Myth #10: The PO Is Everything
- It’s Time To Explore Some Myths About Buying
- Myth #8: Sales Process Equals Buying Process
- Myth #9: The Competition Is Another Supplier
- Myth #10: The PO Is Everything
- Myth #11: Purchasing Pushes Paper
- Myth #1: It’s All About Selling!
- Myth #2: The Seller Is In Control
- Myth #3: The Unsophisticated Buyer
- Myth #4: Buyers Want To Be Sold To
- Myth #5: It Is A Buying Decision
- Myth #6: Buyers Buy Products & Services
- Myth #7: It’s About Selecting A Supplier
For most salespeople the purchase order is both the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. The problem is that buyers see things very differently.
Where Is The Purchase Order?
By searching through the detail of the activities set in the Fortune 1000 buying process, we see that the PO or selection of a supplier in the example noted below will take place at Steps 4 and 5.
However, this is not to say that there are smaller yet significant opportunities for a vendor in advance of that point. For example, a scoping project at Step 3: High Level Design, or expert input to Step 2: Complete Requirements Capture.
As the diagram clearly demonstrates sellers need to focus not just on the purchase order, but all those steps that surround it. Clearly the sale should not be a race to the purchase order. So, why is the purchase order so much coveted by the salesperson?
Peter Viljoen: 
StartupSandy: 
the Senator: 
Martin Lindeskog: 
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