{mosimage}Selling to VITO the Very Important Top Officer written by Anthony Parinello is a sales classic. Anthony Parinello is recognized and respected for his ability to access the top officer in any organization and make high dollar sales in those organizations. If you are dreaming of getting access to and making sales to the top official of big corporations this is a must read for you. Anthony will give you ideas and tools to build your confidence and get you in the door.

Top take away points:

• VITO’s have the power to say yes and there biggest concern is a directly measurable return on investment from whatever you have to offer.
• VITO’s pay attention to things that add value to them, so position yourself and your offering from a value added proposition. When you call on VITO you are really on a job interview proving that you have the best solution. Position yourself as a business ally committed to making things happen for VITO. Identify ways you can help VITO increase shareholder value through increased revenues, increased efficiencies and effectiveness, lowered operational expenses etc. Also look for ways to add value for VITO that don’t necessarily include you.
• Five key qualities you will need to work with VITO: unshakable confidence, willingness to develop synergy, ability to build rapport, unlimited desire to succeed, and unlimited energy. Ten behaviors to avoid: small talk, overstating or understating anything, criticizing anyone’s efforts, sharing confidential information, assuming business rapport extends to personal rapport, being late, procrastination, speaking negatively of others, saying you know something you don’t, and asking for an unearned favor. Ten desired behaviors: making a good first impression by knowing something about VITO, exceeding expectations, making yourself an appreciated asset, your ability to become indispensable, apparent self-improvement, always have a positive attitude, dress for success, speak with an appropriate vocabulary, become a useful team player by being a giver, and listen intently.
• VITO must perceive you as being of equal stature and as someone responsible for making things happen and delivering results. You must understand their problem and have a solution in the form of a benefit.
• Do your research before contacting VITO by mail, find out as much about VITO’s company as possible.
• Draft your VITO letter. Start out with a specific detailed benefit laden headline statement that focuses on measurable results. Keep your letter to one page. Develop an opening paragraph that follows the theme of your headline and ties into the benefits that you list. Develop a closing paragraph. Include a P.S. letting VITO know the exact time and date that you will call. Make sure your letter is industry specific and experience based.
• Make the call. Your opening statement should encourage VITO to interrupt you and must sound conversational. The structure of your call should look like this: open by using Mr. VITO’s name, indicate your respect of the value of getting to speak with VITO, create a conversational bridge to link your opening to why VITO should give you the time of day, prepare a hook sentence similar in nature to the headline statement of your letter, introduce yourself, and end with a question that gets VITO to do the talking. Let VITO drive the conversation.
• Get around the Gatekeeper by treating the gatekeeper with respect and developing a relationship.
• When you meet VITO face to face don’t sit until invited to do so, don’t treat VITO’s desk as community property, and don’t get in VITO’s space. Listen for VITO’s learning style (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, auditory digital) and communicate in that style.

{sidebar id=5} In the book you will find templates that you can use to just plug your own information into and have at least a starting point. The author gives some good example letters, phone conversations, and phone messages. If you are ready to move to the top instead of trying to work your way up from the bottom, which is a really bad plan, this book is a good read for you.

It is a rather old book so any VITO that you are approaching today has probably been exposed to this approach previously and may have a better idea of how it is supposed to work than you do.

The authors approach is more hard sell than is appropriate for starting a long-term relationship. Just make sure that you don’t set yourself up for never by leaving the door open for not now. All in all you will come away with some good pointers and ideas as it provides a very basic marketing approach that is at least one step better than many sales people are using now.