Funding (Prerequisite)

The amount of money the customer has allocated to achieving goals raises five questions:

1. Has the customer set aside money to achieve these goals? Like budget dates, it illustrates the customer's sense of urgency.

2. Can the amount of money set aside achieve the customer's goals? You need to decide whether the customer has filet mignon taste with a hot dog wallet. Also, the larger the amount, the greater the chance is that the gatekeepers, advocates, and FDMs are separate people.

3. Who allocated the funding? This information points you in the direction of the FDM.

4. How did the customer arrive at the dollar figure to budget? Find out if the customer has specific products in mind. Did competitors supply the product selections or furnish a budget number? This information tells you whether to consider a customer to be neutral or negative.

5. Is the money to fund the goals coming out of an operating budget or is it a capital investment? Goals funded from an approved operating budget lower decision-making levels while capital investment raises decision-making levels. Operating budget funding can turn gatekeepers or advocates into FDMs. This can either help (if you are trying to protect positive customers) or hinder (if you are trying to win over negative ones).

In addition, operating budgets speed up sales. If customers move funding for a goal from a capital investment to an operating budget, you shorten the time frame. They do not need to request funds or seek approvals; they already have both. Your pricing strategy and how you structure the payment schedule influence whether it is a capital investment or an operating budget expense. For example, you might spread payments over two fiscal years for a positive customer to fund a sale out of an operating budget. These payment terms lower the approval level, thereby allowing the advocate or gatekeeper to make the decision.