by Jeffrey Gitomer
If you’ve never been to the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, you’re missing an exceptional experience and an incredible lesson in sales.
When you enter this Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building, you’ll immediately be amazed by the rotunda exposing the entire museum. Art is everywhere, and a giant ramp wraps around six floors of art treasures.
The question is: Where do you start?
The answer is simple: Start at the top.
Same in sales.
I first wrote about this process 21 years ago, in 1993. There was no Internet. Your cell phone was in a bag or hardwired into your car. No email. Life was simple, but getting to the CEO was hard.
I wrote about starting at the top and gave recommendations about how to contact the CEO’s “secretary” to get the appointment.
I asked the obvious (sales) questions: Why would you walk uphill when you can walk downhill? Why would you start at the bottom when you can start at the top?
Those same questions still apply today.
Isn’t it easier to make a sale when you start with the CEO? And today there are at least a dozen more ways to get to that same CEO than there were 21 years ago.
PICTURE THIS: You walk into a crowded museum (or a crowded sales environment) and you saunter over to an uncrowded elevator. You enter an empty elevator car and push the top-floor button. Boom! Easier than you thought – same in sales – and the CEO’s office is the least crowded office in the building.
THINK ABOUT THIS: If you start on the first floor, at the lowest and easiest point of entry, whoever is in charge has to call upstairs to Daddy on the second floor to find out whether they can do business with you.
And depending on the size and deal, the guy on the second floor may have to call his Daddy on the third floor. And of course the guy on the third floor may have to call his Dad on the fourth floor, and so on up the ladder.
And of course the salesperson has to climb up the ladder instead of walking or climbing down the ladder. Complaining all the way.
Or worse, sometimes that salesperson will send me an email saying, “The guy at the bottom won’t let me talk to his boss” and wants to know how to get around him. The easy answer is: Never start with him to begin with.
REALITY: Which is more powerful: Having to claw your way up the ladder and beg for permission or beg for the sale? Or having the CEO come down and tell that guy on the first, second, or third floor whom he’s going to be doing business with?
That’s the difference between bottom-up and top-down.
GREAT NEWS: Enter social media, the Internet, blogging, YouTube, and a host of other search avenues. And enter your online reputation. All of these elements will determine whether you can earn a meeting at the top.
REAL-WORLD SCENARIO: “Hi. My name is Jeffrey Gitomer. I’d like to schedule a brief appointment with the CEO. Would you mind Googling me while I’m on the phone to determine my worthiness, look at my accomplishments and perhaps check on my reputation?” Now the administrative assistant Googles you to see whether you deserve the meeting.
In the old days you had to persuade the admin to get a meeting. Today the Internet does the persuading for you. Gotta love it – unless you have no social media presence, no Internet presence, no Google presence, no blog and no reputation to speak of. Salespeople, including you, can no longer BS their way into a C-level meeting. You either earn it or burn it.
Next week I’m going to talk about the five things CEOs are interested in. HERE’S A HINT: They have nothing to do with your product, but they have everything to do with the CEO, or his appointee, buying your product.
But today’s lesson is not “See you at the top.” The lesson is: “Start at the top.”
FOOTNOTE: I tweeted this as I was walking down the ramp. @gitomer: Reputation is not about who you know, reputation is about who knows you! #gitomer #personalbrand #reputation More than 50 retweets and favorites. Gotta love it.
FREE GITBIT: Interested in the article I wrote 21 years ago? It has great ideas and insights about getting to meet the CEO. Just click this link: http://www.gitomer.com/articles/View.html?id=15149.
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of 12 best-selling books including “The Sales Bible” and “The Little Red Book of Selling.” His best-selling “21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling” is now available as a book and an online course at www.gitomerVT.com. For public event dates and information about training and seminars, visit www.gitomer.com or email Jeffrey personally at salesman@gitomer.com.
Submitted 9 years 214 days ago