Connecting with the decision maker

So now you know who you are targeting you need to know more about them. Put yourself in their position, what are their motivations? What’s putting them under pressure, what’s incentivising them? Chances are they are running a high work load and you need to think about how that affects your approach.

All that research you did is useful to you. You need to be able to talk to the decision maker in their own language, about their company, their concerns and the things that matter to them. You will have a good head start if you know what initiatives and promotions they are running, for example.

You might even find that the majority of what you talk about is not much to do with your company or product, you have to court your decision maker and preen them.

How to get the message across

Once you know the person you want to talk to and what you want to say to them, the next question is how are you going to get the message across? It seems obvious that you would phone the person, but that can be more difficult than you ever imagined!

You are most likely to get through to a voicemail, and have to leave a message. It’s usual to leave a message leaving your name, business and contact number, but so often the message will never be replied to. If you don’t plan your message carefully, our response rate will be low.

Try to remember to do these three things. You do not have long to make an impression, you want them to know you have some kind of link into their business, for example, show them you know about their company or something that they are doing soon.

You have to immediately say how your service or product will save them money, make them money or increase their efficiency. it’s not about the details of what you do, just how it relates to them.

Make a positive finish. You need to act as if the decision is already made. Instead of saying ‘Is it possible to arrange a meeting?’, say ‘Let’s get together so I can show just how much a of a difference this will make to you.’

Still not working?
After all that, you still don’t get a a call back, so what can you do?

Your sale is far more important to you than it is to the prospect, so you have to accept it will take a lot of following from you. Most sale actually require as many as ten contacts, but many sales staff give up before five. Of course a contact does not have to be a phone call, it could be a letter or an email or any other contact at all really. There will be a tipping point where they accidentally answer the phone or take the time to read that letter or email. Keep knocking on that door!

You may also find that a few sneaky techniques help you to infiltrate the system. Try misdialling an extension and getting the person to put you through. You might even show up as an internal call if you do it that way. You could call their sales line and appeal to the good nature of their sales staff to tell you some info about their company or decision maker. Get chummy with the manager’s PA, it’s a great sneak into the ear of the high and mighty! Try phoning the before or after office hours of during lunch break.

Keep your profile high with emails. You may not get much response from each email on its own, but the constant drip, drip over time means you will be in the prospects mind when they are ready to buy, perhaps in several months’ time. There may be one email which suddenly hits the right button for that company.

Don’t feel that you shouldn’t bother the manager with these emails either. He may not be the one to act upon them, but when the decision maker approaches him, he will have heard of the product, service or company that is being pitched. Make sure he is in on the emails.

Much sales traction is generated lower down the org chart, but CEOs too busy for personal pitches are often more receptive to receiving one-to-many style marketing e-mails. “Do I think the CEO will be the one who will bring me in? No. But he should be getting my newsletter, so when the committee comes in, he can say, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve heard of them,’” McIntosh says.

You might find that you can’t get straight to the decision maker, so it’s very important to make sure that you give someone in the company the enthusiasm and knowledge to go and promote you to him.

Conclusion
Your success in finding and winning the decision maker depends on careful research, making a connection and tenacity. With these firmly in mind, you should be able to see a good improvement in your techniques and results.