Excerpt from The Sales Bible
In every company, there is one person you are certain can make a decision…The CEO. Why start anyplace else?
The power of being introduced by the CEO down to the decision maker is better than a Christmas where Santa brings you everything on your list.
Easiest way to make a sale?
Top-Down Selling!
What does the Guggenheim Museum (a classic modern art museum in NYC housed in a building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright) have in common with sales success? They recommend starting at the top.
The building is one big circular ramp. You take an elevator to the top floor and casually walk down eight inspiring floors. It’s the same in sales. Why start at the bottom and fight your way up through people who can’t decide, and who’ll use their one ounce of power to make your life miserable? Take the elevator and start at the top, man. Don’t walk uphill!
Where do you start? How high up the ladder do you dare go when making an initial approach to a prospect? The rule is…
The higher you start, the more success you’re likely to meet
Getting there properly can be tricky. If you ask for the president, the owner, the boss, or the fearless leader, you may get through, but it will pay you to prepare before making a call to the CEO, especially if the prospect represents an important sale to you.
Here is a four-step plan for contacting and scoring a CEO appointment:
- Get ready before you start. You only have one shot at it; make it your best one
- Have a written game plan. Target 1 to 10 companies and define in writing what you want to accomplish and what it will take to get what you want.
- Be thoroughly prepared to sell before making the call. Have everything prepared (sales pitch, concept, samples, and daily planner) in front of you before making the first call.
- Identify the leader (by name) and get as much information and as many characteristics as you can. Make calls to underlings, associates, and associations to get pertinent information before you make the big call.
- Use the right tactics when getting to and getting through
- ASK FOR HELP.
- If you get the president’s secretary, get her name and use it.
- Be polite, but firm.
- Be professional.
- Persist, you can’t take the first no or rebuff.
- Get his name. You can try “how do you spell his last name?”, but it’s embarrassing to hear JONES.
- If they won’t put you through the first time…
- Get his extension number
- Get the best time to call
- Find out when he usually arrives
- Find out when he takes lunch
- Find out who sets his calendar
- Find out if he leaves the building at lunch
- Find out when he leaves for the day
An example: You call; the secretary says, “Mr. Jones is on vacation.” You say, “Wow, that’s great, Sally, where did he go?”
- Get any personal information you can (golf, sales meeting time, staff meeting time, or an important new product) and refer to it subtly when you get them on the phone.
- Make sure the person closest to the boss likes you.
- Take a chance on humor. Try this line: I know you actually run the company, but could I speak to the person who thinks they do?
- When you get them on the phone, speak quickly
- Have your opening line.
- Get right to the point.
- Make it compelling (the best Power Question and statement of your life).
- Ask for no more than 5 minutes (offer to be thrown out if you exceed 5 minutes).
- Have five comebacks if you are initially rebuffed.
Notes about the CEO and the process…
- CEO’s are hard to get to, harder to appoint, and easiest to sell.
- If the CEO is interested, he or she will take you by the hand and introduce you to the team member (underling) who will actually do the deal.
- The CEO always knows where to send you to get the job done.
- If they try to pawn you off without seeing you, it means you have not delivered a powerful enough message, and he’s not interested. The solution? Fix it. Keep trying until you get an appointment.
- If you start lower than the top, there is danger. No matter how powerful someone claims to be or appears to be, they usually have to ask someone else for final approval, except for the CEO. They typically ask their secretary or administrative assistant if they liked you. Get the picture?
The benefits are obvious…
- The leader is always the decider.
- The CEO may not be directly involved in purchasing what you’re selling. Still, their introduction after a brief “interest-generating” meeting can be the difference between a sale and no sale.
- The power of being introduced by the CEO down to the decision maker is as real as you would hope it is.
Beware of the handoff: If the boss tries to hand you off too early (before the proposed 5-minute meeting), don’t accept it. Say “I appreciate your wanting to delegate, but the reason I wanted to meet with you personally is that this will impact your business significantly. I want five minutes to show you the highlights and get your reaction before I speak with anyone else in your firm. I know your time is valuable. If I take more than five minutes, you can throw me out.”
- Make your 5-minute meeting the best you’ve ever had.
- Have a proposal in writing.
- Have notes on everything you want to cover.
- Have a list of anticipated questions and answers.
- Have samples or something to demonstrate.
- Include credibility builders in your best letter, something that can be printed.
- Be early.
- Look as sharp as you’ve ever looked.
- Be knowledgeable and have answers that explain how it works for the buyer.
- Be memorable. The thing that sets you apart, the thing that gets remembered, is the thing that leads to the sale.
- Deliver. You have one chance. Don’t blow it by not following through.
It’s the most challenging, yet rewarding and fun, experience you can have in sales!
The secret of Top Down Selling is the 4.5 R’s…
- Be resourceful
- Be ready (prepared)
- Be relentless
- Be remembered
There is a 4.5 “R” Risk it.
It’s the only way to make it happen. Go for it.
The gift shop at The Guggenheim features a T-shirt that reads “Start at the Top.” How much more of a wake-up call do you need? Call them and order a few shirts today!
About the Author:
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of twelve best-selling books, including The Sales Bible, The Little Red Book of Selling, and The Little Gold Book of Yes! Attitude. His real-world ideas and content are also available as online courses at www.GitomerLearningAcademy.com. For information about training and seminars, visit www.Gitomer.com, email Jeffrey at [email protected], or call him at 704 333-1112.
