B L U E P R I N T HOW TO DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS ONLINE Once you complete the stakeholder meeting, you’ll have an idea of their decision criteria and it becomes downhill selling. USING ONLINE RESEARCH TO UNDERSTAND YOUR STAKEHOLDERS Before every meeting, it’s very valuable to research who you’re speaking with. Start on LinkedIn. The company description on LinkedIn makes it easier to understand their business than the company’s website. Also, watch their 90-second how-to video on Youtube explaining what their business is. How to figure out more about the people that you’re reaching out to: Initiator - Someone looking for solutions to problems that affect their business Champion - Person who will put their neck on the line to introduce you to the right stakeholders because they care about the initiative and will be with you until the end. Decision-maker - People that have the power to buy There is a browser attachment called CrystalKnows that tells you all about a person’s personality based on public information, on LinkedIn. This information includes things the person has posted, the type of language they use, and how they like to engage, giving you a good idea of the type of person this is. You can also see more advanced traits such as if the person is initiator - meaning the person likes to take risks and find innovative solutions. Look for initiators when finding people to sell to. CrystalKnows even goes as far as to give you advice on how that person likes being reached out to, and what’s the best way to tell them bad news. It’s an impressive tool! HOW TO USE A PROVOCATIVE MESSAGE Executives don’t want to talk to salespeople, they want to talk to experts. Do that by building a provocative message based on the research you’ve done. You can find this out through blog articles, quarterly or yearly announcements, and others. You can do this by searching online, using Google alerts, or software such as Owler. Find out about a new round of funding or other important company news and use it to start a conversation with them. The provocative statement starts off very straightforward. Define why you’re reaching out to them based on the situation and pain you’ve gathered. If you can, reference someone you’ve already spoken to within the company to validate what you’re describing. Once you’ve set the stage, focus on the value prop- in your customer’s context. Mention one thing you think will have the biggest impact, based on your research, and the critical event based on what you think other companies like them might be struggling with.