You will be able to draw the decision process for an opportunity, including people you have not met.
Wei Ling has spent two meetings with Marcus and Jia Hui. The plan is ready and the couple like it. At the third meeting, Jia Hui says, "I showed it to my mum. She thinks we should hold off on the savings plan and put more into the flat." Nobody had mentioned that her mother would have a view. Wei Ling now has to win over someone she has never met, through a daughter who is not sure herself.
Discovery that ignores the decision process is discovery with a hole in it. You can find the right problem, measure it and agree it, and still lose the sale to someone who never sat in your meetings. This lesson shows you how to map who decides and how, including the people you have not met.
The direct question, "who makes the decision?", has two problems. It can sound like you are asking to go over your contact's head. And the answer is often wrong, because people tend to describe the official process, and the real one can look quite different.
A better question asks about history. "How were decisions like this made last time?" "When you last changed a system like this, how did that go?" "When you bought your flat, how did the two of you decide?"
People can describe something that happened much more accurately than a process in the abstract. The story also tells you things they would not think to mention: the finance manager who held things up for a month, the parent who was consulted at the last minute, the director who signs only after seeing a comparison of three options.
Hafiz asks Rachel how the firm chose its current time-clock system. She explains that she shortlisted it, the director approved it, and then the finance manager made them go back and get two more quotes, which added six weeks. That one story tells Hafiz more about the process than any direct question would have.
Most sellers ask who can say yes. Ask also who can say no, and who will be affected.
The people who can say no are often not the senior ones. A payroll clerk who will use the system every day can sink a decision by telling the director it looks complicated. A spouse who was not at the meeting can end a financial plan with one sentence. A finance manager can insist on a process that adds months.
Ask: "Who else will be affected if you go ahead?" "Is there anyone who might have concerns?" "Who would need to be comfortable with this, even if they don't sign?" Then add each person to your map, with what they care about if you know it.
For Rachel's firm, the map now has five people. Rachel, who wants the change. Kelvin, the director, who approves spending and cares about cost and driver retention. The finance manager, who will compare vendors and cares about contract terms. The payroll clerk, who will use the system daily and is worried about learning something new. And the drivers, who will not decide anything but whose complaints started the whole conversation.
In personal sales the same applies, often more so. A household decision about insurance, savings, a renovation or a child's education rarely rests with one person, even when only one person comes to the meeting.
Ask who else will be part of the decision while you are still in discovery, well before any proposal exists. "Is anyone else involved in decisions like this, a partner, a parent, anyone you usually talk money through with?" Then, where you can, invite them to the next meeting.
Wei Ling now asks this in every first meeting. She already knew that Jia Hui helps support her parents. Had she asked the question, she would also have learned that Jia Hui's mother expects a say in big money decisions and has strong views about property. Asked early, the answer would have shaped the plan. Discovered late, it nearly undid it.
Once you know the people, agree the steps from now to a decision, with rough dates. Do it with the buyer and write it down together.
"So, from here: I send the summary by Friday. You show it to Kelvin next week. If he's interested, the three of us meet the week after. Finance gets the contract terms then, and you'd want a decision before the night shift starts in two months. Does that sound right?"
Writing the steps down does two things. It shows the buyer you understand how their organisation works, which builds trust. And it gives you both a shared reference. If a step slips, either of you can see it and ask why. The steps also feed into lesson 7.3, Agree the next step before you leave.
A decision map can be a simple sketch. Put each person in a box with their name or role, what they care about, and whether they can say yes, say no, or only influence the decision. Draw lines for who reports to whom or who listens to whom. Then mark everyone you have not spoken to directly.
The unmarked boxes are your next questions. Hafiz has spoken to Rachel and, briefly, the clerk. Kelvin and the finance manager are unmarked, which tells him where the risk sits.
Choose one current opportunity where more than one person is involved, or where you suspect someone else might be, and have your notes on it ready before you start the activity below.
Draw a decision map for one current opportunity with each person, their role, and what they care about, and mark who you have not spoken to.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).