Know your audience

Know who the decision maker is. It doesn't matter what type of business you’re in it is crucial to know who can say, “YES”. And that person has the ability to say “NO” also. Your focus has to be on the decision maker. Making the mistake of concentrating on an individual who is not going to be making the decision to give you an account, buy your merchandise, etc. can send you crashing and burning. How do you know who is the decision maker? The best approach if appropriate is to simply ask, “Who will be making a decision with regard to this acquisition/project etc.?” Sometimes the decision maker will tell you, “I will be making this decision.” That facilitates the process but sometimes it’s not that transparent.