Episode Overview

Our guest, Stu Heinecke, is a master of getting a meeting with anyone. Stu is a Wall Street Journal Cartoonist, a hall of fame nominated marketer, and author of the book, How to Get a Meeting with Anyone. I know it can be frustrating trying to get meetings with key decision makers and buyers. Stu will share with us ways to focus on the right areas to up our percentage on the people we reach out to and people who respond. This episode will cover how Stu got into this area of focus, his notions on how to think about customer targeting, how to get prepared to talk to those you want to target, and ideas for how to reach out and get a high response rate.

 

Episode Timestamps

[1:40] Background on Stu and his focus on storytelling

• Was interested in creating direct mail campaigns, which led to his first two assignments, creating test campaigns for Rolling Stone and Bon Appetit.
• The success with both of his campaigns led to him creating his own “Contact Campaign” that consisted of a customized cartoon print and a letter that he would send out to each of his chosen recipients.
• Received 100% response rate with his campaign!

 

[4:50] Strategies on how to reach your target audience as a seller

• You want to reach the CEO of the problem that you want to solve, as well as their supporters and influencers.
• • There are ways to identify the people that connect and work around the person that you want to target.
  • Think about a “digital surround” strategy
  • LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, and Seamless.ai are priceless resources as networking tools.

 

[8:31] What does it mean to be a VIP? And how can someone be credible and known as a VIP?

• 99% is mindset and the confidence in knowing that you are good at what you do and that you “belong here” talking to the person that you are talking to.
• Using unsolicited proposals to make connections.
• Being worthy of the executives time.
• • Do your homework before meeting them.
  • Bring something to the table that is of great value.
• Publish content:
• • Become a thought leader.
  • Reach out and network with other CEO’s that know each other.
  • Excellence has to be the theme in whatever you produce.

 

[12:34] How can a seller stand apart from others?

• Be brief and get right to your point quickly.
• If you are connecting on LinkedIn, then make an effort to take the conversation off of LinkedIn to create a human connection rather than strictly sticking to the internet.
• Research your targets:
• • Know what they do and what their business is.
• Be persistent:
• • Using digital marketing and retargeting.
  • Use alternative media - Mail and FedEx.

 

[16:35] Advice on non-digital ways to reach out to your target

• Stu makes customized cartoons on what he calls a “big board”, that he sends to his recipients.
• • On one side of the board there’s a customized cartoon and on the other side, there’s a message from Stu to the recipient.
• Using visual metaphors.
• You don’t need to spend a lot of money to break through to someone.

 

[21:50] Resources for people wanting to start their own contact sales campaigns

• Buy the book How to Get a Meeting with Anyone by Stu.
• Listen to Stu’s podcast, How to Get a Meeting with Anyone.
• Connect with Stu on LinkedIn.

Additional Resources

How to Get a Meeting with Anyone book:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxZXK2xRCNs

https://www.amazon.com/How-Get-Meeting-Anyone-Marketing/dp/1501260928

 

Stu’s Website:

http://www.stuheinecke.com/

Please visit Stu’s website and join him on Linkedin:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuheinecke/

 

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Credits

Sound editing and show notes produced by – ChirpSound