Business enterprises show formal and informal organisation. Formal organisation can be easily recognised by clearly defined responsibilities or by the existence of an official organisational chart. The identification of an informal organisation is more difficult. Official decision-taking units (deciders) are supported and complemented by informal decision-taking units. It is important for a sales representative to know both organisation types in the customer's business in order to introduce himself properly and to consult with the right people. It can be assumed thatin the case of regular customers the decision-taking units are known. In the following section we will therefore discuss how to deal with new customers.

Identification of deciders
- the formal way

The available sources of information about business enterprises are manifold and can be used systematically by sales representatives. If formal methods of inquiry are used one can presume that the salesman will be going through "official channels" to obtain the desired information. In order to find the deciders through "formal" means you can try the following possibilities, among others:

- Asking the potential customer on the phone: "Who is in charge of purchases? "
- A personal inquiry if the potential customer is visited on the tour.
- The customer's written documents also provide information, such as the official letter head or an image brochure.
- An official organisational chart in the customer's waiting room for visitors.
- The customer's homepage in the internet.
- The customer's advertising.
- Simply ask your "official" interlocutor during your first visit: "I'd like to provide the right information and documents for you at all times. For that purpose I need to know more about your work flow and organisational structure. How are your purchase decisions made, for example? "

As mentioned before, it can be rather difficult in some businesses to determine the actual deciders. The position of the buyer can also be equipped with varying competencies.

Identification of deciders
- the informal way

The salesman takes the informal way by making use of those sources of information which the customer's business did not intend for that purpose. Professional ethics demand that a strict borderline is drawn between legal and illegal procurement of information. Basically you can pick up any information which the customer and his employees openly provide for visitors in written or non-verbal form. However, taking things out of somebody else's desk drawer is out of the question! The informal way is therefore not to be confused with a private detective's job, but it is more like a puzzle made up of several shards of information which you have to put together to make up the whole picture. There are the following possibilities, among others:

- Functions or job descriptions on office doors or desks
- Internal telephone directories
- Information received in conversations with employees
- Information from outsiders who know the customer's business well
- Information from sales representatives of other companies supplying the customer (treat with caution).

In order to identify deciders one should combine formal and informal methods of information gathering.

Final remarks:
Decision-taking units and hierarchies can change from time to time. Attentive sales representatives will always have an open ear for changes in the customer's business.

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