Enterprise sales is a journey to find a 'Champion'.

This is a 5-part series explaining enterprise sales know-how. This time, I will discuss specific sales techniques and how to conduct business meetings.

Please check the magazine for previous articles.

Up until the last article, I explained the overview of enterprise sales. The first step is to decide on about 10 to 20 target companies and create an account plan.

It is important to read through the medium-term management plans of the target large companies, identify the issues they are facing, what they want to solve, and what they are aiming for, and then propose solutions that your product can address.

That is why we create account plans.

How to create an account plan

There is a trick to creating an account plan. In short, you need to know more about the company than the people who work there. You should pursue it to the level where they wonder, 'How do you know that?'

If possible, you want to do it efficiently. One tool I often use to gather the latest information is Google Alerts. If you register a company name or similar in Google Alerts, you will receive notifications as soon as news or articles about that company are published.

Also, naturally, you should follow the social media accounts of the people called key persons at that company. You should at least do this much.

However, in the case of so-called enterprise companies, there are many cases where they do not use X. If they are listed on the stock exchange, compliance is often strict. They might still use Facebook, but they almost certainly do not use X under their real names. In reality, it is quite difficult to make contact via social media.

Therefore, you will end up creating an organizational chart at the same time as the account plan. This is where people called 'Champions' and 'Economic Buyers' become important.

Among them, the person you want to get an appointment with first is the Champion.

The most important 'Champion'

A Champion is someone who has a certain amount of power or influence within the company and is likely to become your ally.

They will promote the project on your behalf within the company or give you advice.

And above the Champion is the Economic Buyer, who is the person with decision-making power or veto power. This Economic Buyer rarely attends every business meeting.

You win over the Champion and have them persuade the Economic Buyer.

To do that, you must properly build an organizational chart and start making contact based on the hypothesis of 'Who is the Champion?' at the target company.

In some cases, you might identify the Economic Buyer right away. If that happens, you look for who can talk to that person or who can persuade them. For that reason as well, you prepare a precise account plan and organizational chart to identify key persons within groups and departments.

In any case, the first priority is the Champion.

They are the aces on the front lines who drive business forward. They often hold titles like section manager or department manager, and in large companies, they are typically in their 30s to 40s.Since this person will become an economic buyer once they are promoted, they are an extremely important presence.

On the other hand, an economic buyer is at the executive level. They are the ones who make the final decisions. I think it is quite rare to have direct business negotiations with someone at this level. In enterprise-class companies, it is almost non-existent. That is why the journey to find a champion is where everything begins.

How to find a champion and how to approach them

Even if you want to meet a champion, at first, you have absolutely no connections or opportunities. Starting from scratch, you diligently create account plans and organizational charts, narrowing down the champion candidates among the 10 to 20 companies you are responsible for.

Since the other party is often a publicly traded company, the more important the person is, the more likely their name is to appear publicly. Surprisingly, there should be information available. You can find out their department name, so it is a good idea to start your research from there.

Once you have created an account plan, listed the key people within the company, and identified a champion candidate, you go to create the initial opportunity.

The classic approach is letters and direct mail. It is important to create something that will pique the other party's interest.

Regarding letters, I will introduce the set of letters that I actually use often. First, this is the envelope.

It might look like a normal envelope, but it is made of 'Taireishi' paper, which is quite high quality. You can tell the difference in material when you actually see it and hold it in your hands.

It is a material often used for wedding invitations, featuring fine patterns that shimmer depending on the angle. At 2,271 yen for 50 sheets, it is quite expensive for an envelope. And the Amazon reviews are also very high.

This is vertical stationery. I use proper stationery as well. It doesn't matter if it is vertical or horizontal, but I write in vertical because I find this stationery easy to use.

Also, those who are particular about it choose their stamps carefully. Instead of regular stamps you can buy at a convenience store, I go to buy stamps with a bit of a thoughtful design.

I always buy stamps at the post office. When I ask at the post office counter, 'Please show me all the stamps you have right now,' they sometimes bring out some unusual ones. You might want to choose a stamp that would make someone think 'Oh!' when it arrives at their office.

I put this much effort into a mere letter. It is interesting in the age of IT, isn't it?

What should you do if you are not confident in your handwriting?

Since it takes dozens of hours to create an account plan and identify a champion candidate, you want to put your all into the stamp as well—you don't want to cut corners in a strange place and mess it up.

Also, naturally, since it is a handwritten letter, the quality of the handwriting is also important. Even though you have paid so much attention to the stationery, envelope, and stamp, it would be ruined if the handwriting is poor.

Actually, I am not very good at handwriting, so I sometimes have someone who is good at it write it for me. There are usually several people in a company who have good handwriting, so I think it is a good idea to ask them.

There seems to be quite a lot of demand for this kind of thing, and there are services that will write letters in beautiful handwriting for you. For example, 'Keyman Letter' will write a handwritten letter on behalf of the salesperson, send it, and even make a follow-up call. Services in this field have been increasing.

Since these services require each letter to be written by hand, I think it costs about 1,000 yen per letter. It is a service unique to enterprise sales, where hitting the mark yields big results.

Collaboration between enterprise sales and inside sales

Recently, enterprise sales often teams up with inside sales. Inside sales includes inbound sales called 'SDR' and outbound sales called 'BDR'.

When targeting large companies, the inside sales BDR and enterprise sales work as a pair. This is because inside sales handles the so-called pre-process, from writing letters to making phone calls.

The flow is to write a letter, make a call, and if there is a positive response, connect them to enterprise sales.

This is a very delicate task, like threading a needle. It is different from the conventional approach of approaching a large number of leads one after another.

Sometimes the recipient of the letter is not the champion, but an important person called an economic buyer, so they often cannot answer the phone.

Don't forget to ask to be connected to their secretary if they are unavailable.

Include a QR code in the letter

I have been constantly innovating and experimenting with my approach to champions. Until recently, I was also doing various A/B tests.

For example, a pattern where only a letter is put in the envelope and a pattern where a business card or flyer is also included.

I also tried printing a QR code inside the letter, saying, 'If you would like an explanation, please apply via this QR code.'

Recently, I have been including a flyer with the letter, and also enclosing a fax reply form, a QR code, and a business card, so that they can make an inquiry through any of those three methods.

Of course, a phone number is also listed, but the most common way we receive contact from the other party is via the QR code.

I guide them from the QR code to a Google Form, where it leads to an inquiry.

I thought that for older people, the flow of scanning a QR code might be difficult, but that was not the case. I think that perhaps the superior tells their subordinate, 'I'm a little interested in this, so please listen to their story once,' and they go to the Google Form and apply.

Of course, the basic rule is not to wait for action after sending a letter, but to immediately make a follow-up call from our side.

If you only send a letter, the response rate will be about 0.5%. It is quite low. By calling after the letter, this can be raised to about 7%, and up to 10% at times, so you should definitely make the call.

I think it is a good collaboration to have the BDR make that call. It is best to make the call about two or three days after the letter arrives.

Next time, I will talk about the 'fake champion,' who acts similarly to a champion but lacks the drive and decision-making power.

* I have created an account plan template! Please download and use it.