There are a lot of business in my area that only someone form corporate can make a decision on accepting my service. Most of the managers I talk to tell me to just look up the corporate info. That doesn’t seem like the best way to do it. What have you found is the best and most effective way way to go about this?
That is correct. What they told you is the only way to do it. Most of the managers of the stores are not decision makers. In a corporate setting, their bosses are usually the decision makers. While the managers may have influence, they cannot help you directly. However, when they tell you to look up information, just ask for their bosses name with the best phone number to reach them and email (the number will be more important).
They have to determine if your proposal is an asset to them and if they want to ultimately purchase your service. If they think at all you are a liability in any shape or form, they will dismiss you quickly. Most of them will want proof of general liability insurance and if you have people under you, also workmans compensation. Also you will need proof that you are a licensed business, does not matter if you are a DBA, LLC, S Corp or C Corp, (try to be a DBA or LLC for now).
In the event you run into a gatekeeper trying to reach the decision maker (say John Smith is the decision maker, if you have the gatekeepers name, that’s even better) say “Hello Susan, my name is Jacob, is John available?” you want to sound and prove that you are not going to be a waste of the decision makers time. they may bring you over to his extension, or they may try to guard him by asking the purpose of the call. If they ask, just be transparent as possible, dismiss their reactions before they appear. They have a job after all of guarding the decision makers time.
“I know the last thing you want is to waste John’s time, and your time. You don’t want to get chewed out by him. I need to get in front of John to sell him our service and I hear you can make that happen. Just need 2 minutes of his time, promise it will not be a waste.”
Sometimes you may walk into an office, and start interviewing the gatekeeper. That would be a bit more advanced trying to gather data. However, the point in all this is, the harder it is to get to the decision maker, the easier time they will have agreeing to your proposal. If the decision maker is easy to get to, they may not have a ton of money or may dismiss you.
Get district manager contact info.
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