by Tony Parinello | Feb 2, 2022 | Selling to VITO
How many tops does a telephone pole have? That’s right: one. If that telephone pole represented the corporate “org chart,” the very top of it is where you would find the main character VITO! Why is VITO at the top? Because, like an eagle, VITO intentionally aimed for...
by Tony Parinello | Jul 25, 2022 | Selling to VITO
Avoid this deadly sin! Salespeople talk too much. Listen twice as much as you talk. That’s why you’ve got two ears and only one mouth. The reason I’m saying that salespeople talk too much is that talking is trite. Parrots can talk, infants can talk…salespeople...
by Tony Parinello | Jul 19, 2022 | Selling to VITO
It doesn’t make much of a difference if you’re sending a written correspondence, talking to VITO on the phone, in person or leaving a voicemail message you’ve got just 8 short seconds to get your point across. The best way to accomplish this is to center your...
by Tony Parinello | Jul 10, 2022 | Selling to VITO
Hold on I’ll put you through to VITO’s voicemail… Getting ready to call VITO? Concerned about getting dumped into voicemail jail? No sweat! Your first voicemail message to VITO could be your opening statement with what I choose to call bookends. It could...
by Tony Parinello | Jun 29, 2022 | Selling to VITO
Don’t ever ask a VITO this ridiculous question: Who besides yourself will be making this decision? Take that one and totally eliminate it from your open-ended question repertoire! VITO is the ultimate approver of just about every decision that’s being made. Instead,...
by Tony Parinello | Jun 16, 2022 | Selling to VITO
What do you and VITO have in common? You’ve heard me say time and time again that 85% of VITOs in America were once salespeople just like you and me. They made cold calls and gave presentations. I had the good fortune of interviewing over 120 VITOs when I was writing...
by Tony Parinello | Jun 10, 2022 | Selling to VITO
What motivates you? Experts say that motivation comes from one or two sources either our desire to achieve a goal or our desire to avoid pain. Well, guess what VITOs are no different. Have you ever left VITO voicemail message after voicemail message pitching the...
by Tony Parinello | May 19, 2022 | Selling to VITO
Want a really cool and fast way to totally qualify a VITO – Very Important Top Officer? You can use what I call a two-part qualifying question. The reason this tactic works so well is that it answers two questions that all VITOs seem to want to ask: How much is...
by Tony Parinello | May 16, 2022 | Selling to VITO
Looking for a sure-fire way to get your emails open and read? Forget the catchy topics in your subject line and don’t put your product names and numbers and forget the long list of nonsensical acronyms that no one outside your organization knows or cares about. Take...
by Tony Parinello | Feb 16, 2022 | Selling to VITO
You know how I knew? Because years ago, while I was a young(er) salesperson working for Hewlett-Packard, I used to start my sales cycle in Linoleumville—just like a ton of salespeople do right now. I spent most of my day (heck, months!) talking to the “Seemores,” who...
by Tony Parinello | Feb 4, 2022 | Selling to VITO
One of the best tactics that I’ve learned over the years about giving a presentation to VITO (as opposed to anyone else on the face of the earth) is that you should put the slide you would normally present as your last slide first . . . and proceed backward from...
