Top Down or Bottom Up - Who best to contact first at a new prospect when discussing ERP software?

Great Question Barry! Here at Focus, I conduct Market Research and thus spend a lot of time talking to ERP buyers. First and foremost, I want to say that I agree with your claim that it can be most effective to first engage with those who will be most directly impacted by the conversion. I talk to buyers on all levels, from (the occasional) CEO down to an end user; researcher; analyst, etc, and what I find is that while two companies may have similar environments and/or requirements, a lot of it boils down to who's doing the talking. The finance guy may have different pain points than the IT administrator or a salesperson. Additionally, I find the higher you start, the more strategic the goals, and as you go down, the more tactical or specific. For example, when I a prospect: What is your main goal with this initiative? An executive or manager might say 'to improve efficiency' or 'to save money;' whereas an IT person might say 'we need to integrate our current systems to better streamline communication,' or 'I need it to be easier to generate reports.' Effectively these answers may employ the same means, but they are coming from different perspectives.

In addition-- what I see as the essential answer to your question-- if enough people are signed on to the idea (to the initiative), it will only be a matter of time before the boss complies. Executive teams want their employees to be productive, and part of productivity is contentment. If employees are struggling with their day to day jobs, particularly with something logistical like communications, data entry, data tracking, migration, etc., it is in the best interest of the management (and the bottom line) to make a change.

All things considered, the point will arrive in the process where you will have to speak with 'the one who signs the checks,' but a strategic way to arrive there may be to start a little lower on the totem pole.

I am not inclined to start at the operational level. In fact, if I can get a hold of the highest executive in manufacturing that would be the starting point. It's true also that the CFO, who may be heavily involved with operations, might also be a good contact.

I believe in the "top down" approach where you can be given favored vendor status by having excellent relations with the executive sponsor might overcome the operational issues. Of course, the executive sponsor will not be an ally any time soon should you not eventually satisfy the operational folks.

In summary, a top down approach can work and can simplify the path to a sale.

I agree with Richard. I have executed campaigns aimed at both audiences and if you target "too low" in an organization, you get mostly opinions and very few projects. You need to start at the top and see if the decision makers wish to make a change. If not, nothing will happen anyway and the data gathered is primarily noise.

This is a reasonable question to ask, however, consider what ERP means -- focus is on enterprise as a whole. Ideally, the sales cycle should start high enough in the organization so you can locate an overall executive sponsor. Without that support, achieving a successful ERP sales process will be difficult to impossible.

After speaking with the execs, you will certainly be asked to go through other levels of evaluation and qualification. These will include financial, technical, line of business, and so on.

If you have an initial contact lower in the organization, that person can likely help you find a good, senior level sponsor. With grassroots support and executive buy-in, you are well on the way to making the sale. Good luck!