4 ms·

Great blog post, lots of great information. A few tips and tricks from my practical experience: * Big companies still have cultures. If you understand how the

Great blog post, lots of great information. A few tips and tricks from my practical experience: * Big companies still have cultures. If you understand how the culture works, it's easier to get things done. In the best enterprises, you can just straight up ask "how do things get done around here" or "What is the culture like? Who are the stakeholders on a project like this?". In fact, asking people in B2B works a lot better than B2C because often you'll get people revealing their actual painpoints * Fear of loss is a more powerful motivator than potential gain * Followups are everything; I can't tell you how many times I've called a company 12 or 18 months later and gotten a deal just by keeping in touch * B2B is ridiculously personal. Be likable; send people candy on their birthdays, if they have kids send them gifts for their kids (we send/give away branded Kazoos, which also happens to be the name of our product). The sales process often comes down to (unfortunately) who the decision maker likes the most. This isn't actually a bad way of doing business (although it can be) because when the chips are down having an antagonistic vendor-client relationship is terrible. My two cents. Source: I'm currently managing marketing for a bootstrapped telecom company that just cleared 30 employees. We sell straight B2B and these are tactics that have worked over the last 24-36 months.

AndyNemmity 13y ago
The most important thing at my company is culture, glad you touched on it.
HeyLaughingBoy 13y ago
Be careful with gifts. I work for a large corp and we have to be very careful about what we accept lest it be construed as a bribe. Birthday card is OK, accepting gifts for my kids would probably get me fired.
- josh2600 13y ago
  I think a card for the kids or a quick email is more what I had in mind. We've received a box of twizzlers in the past. We don't eat twizzlers but it was a nice sentiment.
  - larrys 13y ago
    Along the lines of what you said you gave "branded kazoos" I think that's the key point. If you give someone branded swag it doesn't seem like a bribe and most likely wouldn't seem to be something that should get someone fired. They typically have these types of things at tradeshows. And people try to grab so they have enough for all their kids. Young Kids get excited with some of the lamest things it doesn't take much to make them happy. And when kids are excited because mom/dad walk in with something for them the parents are happy and it rubs off on the person who gave them the item for their kids.
  - eitally 13y ago
    The most touching thing I ever got from a sales rep was a Christmas card from her family, delivered to my home (rather than the company mail room).
- andrewflnr 13y ago
  On another level, giving my kid a kazoo may not be a way to gain my favor.
mindcrime 13y ago
Be likable; send people candy on their birthdays I've heard this kind of thing before, but something has always bugged me... how do you know their birthday? I have a hard time picturing a point in a business relationship where it would seem natural to ask someone when their birthday is... and if you did ask, I can't escape the feeling that it would feel "phony" or something, exactly like you were just going to use that knowledge to try to game them to buy more, by, say, sending them a birthday card. So how do you deal with that? Do you just ask people what their birthday is, and they happily tell you, or do you at all try to "disguise" your intention by just working it into a conversation somehow, etc?
- count 13y ago
  This is really, really obvious, and MANY people don't get it. Be genuine and build a real, no shit relationship with the person. Become 'work friends'. It'll come up - you probably know when your coworkers birthdays are, etc., right? The great part about biz is you just need to be in the right month ('hey, I heard your birthday is this month, heres X'). But really, don't be phony, and treat it like a real relationship with someone you'll be working with, and most of this stuff just happens.
  - mindcrime 13y ago
    Become 'work friends'. It'll come up - you probably know when your coworkers birthdays are, etc., right? Aaaah... to be honest, the answer is largely "no". And to the extent that I do know, it's because our office manager sends out a companywide email saying "happy birthday" to employees on their birthdays, and I remember the couple who happen to be close to my own. I don't know, maybe I'm weird, but that just isn't something I've ever found myself talking about with co-workers and business acquaintances a lot. shrug Guess I'll need to adapt a bit as I struggle to get into the world of selling. But really, don't be phony, and treat it like a real relationship with someone you'll be working with, and most of this stuff just happens. Yeah, that seems like the right approach to me. Thanks for the advice!
    - eitally 13y ago
eitally 13y ago
Minus the gifts part, this is all terrific advice. As the person-in-charge-of-apps/collab at a large enterprise, I typically have 3-5 vendor meetings per week (this week I have 8... this kind of thing is probably why a lot of you hate working at/with/for large companies!), most of which I have no intention of purchasing from, but all of whom have something in their unsolicited emails that piqued my interest. A lot of times it's market research: if I'm reasonably happy with New Relic, I may still want to see what Appneta and Compuware can do for me. If I want to step up from Hangouts/Skype to something with QoS but not Telepresence grade, I probably want to learn about Fuzebox, Vidyo, Bluejeans, etc. If I'm a Google Apps customer, I am likely in touch with the kind folks behind Flashpanel, GAT, and Cloudlock. If I manage our data centers, I most likely have contacts at all the major server/storage/virtualization/infrastructure vendors. One of the most important parts of our job is to know the landscape and be able to make the best decision for our company. A lot of times we don't have the time to perform adequate due diligence, and this is where a skilled salesperson will succeed where an average salesperson will give up. You need, as josh2600 says, to make it personal, to truly understand your target, and to pitch what they want to hear. And remember that all signed deals absolutely must be win-win. If your sales target feels or knows they're getting screwed, you're toast. As an aside, also know that the days of "no one got fired for choosing IBM" are over. BigCos do plenty of deals with startups and small businesses. I could give examples of where that's worked out great for us, or terribly. I could also give examples of where choosing the 800lb gorilla was an awful decision. If you don't enjoy this kind of existence, being an IT exec at a big company is probably not something you'd have fun with.

AndyNemmity 13y ago

The most important thing at my company is culture, glad you touched on it.

HeyLaughingBoy 13y ago

Be careful with gifts. I work for a large corp and we have to be very careful about what we accept lest it be construed as a bribe. Birthday card is OK, accepting gifts for my kids would probably get me fired.

josh2600 13y ago
I think a card for the kids or a quick email is more what I had in mind. We've received a box of twizzlers in the past. We don't eat twizzlers but it was a nice sentiment.
- larrys 13y ago
  Along the lines of what you said you gave "branded kazoos" I think that's the key point. If you give someone branded swag it doesn't seem like a bribe and most likely wouldn't seem to be something that should get someone fired. They typically have these types of things at tradeshows. And people try to grab so they have enough for all their kids. Young Kids get excited with some of the lamest things it doesn't take much to make them happy. And when kids are excited because mom/dad walk in with something for them the parents are happy and it rubs off on the person who gave them the item for their kids.
- eitally 13y ago
  The most touching thing I ever got from a sales rep was a Christmas card from her family, delivered to my home (rather than the company mail room).
andrewflnr 13y ago
On another level, giving my kid a kazoo may not be a way to gain my favor.

mindcrime 13y ago

Be likable; send people candy on their birthdays I've heard this kind of thing before, but something has always bugged me... how do you know their birthday? I have a hard time picturing a point in a business relationship where it would seem natural to ask someone when their birthday is... and if you did ask, I can't escape the feeling that it would feel "phony" or something, exactly like you were just going to use that knowledge to try to game them to buy more, by, say, sending them a birthday card. So how do you deal with that? Do you just ask people what their birthday is, and they happily tell you, or do you at all try to "disguise" your intention by just working it into a conversation somehow, etc?

count 13y ago
This is really, really obvious, and MANY people don't get it. Be genuine and build a real, no shit relationship with the person. Become 'work friends'. It'll come up - you probably know when your coworkers birthdays are, etc., right? The great part about biz is you just need to be in the right month ('hey, I heard your birthday is this month, heres X'). But really, don't be phony, and treat it like a real relationship with someone you'll be working with, and most of this stuff just happens.
- mindcrime 13y ago
  Become 'work friends'. It'll come up - you probably know when your coworkers birthdays are, etc., right? Aaaah... to be honest, the answer is largely "no". And to the extent that I do know, it's because our office manager sends out a companywide email saying "happy birthday" to employees on their birthdays, and I remember the couple who happen to be close to my own. I don't know, maybe I'm weird, but that just isn't something I've ever found myself talking about with co-workers and business acquaintances a lot. shrug Guess I'll need to adapt a bit as I struggle to get into the world of selling. But really, don't be phony, and treat it like a real relationship with someone you'll be working with, and most of this stuff just happens. Yeah, that seems like the right approach to me. Thanks for the advice!
  - eitally 13y ago

eitally 13y ago

Minus the gifts part, this is all terrific advice. As the person-in-charge-of-apps/collab at a large enterprise, I typically have 3-5 vendor meetings per week (this week I have 8... this kind of thing is probably why a lot of you hate working at/with/for large companies!), most of which I have no intention of purchasing from, but all of whom have something in their unsolicited emails that piqued my interest. A lot of times it's market research: if I'm reasonably happy with New Relic, I may still want to see what Appneta and Compuware can do for me. If I want to step up from Hangouts/Skype to something with QoS but not Telepresence grade, I probably want to learn about Fuzebox, Vidyo, Bluejeans, etc. If I'm a Google Apps customer, I am likely in touch with the kind folks behind Flashpanel, GAT, and Cloudlock. If I manage our data centers, I most likely have contacts at all the major server/storage/virtualization/infrastructure vendors. One of the most important parts of our job is to know the landscape and be able to make the best decision for our company. A lot of times we don't have the time to perform adequate due diligence, and this is where a skilled salesperson will succeed where an average salesperson will give up. You need, as josh2600 says, to make it personal, to truly understand your target, and to pitch what they want to hear. And remember that all signed deals absolutely must be win-win. If your sales target feels or knows they're getting screwed, you're toast. As an aside, also know that the days of "no one got fired for choosing IBM" are over. BigCos do plenty of deals with startups and small businesses. I could give examples of where that's worked out great for us, or terribly. I could also give examples of where choosing the 800lb gorilla was an awful decision. If you don't enjoy this kind of existence, being an IT exec at a big company is probably not something you'd have fun with.