[technics256]

In my experience, this always comes with vetting the customer and asking the right questions. It's important to ask things like "what's your buying process like" or "what's the procurement process like?" for enterprise type deals.

If the direct customer doesn't know, ask for introductions to the people who might. This gets you ahead of any type of issues that could possibly pop up in these types of situations.

In the end, always start by listening to the customers needs and asking the right questions to understand everything you need to qualify the deal.