If you’re in business development, here’s the reality: the people who actually decide what gets built, bought, and installed aren’t always the ones signing the check.
They’re the specifiers.
Architects. Engineers. Consultants. Energy managers. Procurement advisors. The quiet power brokers.
If you can influence them, you don’t chase deals — deals start finding you.
Let’s break this down in a practical, no-BS way.
What is a “Specifier Influencer”?
A specifier influencer is someone who shapes decisions before the RFP exists.
They don’t just respond to projects — they define the standards, preferences, and assumptions that guide them.
If you influence specifiers, you’re not competing… you’re pre-selected.
Step 1: Stop Selling — Start Translating
Specifiers don’t want pitches. They want clarity.
Your job:
- Translate complexity into clean, usable insight
- Make them look smarter to their clients
- Help them avoid risk
Instead of:
“We provide best-in-class solutions…”
Try:
“Here’s how this impacts your project’s demand charges, reliability, and ROI.”
If they can copy/paste your thinking into their work — you win.
Step 2: Be the First Call (Not the Last Vendor)
Most BD people show up too late.
Specifier influencers show up:
- During early feasibility
- During design assumptions
- During “what should we even do here?” conversations
How to get there:
- Publish simple breakdowns (costs, tradeoffs, real-world examples)
- Share project thinking, not marketing fluff
- Be consistently useful, not occasionally impressive
Step 3: Own a Niche (Generalists Get Ignored)
Pick a lane and dominate it.
Examples:
- “Behind-the-meter power for industrial facilities”
- “Energy resilience for logistics and cold storage”
- “Demand charge reduction strategies for manufacturers”
You want people to think:
“Oh — that’s Phil’s thing.”
Not:
“He does… a bit of everything.”
Step 4: Create Content That Actually Gets Shared
Your blog (PositivePhil.com) should feel like:
- Quick to read
- Easy to forward
- Worth saving
Winning formats:
- “What most people get wrong about ___”
- “3 things to check before you spec ___”
- “Real project breakdown: what worked / what didn’t”
- “If I were designing this facility today…”
Keep it:
- Short
- Clear
- Practical
No one shares fluff. Everyone shares useful clarity.
Step 5: Make Specifiers Look Like Heroes
This is the cheat code.
Give them:
- Talking points
- Simple models
- Clean explanations they can reuse
If your content helps them:
- Win internal arguments
- Justify decisions
- Avoid mistakes
You become part of their workflow.
Step 6: Be Consistent (This is Where Most Quit)
You don’t need to go viral.
You need to be:
- Consistently insightful
- Consistently relevant
- Consistently easy to understand
Think:
- 2–3 strong posts per week
- Focused on real-world problems
- Written like you talk
Momentum > perfection.
Step 7: Connect the Dots to Real Outcomes
Specifier influence is useless if it doesn’t tie to outcomes.
Always bring it back to:
- Cost (especially hidden costs like demand charges)
- Reliability / uptime
- Risk reduction
- Speed of execution
That’s what moves projects forward.
Final Thought
Being a specifier influencer isn’t about being loud.
It’s about being trusted early.
If you:
- Simplify complex decisions
- Show up before others
- Stay focused on real outcomes
You won’t need to “push” business.
You’ll be built into it.
If you’re in business development, this is the shift:
Stop chasing deals. Start shaping them.
