Uncover Backdoors that Can Lead to Big Sales in Fortune 1000 Accounts

Both large and small tech firms (and everyone in between) constantly ask us how to sell and market successfully to the Fortune 1000.  Regardless of their size, we have found some incredibly powerful strategies that work universally.  In most cases, the Fortune 1000 Accounts can provide tech companies with significant recurring revenue opportunities and the “WOW” factor of a customer’s brand name.  They may even be critical to the success of a start-up with pressure to produce quickly or a new division or a new product offering for a more established company with the same goal. One of these key success strategies came straight from the mouths of CIO’s we interviewed. They consistently told us that companies should not only focus on selling directly to them (CIO title) but to definitely market and sell to other recommenders, influencers, decision makers and champions within the account.  Going deeper and wider into these accounts is the biggest key to success.  Here are some other GREAT ideas for getting the best ROI from these giants:

1. Research your targeted Fortune Company thoroughly. Understand their business, the vertical market position they occupy, the organizations they compete with, and their corporate culture.
2. Build an organizational chart of your target Fortune Company. Map the relationship of the Decision-Makers to the Influencers to the Recommenders. Finish this map before you approach the decision-maker and aim to schedule a meeting or conference call. We recommended that you conduct at least two informational interviews prior to making direct contact with the Decision-Maker.
3. Prepare your value proposition and strategic message thoughtfully. Customize your message based on the referrals and the information you’ve gathered. Map out and rehearse every detail of what you will say and do when you meet with executives at your prospective new Fortune 1000 customer.
4. Initiate the interview process with as many Influencers and Recommenders as you possibly can. Always keep in mind throughout this process that you must first understand the needs, issues, concerns, priorities, and challenges of an organization before you can recommend a solution.
5. Use a policy of exclusion. You must accept the fact that some companies and or individuals won’t require your solution or see the vision. We recommend that you identify those companies and individuals as early in the process as possible. Set them aside and move on.
6. Never accept one executives’ statement or reply as fact until it has been verified and supported by other executives. Always remember that organizations of this size and breadth make decisions by committee, not by an individual.
7. Use customer success stories to sell more effectively. Once you have identified there is a need to satisfy, and/or a problem to rectify, then you need to associate other success stories to their situation. The association must be as clear and precise to the new customer’s situation in order to obtain maximum impact.
8. Find Multiple Contacts and Multiple Champions. Who are they? Where are they positioned in the organization? What value can your company bring to them specifically? The more value you can bring across the organization, the more money they will SPEND and the bigger your deal will be.
9. Use Sales Intelligence Tools. Besides Hoovers and One Source, there are some other amazing sales intelligence resources out there. We build and maintain a set of Fortune 1000 and Global 500 account profiles called CRUSH Reports to help you find decision makers faster and reduce sales cycles. You can download free samples in our eStore: http://estore.salesquest.com/category/available-sample-reports
10. And remember, once you’ve uncovered a qualified prospective Fortune 1000 Company with a problem you can solve……….DON’T GIVE UP!

Mimi Evans
SalesQuest