NFIB

Go Straight to the Top: Selling to the CEO
04/ 02/ 2002

A key element of sales is determining whether the person with whom you're speaking has the authority to make a purchase. Selling to someone who doesn't have authority is almost always a waste of time. The same is true when selling by direct mail to companies. Why address your letters to someone who can't make the purchase? In today's Workshop, Jeffrey Moses discusses addressing your sales letters to the one person who almost always has authority -- the company CEO or president.

A company's CEO can decide to make almost any purchase, but hardly ever does without consulting others. So then why send direct mail letters to the CEO? Because quite often when a letter arrives in the CEO's office, it will get directed to the proper person in the company. However, you should avoid mailing the company's chairperson, because he or she may not be as actively involved in the day-to-day operations as is the CEO or president.

There are various ways to find the names of the CEOs of the companies. If you're undertaking a large mailing and are using any of the big mailing list companies, simply request that they include the name of the CEOs or presidents of the companies, along with the addresses.

If you're mailing to a few select companies and are using the phone book or industry-provided lists to determine addresses, call the companies directly for the names of the CEOs or presidents. Most of the time, you won't have to go beyond the receptionist who answers the phone.

When mailing to a small number of companies, you can follow up with a phone call several days after you expect the letters would have arrived. Ask to speak to the CEO, though it's likely that you'll be connected to that person's assistant. If you are unable to speak with the CEO, then ask to be transferred to the appropriate person. Nothing is better than to have a call transferred directly from the CEOÆs office.

If your target audience is a specific department or individual within the company, it is usually best to mail directly to the manager of the department. Ask the mailing list company you're using for the name of that individual when you request lists or labels.

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