saleswhat are the most effective ways to contacting the ‘decision-makers’ of a company, to inform and sell them on my software product?
There’s no simple answer to your question, only because you didn’t give any information on what your software does, and that will have a major impact. For instance, if your product addresses network/computer/data security then the decision-maker is probably going to be the I.T. director, whereas if your product improves sales then the decision might be one made by the Marketing Manager.
The reason this is so important is that marketing/information channels used by each of these people is different. A marketing manager may be more interested in advertisements in trade journals, while an I.T. manager might rely on word-of-mouth or networking with other I.T. managers.
First, you’d need to share what your product is/does and then we might be able to give you more specific advice, but the general idea is to find out how the decision-makers in the companies you’re targeting get their information and what circles (social and professional) they’re likely to travel in, and that in turn will give you plenty of information on what to do next.
That being said, there’s really nothing wrong with simply calling the companies you want to sell to and asking who the decision maker is. That’s what I used to do when I was cold-calling.
I hope this helps.
Good luck!
The best way is to actually email them directly. You could try LinkedIn - many sales do. And there’s no shortage of tools and services nowadays that will provide you with who they are and what they do, complete with email. (If I may add: the company I work for does, so feel free to reach out; my details are in my profile.)
That only gets you 10% of the way though. The key is then to get them to actually open your email. And ultimately reply. There’s no shortage of tips on “cold emailing” or “outbound” out there. A lot of it is very relevant and very actionable - though be wary of optimizing for yesterday’s winning strategy. And there are plenty of tools to help you automate parts or all of this. See for instance ReplyApp or Hubspot’s recent offering related to doing outbound. Both have excellent blogs, too.
Lastly, keep in mind that there always are two hierarchies in a business. There’s the formal one with the person who signs towards the top. But they’ve precious little time. You’ll need excellent copy to actually get them on the phone, else you’ll get a “not sure if this is worth my time” reaction and end up speaking with a proxy. There also is an informal one, with the people that have the ear of those who sign on top. They’re the ones actually making the calls in practice, so get their advocacy early. They’re super important in your sales process when dealing with larger businesses.
The two don’t necessarily read their emails at the same time. The high-in-demand execs often plow through their emails on Sunday evenings to start their Monday with a reasonably clean inbox. The less-in-demand ones are easier to reach on Friday afternoons after they’re done wrapping their week. (Local time in both cases, of course.)
Also, keep in mind that actually cold calling is an option. Especially on a Friday afternoon when your target is wrapping up their week. A few emails ahead of time helps a lot of course, because your name will be familiar. If you can get past the assistant - which not that hard if you put forward how you can provide genuine value - you’ll dive straight in there like it’s butter.
Either way keep your message short, to the point, and customer centric. There’s no shortage of pathetic emails and sales pitches out there. Don’t talk about what you do, and avoid being vague and general/encompassing at all costs. Provide value, and talk about how customers like your prospect are getting benefits out of your service in concrete, specific, and no uncertain terms.
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