Six steps from

A locked gate

To an open door

Step One

Identify your target market

Step Two

Identify specific target executive roles in specific companies in your market

CEO, CMO, CIO, Sales Director, etc

Step three

Step three - research

Use all the sources you can Ask yourself what are their priorities; As a company? In their role? As an individual?

How can you help them with their business & personal priorities?

Step four – contact them all individually

Step 4 – contact them all individually by..

The gatekeeper

...using the best channel(s) for each person

Step 4 – contact them all individually

The best channel for most people – still!

Step 4 – contact them individually

With a

message

Step 4 – contact them individually

To achieve a single goal

A meeting!

Where you have their undivided attention!

Step 5 – create your customised value proposition

In that company

Step 5 – create your customised value proposition

For that individual

Step 5 – create your customised value proposition

For that business problem

Step 5 – create your customised value proposition

One that you can help them with

You schedule a meeting

or

You get a “no thanks”

“No answer” does NOT mean “no thanks”

It means keep asking – nicely

Step 6 – Keep communicating until

“I’d like to meet with you for 30 minutes to discuss how we can help you to <insert Value Proposition

here>.

“What’s the best way to do that?”

Your simple message

The value proposition is designed to answer one

question only;

“Why should I give up 30 minutes of my valuable time to speak to you?”

The unspoken answer to that question is

“Because I can help you fix a problem you really care about - but you have to meet with me and give me your full attention to find out how.”

• Tell them what you can do for them (not how you do it) • Use their terminology, not yours • Make them curious • Make them feel their time will be well spent • Make sure your online presence (LinkedIn etc) is credible and matches your story • Tell the absolute truth • Focus on helping them • Mention similar companies you’ve helped – but only if necessary • Mention mutual contacts – only if relevant & needed

What to do

• Try to sell them on you or your company – your only objective is to get a meeting • Tell them how you can help them – too much detail! • Offer to send them any collateral - at all • Talk about yourself • Talk about Gartner’s magic quadrant • Use your own terminology • Tell them about your awards, or your size or your recent wins or other stuff they don’t care about

Remember – they don’t know you and they don’t care about you – they only care about themselves and their problems

What not to do

Some simple tips

The gatekeeper is not your enemy

The gatekeeper is your friend

Everyone wants to talk to the CEO

But who does the CEO want to talk to?

The CEO cares about talking to (in approximate order)

• The Executive team & the Board • Shareholders • Customers • Business unit managers • Other CEOs • The media • Existing suppliers • Their employees • Family & friends • The dog, the tax man • Anyone else other than a salesman

Or maybe a sales person – IF they think they can help them

So help them by focusing on what they care about.

How do you get their attention?

• Keep it simple • Keep it short • Keep it consistent • Focus on a single objective • Use multiple channels • Speak to multiple executives • Repeat • Repeat • Repeat

Use the right message

And stand out from the crowd

• Be polite • Be persistent • Use multiple communication channels • But particularly the phone • Say less, not more • Do your research • Know what they care about (that you can help them with) • Remember – your only objective is to get a meeting to discuss how you can help them • Focus on them, not you

And you’re off!!

This strategy will get you in front of senior executives in most of your target accounts There are many tactics – what to say, how to say it, when to say it, how often to say it, who to say it to, what not to say – that will dramatically accelerate your success. And developing the right value propositions requires thought and practice – different people care about and prioritise different things – so feel free to call me for help.

To contact me for more information email me at steve@stevehall.com.au, see my LinkedIn profile or call me on +61 410 481 960 © Steve Hall 2016