We are often asked, "when should the VP of sales get involved in a deal?" Let me give you a couple of thoughts. Traditional wisdom would say that the VP is the guy that can come in and close the deal, play either good guy or bad guy, rescue or resuscitate the sales rep. I believe that when you do that, you will lose some value on your deal. It is often seen by the buyer as a sign of weakness and a chance to gain additional discount.
My view is that your sales executive should be involved early in the deal (and then again later). If your VP can gain an executive level relationship with the customer early in the sales cycle, he opens up future dialogue to find out the status of the potential deal and hppefully remove any roadblocks to finalizing the deal. Introduced early in the cycle, a VP can open the door to invite the customer to events or share key industry information with his counterpart. Finally, if it comes to closing the deal, there is so much more credibility if there is already a relationship in play. It lessens the feeling of "Let's make a deal" and furthers a trusted advisor role. The only concern with a "VP in early" approach is sometimes the chemistry of the executives involved is caustic and may prematurely end the deal. My view is that is better done early in the cycle than when the VP is at the closing table.
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