SE Sin #5: The Mystery SDM. Sometimes in a large meeting sales call, a stranger joins midway through. Sometimes, the SE (or sales rep) keeps right on going instead of stopping and asking, “Who is that masked man?”. Sometimes, the mystery person is our Solution Decision Maker (SDM).

One of the worst things that can happen to an SE at the critical moment of solution closure is to ask our the assumed SDM, “Do you have all the information you need to choose our solution?”, and the SDM says (in effect), “Oh, Fred needs to make that decision.” Oh No! If Fred really is the SDM and has a killer issue we didn’t know about, months of effort may have been wasted.

Be absolutely certain you know who the Solution Decision Maker is. Make no assumptions. Ask yourself two key questions: “Who does the alleged SDM take their recommendation to?” and “Can that person say ‘No’ for technical reasons?”. If the answer is “Yes” or “I don’t know”, you don’t know who the SDM is. Time to go find out, do the due diligence, and make absolutely certain.

Avoid unpleasant surprises. Know who you don’t know.