Welcome to the Managed Sales Pros eight week series on pitching multiple entry points to win more managed services business. If you would like posts like these delivered directly to your inbox, please fill out the form here, and we’ll reach out to you to set up your subscription to our newsletter. We use verbal opt-in confirmation to ensure 100% CASL compliance. Plus, we like to call people. It’s our thing.
This week we focus on why and how you should pitch the first point of contact within an SMB company.
Pitching the Receptionist in the 10-20 user space
The best reason I can think of for pitching the receptionist at a company of this size is the fact that they may very well be married, related to or deeply imbedded in the business. When you started your IT company, who did you recruit first? Family and friends. My sister is my business partner. It’s my daughter who is an intern here. My mom runs our Boston office. One of my best friends is our accountant. Please, please, please – heed my warning – never try to lie or bully your way past the gatekeeper (or anyone else). Even if the owner can see value in what you are bringing to the table, he’ll think twice about doing business with someone who treated his staff poorly – whether they are family, or just part of his or her ‘business family’. Conversely, the excited voice of that team member discussing the amazing solution you provide and how it will benefit the company can bring some weight to a decision that someone is on the fence about.
Reason Two. The person you think is the receptionist may not be ‘just’ the receptionist. Many small businesses are using IVR systems that ‘hunt’ for the first available representative – the person who greets you may be the receptionist, but I own a 20+ person company and I still answer our phone all the time. It could be a client, it could be a potential client, and I want them reaching someone immediately whenever possible.
Reason Three? Nobody is ‘just’ anything anymore in small businesses. Your first point of contact may have multiple roles within the organization. And remember, if you can’t effectively pitch the receptionist, you may never get through to anyone else there.
So engage the receptionist from the minute they pick up the phone. Brevity is your friend. Here are a few suggestions:
“Who do you call when there is an issue with your computer network? I’d like to be that phone call. How do I make that happen?”
“We provide computer support. I’d like to provide you with a complimentary assessment and quote. Who should I talk to?”
“We help companies decide if they should be using cloud based solutions to support their business processes, what is the best way to get 20 minutes with your executive team?”
“I’d like to come in on Tuesday the 20th or Friday the 23rd with coffee and donuts and tell you and your team about why we think we can provide you with the best IT support in Atlanta. How do I get that set up?”
Notice that all questions are open-ended. They are questions that require an answer that isn’t simply “Yes”, or “No”.
Getting the receptionist involved in the process greatly reduces the chances that he or she will simply say “We’re not interested” and hang up on you. Try it.
Pitching the Receptionist in the 20-50 user space
The quick pitch and questions you will use do not differ much at this level. But as you pitch larger businesses, the receptionist often gets further removed from the executive team. Unless he or she is also admin support for the executive.
Roles are more clearly defined within larger SMBs. You can begin to ask for position titles at this level. So instead of asking the receptionist who you should talk to, you can suggest who you might like to speak with.
It is okay to just ask for the name of the contact, if you have it. We find nine times out of ten the gatekeeper will ask the follow up “May I tell him what it is regarding?”, in which case you have to launch in to why you are calling anyhow, so better to just get it out of the way yourself.
“It’s Joe calling from ABC IT. We provide companies in Atlanta with guidance on which cloud solutions they could be using to (increase productivity/decrease overhead/support or replace their current IT infrastructure). We find that we are easily able to save (law firms/consulting groups/medical clinics/grow ops/whatever) about 30% in hardware costs in the first year alone. Usually we speak with the President or the Controller and then come in to provide a complimentary assessment – who would you suggest I try first there?”
Here you will show niche expertise – you work with companies like theirs all time. You will show enormous value in a quantifiable way – numbers that you can back up. You will point them towards who you want to reach. Let them choose who you speak to and ask them to participate in the process.
In our experience, the more you interact with the gatekeeper, the more likely it will be that you will get an audience with the person you want to speak with.
If you are shut down at this point in the process by a “We’re not interested, thanks”, you can ask permission to email him or her information about your services, and ask them to do you the favour of reviewing the information and passing it on to their team if they see value in it. Send information and follow up with them as if they were the decision maker.
If you are shut down by a “We’re happy with what we have, thanks”, you can try our favourite approach, which is this: “I was happy with my Ford Focus until I test drove a Lexus. The absolute worst time to have to negotiate with a new service provider is when your house is on fire. This is especially true for IT – you lose your ability to negotiate when you’re dealing with a critical issue and need support yesterday. It never hurts to have a relationship with another provider you can call on if there is an emergency. How can we present our services to your team?”
If you aren’t put through, ask for their contact information to send information to them. Follow up as if they were the decision maker. If you really want to stand out from the crowd, Starbucks allows you to send a coffee by email. Send them a coffee, with a note saying you hope they’ll take a minute to enjoy the coffee while they review your materials. Then send your stuff along.
Remember: this is your first step towards winning business. Approach these conversations with the same intensity and determination that you would a conversation with any other member of that company. The receptionist holds the keys to the kingdom. This is one of the only points of entry where you need to really focus on education and value. Our training program devotes a lot of time to educating, nurturing and engaging this point of entry. If you would like to learn more about our sales training programs for MSP owners. Or our 12 week MSP cold calling program for MSP sales teams, or our managed prospecting programs, please reach out to our team at 1 (844) GO MANAGED.
Next week, we’re going to work on pitching the Office Manager. I hope you’ll join us again.
Until then, thanks for reading and Happy Selling!