Salesopedia - Stop Waiting for Decision Makers to Call You Back! - The Diigo Meta page

• 23 Apr 07
  

  Nick
  • Much as you hate to hear this, your phone call was just an unwanted interruption in their already overloaded day. And it's likely you were only one of many sellers who asked for the decision maker's time.
     
     So what can you do to penetrate their consciousness and show up on their radar screen?
     
     Develop a Campaign! To get into a big company today, you need to put together a strong account entry campaign from the very start. A single contact just isn't enough.
  • craft a multi-faceted campaign that includes phone calls, emails, mailings and faxes.
  • Use your research on the targeted account as your starting point.
     
     • What are their goals & objectives?
     • What are their strategic business imperatives?
     • What critical issues and challenges are they facing?
  • Analyze this information to determine the difference you can make. What results have similar companies achieved with your product or service?
     
     This is your value proposition. Make sure you're specific (if possible - #s, %s, $$$, timeframes) and use business terminology.
     
     Most likely, your customers have realized several different benefits from using your offering. For example, they may have:
     
     • Shortened turnaround time by 30%. • Achieved record time-to-profitability on a new product launch.
     
     • Eliminated a major bottleneck, saving $150,000 in year one.
  • To help you understand what an account entry campaign might look like, here's an example that extended over a 8-week period.
     
     1st contact - Left voicemail highlighting value proposition #1.
     
     2nd contact - Left voicemail highlighting value proposition #2.
     
     3rd contact - Faxed cartoon illustrating 'problem' we solve and brief note.
     
     4th contact - Left voicemail, following up on need to get together to address critical business issue.
     
     5th contact - No answer; talked to assistant - found out decision maker out all week. Got email address.
     
     6th contact - Sent email with reiterating earlier value propositions and that I'd call Friday to set up meeting.
     
     7th contact - Spoke with assistant; arranged appointment.

  3 more annotations...

Would you like to comment?

Join Diigo for a free account, or sign in if you are already a member.