Jigsaw is the new Gold Club

A couple of weeks ago I received an email from a young sales guy who wrote:

if you get the chance, could you possibly write about tactics that you have used to get into a companies face? (What do you do as the sales guy with the Jigsaw Info? type post).

I know we all have our secret tactics, but I guess me being in my mid 20's and working with some older sales men, they do seem to go about sales the old fashioned way (Knocking on doors etc). They would most likely ridicule me for using a site like Jigsaw/Linkedin.

My approach has been email/phone/mail, and of course Jigsaw helps me with this. If what I'm asking goes against salesman code 101, just ignore my request!

As much as I like ranting about sales topics that are somewhat tangential to Jigsaw, please allow me a week to try and tackle these questions. Jigsaw does pay the bills, after all. (Well, sort of pays my bills- I do live in Silicon Valley.)

First of all I like how the emailer above says “get into a companies face.” Even though his English is questionable (like most sales people I know), he is correct in targeting a company first. If you asked me how to get into a CEO’s face I would refer you to a dentist. Even though you can get a CEO’s email and direct dial telephone number from Jigsaw, don’t be “that guy” that war dials at the highest level possible without preparation. Pick a more reasonable entry point, or several (Jigsaw usually has many), that are at the director, manager or even individual contributor level and find someone in the organization that will answer some strategic questions for you as to what the ultimate decisionmaker is trying to accomplish.  Because you’re not necessarily trying to sell them, they are more likely to open up and help you match your widget with their needs, which is the whole ballgame. Then you use what you learned to arrange a carefully scripted call with the CEO, who will listen to you because you are spot on target with your 15 minutes.

As far as the “old fashioned salespeople” that would “mock you for using Jigsaw/Linked In,” these people are your job security. A recession is coming and grandpa will get the pink slip donkey punch first. The key elements of the sales revolution taking place are all the new communication techniques and information sources that are available to a salesperson (and the customer). You need to be an expert in all of them. Use whatever combination, order and cadence of telephone, email, text, online contact or in–person introduction that works the best for you- try them all. We have salespeople “knocking on our door” at Jigsaw- they sell office supplies and our Admin sends ‘em packing. The days of the silverback (like the gorilla) salesguy doing deals on the golf course and the strip joint are over.

People tell me all the time that “even if I can’t get to the exact person I’m looking for on Jigsaw, I get by the gatekeepers and into the right floor or building.” This is really the whole point of the service- to get you to the starting line. How you run the race from there is up to you.

Comments

[Trish Bertuzzi]

If I could be so bold as to also respond to "young sales guy" - and of course I will be...

You say you want to get in their face but you only reach out to them 3 times and 2 of those efforts are via email. Are you kidding me? That is more like a drive-by attempt.

Cold calling, and let me say that I agree with Garth that you have to be prepared and have done your research first, is all about delivering a compelling message that arouses curiousity and gets the prospect to want to hear more. You have to convey a sense of urgency - for example - 4 touches in 10 business days. Call, call, email, call. But the secret ingredient is all about how you use each of these touches and what message they contain.

Check out this blog posting...Cold Calling - How to Make it Work. Some great ideas were delivered in the comment section too. Hope it helps. http://blog.bridgegroupinc.com/blog/tabid/47760/bid/3341/Cold-Calling-How-To-Make-It-Work.aspx

And by the way, good for you for asking the question in the first place....most sales reps would not have taken the time.

Garth,

Im happy you got the chance to use my question as a blog topic. I think the best way to sum it all up would be like... dumpster diving. If your looking for something in the dumpster, you never start at the top, you have to dig deep and get your hands dirty.

Thanks,

"Young Sales Guy"

[Stephen G]

Become an online stalker.

I'm not in sales but even in I.T. I need to establish relationships outside my organization and I've found one tool to be extremely helpful to me, just as I'm sure it would be helpful to a salesperson: Google Alerts.

Google alerts lets you become informed about an organization or key staff with a minimum amount of effort. It can be used to keep track of competitors, key customers and prospects and your own organization as well.

Google Alerts lets you enter key words and phrases that you wish to be notified about whenever those words appear in a new article (e.g., blog post) or web page.

For example, I've wanted to partner with a company and was trying to figure out a time where I could travel to meet with them. But Google Alerts notified me that their head of marketing (whose name was on my list of alert words) would be in town presenting at a conference. Bingo. My invitation to dinner was accepted and I look forward to that meeting.

Another interesting situation ... I knew only the name of a stealth-mode startup and wanted to learn more, so I added it to Google Alerts. For over a month, nothing. But then the startup's marketing firm goofed and posted drafts of the startup's new logo on a publicly-accessible web page that Google crawled (which then triggered the alert to me). I tipped off the company, the CTO called me to thank me and we are now working together -- something I don't know would have happened otherwise.

So, go ahead and stalk. Google Alerts makes it easy and it may be good for your career.

[Garth]

Hmm- "dumpster diving" and "online stalking." I see what both of you are talking about above (although I had to really concentrate my salesguy A.D.D. for Stephen G's post), but let's move the conversation away from negative names. We're business people with a legitimate, corporate inquiries about a potential benefit for executives.
One of the first things I used to tackle when I was in sales was what I'll call the "attitude balance." When you start with the prospect you are on the low end of the balance because all that person's past interations with salespeople have jaded him against you. You need to get him over thinking that you shouldn't be breathing the same air and into a "I do something for you, then you do something for me" type of interaction. You do that by briefly getting to the real differentiatior on the phone and then delivering exactly what you say you will from then on.
As far as taking abuse, some light ribbing or distrust is fine in the beginniing, but I shut the door on that crap quickly by being a cheerful but nonetheless competent (and honest to the point of seeming blunt) person- not a run -of- the- mill BS "salesguy" that doesn't follow through on anything.

Garth

PS- I have thanked the "Young Sales Guy" privately, but wanted to call him out publicly and thank him for giving me the idea for the post and withstanding some slight ribbing...