Telling Is Not Selling: Gaining Leadership Buy-in for Safety Software
Building relationships and understanding the needs of decision-makers are essential for effectively gaining leadership buy-in for safety software solutions.
- By Jill James
- Sep 10, 2024
As a former safety professional and OSHA inspector who now works with sales leadership, “because OSHA said so” is simply not effective for selling safety initiatives or obtaining budget for any manner of things, from medical monitoring programs to software. Someone can’t just draw a hard line and tell them the organization needs a certain solution but must connect with them and show how the investment will meet each of their needs. In essence, to be effective, it’s necessary to “sell” safety to leadership.
Most safety professionals do not consider themselves salespeople. In fact, just hearing “sales” might conjure the traditional image: a used car lot with someone pushing a purchase, often using less-than-friendly tactics. But that is not what selling as a safety professional should be.
Instead, the focus should be on creating or building upon a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship with leaders. Simply put, first secure approval from the people who have the power to make budgetary decisions. Then understand how to make the ask and get the deal done.
Sales itself can be a tricky thing to master. After all, not everyone is cut out to be a salesperson. But here is a five-step sales process that is easy to digest, easy to apply and easy to consistently implement for any situation where someone needs to “sell” to a leader to get approval.
Understand the Audience
The first step of building an internal sales presentation is understanding who will be involved in the decision-making process. A phrase commonly used in sales is “determined discovery,” which involves identifying what is most important to the decision-makers. What are the needs of the audience? How can this EHS software resolve their pain points? While it might be tempting to assume what different leaders are driven by, securing the internal sale requires genuine curiosity about what truly matters to them.
Align the Solution to Their Needs
Once the key concerns and pain points of the executive audience are understood, a case can be built for the proposed software solution to address those issues. It may be necessary to demonstrate how the software can help the company stay current with required safety training, improve the safety record, or increase the frequency of inspections. While it might seem that the price point of the software should be a primary focus, it is more important to emphasize the value and positive impact of the solution, showing that the return on investment (ROI) justifies the cost.
This article originally appeared in the September 2024 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.