I hear it over and over from the top officers that I personally
know and from the interviews on my weekly Entrepreneur Sales
& Marketing show: "Salespeople don't take the time
to find out what's going on in my world before they give
me their pitch."
Maybe, just maybe, that's why it's getting increasingly
more difficult to land appointments with the person at the top of
the business totem pole, the person I affectionately call
"VITO," the very important top officer. Before you can
even think of pitching the top officer of a company, you have to
undertake a little due diligence to find out everything you can
about the VITO's company. In other words, what are his or her
priorities today and over the next quarter? There are a few ways of
finding this out:
1. Go on the web. Plunge your browser into www.hooversonline.com or any of the other reputable
services currently available that will give you names, numbers,
e-mail addresses and other important company information. By the
way, don't automatically assume the information is totally
accurate. Change is a way of life at the top, and individuals tend
to move around without public notice. Always verify all
information before you send any correspondence or make a telephone
call (more on this later). A simple Google search of your prospect
and his or her company will also yield valuable information.
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2. Study the reports. Put plenty of paper in your
printer, and go to www.edgar-online.com. In my opinion, this is by far
the most complete and up-to-date source you'll ever find for
direct access to all annual and interim reports for publicly traded
companies. Once there, I suggest you pay close attention to the
quarterly "manager's reports," which give you a
wealth of information about how your target prospect's company
is doing in regards to accomplishing what they set out to do at the
beginning of the year.
3. Get involved. Join and participate in the professional
associations your target VITO's executive staff would typically
belong to. For example, if you sell an accounting software program
that you know CFOs will get the most use out of, join an
association that your VITOs' CFOs would belong to. Go on
Google, and spend a little time investigating the top associations
(the ones with the biggest membership and largest annual
conventions), then sign up and actively participate in them. Be
sure to read their newsletters and listen to the various recordings
of past sessions and meetings.
4. Start reading. Get subscriptions to the trade
magazines and publications your target prospect reads--and read
them. When in doubt, start with the The Wall Street
Journal.
By doing your research, you'll definitely be well armed when
approaching your prospect. However, don't forget that your
competition has these same tools available to them! I'm not
knocking the resources I just referenced, but if you want the real
competitive edge--if you want to lock down that first telephone
conversation or in-person appointment with any top officer in your
sales territory--you'll have to do the following: Ask! The
absolute best way to find out what's important to VITO is to
ask. But don't ask VITO--ask their administrative assistant,
who probably knows them best.
Here's what you do: Get VITO's name and company phone
number from that prospect list you just accessed on the internet.
Then pick up the phone and specifically ask the company's
gatekeeper/receptionist a few very important questions. Here's
how it might sound:
Them: "VITO Incorporated, how may I direct your
call?"
You: "Good morning> Does your president, Ms. Importanta,
spell her last name with one 't' or two?"
Them: "It's with one."
You: "Thanks. By the way, what's Ms. Importanta's
assistant's name?"
Important conversation crossroad: At this point the receptionist
has two choices.
Choice Number One
Them: "It's Tommie."
You: "Thanks. Have a great rest of the day. Goodbye."
Choice Number Two
Them: "Why do you want to know?"
You: "I'm going to send a special correspondence to Ms.
Importanta, and I'd like to address it to her
assistant."
Them: "It's Tommie."
Or
Them: "Hold on. I'll connect you and you can find out for
yourself."
Either way, you win. And here's what happens when the
receptionist/gatekeeper puts you thru:
Tommie: "Ms Importanta's office, Tommie speaking. How
may I help you?"
You: "Tommie, thanks for taking my call. This is Will Prosper
with Finder Enterprise. May I ask you to do me a personal
favor?"
Or
You: "Tommie, thanks for taking my call. This is Will Prosper
with Finder Enterprise calling to ask you an important
question."
Tommie (perhaps in a rather suspicious and standoffish tone of
voice): "What's on your mind, Will?"
You: "Could you tell me which one of the following three
strategic initiatives are of importance to you and Ms. Importanta
between today and the end of this week, month, quarter, half, year:
shorter time to market, lowering of expenses, full compliance with
existing regulations?
Notice that you're treating the assistant as though they had
equal business stature with VITO. (By the way, they usually do.)
It's been my personal experience that if you speak to the
assistant just like you'd speak to VITO, you'll get the
information you need to craft your initial written message and your
opening remarks to VITO when you call back for that all-important
conversation with the person with the ultimate veto power who can
and will say yes to your value proposition.
Important note: Don't be taken off guard if VITO himself
picks up the phone when the gatekeeper/receptionist puts your call
through to the assistant. It happens more often than you'd
think. If that does happen, you must be ready with your opening
remarks to VITO. What will that sound like? You'll find out in
next month's column.
Tony Parinello is the "Executive Sales" coach at
Entrepreneur.com and has become the
nation's foremost expert on executive-level selling. He's
also the author of the bestselling book bearing the name of his
sales training program, Getting to VITO, the Very Important Top Officer, 10
Steps to VITO's Office.He is also host of Club
VITO, a weekly live internet broadcast.