So, you've identified Power at your prospect account, and now you've got him/her live on the other end of the wire. If you're not prepared, this would be a perfect time to PANIC!
But let's suppose that you've done your homework and identified ahead of time that Power has several pain point business issues that you can heal for them with your solution. You KNOW you already have what they want and need, now it's time to communicate it.
First let's put things in perspective to set the mood... You've just sat down to eat dinner with your family, and the door bell rings. Some how your vicious guard dog (read: lovable pet that would lick an intruder to death) was sleeping on the job, and you open the door to find yourself face-to-face with a sales person. Never mind that they might be selling the greatest product in the world that could make you richer, healthier, happier, and better looking. Inevitably you find yourself thinking, 'How can I get rid of this person as quickly as possible so that I can back to utilizing my valuable time the way I had intended to this evening?'
Now that you're in the mindset many if not most Power-level contacts will have when you get them on the phone for the first time, unless you're supernaturally lucky, or you're going to need a dynamite approach to successfully secure an appointment.
GETTING A MEETING THE ZEBRA WAY
1. Inform Power of your research and communicate the pain points you uncovered. Confirm the existence of these pain points.
2. Confirm that Power cares about these paint point business issues and wants to address them now or soon.
3. Link the paint points to what you've done for other customers just like this prospect.
4. Present the prediction of value. (Use those great financials the value model can produce for you -- there's more info about building a value model in Selling to Zebras, and you can find a free template to build your own value model at Zebra U).
5. Verify that the amount of incremental value you can create is enough to be worth it to Power to spend twenty minutes discussing it with you. If it isn't, get a referral to someone in the organization, perhaps in a different department or at a different level, who would be interested. (If you know that this prospect does suffer from the pain point business issues you solve, there IS another person that will be Power AND will have responsibility for those issues.)
6. Close for a twenty-minute appointment.
But let's suppose that you've done your homework and identified ahead of time that Power has several pain point business issues that you can heal for them with your solution. You KNOW you already have what they want and need, now it's time to communicate it.
First let's put things in perspective to set the mood... You've just sat down to eat dinner with your family, and the door bell rings. Some how your vicious guard dog (read: lovable pet that would lick an intruder to death) was sleeping on the job, and you open the door to find yourself face-to-face with a sales person. Never mind that they might be selling the greatest product in the world that could make you richer, healthier, happier, and better looking. Inevitably you find yourself thinking, 'How can I get rid of this person as quickly as possible so that I can back to utilizing my valuable time the way I had intended to this evening?'
Now that you're in the mindset many if not most Power-level contacts will have when you get them on the phone for the first time, unless you're supernaturally lucky, or you're going to need a dynamite approach to successfully secure an appointment.
GETTING A MEETING THE ZEBRA WAY
1. Inform Power of your research and communicate the pain points you uncovered. Confirm the existence of these pain points.
2. Confirm that Power cares about these paint point business issues and wants to address them now or soon.
3. Link the paint points to what you've done for other customers just like this prospect.
4. Present the prediction of value. (Use those great financials the value model can produce for you -- there's more info about building a value model in Selling to Zebras, and you can find a free template to build your own value model at Zebra U).
5. Verify that the amount of incremental value you can create is enough to be worth it to Power to spend twenty minutes discussing it with you. If it isn't, get a referral to someone in the organization, perhaps in a different department or at a different level, who would be interested. (If you know that this prospect does suffer from the pain point business issues you solve, there IS another person that will be Power AND will have responsibility for those issues.)
6. Close for a twenty-minute appointment.
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