As with anything, planning is important and details are even more important. Here is a basic outline of the type of steps you should take to put together a well thought out plan of who, what, when, where, how, and why.
1. Create a profile of your ideal customer. Do yourself a favor – create a profile page that has fields for all of the areas of focus. This becomes your template. Target 5-10 companies that meet the criteria. Include location, industry, size, geography, business duration, type of business, etc. The level of detail will determine the level of intimacy you gain in understanding your customer or prospect, and increasing the likelihood of providing value. Consider corporate culture, industry trends and industry position, competitors and customers or target market. The more you know, the more you will be able to increase your diagnostics capability.
2. Engage in research on the 5-10 targets beginning with website and its contents, go to press releases to see what activity has taken place recently and in the past, contracts or new business, events, goals/objectives, key initiatives, markets, primary offerings, info on the executives, competitors and financial trends. Use search engines to see what is “out there” on the companies you’ve selected. Look at executive profiles – their individual charters and goals – how long they have been with the company, previous assignments … and even what they are known for.
3. Now look at your service/product and answer why you see an alignment between the target and their needs and your offering. If it isn’t clear to you – it surely won’t be to them. Now you can develop a strong value proposition you can present to the prospect. Be prepared to answer specifically how this company will benefit and the type of results they will get. The more specific you are – the greater your credibility. As I mentioned in other writings – C-Level executives could care less about your products or services. Their focus is all about whether something contributes to achieving their desired business outcomes – forget the sales pitch.
4. Look for contact information across multiple sources to reach into the organization. LinkedIn is a great source for finding executives of companies, and if you don’t know them or they are outside of your network, look for an introduction or send what is called an “InMail”. Prepare talking points that you want to present in written and verbal formats. Include that you’ve conducted considerable research on their company and would like to share an idea about how they can achieve a specific objective (based on your research on them – that will mean something of significance). If the company is local to you, it might be easier to invite the executive or person of interest out for lunch, than to get a brief meeting to share the concept. This is where intuition is important.
5. Don’t underestimate the value of executive assistants (EA) in your plan. If you decide to make a cold-call, you can ask for the EA and state your case, also requesting an email to provide additional information. If the executive has an EA, very often they become a valued and important member of the executive’s team. Additionally, you may want to look deeper into the organization – and see if you can connect with the executive’s direct reports who might be interested in not only the results – but the actual product and/or service. If you can make them look good – that is a golden key.
6. Remember the "C"-level executive does not want to hear about your products. They are prepared to hear how you can help their business be more profitable, get a competitive advantage, reduce costs, increase productivity, enter new markets, maximize use of existing technologies, increase sales, address customer retention and loyalty, etc.
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