Five Minutes With VITO Reveals Who’s Buying Now and How to Approach Them

With two weeks left to meet or exceed goals, it’s surprising how few companies use this precious selling time to their advantage. What’s special about the end of December, even in this down economy? CEOs, presidents and owners are often the only people coming in early, working late or simply showing up at work. Receptionists, secretaries, and executive assistants aren’t there to intercept your calls.

That’s why sales representatives who aren’t afraid to cold-call at the highest level have warmed to the idea of working through the holidays. In their new book, Five Minutes with VITO: Making the most of your selling time with the Very Important Top Officer, David Mattson, CEO of Sandler Training and Anthony Parinello, founder of VITO Selling have these tips for making money before the year runs out.

Start at the top.

VITOs are eager to solve problems quickly and rarely waste time, yours or theirs. There’s plenty of proof that money hasn’t dried up, it just moved to higher ground – away from department heads and purchasing agents. CEOs, presidents and owners will make purchase decisions if you give them specific scenarios they can relate to.
Talk to VITO about business performance and avoid jargon.

How does your solution help companies improve revenue, profit or productivity? Alternatively, how do you reduce defects, penalties, or taxes? Communicate these results with hard evidence such as numbers, percentages, and money made or saved by your customers. Get permission to use these success stories because you want to mention real companies, ideally in the same industry as those you’re calling on.

Don’t promise what you can’t deliver – and use that approach to your advantage.

VITOs appreciate honesty and integrity, plus they are very competitive. Make sure to include a line such as: “Now, I’m not sure that I can deliver the same results to your company but if you give me a chance, I’ll be able to tell you.” Tell VITO that someone else is getting stellar results and you can bet VITO will pepper you with everything you need to deliver even more to his or her organization.

VIDEO: Pursuit of Happyness

This is a clip from the movie Pursuit of Happyness, where the salesperson breaks his company’s rules, calls at the top of the organization, and gets a meeting with a CEO.

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