘Impact Players’.  In the olden days, this meant ‘substitutes’.  And no-one likes being a sub.  Ever since, we’ve used the term collectively ourselves, as at the time it ensured much hilarity.  But now I can see how such ‘spin’ is actually a cracking device.

B2B solution selling by definition involves talking to several people prospect-side, at many different levels.  What can often separate a winner rep from an also-ran, is how your own personnel resources are marshalled.  Who will you bring off the bench to make an impact, at what time, and with whom must they talk?

The best ‘impact players’ for me have always been outright tekkies.  Such people earn the instant trust of the buyers.  Tending to show initial nerves, their impressive knowledge soon garners respect.  The insight they gain, conversations they kick-off and the previously closed doors they open, can usually mean the difference between winning and losing.

The more impact players you can draw on and the more you bring them onto your pitch, the greater the likelihood of your sales success.