tact them – phone, email, Webinars, seminars, white papers, case stud- ies. Send a new book that is relevant to your company – something that shows intelligence,” she says. “Your job is to be an educator and provide knowledge to each contact. Every- thing has to be focused on helping them do their jobs better. They’re looking to interact with people who understand their business, who have worked with others who have similar challenges, people who have exper- tise. In order to make inroads with in- fluencers, you need to show them that it is worthwhile for them to persuade others in their organization.”
LASTING RELATIONSHIPS It all comes down to establishing relationships, says the operations vice president. “To do your homework about what these people [influencers] will respond to, contact the gate- keepers and ask for their help,” she advises. “By approaching the support network as if it’s a real sale – because it is a real sale – you are showing them respect. Remember, it’s their job to decide if you have anything of value to say to these influencers. Many people fail to do this because they look at gatekeepers or administrative assistants as adversaries, instead of as potential allies. Establish credibility by asking specific questions pertaining to what your prospects may value about your product or service and how to move forward with those clients. What motivates them to buy? Uncover the client DNA and use it to move for- ward with the sale.
“Once you get an appointment with a high-level influencer, you need to establish enough credibility with that person to be asked to move ahead,” says the vice president. “Sometimes the biggest obstacle in trying to communicate with the influencer is the salespeople; they get in their own way. They get too excited and forget that they are there for their clients, not themselves.”
VIDEO: DOES YOUR SALES PROCESS CREATE VALUE? – WITH MICHAEL WEBB
Above all, don’t leapfrog, she cautions. “The reason a lot of people leapfrog over the people who get it done daily is because they don’t know how to establish relationships,” she says. “They may be working a sales process, but they have missed the critical link of establishing relationships with gatekeepers and influencers. Don’t go over someone just because you can. This will not help you get the sale; in fact, it may help you break the sale by putting these people in the ‘What am I, chopped liver?’ category. If you show up in a deci- sion maker’s office and you haven’t done your homework – that is, you haven’t established buy-in along the way – very often the first ques- tion is, ‘Why didn’t you talk to these people first?’”
Using this sound advice will get you closer to real, lasting decisions at many levels.
CHECK OUT OUR CLOSING POSTER SET
SELLING TIP On the Horizon
Motivational guru Zig Ziglar could recite hundreds of posi- tive power phrases. How did he commit them to memory? Each year, he bought a date book that had powerful one-liners at the top of each page. Each day, he wrote one down on an index card and stuck it in the visor of his car. While rolling along the highway, he’d reread the phrase and visualize its mean- ing. Not a bad way to rev up your road trips! Adapted from Secrets of Su- perstar Sales Pros: Strategies For Success From Zig Ziglar, Mary Kay Ash, John Henry Patterson, and the Best Names in Sales, part of The Selling Power Success Library, published by McGraw-Hill.
– LISA GSCHWANDTNER
SELLING POWER JULY 2015 | 11 © 2015 SELLING POWER. CALL 1-800-752-7355 FOR REPRINT PERMISSION.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36