Do you know what separates the top 1% of salespeople from everyone else? I’m talking about those folks who earn six-figure or even seven-figure commissions. Most people think that these top-earning salespeople simply close more deals than everyone else. But that just isn’t true.
In fact, a lot of mediocre salespeople actually close a higher quantity of sales than the top 1% of salespeople. The difference is the average size of the sales.
Top-performing salespeople are selling to bigger companies—and so they’re closing far bigger sales, but not necessarily more.
I see this all the time within my client companies. The top salesperson’s average sales size might be $1 million, while the other salespeople’s average sales size is around $100,000. That’s a 10x differential!
In this video, I’m going to show you 5 sales strategies to sell to huge, massive, really large companies. Check it out:
How to Sell to Large Companies Video Summary
How to Sell to Large Companies Strategy #1: Face the fear.
The number one thing holding most salespeople back from selling to large companies is fear. They’re simply nervous and uncomfortable selling to those big organizations. The good news is that, once a salesperson learns how to sell to large companies, these sales can actually be easier to close. After all, big companies typically face the same problems as smaller organizations—but have much bigger budgets to invest in a solution. To take advantage of those bigger budgets and close bigger sales, salespeople have to start by getting out of their comfort zone, facing their fear, and realizing that big companies don’t bite.
How to Sell to Large Companies Strategy #2: Go to the top of the food chain.
Big companies have so many fancy titles that it’s easy for salespeople to get scared off or confused. CMO, CSO, Chief Happiness Officer, Brand Director, VP of Ops…the list goes on and on. While those titles can be intimidating to the salesperson who wants to learn how to sell to large companies, they often provide valuable insights into who a salesperson should be selling to. Instead of selling to low-level managers, salespeople have to con
sider those titles and start selling to Directors, VPs, and C-suite prospects—the ones who have the power and budget to say yes. As salespeople learn how to sell to large companies, they should start by asking, “Who is the highest relevant person I can sell to? What is their title?” Even if they get passed back down the chain, they’ll be introduced to the right person by their boss—not too shabby.
How to Sell to Large Companies Strategy #3: Make a plan.
Salespeople who rely on haphazard calls and emails to connect with prospects simply don’t know how to sell to large companies. Instead, they have to get organized by mapping out a prospecting campaign from beginning to end. The best way to implement this strategy for how to sell to large companies is to center the campaign around packages the salesperson will send to the prospect via FedEx. (Over the years as an expert on how to sell to large companies, Marc Wayshak has found that everyone—even important CEOs—open FedEx packages.) Salespeople should start by asking, “What can I send this person that would be of high perceived value and grab their attention?” This could be a special report, a unique sample, or an analysis specific to their company. Because there is a huge potential sale on the line, salespeople should feel comfortable investing more time and dollars in grabbing just one prospect’s attention. After planning out a few FedEx packages, salespeople should fill in their prospecting campaign with letters, calls, and emails as follow-ups to the packages they send.
How to Sell to Large Companies Strategy #4: Get clear on the decision-making process.
Many times, salespeople are surprised to learn that the strategies they use on small organizations aren’t all that different from the ones they’ll need when learning how to sell to large companies. One big difference that stands out, however, is that the decision-making process can be much more complicated with big organizations. While small mom-and-pop companies typically have an owner who can make decisions, the process is a bit more involved at larger organizations. When learning how to sell to large companies, failing to understand a prospect’s decision-making process is sales suicide. Salespeople must ask questions to find out exactly who will need to sign off on a decision before they ever present a solution. Following this strategy for how to sell to large companies is fortunately quite simple. Salespeople can usually get it done by asking a simple question like, “What is your typical decision-making process for an initiative like this?” This quick and easy step will save salespeople tons of headaches down the road.
How to Sell to Large Companies Strategy #5: Leverage a sale into more introductions.
One of the best parts of learning how to sell to large companies is that salespeople can often sell to multiple divisions or departments within the same organization. This means that, once a salesperson establishes a relationship in one area of the company, they can leverage that relationship to get into other areas. Salespeople can follow this strategy for how to sell to large companies by asking their contact for introductions to other folks who could use their offering. This can be intimidating at times, but salespeople should remember strategy #1 for how to sell to large companies, and face their fear.
No salesperson has ever lost business by asking for introductions. But failing to ask can lead to missed opportunities on a massive scale. When it comes to this strategy for how to sell to large companies, there’s no risk and tons of upside.
So there you have it. Now you know 5 Sales Strategies to Sell to Huge, Massive, Really Large Companies. I want to hear from you. Have you ever used this approach before? If so, what was the result? Be sure to share below in the comments section. Ill respond to every comment I possibly can.
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About the Author Marc Wayshak
Marc is is the best-selling author of three books on sales and leadership, including the highly acclaimed titles Game Plan Selling, The High-Velocity Sales Organization and his forthcoming book, Sales Conversations, Mastered.
Marc is a contributor to Inc, HubSpot, Fast Company, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Huffington Post Business. He also hosts a popular YouTube channel on sales strategy with over 103,000 subscribers.
Marc helps thousands of people his data-driven, science-based approach to selling that utilizes all the best tools available to sales organizations today.