Hacking Sales

Chapter 4List Building: Part 3Getting in the Door

Once you've done your work on finding the right companies, you need to find the right person to get you in the door. This can be simplified in a manner that is similar to how we found the right companies.

Top-Down and Bottom-Up Targeting

The next step is finding out who in the organization you'll need to target. For some industries, it's a no-brainer. Are you selling in the digital advertising field? You probably can derive from the market that you'll need to talk to the vice president or manager of digital marketing. Are you selling sponsorships to in-person events? You can probably aim directly for the field marketing manager.

These are your ideal customer profiles. If you're starting a business from scratch, the next step is a bit harder. If you can't immediately figure this out, you'll employ either top-down or bottom-up targeting.

Top-Down Targeting

Aim for the highest person in marketing in the organization whom you can find. If it's someone in marketing you want to speak with, but you don't know who, then reach out to the vice president (VP) of marketing or the chief marketing officer (CMO). You should very briefly introduce your product or product area and then ask to be introduced to the appropriate person. Below is an example of such an e-mail.

Subject: Appropriate Person

Or Subject: Referral Request

Hi [First name],

I see you work at [company] and was wondering if you could put me in touch with the person responsible ...