A Means to an End

By Tibor Shanto
One of the most stressful moments for most salespeople comes at the point when they have to decide whether or not to go around someone they have been dealing with to that point, be they client or prospect.
Some call it an end-run, backdoor, go over someone’s head, run around, whatever you call it, it’s never an easy decision, and certainly not always the right tactic, but in more instances, than most recognize, it is the best route for both seller and buyer.
There are many factors in determining if and when to do an end run in order to win a deal. These include the real value of the product/solution to the client organization; how pervasive is your solution in the client’s organization; understanding the economic buyer’s motivation, how they purchase and others. And most notably, how good the rep is, to begin with.
Assumably, top-notch sellers will not get pigeonholed