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Last month we looked at the groundwork necessary to land that big account and how to get the attention of key people at the account. Now that you have all your ducks in a row, how do you land the account?

Steps to Land the Account

• Set up a meeting with the key people

If you’ve taken the steps I wrote about in the last article in Agency Sales, you’ve either already met the key people at your target account, you’re on their radar screen, or you’re well on your way to both. At this point you need to set up a meeting to show them how you can help them. If you’ve met the key people or they know who you are, you can contact them directly and ask for a meeting. If they are not aware of you yet, you want to get an introduction from someone they know well. Again, the average person knows 250 other people, you know someone who knows them well, but you may have to do some digging. If that doesn’t work, you’ll have to begin a contact plan consisting of in-person calls, phone calls, e-mails, and regular mail. Persistence pays off and remember: catch their attention by saying something meaningful that’s important to them. Also, make the first meeting short, ask for 30 minutes to discuss some ways you’ve discovered that have had a profound impact on businesses like theirs.

• Have a great meeting

Once you get a meeting with the key people, make it count. Here are several steps to a great meeting:

1. Be prepared. Make sure you’ve done all your homework on the company and the individuals. Visualize the meeting ahead of time, make sure everyone knows their part, and be ready to give them something meaningful.
2. Make a good impression. When you do meet the key people, make sure you’re dressed the part, neatly groomed, confident, make good eye contact, give a firm handshake, and otherwise carry yourself well. Be conversant not only in their business and industry, but also in current events and general knowledge subjects.
3. Show your intelligence in a smart way. Pun intended. Let them know you’ve done your homework and that you know them as individuals and as a company. Show them you know their industry and have thought intelligently about how you can save them time, money, effort, and/or energy and make their lives easier. Be careful not to come across as a know-it-all or leave the impression that you think you know more than they do. Think peer relationship where you are on equal footing, putting your heads together in order to solve a problem or make their life noticeably better. Ask good questions and make sure to listen at least twice as much as you talk, and in most cases, even more. Remember you’re there to find out how you might be able to help. Before you prescribe a solution make sure you understand them and their situation and how you fit in. Make sure they have spoken openly, honestly and completely about their situation and that you fully understand their situation. Make it “them” focused, say something meaningful and helpful, and focus on benefits while citing examples of similar situations you’ve been involved and how you’ve solved them successfully.
4. Close on the next step in the process. The next step may be a proposal, it may be a follow-up meeting, or it may be a commitment to follow up in some other way at some other time. Whatever it is, make sure you leave the meeting with a commitment as to what will happen next and when.

• Follow up and continue to build the relationship(s) until you get in

After the meeting, make sure you do what you say you’ll do when you say you’ll do it. Breaking that rule will kill your chances with the prospect. Next, regardless of what happened in the meeting, you want to treat the prospect the same way you treat an important client or customer. Keep communication constant and build the relationship(s). Whether you have a shot at the business at the present moment or not, you want to get their permission to put them on your e-mail, mail, and phone contact lists, and start reaching out on a regular basis. Make sure to send pertinent information and any item that may be of benefit to them. Start sending items of personal interest and get them on your Three-Card mailing list. You also want to begin gathering information on The 28 Key Items to Know about Each Customer; if you don’t have this already, e-mail or call me and I’ll send it to you. And you want to use this information to further solidify the personal relationships. Finally, make sure to go far above and beyond any and all expectations. Ultimately your goals are to: continue to make a great impression, maintain and increase mindshare, and out-relationship and do more than the competition.

The most important keys to landing that big account are these: have a solid plan with goals and objectives and a strategy that sets you apart, have a solid, unique selling proposition, work hard and work smart, be persistent, and build solid relationships.

Don’t expect to land that big account overnight. It may take a year or more, but if you hang in there, you’ll get a shot because they like you and the competition messes up, something else changes, or they simply decide to reward your hard work and persistence.